Match day!

We met up with Peter and Joanne for breakfast in the Café Reichard (Pete was having a lie-in), then went our separate ways for the morning. Chris and I visited the cathedral.

Cologne Cathedral

The cathedral has a long drawn-out history of construction, starting in 1248 and only finishing in 1880. At that point it was the highest building in the world at 157 metres tall! Today it is the world’s third largest Gothic-style cathedral and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The cathedral is free to enter, although of course donations are welcomed. Although seemingly rather dark and austere when we first entered, it proved to have some beautiful stained glass and interesting details. The cathedral miraculously escaped being destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII and although a lot of the windows were damaged, most have been restored.

In pride of place behind the high altar in a gold casket said to hold relics of the Magi. It was crafted between approximately 1190 and 1220 by the workshop of the goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun. It is decorated with gilded figures, filigree plaques set with precious and semi-precious stones, and enamel work on the columns, arches, and mouldings. It is located behind a grille and in a dark area so hard to photograph, but I did my best!

We had a coffee in an attractive café linked to the radio studios then went for a better look at the nearby Christmas markets we'd walked through yesterday evening. It was a chance to get some decent photos and browse the stalls, where we bought a pretty glass bell tree decoration. We also enjoyed hearing some (English, surprisingly) carol singers in one market.

We met up again with Peter and Joanne in front of the cathedral, and then with Pete and Barry at the latter's hotel. He wanted to go and see the youth team match, but we decided to stay in the city and get some lunch. We went to a large Brauhaus where we got beers and food, had a bit of a singalong with other fans, and even saw (and photographed) Shola Ameobi who was there with some friends.

After a few drinks we went back to the hotel for a break. We met up with Pete and Barry again at 6.30, and with Pete's son in law Dominic who'd driven over from Trier that afternoon and who, importantly, had all our match tickets!

The match

We took the train to Leverkusen Mitte, from where it was about a 20 minute walk through a wooded area to the stadium. We were there in plenty of time so had a drink before going to find our seats; Chris and I were in a separate section to the others.

Although we were in the home stands there was a good sprinkling of other Toon fans, and no hassle from the local ones. And we had an excellent view of the whole pitch, so on balance we felt the tickets were worth the premium price we'd had to pay.

The match started badly with an early goal for Bayer Leverkusen, but we rallied and fought back with two good goals of our own. 2-1 up, did we dare to dream of a win? Of course this is Newcastle and there was a sting in the tail, conceding a late equaliser. Still, a draw here is a pretty respectable result, and we had to be happy with the point.

Leaving the ground and returning to the city centre was rather chaotic. We had the long walk back to the station, complicated by the fact that in the dark we took a different route and weren't sure if we were going in the right direction. But some friendly local fans reassured us that we could reach the station by either path.

We were held back with other Newcastle fans at the station and directed on to a very slow train, so it was late when we got back. But Peter and Joanne, who'd watched the match in a pub, were still up and had a good table in the cosy bar near the hotel. So we went in there for a quick one and ended up staying for three (Cologne's traditional beer, Kolsch, is served in small .2 litre glasses). We finally got to bed at 2.45 after a long but fun day.