Monday, October 8, 2018: Day 3; Morning cruise on Rhine, Cologne

It appears our journey will consist of cruising the rivers in the mornings and taking shore excursions in the afternoon. This suits us fine as we can enjoy a leisurely morning or even sleep in. If we were traveling the opposite direction (Budapest to Amsterdam), the routine would be the reverse with morning shore excursions and afternoon cruising.

This morning I enjoyed the leisurely morning and David slept in. I arose around 7:30 am, prepared for the day and went down for breakfast. I returned to the room at 9:00 am. David is still asleep. According to Google maps, we are just south of Dusseldorf.

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There is not much to see along the shore on our side (starboard) of the ship. The shore is close enough, you feel you could reach it with a stone. However, it is wide enough for other ships to pass. Every now and then I see a steeple in the distance.

A bit later, we passed some sort of chemical or oil processing facility.

Unlike our ocean cruises where you often are not aware of the ships forward movement, with the shore almost within reach, you feel like you are on a moving walkway when you walk the deck bow to stern.

I finally woke David at 10:30 am.

We assembled in the lounge at 11:30 to review the day's activities and what we will be doing tomorrow in Rudesheim. We also got to select shore excursions in Nuremberg, Passau and Vienna. I selected to visit the old medieval town in Nuremberg, a walking tour of Passau and the Schönbrunn Palace (Habsburg summer palace) in Vienna. David selected to visit the WWII venues in Nuremberg, the walking tour in Passau and the Hofburg Palace (Habsburg winter palace) in Vienna.

We then had lunch and subsequently motor coached over to the Cologne Cathedral. Our local guide, Jan, took us on a 1.5 hour tour through the cathedral.

Oldest structure known in Cologne, Roman arch

There are about 90,000 square feet of stained glass windows in the Cathedral. During WWII, most of the windows were removed and kept safe, being reinstalled after the war. The one window not removed is shown below. There were no records of the original stained glass so it was replaced in the 1990's by some guy using a computer aided design.

The container housing the bones of the three Wise Men.

The oldest wooden cross crucifix

We then went next door to visit the RGM, Romano-Germanic Museum.

This is a museum of Roman relics uncovered over the years. The rebuilding of Cologne after WWII turned up many relics as did the subsequent building of their subway system. Seems anywhere you dug, you would find Roman remains. The RGM was built in 1974 on top of one of the largest mosaics discovered. This mosaic is believed to be the floor of an elegant dining room in a Roman villa (220 AD). It is about 20 feet by 50 feet in size.

There were many more relics including a burial monument that someone unearthed when excavating to build a laundromat.

We concluded the day sharing a beer with Jean and strolling down a city street.

 and I buying an old fashion glass, with the Cologne skyline etched into it, from the Cathedral book store. They called it a water glass, but I doubt that is what it will be used for.

This evening we set sail from Cologne toward Rudesheim. We will pass through Bonn during the night. Between Koblenz and Rudesheim, the river narrows significantly. In the Middle Ages, castles were built along this narrow stretch of river to exact tolls from river travelers. Tomorrow morning we will see over 30 such castles built over a 38 mile stretch of river by noblemen and church authorities to collect these tolls.

We should arrive in Rudesheim around noon. We will walk to an early 18th century venue for lunch, then experience the town. Supposedly, there will be available to us a gondola ride to overlook the Rhine valley.

Walked about three miles today.