Frankfurt, Remagen, Cologne

One of the many castles to be seen on the Rhine river cruise
see all photos »

Today after breakfast we board the bus off on our German coach tour. First stop is in a town called Bingen where we board a river boat for a River Cruise down the Rhine river, known in Germany as "Father Rhine". Up on the open-air top deck we get a birds-eye view of the towns, vinyards and castles with line the river. We both notice that the flow if the river is very strong and I would not like to be swimming in it! At its deepest part it can get to 25mtr, but at it shallowest, in drought, may only be one mtr.

A castle which has now been turned into a Hotel and Restaurant
see all photos »

Maria tells us there are many many castles in Germany, even some for sale for $10,000 euro. These are ruins however and if you buy them, there is a condition that you must restore the castle to its original condition (so you see why they are still for sale!). Most which have been purchaed privately now operate as hotels or restaurants.

The Father Rhine

We get a good glimse at the many vinyards that line the river, rolling hills of vines. 85% of the wine that is made in Germany is drunk locally with only the best 15% exported to the international market. We see the typical pitch-room german houses, painted white with dark accents and shutters.

Tower located within a quaint village
see all photos »

While on the cruise we listen to commentary about highlights along the river, and told of legends of this castle and that cliff. We are told the legend of Loreley, the siren with the golden hair that enchanted sailors as they sailed their boats down the river. Her singing mesmerised them and caused them to crash into the rocks below the cliff she was atop of. In reality this was a legend used to explain why so many boats crashed at this particular point of the River - which was where the river turned sharpley and the width halved, causing many whirlpools which affected the boats.

The Legend of Loreley Cliff
see all photos »

We disembark the boat and onto the bus we get again for about 2hrs before we stop for a photo at the Remagen Bridge. In WW2 this was a key fighting front as at that time there were very few river crossings. It was eventually liberated by the American army but taken back by the Germans. Only a week after this, due to the bombings etc from the waring over the bridge, it collapsed by itself.

We then travelled on to Cologne(locally called Koln) where we were dropped off at Cathederal square. It is the largest cathederal in Germany with its twin 515-foot towers, magnificent stained glass windows and outer buttresses. Inside it contains the "Shrine to the Three Holy Kings", where lay the remains in a solid gold and jewelled box of the three kings who bought gifts on the birth of Jesus. During the crusades their remains were found and transported to Cologne, which was believed to be a well guarded location. The Cathederal was then built around the shrine.

Cologne Cathederal - Largest in Germany
see all photos »

We were given about 1hr30min to walk around the area and find something for lunch. This proved to be more difficult than it looked, as the majority of the cafes and restaurants seem to sell only cake/sweets and coffee/beer. There was not much allowance for non-english speakers either, so when we did find menu to look at we had to try and work out what everything was. We ended up at a small place that sold ciabatta rolls and coffee. Our Turkey (we think it was turkey) with tomato, cucumber and lettce, ended up having just once piece of tomato and cucumber poking out the side (to tease us)!

One of the man stained glass windows inside the cathederal
see all photos »

We rejoined our tour guide Maria at 3pm for a short walk around the older area of Cologne, where she provided commentary on the nearby Roman ruins and other noteable features. We saw the Cologne state parliament, an original Roman mosaic inside the museum which is viewable through plate glass windows from the outside. She also pointed out original merchant houses from the 17th century where the only way to get furniture in side was from poles extended out from the roof, which they flung ropes over and hauled up furniture and into the house through their windows.

The shrine of the three kings
see all photos »

She also explained that at one point in Cologne, there was a beer brewery for every 5 people of the population. This was because the rich were the only ones who could afford to drink wine, and as the water from the rhine was not consumable, it was "purified" through the brewing process and consumed by the poorer people. She also pointed out a house to us that is still standing and operating as a hotel, that was built in 1235!

We then walked along the bank of the Rhine shortly before returning to Cathederal Square, where we met up with the bus for our transfer to our hotel at 4pm. Tonight dinner was provided for us at the hotel restaurant which comprised of cream of potato soup, once again chicken with noodles and carrots, and a cream eclair with cherry centre.

Statue of Von Bismark on the banks of the Rhine
see all photos »

Tomorrow we have an even earlier start with our wake up call scheduled for 6am. We are headed off to Hamburg.