Cologne

We awoke in Cologne, Germany on October 9th...

...docked along with other river cruise ships along the banks of the Rhein.

Immediately after breakfast we started out on our walking tour of the city.

At every stop along the way, we were met with a local guide who would lead the tour.

They were all terrific and easy to hear with the headphone system that we were given for the duration of the cruise. 

 

The Weckschnapp Tower...part of the original city wall of Cologne.

A scene from Old Town Cologne.

And always...the beautiful window boxes!

The Hohenzollern Bridge...

...the most used railway bridge in Germany.

The bridge is well-known for the thousands of 'love locks' placed on the fence by couples from around the world.

The Cologne Cathedral is a World Heritage Site and Germany's most visited landmark.

Construction began in 1248 but took six centuries to complete.

The cathedral survived 14 hits by aerial bombs in World War ll...

remaining standing while most of Cologne was flattened.

At 157 meters, the cathedral is the tallest tallest twin-spired church in the world.

The interior is famous for its beautiful artwork and stained-glass windows.

Having visited the cathedral previously, it wasn't at the top on my priority list.

But we were in Cologne...so we had to take a peek inside!

It really is amazing!

The famous 4711 Fragrance House...

a store and museum for the brand 4711 cologne.

My souvenir from Cologne...

to go with the coffee spoon my parents brought me in the 70's. 

Our favorite stop in Cologne (as in every stop along the way)...

was the bakery coffee shop!

We walked back to our ship and carried on down the river.

We realized our cruise was nearing the end and we had yet to crack open our prosecco bottles...

compliments of our travel agent.

Today was the day.

We shared with some of our travel mates.

Chris and John from Melbourne...Carol and Wayne from Campbell River.

Every evening we all gathered in the lounge before dinner to hear the 'Port Talk' by Patricia...

our cruise director.

On this particular night there was also a Captain's Farewell Reception.

The end of the cruise was in sight!

Tomorrow we would be in Amsterdam...our final stop.