A brief stop in Cologne

The Beautiful Gothic Cologne Cathedral

Early on Monday we parted Schwerin station for a 6-hour train trip to Cologne, Germany. The group thought that this would be an ideal on-the-way stop for a few days before we started our next exchange in Belgium.  Cologne has the distinction of being the most bombed city in WWII - it was bombed in retaliation for Germany's bombing of London.  It is amazing to look at the pictures posted near the cathedral and realize the rebuilding that has taken place to put it all back together.  Yesterday we took a pleasant boat ride on the Rhine River and today we booked an English guided tour of the old city and the cathedral. 

The cathedral is huge and reminded me of St Patrick's in New York City - only much larger!  It's construction began in 1248 and was finally finished in 1880.  We toured the Museum Ludwig next door.  It features Picasso works and art that was saved from the Nazi's control.  We rented headsets and that helped us a bit in understanding some of the more non-traditional works! 

Tomorrow we are headed to Belgium,  but we heard today that the rail strike is back on!  Hopefully, our train will be able to get through.  Never a dull moment!

We order pig knuckle for dinner with mashed potatoes



Dennis in his unique hat

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