Cologne - Days 5, 6

Using my brand new Garmin GPS, we navigated to Cologne. Along the way, we all discussed a name for the Garmin throwing out all kinds of names. By the time we got to Leverkusen, about 20 miles from Cologne, we had a name - Dumbhead Jacob. Dummkopf took us off the Autobahn and drove us all over the WRONG side of the Rhine. Once we ignored him and found our way to the correct side of the river, we made our way to Uschi's home for a lovely lunch, arriving over half an hour late.


Uschi's Peeping Tom the Weather Rooster kept us company while we dined on her lovely terrace.

The meal Uschi prepared was delicious! We ate so much lunch that none of us had room for the cheesecake she had baked for our dessert. After we finished pigging out, Uschi lead the way to our little hotel/apartment. The view from the balcony was great!

The accomodations were not. There was no window, it was about 100 degrees, and, as is the norm in Germany, the place had no air conditioning. To make matters worse, there wasn't even a coffee maker in the "fully equipped kitchen". We headed out to the store for ice and booze while Uschi rustled up a coffee maker and a fan for us to use during our stay. (Travel Tip: Do NOT stay at the Rheinblick Hotel & Apartments in Rodenkirchen.)

To be honest, the heat was so unbearable that our brains got baked and we have no recollection of what we did that evening except swelter.

The next morning we headed out to the Rodenkirchen market, poked around a bit and had some yummy coffee at a cafe while we waited for Uschi to join us.

We then took the streetcar into Cologne and as we exited the train station, our first view was of the Dom, the Cathedral.

The second thing we saw was this adorable bulldog poster in a shop window as we walked to the entrance of the Dom.

We walked through the Dom and saw the amazing stained glass, the gigantic pipe organ, and the Shrine of the Holy Magi which contains the bones of Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior, better known as the Three Wise Men.

Near the Dom, we saw the ancient Roman Road from 38BC and the beautiful Roman mosaic floor from 220AD.

We did a bit of shopping, stopped for cake and coffee in the Altstadt,


and met some interesting men along the way.

From there we walked to one of the bridges that spans the Rhine River and hunted (in vain) for the lock that Hunter and Kim attached to the fence on the bridge. Lovers write their name on a lock, attach and lock it to the bridge and then toss the key into the river. Ah, romance.

We took the streetcar back to Rodenkirchen and had dinner at one of the little Kneipe (pub) on the Rhine. Nice dinner, nice view and great company.

Thursday morning we went to Uschi's to finally eat her wonderful cake, enjoy some coffee, and spend some time at her bar before we headed to the airport for Rome.

Thank you for everything, Uschi!

Munster - Days 2, 3, 4

August 20, Day 2

The flight went fairly well, both girls arrived safely though a bit sleepy after flying all night long. There were lots of squeals, excitement, hugs, and happiness as we all drove from the airport to our home in Albachten. G's driving was nearly as fast as the pilot of the plane.




After some coffee, some chatting, and some rest, we all walked to the train station for the 7 minute trip to the big city, Münster. Before the train arrived, G ran home and changed into a short sleeved shirt because summer had surprisingly come to Germany that day!


We saw the bike garage,


St. Ludgeri Church (where the 3 cages that held the prisoners are still visible on the steeple),


and enjoyed the sights and smells of Münster and her bakeries.

We did some walking around the city and then decided to head to the town of Nottuln for a Bluesfest.


We drank beer, ate brats, and finished the night singing "I Saw the Light" at the top of our lungs with several hundred rowdy Germans.

August 21, Day 3

On Sunday the weather called for rain, but we ventured out to Telgte for the Medieval Festival anyway. It is the largest one in all of Europe and we enjoyed the craftsmen, the events, and, of course, the beer.

Sam wanted to hop in the hot tub,


Q wanted to hop on the horse,


and I wanted to hop in what I thought was a Medieval Conga Line but I opted out whan I learned it was a gaggle of plague ridden villagers being escorted out of town. The rains did come so we left without seeing all there was to see.

We went home, admired the gorgeous flowers G picked for us after his morning run, and when the rain stopped we decided to head back into the city to our little waterfront, Portside.


We started at Coconut Beach with some beer and wine from the Tiki Bar.


Sam made friends with a great Rhodesian Ridgeback.


Then we headed down the promenade to Freiheit 26 for some pretty good food. We ended the night like good little Germans - sitting around the kitchen table drinking schnapps.

August 22, Day 4

No pictures from the day, but we did go to the grocery store. I packed for the trip, and Sam and Q repacked adding some sweatshirts since the forecast for Paris was cold temps and rainy skies. We had a supper of antipasti, octopus & squid salad, baguettes, cheese, meat, and wine. Lots of wine. We went to bed fairly early in preparation for our early drive to Cologne to visit Uschi.