Well, we didn’t sleep terribly well last night. There is a lot of noise during the night on these river boats. Not just engine noise, which is fairly substantial as we chug up-stream, but each time you go through a lock the boat bumps on the side…kinda crazy.
This morning was spent just cruising the river. It’s pretty scenery, but not much going on, and it is very overcast, causing photos to be underwhelming. The internet is spotty, so I spent some time catching up on my journal and Mr. Tattered read. After four weeks of go, go go this seems really slow and we’re wondering how we’re going to last 2 whole weeks.
We were glad to see lunch time roll around just to have something to do…
After lunch we docked in Cologne and set off with our fellow Road Scholars for a walking tour of the city, which was to end at the Cathedral.
Cologne was a part of the Roman Empire back in the day, but it was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during WWII. The population was reduced by 95%, and nearly the whole town was destroyed. The tour guide who lived in the city, was pretty matter of fact about it, saying “we started the war and got what we deserved, so I’m not trying to make you feel bad for us…”
When the city was rebuilt, part of it was reconstructed following the plans of what had been there before, and some was just new construction. There was very little to see that was from antiquity. It was a pretty short walk.
Most of the small amount of time we were to be there was spent at the Cathedral.
By the time we got to the Cathedral it was raining and we were glad to get inside.
It was really quite lovely. But in comparison to what we’ve already seen, I can’t say it was any better. Or even quite as good. If it hadn’t been raining, we probably would have stayed and walked around a bit. But it was really messy, and we were just glad to get back to the boat.
Meals are becoming a bit of an issue. The chef doesn’t seem to know how to fix anything vegetarian except pasta. Some days it’s interesting, some days it’s pretty marginal. But pasta for lunch and pasta for dinner is getting tiresome.
And the desserts cracks me up. For some reason, the desserts in Germany LOOK fabulous, but aren’t very sweet. Probably better health-wise, and for me, it makes it really easy to have a bite or two and quit.
But the wine is good! Too good.
Tattered 'n Worn 