Oh the Cologne

Spent the morning in Cologne. For the first hour we had a guide showing us some of the old town. There are beautiful old buildings and a huge gothic Cathedral. The Cathedral was hit by 14 bombs in WW2, but has pretty well been patched up now.
We then wandered around the shops, went into a cafe and had a cuppa before buying some eau de cologne. We couldn't find the original brand so we bought 4711.
As our ship had sailed as soon as we disembarked, we were coached to Bonn to rejoin it. This meant we had a nice drive through the town of Bonn. Back on board in time for lunch. Janette's caught a cold so had a sleep and I sat up the pointy end and watched the Rhine roll under us.
Tonight - dinner at Namemby Castle - wow! The Princess and her daughter live there in a private wing. We were free to explore the rest of the castle and the garden until the gong sounded for dinner.
Dinner was served in the Mirror Hall - three courses with a piano recital between each. APT are involved in helping young piano masters, and it was one of these who played for us tonight. Julia Polinskaja, born in Moscow, raised in Hamburg, was our pianist. Don't know if it was appreciated by a few, but most knew how good she is.
We stay here in Bonn tonight and set off again at 5.30 am tomorrow.
Tomorrow we sail through the Rhine Gorge. This is one of the cruising highlights. It has been highly recommended the we all be on deck for this. J&JRead more