Pitched up in Aachen today, about an hour drive from home. Not been there before, but had heard good things about it from others.
So arrived just before lunch, hungry, parked the car and headed up towards the market square where the cathedral is. Spotted a Starbucks but wasn’t allowed in there, and the place was heaving. So many people. We were surrounded by fire engines of all ages, firemen in old fireman costumes and lots of noise.
Apparently it was 175 of the fire brigade. Not sure if they meant Aachen fire brigade of just in general. Doesn’t seem that long to me, who put of the fires 180 years ago? We were quite impressed by the costumes, especially the metal pointed hats. I guess they had some sort of procession later in the day, not that we stayed to see it. Far too hungry.
So we found a nice restaurant along one of the many side streets, though we did spend an age looking for one particular, recommended pub which we couldn’t find until after we’d eaten. And we’d been stood right in front of it before. There own fault for having such a small sign.
Wandered around the streets and shops. Bought a couple of very nice hammocks for the garden. Weren’t cheap though and found lots and lots of statues. Not quite sure why or their significance, but they were quite funky.
Had a good time, and I did get to Starbucks in the end for a nice cold, iced coffee frappuccino. Very nice.
All Aachen photos seen below: