I can't believe I'm already at the end of day 3 of my 10 day trip. What a packed day it was. I had a chance to do a ton of fun things including;
- Got a walking tour of Bayer's Headquarters:
- This was made possible by the friend I'm staying with at Cologne. Him and his girlfriend both work in one of Germany's biggest companies, Bayer. For context, this a company that primarily focuses on creating innovative solutions in the biotechnology and life sciences space. They have their hands in a ton of cool things from creating chips used in iPhones to helping famers grow healthier crops. They are originally famous for creating aspirin (pain relieving medication).
- There is no better feeling, than to visit and walk around the headquarters of a massive global company. I always have this awe when I realize that "this is where it all happens!" The HQ is the heart and soul, and therefore the most luxuriously decked out. The Bayer campus features a Japanese Zen Garden, a flying club (yes…I couldn’t believe until I saw it, pictures below), and on campus schooling for children. This is, of course, but a tiny sample of the multitude of services available for employees.
- Toured the rest of Cologne:
- We went back to the main city (downtown) to explore the origins of Cologne's history, and specifically visited the massive cathedral that is the centre of attention in Cologne's skyline. I have included pictures below, but really there is no way to capture the scale and depth of detail this Cathedral had. Everything inside from the stained glass windows to the stone sculptures displayed superb craftsmanship.
- This made me think, "If we didn’t have smartphones today, how good would our PowerPoint decks (insert any other project alternatives) look if we weren't distracted all the time" haha.
- From here we took a tour past the "new city" and ventured into the old part of the city to grab some coffee and rest our tired legs. It was after all, quite a lot of walking.
- We went back to the main city (downtown) to explore the origins of Cologne's history, and specifically visited the massive cathedral that is the centre of attention in Cologne's skyline. I have included pictures below, but really there is no way to capture the scale and depth of detail this Cathedral had. Everything inside from the stained glass windows to the stone sculptures displayed superb craftsmanship.
- Headed back home for an outdoor BBQ and back to city for drinks to end the day
- As the humidity descended on the city, because for some reason, the weather couldn't make up it's mind whether to rain or not, we decided to head home. After taking some time to chill out, we fired up the BBQ for some nice burgers, topped with home grown veggies from the backyard. European quality of food = top notch + healthy! After enjoying a hearty meal, we decided to head back to the city to partake in the night life and grabbed drinks at a local gin bar. I kid you not, never have I ever seen so many possible options of Gin! After talking the night away (~2 hrs) we called it a night and headed home after walking around some more and grabbing some gelato.
All in all, it was a great way to end another day in Europe. Good company, good food, and some great sights and sounds really make for a chill and happy time. I'm going to be sad to leave the creature comforts that a home provides as I head to Berlin on Monday and start the true backpacking life by living in hostels. It'll be a great way to really get the feel of the various cities I'll be in and I'm looking forward to meeting new people along the way.
It's now 2:49AM and I should really get some sleep. As always though, one "deeper" thought to conclude this is: "Do what makes you happy, life goes by way too fast not to do the things you really want to do".
