Wednesday, May 24. Failed to take photos of many things. Also, we were asked to not post photos of the day’s (and possibly the trip’s) high point: An inside tour of the Cathedral Cologne, the world’s tallest cathedral.

The day began with a quick bus ride across the Rhine to the west side, then assembling into groups for a walking tour back to the ship. Our guide was excellent. There were a great many topics to discuss about Germany and Cologne, spanning from Roman times to the current day. He included a long explanation about the war from Germany’s view which I thought was very well and carefully presented. Pointed out many remaining remembrances of the city’s wartime damage. The effort to retain damaged parts while not highlighting them was impressive.

Stores selling Eau de Cologne were common. Bars selling local beer (Kolsch) were more common. The beer was not special, but the tradition for serving it was cool. Small glasses, refilled automatically, with the count marked on the coaster. We were never more than a few blocks from the Cathedral, which was massively impressive. It’s size was hard to perceive from the ground.

After the tour we shared a great lunch of potato soup and the German equivalent of bangers and mash. Plus beer. We returned to the ship by walking across the train bridge, with it’s famous mass of locks attached everywhere. The tradition is to throw the lock’s key into the river to represent unending love. I had to laugh at the small number of combination locks.

Shortly after our return a small number of us set off again to the cathedral. The ship surprised us by arranging pedicabs, which resulted in us having more time to experience the cathedral. It was absolutely amazing. We used a construction elevator to go one-third of the way up, then used it again for the second third. The tour went both outside along the edge and inside, overlooking the interior. Sometimes we could look either way at once. We toured old unused sections of the church that had become storage areas, walked through the gigantic “attic”, including a fully equipped tool shop and sculpture reconditioning area. It was all just incredible to see how much open space was available. Most of the areas we visited weren’t built until the nineteenth century, so, unlike Notre Dame, the structural material was metal.

We did the last third of the climb via stairs, including a very ornate circular staircase. This only brought us to the central, lower tower. The two main towers are climbable, but our guide said the view from their tops are highly screened off. Our view was more than enough (250 feet). Sadly the clouds darkened the scenery. But overall the tour was superb.

After the tour we had some more beer and apple strudel. We also found that the Information Office had the best gift shop.

It was a full but most impressive day.