Cologne

Cologne Cathedral from the Ship's dock

Installing a ramp to get us over the wall

We traveled up the Rhine all last night and most of today, docking in Cologne, Germany around 4PM.  This was a little later than planned, but not by much.  The water level is lower than usual and we are docked next to a large retaining wall, so the crew actually had to set up the ramp on the top sun deck for us to disembark. Our room is facing the wall, so no view from our room today.

Today's included tour was a walking city tour.  We began and ended at the High Cathedral of St. Peter, which was begun in 1248 and not finished until over 600 years later, in 1880.  Our guide commented that, since the limestone that it was built from is constantly eroding, it needs frequent repair and will never really be finished.

Cologne Cathedral (up close)

City Hall

From there we walked to the site of the original perfume manufacturer of Cologne, which was first called Farina's Eau de Cologne, or water from Cologne.  The inventor, Johann Maria Farina, was actually an Italian who moved to Cologne and created the perfume in 1708.
Across from the perfume house is an open excavation site of the former Jewish quarters. Our guide talked about the fact that, since this was and is a very Catholic city, Jews could not join the guilds or live in the same area as everyone else, so they were concentrated in one area, from as early as 300 AD.  She explained the various persecutions they suffered and the reasons behind each episode.

Next we visited the city hall where a lesbian wedding was taking place.  The photo shows the happy couple in the center, surrounded by loving family and friends.  We got a brief explanation of the symbols and images on the building.  One part shows the Germans do have a sense of humor.  Across the market square from the city hall, there is a sculpture of a boy mooning city hall high on one of the buildings.  In response, there is a stern face sculpted under the clock on city hall, poking back at the mooning boy.

Mooning Figure on 3rd floor wall

City Hall's response

Our last stop was at a pillar showing a mark where ice-triggered flooding came in 1784, distorting much of the town.  On the other side there is another example of the German sense of humor.  It notes the date that John Glen stepped on the moon and the distance he was from that site when he did. As our guide said, the people of Cologne consider themselves the center of the world.

We had dinner this evening with a different set of Aussies.  Believe it or not, the largest number of passengers on this ship, after Americans, are Australian.  Other countries represented are New Zealanders, Canadians,  and British.  The cruise seems to have been marketed solely to English speaking countries.  This makes sense because they don't have to worry about hiring translators or having multilingual tours.  The ship is much too small to make that practical.

On several of our tours I noticed a couple traveling with his elderly parents. They didn't seem to be interacting with too many others, so when I saw them at a table for 6 with 2 empty seats, I suggested we join them.  It was a very pleasant dinner.  All 4 of them work in education.  The younger man is a school principal, his wife is a teacher, his father is a retired principle and his mother worked in school administration.  The wife's parents were also teachers.  We had a lovely conversation with them, covering a wide range of topics.  So now we know 8 people on the ship, plus a few others just to say hello to.

The cruise director brought a string quartet on board to perform tonight, but we did not attend the show. We're both still tired.  The ship was a little noisy for me last night until I found and inserted my earplugs.  Ray just says he hasn't adjusted well yet.  It should get easier as we go.