Three days pass and I cant say they are busy. They are entertaining in a travel sense of seeing new things and learning new stuff. They do however merge into each other as we walk through cobblestone streets to see the largest church spire in Europe, which i thought we saw in the last town in the town before.
There is an artist sitting painting the cathedral by the wall (middle picture) its a beautiful scene and I think of my point and shoot camera and his time, commitment and talents. I wonder what he does all his works as I hit the delete button to banish images that took moments to capture and less to erase. I think all this and then everybody is laughing and I realise I am once again lost in this walking tour group with white noise coming in my ears. I ask WH what’s funny and he asks if my earpiece is working. “Yep” I say. I just aren’t listening. He repeats what was funny and I feel you had to be there actively LISTENING as the moment had passed and I aim to do better.
We are the only Kiwis on this cruise and people in general seem fascinated by us. They cannot believe we travelled so far and many say they would never go to NZ as the 7 or 8 or maybe 9 hour flight from the states to Basel was too long. Your loss I think but don’t say. We travel onto Koblenz and walk along its banks into town. Everyone is out and about on a Sunday afternoon and they line the banks in there deck chairs and trestle tables drinking beer and wine.
We cruise the river through castle territory. It’s really scenic as we pass through al the vineyards with castles dotted on the hilltops and pretty villages below. The weather has got cooler and things slightly duller and the scenery blends into the background and loses its crisp edge.
The older train tunnels are fascinating as they are made to look like castles or churches. Hitler did this in the Second World War to camouflage them during the war so they couldn’t be bombed.
We visit an old castle, the only one on the Rhine that has not been destroyed and rebuilt. It is the one that they based the movie Frozen on (evidently). Again very interesting how they heated it and cooled it and dined, and went toilet.There was a big fire under the bedroom floor that heated the bricks for underfloor heating. In the winter when the Rhine froze they went down and cut out big blocks bought them back wrapped them in straw and kept them in the cellar to keep them frozen for summer so they then put them in the fridge. (The last time the Rhine froze was in the 1940’s). The toilet was straight off the dining room “evidently” so they didnt have to miss any important conversation if the need arose and was built out over the edge so it literally was a long drop. Check out the armour below. Definitely wouldn’t want a kick up the backside with these shoes.
We travel on to Cologne and I am underwhelmed. Of course it has the biggest cathedral and a fascinating history. The thing that is most notable is its awful architecture. We are told that 80% of it was destroyed and most of what was left they tore down as they wanted to build a modern city. They took note of the Americans and decided they wanted a car friendly city and made way for this. The cathedral which was built over 500 years and finally finished and paid for by donated pennies from all of the inhabitants, is blocked by a monstrosity of a building that has been closed for 6 years and expected to be for the next 6 years as it is renovated. We are told that after the war nobody wanted to look back and only wanted new and modern. There are interesting facets like the little bronze plaques in the pavements outside some houses. A artist decided that things were not to be forgotten and these little plaques represent Jews who lived there and were taken away to concentration camps and then died.
We do a loop around the bridges with one covered in lovelocks as far as you can see. We joke about the combination locks, or the ones with three locks on a lock, perhaps hedging their bets.
We stop on the way back to the ship to indulge in the Kosch beer culture whereby you get a small beer glass of about 200ml, as you drink it they replace it, by putting one beside it, each time they do this they put another mark on the coaster beside you until you eventually when you have had enough you put the coaster on the top of your glass and they come along and tally up the cost and you pay and move on. For those who know me well I still do not like beer so drank wine whilst WH collected his marks. Each brew house has its own beer and served this way it stays cold and fresh.
We wander slowly back to the ship and my watch beeps me to tell me I have done 12000 steps. I look down on the top deck of the ship and see the Lycra ladies and a Lululemon couple walking around the walking circuit. “Why would you” I say to WH. There is a bridge walk and esplanade walk, an old town (not much old) walk, a cathedral walk where you can even climb to the tower. We are in a new place everyday, why would you just walk in circles like a caged mouse round and round. If you need more steps you just go for another walk in a different direction and see something new. It’s how discoveries are made. I can definitely see the point at sea on an oceangoing voyage where land is not in sight but here in this space I cannot remotely understand.
In fact truth be told I am a bit of “:why would you” over a few things and probably best I get off tomorrow after visiting the windmills. Why would you put your phone on speaker and talk to your daughter, grandchild, colleague in the middle of the bar? Why would you talk so loudly in the casual diner that four tables away from you I can hear every word you are saying, AND ITS LOUD. Why would you order food and then decide you are not hungry and leave a full plate sitting? (Unless of course you have an emergency stomach thing happening). Why would you complain about the scrambled eggs and not eat them, then I kid you not order them again the next two mornings and do the same thing. Ahhhhh tis an interesting onboard ship life so time to get off and look at some windmills.
