November 24th - Cologne

Cologne (or Koln) is Germany's fourth largest city and sits right on the banks of Father Rhine. A population of over just 1M enjoys this remarkable settlement. Founded by the Romans in 50 BC because of its natural harbor, Charlemagne, Napoleon and the Prussians succeeded. Cologne reputedly even holds the relics of the three kings (maggi) for which its impressive cathedral was built. These days, it is a modern bustling city, but its cosmopolitan past is reflected in today's multicultural population coming from over 180 nations. Eighteen percent of the population is non-German and the city prides itself on its motto, "Live and Let Live." Situated in the city is also one of the "oldest Universities in the Land," famous for its economics department, with a total student population of around 45,000. The modern city is also home to large businesses such as the Ford motor company, and those in the media industry (with two of Germany's largest television companies having their head offices there) Insurance companies headquarters, car producer, Ford, and the trade fair centre.

Breakfast
Up and early for breakfast again. I was sleeping so well too! We shared the breakfast table with the couple from Virginia and the Travel Agents.

Cologne
We had a walking tour of Cologne this morning. First thing that I noticed when I got off the ship was that there is a Price Waterhouse Coopers. I was going to take a photo, but a big tree was blocking my view. Cologne is a university city and it's very large with many cathedrals. What I thought was amazing was that they had a historic cathedral next to a very modernized building for theatre. There is such a mixture of styles in Cologne.

Another interesting fact is that our Tour Guide showed us a picture of some famous people eating on this floor in the Museum Ludwig, and people couldn't identify them except for me. History isn't my specialty, but I recognized Clinton right away. This was the 25th G8 Summit. Tony Blair was there as well.

It was cold and drizzly, and the Christmas markets didn't open until 11:00 a.m., so we shopped the newer area with many stores, and the largest department store in Cologne. I bought Sydney a little surprise while we were there. They had the cutest stuffed Koala bear and baby there (that I wanted for myself because I loved Koala bears when I was younger). I also bought Christmas presents.Afterwards, I tried to find the first market that we had passed, but mom was getting annoyed and just wanted to go to the one by the Cathedral. The one by the Cathedral was very commercialized. It mostly had food. We had our free glass of spiced wine and walked back to the boat. I thought that they would have Wassail, but they drink hot, spiced wine in Germany.

I found out that the couple from Virginia visited the more authentic market (the first one we passed on our tour) and they loved it. If it wasn't so miserable out, I'm sure we would have stayed longer.

Cologne is a great city. They even have a 6 day long Carnival.

Lunch
We had a half hour before lunch. We had Wiener Schnitzel, Cream of Pumpkin soup, and Apple Strudel....another yummy lunch. The guy from Texas called it WIENER and our waiter thought it was hysterical. Then, he ordered some VATER. LOL

Afternoon
Couldn't wait to put my PJ bottoms on 'cuz the bottoms of my jeans got all wet and cold. Brrr! Got a Cappucino to warm me up. They have a nice machine that makes whatever specialty coffee drink that you want.

Nap
I felt a bit of a sore throat coming on and my head hurt (probably due to today's weather). Mom was sleeping before I finished reading a couple pages of my book, then I rested too because I had to be up in an hour to attend our departure briefing. Only the "responsible" one was required to attend. LOL So, I let mom sleep.

Departure Briefing
Christian gave us information on our departure as well as our tour tomorrow and the cocktail party this evening.

Amalegro Shopping
The ship's gift shop was offering a 20% discount on items tonight. Mom and I bought some Hummel pill boxes that were very inexpensive.

Captain's Cocktail Party
The Captain had a party before dinner with drinks and appetizers and to introduce all of the staff. Everyone was in a very festive mood, but feeling a little sad about our cruise ending soon.

Dinner
We ate dinner with Kathleen and Duncan and a couple from Minnesota (that's the guy who thought that I thought he was a purse snatcher. LOL...Then, he remembered who it was). Dinner was great, particularly the goat cheese appetizer. We had great conversation and also shared e-mails/phone numbers with everyone. We also told Duncan how mom originally thought that he was a terrorist on board. Initially, we thought that he was alone and that Kathleen was with her mother-in-law. I told mom that a terrorist would target a ship with way more people. We got a good laugh out of that one!

The Captain looked over, and stuck his tongue out at me at dinner. LOL

After Dinner
After dinner, everyone was kind of pooped. Most went back to their rooms. I went to blog and uploaded some photos, but the Internet was not cooperating. I wasn't able to finish, but hopefully can tomorrow.

Almost Packed
When I came back to the room I arranged most of our stuff so that we are basically ready to go.