July 10
Today was a wonderful day! The first thing that was oh so unique was that when I woke up Kim was not in bed....looked at my watch and it was 8:30am - I never sleep past 7 am and usually and hour earlier. Wasn't up late yesterday, wasn't a long day....but I apparently needed the sleep! And as I looked out it was so cool to see us still cruising along the Rhine River. It wasn't too long before we slowed down as we passed through a town and I said to Kim, I'm pretty sure this is Dusseldorf, where Khloe and I stopped on our Christmas Markets cruise two years ago. Checked Google-Maps and it was.
Dusseldorf today - on the Christmas Markets 2022
At 11am we had a special "German feast" in the lounge - even though lunch was being served at 12:30! Still, nearly everyone of the 175 guests on board were there to try the authentic food. And it WAS delicious.
Afterwards it was back on the top deck for ore cruising until around 2pm we were drawing close to to e to Cologne. We docked around 2:15pm and by 2:45 we got the all clear to disembark and join into our tour groups. As we were leaving our stateroom our program director Lucas (who has become a "buddy of mine - we've had several extended conversations) came on the PA and announced there was a high chance of rain so take rain coats and/or the umbrellas provided in our staterooms. We'd chose the generic city tour, but we were so fortunate that we had an excellent guide, her name was Kia. We met her right on the pier and we headed towards the central part of the city. The first stop along the river was the iconic bridge with is known all over for lovers putting their locks on the bridge.
As we headed into the old town we came to the "tax house" which was originally built in the 1400's to collect taxes on ships sailing down the river. The original building had been destroyed by a flood many years ago and finished off during the bombings of WW II, but when they rebuilt it they were able to save the original staircase which was built so many hundreds of years ago:
Just yards away was the fish market were some colorful houses from those medieval days, and Kia told us a great photo op was to shoot the houses, with a cool fountain (featuring four different fishermen's wives in various emotional states) with St. Martin's Church in the background.
Up a few stairs and around the corner were two "well known" statutes - the names of these puppet characters are Tunnes and Schal. The latter is the common man who was characterized as being pretty slow in his thinking. The story Kia told about him was that he was standing on the riverfront and a man was drowning and he was screaming, "I can't swim!" And Schal put his hands on his hips and yelled back, "I can't swim either but you don't see ME screaming about it!" :) Tunnes on the other hand represented the scheming businessman who was always looking for an angle to make money. So the legend goes if you rub the nose of Schal you'll have luck in love and marriage; rub the nose of Tunnes and you'll have wealth in your lifetime. This is such a popular practice you can see how much more shiny their noses are in the photo:
Right as we walked away from the statutes it began to lightly rain so we all broke out our umbrellas and ponchos. We then were standing in front of a big clock tower, which seemed nothing unusual until our guide pointed out the bearded face below the clock. This is supposed to be the Mayor of Cologne, and every hour, on the hour he opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue :) As the rain lightly fell we were careful of our steps because we were walking on the traditional cobblestones.
As quickly as the rain had come, it stopped as we approached City Hall, known as the Rathaus, and right around the corner the iconic cathedral.
If you look at the very, VERY top of the spires you'll notice a prominent spike-like spire. Keep in mind that this church was constructed beginning in the 1400's and took OVER 600 YEARS to complete. How they got those spires up there is always a wonderment to me. But they had discovered one of the original spires NOT used on the cathedral and it's displayed on the area in front of the church. So for today's photo op I wanted to have Kim and I stand in front of it. You just cannot envision how very bit this is and THEN try to imagine how architects and builders in the 1400's and 1500's were able to get those way up there!
Originally Cologne was a Roman colony, and to this day when digging foundations for new buildings, etc. they still discover Roman ruins. One such is the arch on the plaza in front of the church and another is a stretch of ancient Roman road. Our last stop was at a beer house to sample the local Kolsch beer. But several people asked if we could take five minutes for them to look inside the cathedral so we waited for them. Just as they were all returning it started to rain....and not just rain, but STORM with strong winds. Everyone pulled out their umbrellas and ponchos again, but poor Kia, her umbrella blew up and she got soaked :) Personally I thought the rainstorm added "color" to the story of the day :)
We got out of the pouring rain at the tavern and enjoyed a local beer, and when we left the sun was shining for our short walk back to the ship! We closed out the night with a special dining experience at the "Chef's Table" reserved for just our travel group. Tomorrow will be a LONG day of adventures - first the Rhine Gorge which should start around 9 am. Then in the afternoon we will be in Rudesheim where we have an excursion that includes wine tasting. And finally after dinner we have a museum tour. So no promises as to when the pics will be up tomorrow - but one thing I've learned is if I do not do the pictures before I go to bed, it's very difficult to find time to do them. So at SOME POINT tomorrow, pics will be up :)
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