# Anyone near Koln (Germany) ?



## dclau (Apr 28, 2018)

So, since we're in the off-topic section I thought it should be ok to ask around about some directions, good places in the Koln area. I'm about to spend some 6 weeks there (business, read job), starting tomorrow, I could use some info. I've seen nearly all museums and historical places, I'd like to interact with real persons, like having a beer while debating over some `dmesg` and still having fun. So, any german FreeBSD user around? My treat 

PS: Weekends only.


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## ralphbsz (Apr 28, 2018)

Long ago, Cologne had Saturn, the biggest record store on the continent (only beaten by something in London and something in New York).  Alas, nobody buys records any more.

Sorry, haven't lived there in several decades.  You said you did most museums already.  Did you get to the Museum für asiatische Kunst?  Quite nice, and not one of the usual tourist traps.  Shopping for gifts: Get some "cologne" a.k.a. Kolnischwasser, at Glockengasse 4711.  Drive to Aachen (45 minutes), and visit cathedral (including the place where Charlemagne was crowned 1200 years ago), and city hall.  Aachen is also a university town, so if you go have a beer near Templergraben or Pontstrasse, you'll find lots of young technical people. Drive to Essen, about an hour, and visit the "Zeche Zollverein" museum of a coal mine.  If you can get a ticket, drive to Schalke (another hour), and go to a Schalke 04 soccer game (make sure to NOT wear logos from other soccer clubs there, if you value your life).  For hiking, the open strip mine area between Aachen and Cologne is fascinating, both because it has been restored to nature reserves in some places, and also because strip mining is the most extreme way of terraforming.  If the weather is nice, the Eiffel (the mountains area about an hour southwest) is very pretty; visit some of the Maar (deep volcanic lakes), and Burg Elzt.  Drive along the Mosel river (you can make that into a trip with Eiffel and Elzt), and look at some of the castles.  If you are into music, visit the Beethoven house in Bonn.

And don't forget to visit Dusseldorf.  Yes, people in Cologne don't like that city (local rivalry), but the shopping on the Ko is unbeatable.  And if you go to the Altstadt (old city, also known as the longest bar counter on the planet), you will find a place to have a beer with locals ... and on a Friday or Saturday night, you will find a few hundred places to have a dozen beers with a few ten thousand locals.  There is nothing like Dusseldorf's Altstadt in Cologne.  Just make sure to not drive back, if you value you driver's license.


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## Crivens (Apr 30, 2018)

You may also try to get a tour in the WDR (broadcasting station). The complex has as many levels below ground as above, and there they faked the moon landing 
There is a studio where the had proped up a moon scene and had actors re-enact the audio live feed from Neil Armstrong for TV. So this may be where these conspiracy theories come from.


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## ralphbsz (May 1, 2018)

You reminded me!  I've actually been down there.  My piano "mentor" (teacher would be the wrong word) recorded something there, and I went with him and was the page turner.  No moon landings, just a big recording studio with a 9' Steinway.


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## Crivens (May 1, 2018)

The "studio" has a height of maybe 3 stories. It is, if memory is serving me right, around level -6.
And you are right, soundwork is big there. You can easily spend a day watching some weird old guy using junk from who-knows-where to re-sync a blockbuster with a better ambient audio.


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