Cologne & Amsterdam

"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see." - Gilbert K. Chesterton

It was a “not-too-early-day” today as we had to have bags out at 7:45 AM and breakfast at the same time – on the coach for 8:45 AM.  The breakfast in the old German hotel was to die for.  They had everything that one could want and a few things that they shouldn’t have had out because we REALLY wanted them.  The pastries in this place were second to none.  I normally don’t have any of that stuff in the morning – but Mark came over to our table and said that I had to try the chocolate cake and the Raspberry pastries.  I have to admit – they were awesome.

We jumped on the coach and headed north to stop for a one hour break in Cologne, Germany.  The Cologne Cathedral (High Cathedral of Saint Peter) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in this 1 Million person city. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day and currently the tallest twin spired church at 157 m (515 ft.) tall in all of Western Europe.

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit its role as a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".  The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II. Badly damaged, it nevertheless remained standing in an otherwise completely flattened city. The twin spires were an easily recognizable navigational landmark for Allied aircraft bombing.

We had one special item that was on our list to get from Germany, so with Google maps in hand, we charged out of the coach and sped down the main street, passing in front of the cathedral.  It was raining – so Laureen had her umbrella and I was clothed in my rain coat.  The first place did not have what we were looking for, but the lady behind the counter directed us to another place that she figured would have the item.  That place was also on our Google Maps list – it’s just that it was farther away.  We made the trek a few more blocks and came upon the location where we would find what we were looking for.  Mission accomplished!

We scurried through the damp streets to get to the coach.  Kassie had mentioned a place as we arrived, and we came upon it as we walked back; so we stopped and grabbed an orange juice and a couple of tasty treats to go.  A little further and we were in front of the Cathedral again – so I took a small detour and went inside.  It’s quite the facility (yet again).  Back on the coach we heard about a fancy bathroom that the others had gone into that was clear glass when you opened the door, but when you closed and locked the door, the glass went opaque.  That seemed to be worth the 0.50 Euro that most washrooms cost in Europe (wish I had seen it myself).

Back on the coach it was a short hour drive to the hotel where we had about an hour and half before an optional dinner outing to a small village just outside of Amsterdam.  A beautiful countryside drive brought us to historic Monnickendam, a small fishing village that was formerly a major Dutch port. We walked along the streets, past lovely gabled houses bringing us to the town's former cheese weigh-house, now an atmospheric restaurant, for a delicious three-course dinner.  Another amazing meal!  After that we took a short stroll by the canal and took a few post-card like pictures.

Former cheese weigh house - now a restaurant

The gang at our table tonight

Just by accident, my shirt says "Dutch"!

Look at the amazing garden at this residence in Monnickendam

On to the coach to drop a few folks off in the center of Amsterdam and the rest of us back at the hotel.  Tonight will be a good sleep (hopefully) and an interesting day in Amsterdam tomorrow as we will go see some of the sights, including the red-light district.

Curt & Laureen in Amsterdam, Netherlands.