Woke this morning in Germany - the ship is so quiet and we slept well - moored in Düsseldorf and bussed to Cologne. David went to the Neanderthal Museum and I did the Cologne historical walking tour, starting outside the Cathedral.
First stop was a Roman pavement excavated 12 feet below ground level, dated to 230 AD, probably the floor of a rich Roman's dining room:
We walked and walked in the Old Quarter, all rebuilt since the bombing of Cologne in WW2. The cathedral fared relatively well with only one corner hit by bombs.
These are two iconic Cologne characters posing with our guide: if you rub the nose of the left one you get a happy, warm personality; if you rub the right nose you are lucky in money. So everyone rubs both.
This man under the clock on City Hall sticks out his tongue when the clock strikes the hour. Across the square a statue moons back at him. They're a hooligan lot in Cologne. Except when it comes to their cathedral, started in 1248, nominally finished in 1880 but continually worked on since.
Inside is very calm and quiet with beautiful stained glass windows
We had to wait at Cologne dock for Scenic Jasper to arrive
then it was lunch, barely time to draw breath and back into the bus to visit Castle Burg for a tour of the castle and dinner.
That's the castle in stained glass, in real life the keep is shrouded in scaffolding as major restoration is underway thanks to a recent federal grant of 30 million euros. They have constant functions: a pop music event was setting up in the courtyard, a wedding reception was happening in the cellars and 168 Scenic cruisers were dining in the banquet hall.
In the foreground is Angie from Millicent and her daughter Di. The entertainment was three medieval-style musicians on pipe, lure and drum plus singing and they were very good. Probably made the event, food was OK but not as good as the ship.
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