Cologne

   We spent Thursday in Cologne, northwest Germany; the locals spell it Köln. We toured the old city in the morning and the biggest thing to see by far is the Cologne Cathedral. It's so big and so close to the major parts of the city that it's hard to get a picture of it all unless you're far enough away.

   When we went inside I couldn't believe how high the ceilings are, higher than even in Rome from what I remember. It was started in the 1050's and took 600 years to complete. It was the tallest building in Europe until the Eiffel Tower was built.

   Today was a holiday for Ascension Thursday; it was also Fathers Day locally. This difference here is that Fathers Day is a drinking holiday and all the local pubs were overflowing with guys out the doors, even at noon when we toured by. We had a great lunch in town with Ted and Theresa and  a couple of beers to celebrate Ted's birthday.

   After a great dinner onboard the ship I took a twilight stroll along the river walk in town. It was a great visit, wish it were longer but tomorrow we're off and will cross into The Netherlands.