first nicole foolish will show us around cologne the largest city in north rhine-westphalia. after that will accompany her to dortmund a city and the region best known for its industrial complexes and its obsession with football. on the last leg of our tour of north rhine-westphalia look us stay go we'll find out why munster is considered germany's cycling capital. the first stop on this special edition of check in is cologne. today i am in cologne famous for its cathedral ryan river and of course for its carnival celebrations with over one million residents it's the biggest city in the state of north rhine-westphalia. rumor has said that there are people who think of cologne as too loud too cheerful and too wild and then there are those who love exactly that about the city today i want to get to know the famous cologne way of life that either puts visitors off or fascinates them let's see what it does for me . cologne cathedral is much more than just a city landmark and symbolizes the city like nothing else can be seen from miles away and let the locals know even when they're still on the freeway that they're coming home. by the way it even has a house number. but it's a magnet for tourists to the cathedral it isn't just colognes most visited site it holds the record in all of germany six million visitors every year they be on to something. you can also go up to the top of the tower. the nicest rooftop terrace in cologne and good weather you can see all the way to bonn the former west german capital you can also see just how narrow the city streets are. and when you're walking around you notice how relaxed everyone is it's crowded and loud but the locals take it in their stride and to protect their chilled out reputation they came up with their figure own constitution a list of famous local quotes to remind people of the cologne way of life. in the name of the you know what the cologne constitution is. constitution. i don't know. not once own parkour. i tell it always works out it could use cruise. so there is probably evening. will be. rude. and the minute that such means as it always works out quote will be will be my comic strength and you can change and that's how i put it that is for that's how it is going to. go to the snow another important saying is everyone's different that's very important excites me it's the most important of colognes quotes what makes life good is to live and let live i didn't announce design list i just. as an aside i don't speak. for i consistently off. my conclusion people from cologne are super relaxed i can't imagine a taking long to feel right at home here. in. cologne and it's corner shops a laugh story there are more than one thousand around town. this one close a lush us is called kind kiosk and it's famous all around town for its groundbreaking concept here you can get anything your heart desires from vegan snacks. to the best coffee in the city but close corner shops are much more than just a place to get an emergency packet cigarettes their meeting point for the entire neighborhood. the little people are letting us know just what you want if you've been here three times of the fourth time five they know you want a capital with lactose free milk or milk organic milk or whatever they know it and they have it weighed on for ya and that's great and you go somewhere and we give. or to our cause you have either that. or die or that your cigarettes or newspaper with you chat a bit and get to know each other. that's what's so nice is there should they and you decided to share and runs her kiosk with. you have. everything you need here. if you want to talk if you have a problem in need of help from someone you can find it all here. come on this year student and luckily that includes all sorts of sweets for the people of cologne their corner shops are best like an extended living room and do have to admit i could figure easily get used to this. when fed has a great day in cologne because. they get to. choosing where to live in cologne is also choosing a lifestyle hipsters are drawn to the bar of even pensacola fla little shops cafes and gallery. i'll. even found with a working hot neighborhood and still visible old maids new that's what makes it so interesting. there is no way around it if you want to understand cologne you need to party with the locals maybe that's because of the huge number of cafes and bars in town there are over three thousand three hundred more than anywhere else in germany crawls parties festivals cologne is famous for its nightlife. well that's it time to draw some conclusions cologne is a very welcoming city the locals make it super easy for visitors to feel at home which is something not every city can say have. the place is amazing and the people even more so so stay put cologne out definitely get back. to. our second destination on this check in special featuring the state of north rhine-westphalia this dortmund city shaped by it's a lustrous industrial past. the city in germany's ruhr region isn't necessarily known for its beauty but it is for many other things. for me shopping in the city center football photos you know before. my long hard work stealing co and i think a vocalist and a beer or two. ok sounds like a plan but first let's take a little sightseeing tour. austin and best in how big are dortmund central shopping streets it's been an important commercial route ever since the middle ages. dark one is also very green at least in the summer that is here and best fon park you'll find one of the city's most famous landmarks the t.v. tower nicknamed floria. and then there's lake phoenix an artificial body