4th February 2025

A lovely early morning despite our late night and again beautiful breakfast spread of fresh breads (from the bakery) and hams and cheeses, scrambled eggs and coffee.

Ready to face a wonderful day in Cologne.

Its about a 45min drive along the autobahn which was pretty busy but not the tedious nightmare of our M1.

Van parked, we headed straight to the Cologne Cathedral or otherwise known as The Dome. ( Kölner Dom)

It is truly magnificent, an imposing site.

A Gothic cathedral and the world’s third largest Gothic-style cathedral.

Building started in 1248, paused for a few years between 1560 and 1842.

It survived the war largely intact probably due to the rafters having being made of iron rather than wood although most of the windows were destroyed.

We were also very lucky to be able to walk the 533 steps to the top platform where, as you can imagine the views across Köln were magnificent.

We could look down upon the Hohenzollern Bridge.

Originally designed for road traffic but now its trains, pedestrians and bicycles only.

It is guessed about 1500 trains cross daily!

We met up with Harry for lunch at Früh.

He has been telling us about the beers here for a while.

The assumption is you would like another beer every time your glass becomes empty, no going to the bar at any point. 

Each glass is 200mls

A tally is kept by the Köbes on your coaster.

If you decide you’re done, a coaster is placed on your glass.

Wonderful experience and great, refreshing beer.

After lunch we enjoyed walking around the historic Old Town with its monuments and fountains.

We met the legendary characters, Tünnes & Schäl of the Hänneschen puppet theatre in Köln.

They are a little reminiscent of the Abbot and Costello characters.

Across the other side of the small square is the Groß ( great) St Martin church.

It is almost the opposite of the grand Cologne Cathedral with its minimalist interior but the architecture is none the less imposing.

The upper parts of the church were reconstructed after WW2.

We wandered down to the Rhine and wandered, admiring the lovely houses and another beautiful view of St Martin and also the Hohenzollern Bridge.

Feeling a little chilly and in need of some warmth and perhaps some coffee.

On our way to visit the ‘womens fountain’ we walked through the shopping district, which is a bit more modern with fancy shops.

We then walk towards the ‘Womens Fountain’ which is also on our way to the Fragrance Museum.

This fountain depicts women of different eras and nationalities.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get on a tour but essentially the museum which is based in the Farina House has been telling the story of Eau de Cologne since 2003 but the Farina company was founded more than 300 years ago.

We are so cold now and filling in time before we can meet Harry and Tina. 

They have both been working from offices here in Köln today.

We had another lovely warm coffee at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, seeking refuge from the cold, embarrassingly tho we didn't go into the museum just the coffee shop.

Just one last quick look around the Cathedral, this time with Harry who has met us there after work and we retreat back to the Früh for a couple of beers.

And we manage to meet up with Tina.

Home for an absolutely fabulous meal, prepared by Tinas mum and i dont know when as we got back so late.

Lots of laughs and off to bed, not so late tonight.