Grand European Tour and Christmas Markets : Cologne, Germany

Saturday, Dec 3

The boat docked outside of Cologne and let us depart by bus for our excursions to give us more time there, as it continued its journey to the port in Cologne, which took several more hours. Our guide lead us as we walked around the city to the massive Cologne Cathedral, started in 1248 which took 600 years to complete, and has the largest facade of any church in the world. The second tallest cathedral in Europe, it is incredibly impressive with intricate detail, and carvings seemingly on every square inch. So much to take in. Also amazing is that it suffered so little damage during the war, even some stained glass windows still intact on one side, while the rest of the city lay in rubble. Photos depicting the city then were astonishing. We could not help but think of Ukraine, and the horrific photos of total devastation. No longer able to take groups into the interior, we continued our tour of the city with the guide, but she gave us pointers to visit on our own later, which turned out to be very helpful. While we found her knowledgeable, she was very soft spoken and rather monotone, and I was tired of her droning on and on with a recitation of facts with no emotion, and apparently my travel companions agreed. We parted with her at a point near the Chocolate Museum, which was on our list to visit, rather than go all the way back with her. There was a small Christmas market there, and we browsed a bit, eyeing Gluhwein mugs, before going into the museum where, being a Saturday, we found the long lines waiting to be admitted. We got in line, but soon opted for lunch in their cafe instead of waiting, as we had all seen a chocolate making process in other places. We decided after looking over the mouth watering selections in the display case and on the menu, that we would have a chocolate lunch and live it up! Four of us shared a chocolate fondu, and two slices of cake, one chocolate, or course, and another a lovely raspberry concoction, and of course, hot chocolate! Then, on our sugar high, we headed off to the Christmas markets!

As we set out on our city tour, we see the Cathedral in the distance, and the art center to the left.

The magnificent Cologne Cathedral, black from the elements over the years.

Incredible detail, and images everywhere you look.

The Pixies Fountain. Gnomes were said to do the work at night so the people could be lazy all day, until the tailor's wife, curious to see them, spread peas to make them slip and fall, and they were so furious, they left and never came back!

A shop window full of nutcrackers and little smoking incense burners caught my eye, as I hope to buy a nutcracker while we are in Germany. I have a small collection, and my first was purchased on a trip to Germany many years ago!

Our first view of a Christmas Market! Cologne being a big city, has several markets. in the different squares.

Love the little gnomes!

Great St. Martin Church, built on the remnants of a Roman chapel on what was then an island in the Rhine, was later transformed into a Benedictine monastery. The current buildings are a landmark of the Old Town, and were erected between 1150-1250.

Historic Fischmarkt Square, where unfortunately a virtual tour truck was parked in front of the beautifully colored buildings, with the church to the right. Apparently wearing the goggles allows those partaking to see what the area would have looked like in time past. But it obstructed our view of the present!

The cold doesn't stop folks from enjoying drinks and meals outside, with blankets provided on chairs.

The markets are full of all sorts of enticing treats, many coated in chocolate! Lebkuchen is their gingerbread, but we will wait for Neuremburg, where it is famous.

A case full of delectable in the Chocolate Museum . We will take one of each!

The hot chocolate was delicious, made with Lindt chocolate!

We couldn't resist a photo of all of us with the cute Lindt bears!

Very cold today, more so than normal with a projected high of 38, but in the crowded markets, the sheer humanity …..and of course the Gluhwein, or warm spiced wine, helped to warm us! The large market by the cathedral was just too crowded to take, but we hit a couple more, selected our favorite mug to have wine in, and browsed the many ornaments , decorations, goods, and sweets offered and while we bought little, it was fun to look, and experience all the locals gathering and visiting and enjoying their Gluhwein. Each market had its own decorative mug, and you purchase the wine along with a couple euro deposit, which is returned to you when you return the mug, or you keep the mug as a souvenir. We had absolutely no intention of returning the cute mug we had scoped out! I do hope the smaller towns, and not being on a Saturday, will provide a less crowded experience, but we enjoyed it just the same.

The locals all gathered around socializing and sipping their Gluhwein.

Another market we investigated.

The figures went around, like the glockenspiel .

another cute gnome from another market

This was an Italian booth, which I was somewhat surprised to see. The chef was humming along as he stocked his wares.

This booth apparently chocolate coats fruit, but the grapes on a skewer looked very interesting, and different.

We saw a lot of nougat chocked full of nuts in the markets here, which reminds me of the Italian Torrone. We did not sample it, but I did find the special Lakrids licorice coated with chocolate and confection, which is from Denmark, and I purchased some in a raspberry flavor, which is a limited flavor for the holiday.

This performer with his violin and top hat looked was a perfect addition to the atmosphere!

The carousels with fan top are amazing in all sizes, but this one was huge and magnificent.

Many enticements in the nearby shops as well, and I went into one and got a good looking pretzel for Clem. Another woman came right after me and bought all the rest! The ones shown here are actually a sweet of some sort, coated with icing.

Between visiting markets, we went in to the Cathedral, where per our guides instructions, we headed straight to the back wall, where the original stained glass was, as well as the shrine with a triple gilded sarcophagus, built from 1180-1225, the largest reliquary in the world, with the remains of the Three Wise Men, or Maggi. We were fortunate that Susan happened to see an official of the church talking to a family, and showing photos on his phone, and sidled up to see what might be going on. He was a sweet man of small stature, clad in a long red vestment, and seemed more than willing to explain to us, in very good English, that each January 6, on Three Kings Day, it is opened for public viewing. He showed us a photo that while not terribly clear on his phone, did show three crowns. He was also able to show that up close what appeared only as gold to us, it is encrusted with colorful precious stones. He was not able to name them in English, but we gathered at least rubies and emeralds, in addition to others. I was fascinated by whole thing, and just had to ask how they happened to acquire the remains. He looked at me and said, “ stole them!” I wagged my finger at him and we all had a good chuckle.

All bundled up, Clem is very happy to have his knitted cap and ear muffs!

The figures and lower portions have been cleaned, which results in the lighter color. I can’t imagine cleaning the entire cathedral!

The gold triple sarcophagus which holds the remains of the Three Maggi.

The original stained glass that wasn't damaged by bombing during the war .

I thought we should definitely have one of the local sausages rather than having dinner on the ship, so we found one that looked particularly enticing, and enjoyed that before then heading back.

Then we made our way back to the boat, which was docked on the opposite side of the river, to warm up and rest before the evening port talk for tomorrow, and a special concert performed by local musicians. I was afraid Clem would bail on that and chose seats a bit away so as not to be embarrassed by him leaving or falling asleep, but he throughly enjoyed it, and even went up and spoke to the performers after, shocking me and our friends!

On the walk back, I spotted Santa ordering a drink at one of the cafes!

The bridge across the river was loaded with locks couples have attached , and I have heard of, but never seen. Apparently a bridge actually collapsed under the weight, but this bridge seems to not have a problem.