of water on the grounds of a former steel plant. just like many other cities in the rural area dortmund was once an important center for the coal and so. steel industries its second claim to fame was football and while most of the industry has fallen victim to structural changes football is still a source of pride and joy in the region. i'm here to find out how all this past is influencing dortmund's present. dortmund's phoenix lake is an exclusive residential area and a popular place to stroll. but there are still remnants of the area's industrial past to be found the lake was created only on the eastern part of the former steel plant the old blast furnace was conserved in phoenix west as a memorial to the city's industrial past. and now i'm meeting highgate now he she gives regular guided tours through the complex so. tell me it's this is mine that once he goes. to. the best part of the tour it takes you way up in the air thirty meters above ground to be exact and the view is amazing. phoenix western iron ore into raw iron from here it was transported to phoenix east of where the lake stands today there the unrefined iron was processed further to produce steel. sawdust a style of action so that's a steel works. and here we have an overview. the lake is here and between them there was a railway connection that's now a great cycling and walking trail for being with standing in the blast furnace complex. the plant was in operation until nine hundred ninety eight that's why i know times were very different back then so was the air. i know if you're new to dog month you only hung up your washing on the wrong day once. once we reached the plant itself we're off to the engine room. from here and engineers steered the wagons that would take the materials forty meters up and into the blast furnace. so. we have arrived on the next platform back when the facility was active the air here was very unhealthy to move people and they came here with industrial style breathing up prices. in the regions golden age up to nine thousand people worked in phoenix east and west now the only people here are like us. by killing the next shows me to the door to make another symbol of the city. this building embodies structural change in the region it's been turned from an industrial hub into a popular site for the service and creative sectors in what used to be the union brewery rather than beer you'll now find exhibits a museum and art projects. of this i mean. this is basically my favorite exhibition even though i say that on almost every floor. of the year two in particular represents what makes the museum special. not only look at modern art you can create. and for this exhibit that means taking your own pictures. next i want to find out a bit about dortmund's other claim to fame but paul. over of twenty fifteen it's been home to the german football museum a kind of one stop shop for football fans young and old. it's a place that documents the nation's sporting past by taking a look back at some of the most glorious moments in german football history like the world cup when f. nine hundred fifty four. different sections of the exhibit are dedicated to club and women's football. at its heart and the trophy room you'll find many of the sport's most coveted awards including of course germany's world cups. there are a total of one thousand six hundred exhibits the biggest by far is the bus that carted around germany's two thousand and fourteen world champion. and dortmund one football club is king the black and yellow. it was founded in this building in nine hundred nine this has become a favorite destination for dortmund fans making pilgrimages from around the country . but listed buildings in the area make it a worthwhile visit even for people who don't like the beautiful game. full disclosure i'm a huge fan of byron munich dortmund's biggest rival so i'm kind of moving behind enemy lines here and i'm starting to realize that no matter how hard i try there's no getting around this team in this city. one good example the holy trinity. church just a stone's throw from the famous philosopher lots. of years people don't just come to praise the lord but also their team. and we conclude this tour of north rhine-westphalia with lucas degas as he explores munster university towns and cycling capital of germany. there are twice as many bikes asked people. there is a huge bicycle rental parking and service garage right at the central train station . it's got room for three thousand three hundred bikes very convenient especially for commuters. you can have your cycle repaired serviced or even washed and it's all here. and tourists like me can't even rent a bike to explore the city. luther was founded one thousand two hundred years ago this is where great european history once took place but in measures of environmental protection the also has a great reputation and is considered a green city sounds like an exciting day to me. i thought the best place to start my tour was the problem enough it's sort of monstrous bicycle highway and circles the outskirts of the old town. moon system may be old but its population is young of the city's three hundred thousand inhabitants sixty thousand our students nearly everyone here writes of bike cycling paths crisscross the city and the direction of signage is excellent. the can see by marks in the heart of the old. town is considered one of the most beautiful squares in germany the gabled housing estate back to the days of the hands at a clique. a splendid example of the late gothic architecture st lumbee at the church. the town hall was the site of an important event