Day 33 - [R]hine River Cruise (Cologne), Germany

Exploring Cologne

The morning view from my porthole

I slept better on my second night, becoming used to the sound of the boat running up the river. I still woke before the dawn. This morning’s activity was a walking tour of Koeln (Cologne). Because of sailing times, the ship docked at Zons and the tour group disembarked and loaded onto buses to be driven into Cologne while the ship continued up the river. This meant that we could be in Cologne in 45 minutes rather than the few hours the ship would take, fitting in the touring that was scheduled and allowing afternoon activities as well.

Zons

Zons

Autumn colours

The coach trip was unremarkable and passed more quickly than I felt 45 minutes would take. Most of it was on an autobahn so the scenery was very unremarkable. On arrival in Cologne, we were marshalled into our groups and my group was introduced to Sarah, our guide for the morning. Sarah was a bright and personable young German woman, who was self-admittedly German; a bit brusque, and humourous in a German manner. The tour was not a lot of walking, especially but it was also not quick walking, so overall it went on for the whole morning.

We started on the bank of the Rhine where the Sigrun would eventually dock so that we knew where to come back to. We walked along the foreshore being informed about the broad history of Cologne, starting from the Roman conquest in about 38BC and right up to the modern times. We crossed the ‘love lock’ bridge. Sarah said this was the bridge that started the trend. I have to say I thought it was a bridge over the Seine, but I wasn’t certain, so I let it slide. As we crossed the bridge – the busiest rail bridge in Europe with 1400 trains across it per day! – we were walking inexorably towards the Cologne Cathedral.

First view of Cologne from the group meeting point	A view of modern Cologne up the Rhine	The church and town hall spire in Cologne across the Rhine
Along the lock bridge (on the side with the locks)	A lot of locks on this bridge	Endless love
Statue to one of the four Prussians that drove Cologne’s development in the 1800s	Modern art museum	Modern art sculpture

The cathedral is a building that dominates the landscape. The choir was completed in the middle ages, apparently, and one tower started then, but the building works fell into a hiatus after the Protestant Reformation because there was no longer enough money. Eventually, 350 years after works ceased, a major Prussian family apparently decided to transform Cologne into a major city and they funded and managed the completion to the two towers. In spite of Cologne being massively devastated during World War II, the allies deliberately did not try to destroy the cathedral, apparently because it was a very useful landmark. The cathedral was struck by some bombs, but its ‘skeletal’ construction, enclosed by glass windows, meant that not a lot of realy damage was done as the bombs weren’t contained by the building envelope.

The Choir of the Cologne Cathedral	The cathedral from the choir end	The south face of the cathedral
Details of the southern face. Lighter coloured stone is either cleaned or repaired
The south face of the cathedral	Western face (main entry) of the cathedral	Detail of the spire cap on the top of the tallest towers

We were allowed to visit the Cathedral, however, there was a mass underway so access was very limited. October 31 is German Unification Day and Sarah thought that the mass may have been marking that. What I could see of the cathedral from the entry foyer area was very impressive. The gold box behind the altar contains relics of the three magi of Christ’s birth story (it’s claimed). The cathedral is very difficult to capture in photographs from close up, as you can see below.

Looking along the nave over the heads of parishioners

Stained glass in the entry

Stained glass along the chancel

After the cathedral visit, I used the nearby public toilet, which was associated with a museum under the cathedral that housed and showcased roman materials from the founding of the city. I didn’t have an opportunity to visit the museum, but did snap the display adjacent to the toilet. After the group returned from its cathedral visit, Sarah led us through some of the altstadt (old town) of Koeln (which only got that name much later in its life). She took us past the store that housed the original eau de cologne, created by an Italian, Johann Farina. Apparently, at the time, there were no patents, so everyone copied his innovation (using alcohol as a base rather than powder or pig fat). One of the earliest such copiers ‘invented’ 4711 in 1799.

