We are on tour today but we cannot return to the ship until 6:30pm. Something to do with cleaning of the ship by local people. Everyone, including all the staff, need to be off the ship in the afternoon. The staff do not know what they will do during the four hours they are banned from the ship. What a mess!
The lock system is different on the river. This was one of the many locks we passed through. The gates go up and down and not side to side like the Panama Canal. Very interesting.
We were in the yellow group and our leader was DD. A young man with many political views which some we shared and others not so much. I think someone told him to cool it because at the end of the day, he said he was not to be so political.
We started with a walk into the city of Cologne. Walked by the river and viewed a train bridge that was distroyed during the war but they were able to pull it out of the river and reconstruct it. So part of the bridge is old and held together with rivets while the newer part is rivetless.
The supports of this bridge were destroyed by the Allies during WWII. But the steel structure stayed together but in the river. After the war was over, they rescued the steel structure and rebuilt the bridge. There is part of the new bridge which is not made with the rivets.
A new tradition is for the newly married to place a lock on the bridge. Now there are thousands of locks of all sorts.
This is only a front of an old building. The rest of the structure was destroyed but whoever decides to rebuild the building must keep the old front. It is being held up with supports.
This is the tower of town hall. The tower is a symbol of the Cologne citizens' sense for freedom and self confidence. It was built in 1407 - 1414 as a symbol of power after they usurped the rule form the patrician families who had been in power until 1396. The tower was almost completely destroyed during WWII. It was reconstructed in 1958 .
In the square which used to be a fish market, we found this statue. The four women are representing the fish caught in the river. Actually there were only three kinds of fish so the 4th woman is crying because she has no fish.
The spires can be seen from all over Cologne.
They started building the Cathedral in 1248. It was never destroyed during the war because the Allies used it as a landmark. The structure dominates the skyline of Cologne.
The inside is just beautiful. One thing this Cathedral has that other do not is pews.
All of the stained glass windows were removed during the war. Only one did not make it so they replaced it with this very modern window.
The floors are beautiful mosaic tiles.
The above is the Altarpiece of the City Patrons by Stephan Lochner. The Central Panel is the Adoration of the Magi. On the left is Ursula Wing and on the right Gereon Wing.
We ended the walking tour at the Cathedral. Wow what a place. It is too bad that it is so dirty but they have not had success in trying to clean it up. The soot and all is now embedded in the stone. We walked around the Cathedral for about 45 minutes and then had a few minutes of free time.
We gathered for lunch in a German Restaurant with typical German food. Bratworst, etc. And of course, beer.
Next we got on buses and drove out of the city to visit Schloss Drachenburg Castle. Up there you got a terrific view of the Rhine River. We wandered about the castle and took the cog train both up and down. Then back on the buses and our return to the ship.
This is the cog rail that takes you up to the castle.
And here is the castle. Can you imagine living in such a space? I can't.
The view of the Rhine is wonderful.
This is some of the detail of the castle. I love the tongue.
The gardens were in full bloom. Nice to see the colors. I think Gretchen would love these flowers.
More of the gardens.
This is the center staircase. I look little because this place is so big.
Dinner was with Stephen, Nancy, Peter, and Debbie. Peter likes to talk about himself. He sort of takes center stage. Oh well. I think the food is okay but Bob thinks he has had better. I think we expected better than we are getting.
Back to the cabin and bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment