The Skirnr arrived at Koln at 9 in the morning, having left Koblenz at 3 A.M., according to our in-room daily newsletter. We didn't notice the departure -- by this time in the journey (only a couple days from its end) we were quite used to the motions of the boat.
We opened our balcony door to watch the landing and saw a Festival Beer Garden set up right across the sidewalk from our room. People were already having fun (at just 9 in the morning) -- or maybe it was "still having fun" from the night before, who knows?
The top two pictures above show how our boat was docked here. The rather steep gangplank that we walked to get in and out shows on the left. The lower picture is the beer garden, taken from our balcony. This docking point was great, because we were able to walk on that sidewalk right into the center of town. (I think a few passengers might have gotten sidetracked on the way in, right there across the 'street'.
We were looking forward to a nice long day in Koln. After breakfast on board, we headed into town -- which was already hopping by that time in the morning. We saw a coffee shop called Oma Jan's in the same building as Papa Joe's Bier Salon. It was a little early to patronize Papa, but we enjoyed a pastry and coffee at Oma's. (Those happen to be two German words I understand very well, as I've known a few couples whose grandchildren called them Oma and Papa.) As it turned out, we would visit Papa Joe's later in the day.
It was pleasant to stroll around the old town watching people .... we stumbled on a wedding right at the busiest corner of the pedestrian mall. The happy couple had quite a few uninvited guests. Everyone was waiting until the white "doves" were released. Someone told me that a man has a business renting out these homing pigeons for events.
I don't know the significance of the top statue but the bottom (uh, lower?) center gargoyle is said to be mooning a statue that is across the river -- that one is sticking its tongue out. In addition to being a happening town, it seems Cologne seemed a bit of an irreverent one.
Irreverent in spite of the fact that the twin spires of the 14th-Century Gothic Cathedral dominate the City skyline. The Cathedral is one of the few buildings in the City that was spared allied bombs during WWII. The City is quite a mix of old and new, with ancient Roman ruins right next to modern buildings.
Ornate and imposing, the Cathedral also has beautiful stained-glass windows, which down't show well at all in this picture. There is a 500+ step tower which leads to a viewing platform (we did not climb it). It holds an impressive sarcophagus which is said to contain bones of the Magi (the three Kings who visited Baby Jesus).
After viewing the Cathedral, we wandered back to the boat for lunch (which we didn't really need) and a nap, which we did. It was a pre-emptive rest, because we had chosen to take an optional evening tour to explore Cologne's food and beer culture -- and we did want to start out wide awake!
Cologne is famous for its Kolsch beer. By law, real Kolsch can only be produced here. As we walked back to town, our knowledgeable tour guide (a young woman) provided very interesting history of Cologne's signature beer and explained that we would visit four authentic German brauhauses. Our first stop was Papa Joe's , the one we'd looked at when we walked around that morning. As we enjoyed our first glass of Kolsch, we admired the hand-carved and life-sized mechanical band. Papa's is a jazz club, but the only music we heard was when the "band" played traditional German songs. It was probably too early in the evening.
At the second stop, we enjoyed our Kolsch along with a traditional four-course German dinner. Waiters carried multiple glasses in one hand, while at the same time scooping up empties with the other. We learned the special way to toast each other with the special Kolsch glasses. "Prost" is the German word -- as we would say "cheers." (You clink the bottom of the glasses, while looking each other in the eye -- otherwise it is bad luck.)
Beer Mat (coaster)
Kolsch glasses are small, but we learned that they would be refilled unless you remember to put the beer mat over it. That is how you signal you've had enough. Our (I guess unlimited) beer and food was pre-paid since we were on a tour, but normally, the waiter would make a hash-mark on the beer mat for each refill and that is how they know how to charge the drinker.
Prost!
There were two more tour stops -- at the last one, our guide told us the Brauhaus had been built on the site of Roman ruins -- there were actually plexi-glass windows in a few places on the floor where you could see bones on the ground below. I didn't really want to think about that too much by that point.
(This picture has nothing to do with beer.)
Our group had gotten gradually smaller as the tour progressed, but we stayed until the end, arriving back at the ship around 10 p.m. .... The boat left port at 10:30. The picture above is shortly after we left, motoring past some of the bright lights of a more modern part of Cologne..
We sat on our deck enjoying the still warm evening as we said Auf Wiedersehen to Koln ... and to Germany. The next morning, the Skirnr would dock in the Netherlands, the fourth country we would see while on this cruise.
We had fun in Koln, but as we reflected, we were most grateful for all we had learned at every stop in Germany. We enjoyed the country so much... perhaps more than I had thought we would. I really knew so very little about it, even though both of us can trace part of our ancestry to that country.
Linking this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.
ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;
TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;
SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;