Roman mosaic found when repairing the cathedral actually a carpet replicating the pattern of the mosaic underneath	Roman building under the cathedral (near the loo)	Dom Hotel, opposite the cathedral, that is literally just being revealed after renovation
One of the first bierhauses in Cologne	Fountain tributing a fairy tale from Germany; the green water represents the peas in the fairy tale	Fairy tale fountain, detail

Sarah was very invested in the presentation on perfumes and had to rush us all around to the Rathaus (town hall) before finishing her presentation to make sure that we got to see the town hall clock chime. The face under the clock sticks its tongue out (about a foot!) at each hour strike. The story is that the town leaders after the reformation were making fun of the monastery/church that had previously been responsible for the city. In response, the monastery installed the small statue shown at the top of the building opposite the town clock of a monk mooning the Rathaus. Sarah said that the literal translation of the statue’s name implied that it was actually shitting on the town clock. The final stop for the tour was under the Rathaus tower, which is adorned with statues of the city’s leaders, starting back with Pope Urban and the Augustus Caesar.

The 4711 building (close to the cathedral)	The buildings of the altstadt (old town)	The modern Rathaus, beneath the city tower
The city tower chiming the hour (I think the figure’s tongue is out)	Detail of the building opposite the clock tower – can you see the mooning monk at the top?	Statue to a former city leader
The city tower showing the statues of city leaders	Detail of statues to Roman leaders	Detail of statues of Byzantine popes

I had lunch in a cafe/restaurant recommended by Sarah during the tour – Cafe Funkhaus – then walked back to the ship, for a nap. The afternoon passed in the lounge and my room, then the ‘Beer Culture of Cologne’ tour start.

We were met by our guide, Rocco, who was a tremendous character and driven into Cologne for a short walk to our first bierhaus. Rocco explained the whole kolsch tradition to us then invited us into the first stop, where we had dinner. One of the interesting things about this first pub was that it was the headquarters of a regional brewing association. The cabinets lining the walls where we were are filled with medals/badges from other brewing associations who all come together at annual festivals and when they each visit the others’ headquarters they award their own badge/medal to the visitors. The beer culture in Cologne is (apparently) unique. When you drink the local beer – kolsch – (and it’s almost all that’s available), you are served a 200ml glass. The bierhaus has roving waiters carrying special trays full of these 200ml beers. When your beer is nearly finished (or actually finished), the waiter – koebis – who is classically a grumpy fellow, replenishes your beer (with another glass). This goes on until you put a coaster over your beer to tell the waiter that you’re done. Apparently, some koebis are so grumpy that they will just put your next glass down on the coaster, but that doesn’t always happen. The kolsch is a light lager (or pilsener) that was very easy drinking. Rocco would typically down his whole drink in one go (showing off? drinking problem?) and then chat with various folks in the group. I found the beer very easy drinking and so ended up discussing with Rocco that the koebis were not really doing their job. My glass was empty and there wasn’t any refill showing up. In the manufactured drama around that, I ended up being double-parked for the rest of the night. Rather than one beer, I’d get two. I’m proud to say that I maintained a drinking pace that kept me ‘in the round’ in spite of drinking two glasses to everyone else’s one.

The view into Cologne from the ship at night

The venue for dinner

Badges/medallions collected by the brewing association

After dinner at the first bierhaus, Rocco rounded us up and led us to the next bierhaus. Here we had one or two rounds (four beers for me, the message was passed along, apparently). Then it was off to the next stop. This time, we didn’t go inside; Rocco assured us it was too busy. So he had a 3 litre beer tube delivered and poured us all another beer standing in the street/lane. This was interesting because it was Halloween and many costumed Germans were passing by while we caroused. Our final stop was at a hole-in-the-wall shop, where Rocco bought us a bottle of beer each and pointed out the bottle-opener hanging in the doorway to open the bottles. I kept that bottle for later. As we were walking back to where the bus was waiting for us, Rocco pointed out that a tree above us was not, in fact, holding on to its late leaves, but populated by birds. The photo shows the birds, if you look carefully.

Rocco holding court at our second venue

Outside the third venue

Birds hanging in the trees

Daily facts: Location: [R]hine River (Cologne), Germany Temp: 9-11 Weather: Overcast, some rain