Monthly Archives: September 2019

The last city we visited in Germany was Cologne with its mixture of old and new, and the origin of Eau de Cologne.  One of the major sight is the Cologne Cathedral which was begun around 1248 and took nearly seven centuries to be completed.  Like so many of the cathedrals we have seen, it is constantly in a state of repair with scaffolding on at least one side.  Most of them are constructed from limestone and the pollutants in the air and age cause the black color that needs to be cleaned and repaired.  This particular cathedral proports to house the bones of the Magi, stolen by Frederick Barbarossa from a church in Milan in 1164.  The relics are in a wooden sarcophagus covered with gold and silver and decorated with more than a thousand jewels and beads that is standing behind the main altar, but we were not able to see it.  It was Sunday and morning Mass was being held during our time there.
We also found out, this is where Eau de Cologne was created by an Italian perfume maker, Johann Farina in 1709 and had a distinctive citrus fragrance. Before long, all the royals in Europe were using the fragrant solution because bathing was not a frequent event, but it was very expensive.  A bottle of Eau de Cologne was equivalent to six month’s salary for a civil servant.

The city is also renowned for it’s places to eat and drink with over 100 traditional brewpubs where Kolsch, Cologne’s signature beer is brewed and served in small thin glasses so it never gets warm. Not available outside the city limits, it is served by waiters in traditional costume of the brewery.

Like so many other cities we visited, Cologne has it’s Love Lock Bridge where people profess their “forever” love by putting a lock with their initials or names and date on the bridge and throw the key into the Rhine River. An interesting social comment on the tradition is that now some of the couples use combination locks because they are not so permanent.

There are numerous museums in Cologne but the only one we chose to visit was the Lindt Chocolate Museum and then after walking there, we decided we just wanted to visit the gift shop.

More pictures of Cologne:

Train Station in Cologne main way of transportation in Cologne

Cologne Cathedral from a different direction

Downtown Cologne, not many people out as it was Sunday and no shops open on  Sunday

Town Hall in Cologne

By 10 PM that night we were sailing for Kinderdik, The Netherlands to visit the windmills of South Holland.  In this low-lying land are 19 of the best preserved windmills and the largest concentration in The Netherlands.  They were constructed in the mid 18th century and now, except for two preserved tourist visits, they are all used as homes and  all are fully functional.

This the wheel that  turned the windmill to get maximum wind.

This was the official end of our glorious river cruise.  Tomorrow was allowing Viking to transport us and our luggage to the airport in Amsterdam and then the nine hour trip home.  We had great fun and made many memories but we were ready to get home.