Cologne & Heidelberg
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2008
1
14
25
Trip End
Aug 17, 2008
Cologne,
North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thursday 31/7/08 - Friday 1/8/08
Tour: "31/7: At Cologne, you will visit the awesome twin-spired gothic CATHEDRAL. Then the afternoon's highlight: a romantic RHINE CRUISE past castle-crested cliffs, terraced vineyards, and trim, half-timbered towns. Next stop is Heidelberg, famous for its red-walled castle.
1/8: A scenic day! Morning stop in the lush valleys and pine-clad hills of the BLACK FOREST, renowned for its cuckoo clocks."
Ah, Germany. Two minutes into the country and I see an original Volkswagen Beetle, coloured orange - and for all you non-believers: on the Autobahn!
We stopped briefly in Cologne, home of the famed Cologne Cathedral (or Dome) and the Eau de Cologne named 4711. The Dome is awe inspiring in its sheer size and intricacy and richness of its ornamentation. Unfortunately, the outside is blackened by pollution, and even constant cleaning cannot alleviate the problem because by the time a round has been done, the beginning is as bad as when cleaning started! However, the crypts and beautiful interior are just incredible.
Germany is largely powered by nuclear power, which apparently causes quite a 'not in my backyard' response from all people where proposed plants are to go. I have to admit, the countryside is beautiful and can be quite spoiled when dominated by plant towers. There is an issue too with the waste generated, but when you have such a massive population, it is truly a conundrum.
We caught a cruise from St Goarshausen, and embarked on a stunning cruise of a beautiful part of the Rhine river. The statue of Lorelay associated with sailors' good luck and many castles and vineyards adorn the banks as we cruised on past. We even saw our tour bus cross the Rhine by ferry to meet us at the end of the cruise!
We passed on through the city of Ludwigschtafen (spelling? I used to know it) which won't mean much to anyone but me, because in my European Business unit at uni I did a project on a German company called BASF which started out in making dyes and has grown to a huge and (at last check) successful multidivisional company.
We also stopped all too briefly in the beautiful university city of Heidelberg. The streets and buildings are just picture-book perfect, and I hot-footed it up the very steep incline to the castle overlooking the city and river bridges. Just gorgeous.
We stayed in a town called Karlsruhe, and got to see their rollerbladers meet in the town centre for a blade around town.
We continued our (by now) epic bus ride next morning to pause briefly in the Black Forest to look at a cuckoo clock strike 10am. Not much opportunity for rambling in the forest, so we hopped back on the coach to cross the German-Swiss border.
Switzerland is not part of the EU and as such still has border controls. We were all happily taking photos until a guard informed us in no uncertain terms that it was a militarised zone and no photos were allowed! I was glad I wasn't using my flash.
We stopped close to the border for lunch and a look at the Rhine Falls. I took the opportunity to stretch my legs and rushed up for a better view only to find that the pretty trees were too tall for me to get a good photo. Ah well, win some, lose some.
Finally we arrived in Lucerne. More soon...