in the seventeenth century. in recognition of that it was awarded the european heritage label in the council chamber known as the today i have an appointment with historian funs jules if. but what happened here in this room in sixteen forty eight. took this particular piece of westphalia was signed in this room namely a special piece of a separate peace between the spanish bugs and the rebellious calvinist northern provinces of the netherlands coping with the. coming let's go over here. and we go beyond the barrier. the fourth this isn't a picture of a council chamber just as you also see it now and the swearing of the oath of the ratification of the contractual document is in this cost get to swearing on the bible as you see on the right the dutch are raising their hands to take their oath from what were they all look so alike they have the same hairstyle was that usual for the time of going if you look closely they do differ of course. the dutch are wearing more muck untile clothing and the spanish a wearing the diplomatic garb of the time to. fight why did that piece mean for europe at that time. the fringe was just a simulation of the peace of westphalia the great overall peace agreement put an end to the thirty years war. many of spoken of the fact that it was also the birth of the international law an essential point it was with recognition the absolute guarantee of the independence of sovereign nations. or vision but what was significant about it. were conflict lugosi actions were used to resolve the conflict the sky up there was no cease fire until this peace agreement was reached. and you could negotiate a peace treaty without that being clear victors and vanquished. that was unique at the time. and. now i'd like to pay a visit to minster cathedral it was built in the thirteenth century and is a city landmark. about ninety percent of the old town was destroyed during world war two in many large german cities the ruins were replaced by modern buildings after the war but the people reconstructed they're all telling at least in part as it once was the cathedral suffered heavy damage but thanks to the determination of the locals it was reconstructed by one thousand nine hundred fifty six by the way is a catholic bishop. i've been given special permission to go behind the altar to the cathedral it's where the bishop sits jury mass. i've got another appointment now i'm here to meet city councilor my ts pick one of his areas of responsibility is sustainability. so naturally he's come to our appointments by bike. how come everyone in menstrual cycles isn't tied or leave school cycling is just part of the monster lifestyle for everyone from the man to the bishop to city employees rides a bike as far because it's the fastest way to get around here. but what can traffic planners from other places learn from unstuck stop falling now become one of would know about we have a wonderful infrastructure for cyclists and it starts with a promise not so small by careening road around the old town. there are a cycling streets and a four hundred kilometer network of cycle paths in the minster area and we have to allocate a lot of money to expand the network and that's why the also paul. has also want to words for climate protection and its energy policy what have you done to achieve that well i didn't last long as one measure is the change in pension funds for employees and staff in the city of minister if you have a council consciously decided on diesel and c o two neutral investment or avoiding child labor avoiding businesses that invest in a moment in order to point the way to climate protection and sustainability through you know how to cut through that. climate protection that's a long tradition in one state since the late one nine hundred ninety s. when we even had a department in the city administration devoted to the climate and energy and we engage the public in discussions on these issues issues such as wind turbines we have our own combined cycle power plant and funding programs for solar energy so it is a central focus on you always bike or do you have a car if you have a car what i want the are very rarely i drive less than five thousand kilometers a year thanks for your time. and off we go. my next stop is ozzy and it delayed lake in the middle of the city and on the banks are. it's that something else is known for there's a sculpture on practically every corner some of them are pretty wild. like the one hundred arms of the one gene. these artworks were originally installed as part of the ongoing sculpture project moonstruck submission it takes place every ten years. a free app provides more about the sculptures and their creators. my final stop today is the crew for to take a lightly quarter of popular with students i'm going to pop into a quaint traditional restaurant called. regulars can store their personal beers stein's by the bar by the way organic beer has been brewed here since one thousand nine hundred seventy eight just the place to reflect on my day in when stuff. is somehow both historical and innovative i was able to travel far back in history experience crazy art and get to know some great ideas about the climate protection and the beer is delicious so means that it's definitely worth a visit. the be. the be. the be. the be. the be. the button . watch the destination for your next vacation. the by now take a trip to mars. weightlessness and out of this world of humans including. vacationing in strange science fiction or soon to be reality. to our own to do it in thirty minutes. global inequality. in a 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