Cologne

The ship docked about 10am and we left shortly after and boarded buses that took us into Cologne where we had a guided walking tour of the city for about 2 hours.   At the end of the tour we had the option of staying on in the city or returning on the bus.  We chose to stay on and use a shuttle bus later in the day.

 

 

it was a beautiful sunny day.  Our previous visit a few years ago was on a very wet and gloomy day and I didn't take any photos of the cathedral so it was nice to return and see it on a beautiful day.

Cologne was once a roman settlement and you can still see fragments of Roman ruins in some parts of the city and there are currently some archeological digs happening in the city.

We walked all around the city.  We stopped at a traditional Beerhaus for lunch.  An outdoor café where we each had a small beer local to the region accompanied by some Bratwurst, sauerkraut and potato salad.

We then were able to go and visit the cathedral.  The cathedral had been closed to visitors early in the day because it is a special day when they open the casket of the 3 wise men.  We weren’t able to see the casket of the 3 wise men.  The only way to do that would be to attend at service and the next one was going to be at 6pm.  If you did attend a service you could receive a special blessing and have a box of the bones of the 3 wise men placed on your head.  You would then be blessed for the rest of your life.

 

The cathedral is magnificent.  it is a gothic cathedral that was begun in 1248.  The building of it went on for 300 hundred years and then there was a 300 year gap before work began again and finally completed in 1880.  it is the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe and has two soaring spires that symbolise the city and some beautiful stained glass windows.

We walked along the bridge that is in danger of collapsing under the weight of the thousands of padlocks that people have put on the bridge as a way of showing their affection for each other by locking your love wwith padlock and throwing away the key.  It is practised all over Europe now but this particular bridge definitely has the most padlocks.  My personal view is its just another form of graffiti.