Cologne, Germany and Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany. It is known for its many cathedrals, its young population, its Roman heritage, and its production of beer. We spent the day taking a walking tour of the city. The tour included visiting the Cologne Cathedral which houses the Shrine of the Three Kings and a beer tasting at the Fruh Brewery.

Something we found interesting was that when the people of Cologne start new construction projects, they usually unearth artifacts dating back to medieval times. The deeper they dig, the more artifacts they find. This delays most construction projects because they have to call archeologist to determine how to remove and classify the artifacts. A major construction project which has had numerous delays is the building of the new underground railway system. Cost wise and time wise, this might put the Boston’s BIG DIG to shame. We even took a picture of the oldest road in Cologne which was uncovered while doing some digging for a subway station. Even though the city is pretty modern, they have an old town which has been restored to its natural beauty. They even have the cute cobble stone streets with the uneven surfaces. As you might have guessed it, we had another accident involving an elderly woman. She was walking along the cobble stone and took a fall. She is ok and was able to continue on for the rest of the cruise. The other person will not be joining us for the remainder of the trip.

Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands

All I can say is WATCH OUT FOR THOSE DAM BIKES!!! If you are not watching carefully, THEY WILL TAKE YOU OUT!!!! Josh spent some time directing passenger traffic so they would not get into accidents with the bicycles. On the trip we already had two ladies fall on the streets, one was taken to the hospital for surgery; we were not taking any chances on our last full day with the River Cruise. I think he found a new calling in life.

Today we had a tour of Rijksmuseum and a water boat tour of the city of Amsterdam. We saw some masterpieces painted by Rembrandt and Frans Hals. We also saw the infamous Night Watch painted by Rembrandt. After going back to the ship for dinner and a farewell get together. We decided to visit the oldest section of Amsterdam with a friend. If you could only imagine these little cobble stone streets and alleys, lots of little shops, waterways intertwining with the streets, beautiful flower boxes everywhere, so rich in history this area was really something and filled with culture. There was so much to see and do before we had to return to the ship. Only having a few hours to spend, we window shopped and had a few beers. It really was interesting seeing things in all different ages, shapes, and sizes. The Red Light District was truly a cultural experience. Talk about Bachelor Party Number 1, HOLLA!

One of the funniest things that happened this evening was having many people from the ship ask us if they could join us for the expedition of The Red Light District. One couple even asked if we would take their daughter and her friend along to sure they did not get into any trouble! Oh, if they only knew us! A GREAT time was had by all even a wild a crazy lady who is a “proper” mom and does not want her name to be mentioned (if her family read’s this just check the pictures, we have proof).

As the night went on we went back to the ship for a late night happy hour with some champagne and watched as the crew wondered back on to the ship one by one!

It is our last day in Amsterdam and we did some street shopping and of course wanted to make sure we did not leave any corners unexplored in the oldest part of town! Off to London!