Forecast 19C with 30% chance of rain

It has been a great day . We slept pretty well – a very comfortable bed, a quiet street and, although it is warm on the top floor, we can open windows and it is a lot cooler than Beijing. Breakfast was very good – juice, cereal, fruit breads and spreads as well as the traditional cheese and meat – and also a boiled egg, Then when I asked abut a local launderette Marcus (the owner) said that we could have laundry done by the hotel for 5 euro although it would not be ironed!! John checked on internet access which is free and was easy to set up as they had a set of instructions in English. The easy washing and the internet are great bonuses.

We left the hotel midmorning, walked around the area to get our bearings (i.e. got a bit lost) then down to the Cathedral (known as the 'Dom'). This was not a difficult thing to find as you keep seeing bits of it above buildings all around the area (JB was reminded of one of Teddy’s photo out of his bomber of the devastation in Cologne but the Cathedral standing unharmed) . It is HUGE – we knew it was, but even so it is a shock. There was no way CB could get a photo of the whole place. It was started in the 13th century but we hadn’t realized it wasn’t finished until the 19th century.

We first took the photos we need for a couple of caches – one was at an old Roman portal which we would have missed without the cache information. The portal is a reproduction of the one next to the North gate that was first there in 50AD when the city was founded.

We then went into the Cathedral to find a large part closed for a service. No problems. We went to the Information centre and railway station (to find out about trains to Frankfurt) then walked around the Dom before stopping for a snack lunch at Starbucks. John then arranged a sim card for his phone – in fact the man gave him 3 10 euro cards for his 10 euro although we have no idea why. His number is (for the moment) +4915228118949. We also ate an interesting marsipan pretzel.

We then we went back to the Dom. The1 euro pamphlet gave us enough background so we didn’t bother with a guided tour. As usual CB loved the stained glass – some very vivid new windows (only 150 years old) as well as the older ones from the 16th century. The floor mosaics at the front of the Dom and the 1322 Shrine of the 3 Magi and a couple of statues particularly caught our attention . A group of children were in the choir area but this was closed to general visitors.

There were a lot of buskers in the area. There were the usual living statues but also a man who acted like a fountain, a violinist and a couple of ‘free hug’ providers (we each got a cuddle). Our favorite was the pair playing folk music on an accordion and violin. The living statue took a break while we were there – it looked odd to see him having a smoke and a drink. The area was full of people picnicking or just enjoying the sun which was out by now.

We then walked down to the Rhine and watched the passing boats. A number of older homes with step gables (which we knew about from our previous trip to Gent) are now hotels and the Hilton is on the other side of the river. We picked up some river cruise brochures then walked back to the hotel for a break, with a gelato each – citron and mango. It is a hard life.

JB then had a catch-up snooze while CB updated the computer. We then visited a local Bier Haus that Marcus recommended. The meals were massive – we had pork and potatoes with sauerkraut und vegetables. JB had 2 local beers. The place was very full but the staff served everyone efficiently. The beer waiters were kept very busy and were carrying up to 12 beers at a time. The price of 33 euros with tip (about $66) was very reasonable. We then made a gentle 10 minute stroll back to our pub.