Köln (Cologne)

 Port 2 of the Grand European Tour on the Viking Skirnir, November 2024.

Cologne Cathedral was built between 1248 and 1880 (with many interruptions). At the time it was completed, it was the tallest building in the world. Pollution has darkened the stones of the cathedral and it is being gently cleaned, using a low-pressure microparticle blasting technique, with repairs being made along the way. 

Gypsy woman in front of the cathedral. Our tour guide was quite angry about the presence of gypsies and repeatedly warned us not to engage with them. She said that although they received housing and income assistance from the government they prey on tourists as pickpockets and scammers. I was fascinated by their colorful skirts. 

The interior made us feel so small. 

This is my amateurish photo of some of the Cologne Cathedral's stained glass. For a lovely collection of photos showing details of this and other windows in the cathedral, go to https://buffaloah.com/a/virtual/ger/colog/cathed/int.html

The 14th century Clara Altar in one of the chapels of the cathedral. The altar is made up of a large number of wooden panels, separated by wood carvings in the Gothic style. Originally painted for a 14th century Franciscan nunnery in Cologne, the panels depict scenes from the life of Christ. Description of the altar from https://www.werelderfgoedfotos.nl/en/photos/121-cologne-cathedral.html

After visiting the cathedral, we wandered around a bit, coming across this bakery. Theses nougatbrezels were the most delicious soft pretzels I've ever eaten. The dough was rolled around a cinnamon mixture before forming the pretzel, which was drizzled with a sugar glaze and coated with slivered almonds. If anyone can point me to a recipe, I would love to try my hand at sweet pretzel making. 

A Grand European Tour

Viking Skirnir
from https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/ships/longships/viking-skirnir.html

On November 11, 2024, my friend Florence and I boarded the Viking river ship Skirnir for our Grand European Tour. 

Over the next 18 days, we would visit a village in the southern part of the Netherlands, see many medieval villages in Bavaria, Germany, then travel to Austria and Hungary. We also chose an inland trip extension to Prague in the Czech Republic for an additional three days.

We would travel on the Rhine River, the Main River, through the Main-Danube Canal, and finally on the Danube River. As a friend of mine said, following our journey from back in New Mexico--the ship would go through 67 locks, allowing it to essentially "climb" over a mountain range and down the other side (in a manner of speaking). 

Florence and I have traveled with a group of friends on some big ocean-bound ships that held between 2000 and 4000 passengers. On such ships we would occasionally see a person twice, but never to speak with. The Skirnir, on the other hand, had a total of 180-190 passengers, allowing us to meet a great number of people, especially since the dining room was large enough to hold all of us at once. This was really the best part of the trip for us--getting to know people from all over the United States, Canada, China, and Australia. At a time when our own country is so politically divided it was a relief to be able to chat with people and trade stories that made us all aware of the things we have in common. 

The following blog posts will chronicle our journeys. 

Port 1: Kinderdijk

Port 2: Köln (Cologne)

Port 3: Miltenberg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria

Port 4: Würzburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria