Cologne, Germany

We made our way to breakfast in the dining area at our usual time and in our usual table.  Our usual server, Kate, made sure that we were all well satisfied.  We did have a very pleasant and interesting breakfast guest.  Trudy is a widow who now lives in Costa Mesa, California but grew up and spent much of her life in Mannheim, Germany.  We enjoyed her German accent that sometimes drifted into complete German especially when discussing one of the many topics on which she is passionate.  Trudy’s late husband was once mayor of Costa Mesa and she is still very active in politics as an elected official as well as serving on local committees.  She is quite a character.

The morning excursion was a walking tour of Cologne and the Cologne Cathedral, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We were on a bus with a guide who was very witty and was teasing the driver about how many Smart Car’s he has crushed with the bus.  Although we were initially disappointed that he would not be our city guide, we learned that the German guide, Ute, who was assigned to us was just as amusing but in quite another way.  On our walk around the cathedral she was telling us how easy going and liberal the citizens of Cologne are when compared to most other areas of Germany. 
About that time a bicyclist came riding past and she thrust her guide sign (lollipop) out at the cyclist and shouting in German that he was riding in a pedestrian only area. Later in the cathedral a man was leading a group of tourists who apparently did not have a license to guide from the Bureau of Tourism. She let him have it with a tirade on how it is illegal for him to act as a guide without the proper credentials and how his group should get out of the way of groups who were there legally. As we approached the crypt that is reputed to hold the remains of the three wise men, an American tourist, not with our group, was drinking coffee in the cathedral. Our guide soundly scolded her that she was not in a biergarten and should not bring beverages into a church.

Crypt that is reputed to contain the remains of the three wise men

The Cologne Cathedral is really magnificent.  It is good that Cologne is one of our last stops since if we had visited this cathedral first all of the ones to follow further up the Rhine would have been a letdown.  Although Cologne is a large city, the cathedral spires tower over everything.  Finding the towers of the church make it impossible to get lost in Cologne.  Despite being near 900 years old, the cathedral is still an active and working church. 

Ian with one of Cologne's Kolsch beers

After leaving the church the guide took us along the banks of the Rhine River past the fish market area where many good restaurants and biergartens are located.  She also pointed out directions to places for shopping and other area attractions that we may wish to visit in the afternoon.  We had been to Cologne in 2010 including to the cathedral but since it was in late December, the city looked very different.  There were many more people in the cathedral, the biergartens, shops and on the streets this time of year.

We took the 12:30 shuttle back to the ship and had lunch in the informal grill area of the Aquavit lounge.  We had sliced flank steak, soups, salads and apple beignets for lunch.  We left lunch to walk into the city to spend the afternoon visiting some of the locations in Cologne that we like to see.  We stopped by a shop that sells locally made fragrances and bought a cologne from Cologne for Gran.  We walked along the river and sampled several brands of Kolsch Bier which is only made in the Cologne area. 

Emily, Mary & Ian at ruins of Roman settlement

We made it to the Lindt chocolate factory and visitor center.  Mary, Emily & I had been here in 2010 but it is a very good visit.  There is a lot of signage on the history and making of chocolate.  You can also see chocolate being made into hollow shapes as well as small bars.  The process is very interesting and requires many steps to prepare what we know as chocolate from the raw beans. 

After leaving the Lindt factory we walked across the street to the Mustard (Senf) Museum.  This is actually just a store that sells a wide variety of mustards and has some interpretative displays on mustard.  We had several samples of the mustards including a special Cologne style as well as one made with Riesling wine.  Ian & Emily purchased several as gifts for family and friends. 

Mustard Museum in Cologne

We enjoyed the walk back along the Rhine since the temperatures were back up in the 70s by that time in the afternoon.  These cooler European temperatures seem very pleasant after leaving the upper 90s of home nearly two weeks ago.  We stopped at another biergarten for a final Kolsch and hunted a geocache or two along the way then made our way back to the ship.  Since we were all pretty tired we read, relaxed and just rested for an hour or so until dinner.  I even managed to doze off a little.

We had the daily briefing at 6:45 then dinner at 7:00.  A group was leaving for one of the optional tours that was a tasting of local Kolsch Bier from several of the area pubs.  The charge for the excursion was an additional $90 per person.  We were able to stop by several Biergartens earlier in the afternoon and sample local Kolsch Bier for only about $9 with each of us having sips to compare.  While we like Viking very much we do not think that we would recommend the optional tours as a bargain or even a desirable choice, at least not for us.

Ancient crucifix in Cologne Cathedral

Once again, Chef Mario prepared some excellent choices for dinner.  Appetizers were egg rolls or French onion soup.  The main course choices were roasted chicken, seared sea bass or porcini mushroom ravioli.  Dessert was ice cream, sorbet or a chocolate cake.  Most of us had the sea bass although Mary said that the porcini ravioli was quite good.  We ate with a couple from New Jersey who had lived outside Albuquerque for a number of years.  They were quite pleasant so we chatted with them well past dinner.

Around 9 pm we went up on the sundeck and looked out over the city of Cologne. As the temperature cooled and the wind picked up we decided to return to our stateroom for the night.  The ship leaves for Kinderdijk around 1 am and should arrive in midafternoon on Tuesday.  We have a tour to see some restored working windmills at 4 pm.