Our bus trip into town went quickly and our guide for today, Marcus, got us off to a humorous start. He was an excellent guide. We walked mainly around the area of downtown close to Cologne Cathedral. The Cathedral apparently is one of the few medieval buildings left in the city of Cologne due to the massive bombing during World War II. The buildings close to the Cathedral were built in  50’s and 60’s styles, which really don’t mesh with the 1248 AD vibe of the church! This cathedral is renown for the relics of the bones of the 3 Magi. The shrine is the largest reliquary in the western world. It is made of wood covered with gold and silver and decorated with more than a thousand jewels and beads. The building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After we completed our tour with Marcus, we were free to explore on our own. We did wander around for a short while, but headed back to our ship around 1:30…heaven forbid that we miss a meal! We crossed over the Rhine River on a bridge whose fence was covered in “love padlocks! There is an unimaginable number of them as you can somewhat surmise by the pictures. Amazing! 

After lunch we are spending the afternoon on the upper deck enjoying the sunshine and gorgeous view of the Cologne city skyline across the Rhine. We are scheduled to sail at 10:30 this evening. We have had an excellent day.

By the way…WiFi is problematical so if you don’t receive a post for a day or so, that is why!