Oh wow! We were now in Germany!
Like I said before, the day starts out with amazing food!
We were driven to the Cologne Cathedral which was built on top of a Roman city wall. The wall is supposed to be 2,000 years old.
Gargoyle waterspouts on the roof shot rain water away from the cathedral. It was thought that gargoyles would protect everyone within the cathedral from evil spirits.
Since it was raining so much our guide took us below the cathedral into the parking lot where we could see how the cathedral had been built on top of Roman foundations.
Back at the riverboat, we had baby back ribs for lunch!
At 2:00 we caught the shuttle back into Cologne.
We were now able to gaze at the beauty of the Cologne Cathedral at our leisure.
The bones of the Three Wise Men are supposed to be entombed in the golden shrine near the altar. I got the following from Wikipedia:
The rest of our time was spent at the Romisch-Germanisches Museum. It was the perfect place to be on a very rainy day.
Our traveling companion, Terry is a nurse so she was particularly interested in the Roman medical equipment pictured below.
I had Roast Black Angus Beef Sirloin with Yorkshire pudding and Art had Muscheltopf (mussels steamed in white wine) for our 7:00 dinner. I was shocked to discover that Yorkshire pudding was nothing like what I imagined. You learn so much when you travel! All this time I thought it was like an American pudding when it's actually more like a popover!
Our dinner companions were Jeff and Linda from Connecticut. What a surprise to find that Linda is also a blogger and an educator as well! I was amazed that she was able to post our adventures on her blog every night. Her blog is Trains, Planes, Boats and Automobiles. (You can click here to visit her blog.) Instead of going back to Amsterdam after the riverboat cruise like we did, she and Jeff went on to Prague.
We really enjoyed meeting so many interesting people on this trip!
Like I said before, the day starts out with amazing food!
We were docked in the city of Cologne.
Cologne (German: Köln) is the largest city in the German federal state of North-Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth most populated city in Germany (after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich). Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine, near Germany's borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. --WikipediaIt was raining. A LOT!
Since it was raining so much our guide took us below the cathedral into the parking lot where we could see how the cathedral had been built on top of Roman foundations.
Back at the riverboat, we had baby back ribs for lunch!
At 2:00 we caught the shuttle back into Cologne.
We were now able to gaze at the beauty of the Cologne Cathedral at our leisure.
The bones of the Three Wise Men are supposed to be entombed in the golden shrine near the altar. I got the following from Wikipedia:
The Shrine of the Three Kings, Tomb of the Three Kings, or Tomb of the Three Magi is a reliquary traditionally ascribed as containing the bones of the Biblical Magi, also known as the Three Kings or the Three Wise Men. The shrine is a large gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus placed above and behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedral. It is considered the high point of Mosan art and the largest reliquary in the western world.
The rest of our time was spent at the Romisch-Germanisches Museum. It was the perfect place to be on a very rainy day.
Our dinner companions were Jeff and Linda from Connecticut. What a surprise to find that Linda is also a blogger and an educator as well! I was amazed that she was able to post our adventures on her blog every night. Her blog is Trains, Planes, Boats and Automobiles. (You can click here to visit her blog.) Instead of going back to Amsterdam after the riverboat cruise like we did, she and Jeff went on to Prague.
We really enjoyed meeting so many interesting people on this trip!
Both the cathedral and museum look fascinating. Ah yes, Yorkshire pudding; it's been a very long time since I last had it.
ReplyDeleteI have never had Yorkshire pudding, and now maybe I won't. Lots of great looking food on this particular day! You got some great pictures in spite of the rain. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat cathedral is so imposing. I remember walking from our little hotel (a Rick Steves find) through the train station and out onto cathedral square, where this huge, very black spired structure loomed over us. We loved exploring it.
ReplyDeleteSo you weren't on the tour at the time? You mentioned a hotel.
DeleteSo very glad you were able to take this trip. Marvelous. Yes, I too would have gone on to Prague.
ReplyDeleteWe had it wet and windy in Cologne too. We were in walking distance of the cathedral so returned there after dinner so Dan could show me the Roman mosaic floor that the bike tour guide had shared with them but our guide hadn't. Your dining arrangements are different. We could go to dinner any time after the dining room opened and sit with whomever we chose or by our selves. We met quite a mix of people.
ReplyDeleteHi Marcia! I'm glad we can compare notes. So funny that you got rain in Cologne too. We did notice that each guide took groups to different places. Ah yes, we saw that giant mosaic at the museum too.
DeleteI just love your pictures! You truly captured the beauty of the cathedral. Your meal pictures also brought back fond memories of the lunches and dinners aboard the Vili. My mouth watered at the sight of those ribs.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Hi Linda,
DeleteIt's so exciting to hear from you. Those ribs were good, I must say. I have 7,300 photos to choose from since Art had his cellphone as well as his camera. I brought my Canon but only used it for about 2-3 days because it was too bulky to carry.
Too bad about the rain, but an interesting day for sure.
ReplyDeletei've been there in 1964 but lerned lots from your post...
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely trip and so nice to see your photographs.
ReplyDeleteLove the stained glass windows.
All the best Jan
The Cathedral is very, very ornate. What great food! None of it German food?
ReplyDeleteOh yes, we did have some German food. Why do I only remember the beer?
DeleteOn i gotta go!
ReplyDeleteThat cathedral is impressive, isn't it? I was there in 1984 and I still remember it vividly. It's said to be the most massive church in Europe.
ReplyDeleteAnd I bet the Roman wall was impressive in its day. The Rhine was the border of the Empire, and Colonia Agrippina (as it was called then) needed all the protection it could get.
Hey, I grew up with Yorkshire puddings -- one side of my family is from Yorkshire. That one at least looks authentic, though who knows how well the Germans could reproduce the quality of the real thing.
There were so many incredible cathedrals in Europe, it was mind boggling. How did they ever build them without modern day technology? We met a wonderful English couple on the boat that I wrote about on tomorrow's post.
DeleteBoy that cathedral looks right out of the middle ages--oh that's right--it is. "Pillars of the Earth", set in the 12th century was a wonderful book about cathedral building.
ReplyDeleteThat food looks soooo good.
Wow, fabulous!
ReplyDeleteWe visited Paris back in 2003 or so. Down below the castle is the most interesting spot, scary, though!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's it! Pillars of the Earth! I am going backwards. Sorry. It is an excellent novel, that talks about building these huge buildings, the politics, the money, much like your current local infrastructure issues!