Alaaf! This year’s WEBMU (Whiny Expat Blogger Meet-Up) took place in Cologne. Our hosts Resident Evil on Earth, Cheap as Chips, and Futile Diatribes did an excellent job of putting together a fun-filled agenda for all of us. 
On the first evening we met up with the group at Cafe Especial, which served a passable rendition of tex-mex cuisine.
Scott was tempted to drink out of the pitcher, but no, it supposedly contained four whole beers (as token Bavarians, it is our moral duty to ridicule Cologne for its miniature-sized beers).
On our after-dinner walk across the river, we admired the thousands of locks attached to the chain-link fence on the Hohenzollern Bridge.If you want to make a romantic gesture in Cologne, you do it with a lock, and you throw away the key. No pressure.
The next morning we met up with our fellow bloggers for the spectacular rooftop tour of Cologne’s cathedral.
Lunch was a lot of tasty, tasty Lebanese food at Beirut.
Afterwards a couple of us wandered off to gallery hop in the Belgian Quarter. On our way we ran into an Occupy Cologne demonstration, complete with giant puppets.
Dinner was in a big German beer hall, Päffgen Brauhaus. It was hot, loud, and not particularly vegetarian-friendly, so I was happy when we moved on to the next part of the evening, the TQEQE, an annual event in which a large group of expats invades a poor, unsuspecting gay bar. Maxbar welcomed us with open jazz hands. The comfy couch area with mirrored ceiling was about as awesome as it gets.
A surprisingly perky group showed up for brunch the next morning at Cafe Lichtenberg. The buffet was quite tasty, and I started wishing that Munich had a place like that until the über-loud piano player kicked in and drowned out half my thoughts (to be fair, they probably wouldn’t have been worth thinking anyway).
After long and teary goodbyes, we tore ourselves away from the WEBMU group and headed off (with a few others) to spend the afternoon exploring the Museum Ludwig, Cologne’s premiere modern art museum. The German Expressionism section was divine.
If you’d like to learn more about meet-ups in Germany involving roving gangs of expat bloggers, check out Expat Bloggers in Germany.
What a great overview of a great weekend.
Thanks, Andrew! It was a great weekend.
An excellent post. It certainly capture the fantastic atmosphere. I guess we Cologners compensate our small Kolsch glasses with the size of our Cathederals 😉
Thanks, Tehn. Next time you’re in Munich, feel free to mock our tiny churches. 🙂
Thanks for the write-up on the Cologne outing! I was furious that I had to miss it (having been one of the organizers). I arranged the Dom roof tour because it is one thing I have never done, and so I guess I will have to do it another time! I did send my flatmates, but they were kicked off the tour because there were too many people, so I couldn’t even get it vicariously. So again thanks for your report!
I love the picture of Scott’s befuddled look at the pitcher.