COLOGNE

The Cologne Cathedral was what inspired me to undertake this trip. It is one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in the world, in my opinion. The area around the cathedral is so built up that it was difficult to get it all in one shot, but it is a magnificent piece of artwork. The inside is even more spectacular.

This is the main aisle as you walk in. As you can tell, it is an immense space. There was no line to get in and even with many tourists inside, you could find a place to sit and spend some time to admire the majesty of it.

This is the main altar.

This is just one of the side altars.

This is just one of the side windows.

The Ludwig museum is right next to the Cathedral. It had a great exhibit of the artists that came after the Impressionists: Expressionists, Surrealists, Dadaists, Pointillists and Cubist. The exhibit was curated in a way that even I could understand how the art world moved from one style to the next. No huge crowds, so you could take your time and really grasp the different concepts.

Both the Cologne Cathedral and the Ludwig Museum are along the river and the park behind them offers a good view of the Hohenzollern bridge. The bridge was severely damaged during WWII and they have done a wonderful job of rebuilding it.

There are many restaurants along the river. They cater to the tourists that are disembarking from the many river cruise ships.

Just behind the restaurants you can see the spires of the Great St.. Martin Cathedral, shown better in the photo below.

The Rathaus, or town hall, was undergoing major renovations. I would love to see the building once renovations are completed.

Rathouse Square was a great stop for lunch, good site for people watching too.

Cologne is an interesting mix of old and new.

I stayed in an area called Media Park, away from the Old Town and tourist area. It was a modern office area but they made sure to add some nature to the area.

The Rhine has always been a way for transporting goods and some of the local architects have considered this history when designing their buildings.

These are the Kranehaus apartments along the river. They bring to mind the large cranes that were used to off load cargo from the ships. Although they look fascinating, there is no way you would get me to take an apartment without any visible means of support under it.

I took this photo from a bike path along the Rhine. I had found a bike rental office near the Cathedral, underneath the rail station. It was very inexpensive to rent a 7 speed bike and it gave me a different view of the city. I rode on the bike path along the river as I was not up to braving the traffic on the roads.

Within a few miles of the Cathedral you could find a beach club. The beach club doesn’t have access to any water but does have a great view of the river and sand in which to park you beach chair. I found these in Vienna and Florence as well, river view but no access. Very interesting.

I also rode past a nice campground a couple of miles away. Beautiful areas with lots of big shady trees and views of the river. May have to consider something like that for my next visit.

This may be hard to see but there is a flock of sheep grazing here. This is up river of the Cathedral about 3-4 miles. Wasn’t out in the countryside but gave me the feeling for what that might be like. They use the sheep as an ecological way of maintaining the greenway along the river.

Next stop Bruges, Belgium!