Travel Day - Cologne to Amsterdam

We loaded our luggage into Uwe’s car and they took us to see Schloss Drachenburg Castle, about 40 minutes out of the city. It was a very steep uphill climb, about 2 km, to the castle with an interesting history. It was built in 1882 by a wealthy man who made his fortune in the stock exchange but he never lived there. Over the years it was a hotel and resort complex, a Christian boys boarding school, a Nazi elite school, and eventually in 1982 a national monument. It wasn’t renovated and opened to the public until 2010. All the signage was in German only so we just looked at all the rooms admiring the elegance. There were good views of the Rhine but it was a slightly hazy day.

Time for another late lunch at a brewery so that John could enjoy some locally brewed beer served in the tiniest glasses. The server will continue to bring a new glass of beer until the customer puts a coaster on top of his glass, indicating that he doesn’t want a refill. Apparently it’s easy to lose track of how much beer you’ve consumed. This day, I set the limit at 3. There’s a reason Alyssa calls me the “party police”!

The train terminal was a short walking distance away and Cheryl and Uwe stayed with us until our train arrived. I guess our travel stories had convinced them that we needed supervision to make sure we didn’t miss our train! We had a wonderful but short visit in Cologne and were very much impressed with Cheryl and Uwe’s hospitality and generosity. They are both coming to Canada in April so we’ll be seeing them again very soon in Winnipeg.Okumaya devam et