Day 7 – Walking Tour of Cologne
I meant to mention in yesterday’s post Dan’s exchange with the Hotel Manager when we checked in on Day 2 of the cruise, in which his response to Dan’s comments that we’re not used to getting waited on hand and foot was “Get used to it.”
On Day 3 of the cruise, we got to have a “lie in” today, as Kathy the Canadian Cruise Director would say, before going on our shore excursion walking tour of Cologne. Naturally it was pouring rain the entire time, right up until the tour ended.
Did you know that this is where Eau du Cologne was created? Now you do. We did not get any; not a perfume person.
Also, Cologne’s favourite snack apparently is a donut called the Berliner. We had one, and it’s pretty much what we in Canada would call a Bismarck. Funny story, and one I wish I had found a T-shirt with the meme about it, when JFK came to Berlin he said, Ich bin ein Berliner, which the people of Cologne laughed at because all they heard was I am a donut.
The Cologne Cathedral is massive and detailed in its architecture, and is the tallest twin-tower church in the world. But what it’s also known for is that where the majority of Cologne was destroyed during WW2, the church remained standing as a landmark for Allied Forces to navigate from. The Allied Bombers absolutely flattened the rest of the community.
We took a stroll through the train station, where Dan required assistance with using the self-help checkout till at the grocery store. The police arrived in force shortly thereafter, but don’t worry, it wasn’t for us. It was for the fans of the Arsenal football (soccer) team, who were being rowdy on their way to the match against Bayer Leverkusen.
Cologne is also known for their love-lock bridge, which they blew up in WW2 to prevent the Allied Forces from crossing the Rhine. They rebuilt the bridge to accommodate train and pedestrian traffic, instead of vehicles, and now 12,000 trains a day pass over that bridge in both directions. In the 1970s someone (a bunch of someone’s) started locking padlocks to the bridge with their initials engraved as a demonstration of their for everlasting love. They would then toss the key into the river, symbolizing the impossibility of breaking or removing the lock. Since then there have been so many locks added that they are estimated to number over 300,000 and collectively weigh over 100,000 pounds.
We returned to the ship, relaxed for a bit writing the previous blog, before having another fine dining experience (really, “chef’s kiss”), and turning in for the night. Tomorrow will be another relatively early day.
Gute Nachte!
Adelle and Dan
Guigon Travels 