A rainy day in Cologne

Rain.  What can you do?  Fortunately, I was able to grab an umbrella from the few that Avalon put out for our use and off we went.

Our walking tour was quite interesting winding us through the cobblestone streets of the Altstadt (Old City) before ending in front of the Cologne Cathedral.  The Cathedral is immense; in order to actually stand and look from bottom to top, I had to put my head back so far that I was afraid I was going to topple over!  There is scaffolding covering some segments since repair, restoration, and cleaning is a constant task with an ediface so huge.

Door Knocker at Cathedral at Night

DH and I spent quite a bit of time in the Cathedral trying to take pictures that would illustrate the size of this building.  Very difficult to do.

There are more flowers than we've seen in Amsterdam.  Quite pretty as you walk through the city.

I apologize for the order of the pictures.  We're trying to get them all organized by day, but not always successful!

Flowers by the fountain telling the story of the elves.

Starbucks iin Cologne!

After a brief stroll along the river and short visit to the Chocolate Museu,m we returned to the boat in the late afternoon for cocktails and a lovely dinner with Del and Tom from Texas.  Del is originally from the Phillipines, and she has quite a vibrant personality.

Along the riverbank

I convinced Doug to go back into Cologne to see the city at night.  The Cathedral is even more magnificent at with the city lights as a background.

Church bells chime at all hours of the day, not always on the 1/4 hour, and for various lengths of time.  I love hearing them!

Tomorrow, my 65th birthday, we'll be in Koblenz then sailing through the Rhine Gorge where many castles are located, then stopping in Rudesheim.  What a wonderful way to spend a birthday!