Cologne Germany
We arrived at 3am with lots of noise and banging in the town of Koln, Germany aka Cologne. We docked in a great location near the chocolate museum and short walk to the old town.
There was another morning guided tour through the mostly rebuilt old town. The town was heavily bombed in WWII. Koln is a combination of modern urban elements in the post war reconstruction with a few buildings that were rebuilt to their original prewar state. We did pass one church which had obviously been bombed and not reconstructed. It’s roof and windows were left open and the inside turned into a war memorial. Old St. Albans Church dates back to the middle ages. It was damaged during WWII as was 72% of the city. Cologne decided to leave the prominent church in a ruined status as a memorial to the sadness caused by war. There is a moving Kathe Kollwitz statue representing the grief of parents who have lost children in war and there is also a memorial to prisoners of war who had not yet returned. You can only look into the church through the gate as it is not open to the public.
Koln is known for “another breathtaking cathedral” which we only saw a little from back as there was a special service starting for a pilgrimage when we arrived. It was very moving just to listen to the organ music at the service. Pat and David went back and really saw the whole cathedral. This church was under construction on and off for 600 years. The foundation stone of the Gothic Cathedral was laid on 15 August 1248 and was finally completed in 1880 – in accordance with the plan originating from the Middle Ages. It suffered much damage from WWII bombs but was reconstructed and is in continual maintenance. Over 80 stonemasons, glaziers, roofers and other specialists are constantly at work on the maintenance and restoration of the Cathedral building.
We saw lots of couples coming and going from the town hall for weddings scheduled every 20 minutes.
We made an Apotheke stop to stock up on drugs. At least 30% of the people on this boat are sick with a respiratory infection including David and Bonnie. You now its bad when the local guides have been instructed to point out the local pharmacies along the walking route.
C did some shopping for gifts and we had a great lunch in a pub garden (Weinhaus Brungs on Marsplatz 3). We shared some sausage and cheese plates and a flatbread pizza with cream fraishe and arugula on top. The beer on this trip is just delicious. Even Cynthia and I who do not like beer are enjoying the beer on this trip. That empty chair is David’s – after I called him a “whiny schnitzel” at breakfast, he decided he needed to stay on the ship and sleep and get better. He was a new man at dinner time!
I wasted 11 euros on the Chocolate Museum which was underwhelming but I did buy some Lindt bars and hot chocolate to bring home from the gift shop. There was some great architecture in the museum and great city views all around. The museum gives a history of the discovery and production of chocolate and I did learn some things. Originally it was built and run by the Stollwerk chocolate company but now its run by Lindt. It would be a good place to bring kids on a rainy day.
Back on the ship, C and I sat on the upper deck in the late afternoon watching last of passengers straggle in before the 4pm departure.
We had another steak dinner with views out stern of the boat. Too much good food on this trip. Just pass Koln is the industrial part of Rhine with huge chemical complexes. Tonight we had a clear sky with many stars on a chilly night – I was up in the middle of the night watching out the window.
