Main-Taunus-Kreis

Shakespeare’s famous stage direction is an apt introduction to today’s adventures.

This was our trickiest day. To reach Cologne we must board the TGV ( high speed train) at Strasbourg (France), travel to Mannheim (Germany), unload our bulky luggage, find the correct platform for the second train, board it and get off in time in Cologne before the ICE (German high speed train) shot off to its ultimate destination in Kiel.

After our scare in Munich, where we found the correct carriage and seats with only minutes to spare, we decided to take no chances. We arrived at Le Gare Strasbourg at 0800. Heaps of time (we thought ) for us to find our first train, due to leave at 0905.

The minutes ticked by as we paced the gloomy corridors, avoiding hoards of worried looking people on their way to work. Deutche Bahn, the German rail service prides itself on clear explanation, helpful staff and informative signboards so you can find your way around,

Not the French so-called “Information” office, staffed by a woman whose ancestors surely knitted at the guillotine.

Neil asked which was the platform for our train.
Until it arrives I will not know.
Who can I ask?
The train manager.
Where can I find him?
With the train. You must watch the notices.
What is the final destination of the Mannheim train?
(Triumphantly) I don’t know.

We were getting nervous by this stage as I had worked out that there was less than 20 minutes between when the incoming showed up on the signboard and when it left. But Google saved the day; once we learned the first train was going to Frankfurt we at least knew which name to look for!

We were later told by a friendly US couple, married 52 years to our 54, and similarly touring the great gothic cathedrals, that French railway personnel hate Eurail passes (like ours).

We had now learned to park our heavy suitcases downstairs on two-level trains. We then made our way upstairs to enjoy the endless variety of life on the TGV - a charming young man from Tunisia (North Africa), who works between Paris snd Strasbourg (his super-cute little boy gave us big smiles). Four young musicians totally focussed on a table covered in musical scores (Ionesco’s Octet).

The second leg of our journey went more smoothly. But we were relieved to exit correctly, on the right side of the train, onto the modern and well-lit Hauptbahnhof at Cologne.

And there, straight ahead, were the towering twin spires of Cologne Cathedra: at 157m, the tallest twin-spired chuch in the world, Germany’s most-visited landmark (6 million visitors a year.)

After dumping our bags with great relief at the hotel, we walked to the Rhine river and rhe famous Hohenzollern railway bridge (417m). The original three-span bridge was built by Kaiser William II in 1911. Its piers were blown up by the Nazis in 1945 in a vain attempt to halt the Allied advance into Germany.

It has now been reconstructed as a railway bridge with a separate pedestrian/ cyclist path. The wire fences are covered in padlocks.

We walked across, looking down at the huge barges passing underneath, feeling the path vibrate with each passing train.

Then back to the hotel, just missing a mid-afternoon thunderstorm and heavy downpour.Read more