Carleen's travel blog: Rhein Cruise Tag Acht

Roman floor

Cologne Cathedral

Stained Glass Window Cologne Cathedral

Cologne with it’s humongous Cathedral! We had an amazing guide who was born and raised in the US until (as he describes it ) became part of a romantic comedy he met a girl while stuck at Heathrow Airport. They married and moved to her hometown of Cologne. Our other city guides were all natives of that area and very civically promoting (the best this, the largest that). Dereck on the other hand was very funny and self-deprecating. Loved his sense of humor. He claims the people from Cologne take their time finishing everything from the cathedral (begun in the Middle Ages and finished in the 1800s) to the Music Theater that was opened as a one summer temporary building with a canvas roof - 24 years ago and still staging annual productions,
Cologne was heavily damaged during WWII with over 90% of the buildings destroyed. It is now a clean and beautiful city with many buildings restored. They are known for their Kolsch beer served in 200ml glasses. The other cities describe them as test tubes, but the locals say the beer stays colder that way. It was a lot like Coors Light. There are small stores on every block called kiosks where you can buy beer (and other liquor) and walk around with open containers. And yet the city was surprisingly clean.
Words cannot describe the Cathedral. It is massive and inspiring. Apparently it was built to house the relics of the 3 wise men. Photos will not do it justice.
During the war, the residents took out the stained glass windows to save them and started digging a hole next to the Cathedral. There they uncovered an entire dining room mosaic floor from Roman times with over 3 million tiles.
The afternoon was on the board, speeding up to Amsterdam. Dinner was festive with lobster, crab cakes and beef tenderloin. We had a chance to applaud the staff. They are wonderful,