Day 28 & 29 & 30am Germany: Cologne and Dusseldorf

Major itinerary change!!! We decided that we would give Berlin a miss (another trip, another time).Instead the appeal of driving through the Rhine and Moselle valleys and the Black Forest is too great. Looks absolutely stunning. We want to get away from cities for a while and see the countryside. Therefore we headed to Cologne as the first stage of our trip through this side of Germany. Caught the train/tram to the Dom Cathederal, which is like the central point of Cologne (or Koln as the Germans say). This is yet another Gothic Cathedral and in my view probably the most magnificient we have seen so far (though the gargoyles on Notre Dame were more spectatular). We headed to the Aldstadt (old pat of the city) and walked around and then walked along the Rhine River. Was very nice. After lunch we wandered around the Schildergasse, which is a shopping mall that is very long and has fantastic shops. Wandered around Zara for quite some time – nice clothes (bought a T Shirt).

Decided to head up to Dusseldorf for a look – and we were glad we did. Lovely city. Did the “Dusseldorf in an hour walking tour” and it was great. Visited St Andreas Church (the yellow one above). It was elegant inside and is said to be one of the Rhineland’s most beautiful baroque churches. Talking baroque, we walked passed a statue of Elector Jan Wellem on a horse – and discovered that it was not only Dusseldorf’s landmark, but the most important baroque statue north of the Alps (how’s that for a history/geography lesson?). This statue was right near the Town Hall t (the photo with the flowers over the building). Tour took us along the Rhine (obviously a different section) and up to St Lambertus Church and the cart wheel fountain. Wow! Sounds a lot. Boy did we walk. Read in a phamplet about Barbarossa’s imperial palace ruins. Discovered we could reach them by a 25 minute train ride – so off we went. We got off the train/tram at Kaiserwerth – and what a magical little town/village??? Got Tomasina on to where to go and in 10 minutes we were walking along the Rhine again (but this time in the rain). Suddenly, there they were and they were fantastic – think I have a thing for ruins. These were the ruins of a medieval palace of the “legendary emperor Barbarossa”. Roamed these for quite some time. Loved today. Nice to get right out of the city.