Cologne … more than just perfume

Today’s port of call is Cologne, Germany.  Unfortunately we only have the morning here to explore.  Nana was not feeling well so we decided it would be best if she just stayed behind.  I went down to the dining room to grab her some breakfast.  After I finished gathering up a few items, I asked one of the staff members if I could have a tray.  They kindly said that they would deliver the food along with a pot of tea.  Sure enough a few minutes later, Veljko (our butler) was at our door.  I still can not believe the level of service that Scenic offers.  I joined Karen and Marie for breakfast in the dining room which we finished just before 9:00am.

We decided to go our separate ways today – Karen and Marie decided to do the Motorworld excursion, while I chose the Cologne Walking Tour.  It was only a ten minute bus ride to the city centre.  Our tour started at the Hohenzollern Bridge, a famous railway and pedestrian bridge that spans the Rhine River.  From there we went to the Fish Market which is a small square that features colourful houses.  As we were walking, our guide Davis was giving us a lot of history about Cologne or Köln as the locals call it.

Hohenzollern Bridge
colourful houses

When we got to Old Market which is the historic town square, there were a group of men dressed up.  I believe they were practising for an upcoming festival.  I wish I could remember what it was.

Tünnes und Schäl
church
I wish I could remember who they represented
love the boots
Old Market
whimsical statue

Our tour ended at the famous Cologne Cathedral which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Davis said that we would meet back up in about an hour for the bus ride back to the ship.  I first made sure to check out some of the shops nearby including the original 4711 Shop that sells Eau de Cologne.  Once I picked up a few things, I made my way back to the cathedral and decided to go inside to admire its beauty.

Heinzelmännchenbrunnen
side of Cologne Cathedral
front ot Cologne Cathedral
famous bakery
home of Eau de Cologne
beautiful stained glass
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral
street art / demonstration

I found the rest of the group and after a ten minute walk, we were all on the bus.  We arrived back at the ship by 12:30pm and then headed to the Crystal Dining Room for lunch.  It was just after 1:00pm and we started sailing to our final port of call, Amsterdam.  Because the sun was shining, Karen and I thought we should go and enjoy the weather up on the Sun Deck.

Scenic Jasper
Nana enjoying the balcony

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying our final day of sailing.  One of the cities we sailed through was Dusseldorf where we saw the Rheinpromendade including the Wheel of Vision.  I sure am going to miss these leisurely afternoons.

sailing
local life
Nana and Karen enjoying the sunshine
coming into Dusseldorf
Rheinpromendade
Wheel of Vision

The sun was starting to set so we decided to head back inside to the cabins.  Instead of going to the Lounge to listen to the disembarkation talk, we decided to watch it on the TV.  That did not last long since the audio was so bad.  But we got the gist of what we needed to do.

Our dinner tonight was called The Gala Dinner.  It was a five course meal that included hot and cold appetizers, chilled champagne soup and of course dessert.  It was a great way to end our day.

chocolate fondant

We finished up our evening with a trip to the Salt Therapy Lounge.  And followed that up with some research on Amsterdam.  We want to make sure that we have a solid plan for our final day of this cruise.

 

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