Castles, Cathedral and Cologne

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We had breakfast at the hotel and boarded our bus with Robert, our driver and Anna-Lena, our tour director to begin our journey around Germany. Our group of 44 included individuals of various nationalities, ages and ethnicities. Our first adventure was aboard a river boat to cruise along a portion of the Rhine River, dotted with castles and small river towns along the banks, for about 1 1/2 hours. The weather was chilly and windy so the best location was inside the boat making photography more difficult, but definitely more comfortable.

Reaching the end of our cruise at St. Goar, we once again climbed aboard the bus to continue on to Cologne. After a brief introduction to the city, we were free to explore until the beer tasting mid-afternoon. We have been to Cologne in the past, but had not been able to visit in interior of the cathedral. This was our prime goal. We made a brief visit to the Roman Arch to complete a geocache before entering the cathedral.

We spent time in the cathedral admiring the stained glass windows, beautiful gold cases, and many side-altars.

After leaving the cathedral, we looked for a café for lunch in a sunny location as although the rain had stopped, it was still chilly and windy. Finding a table we opted for hot chocolate and a piece of cheesecake for "lunch". After lunch we went to the Cölner Hofbraü Früh for a beer tasting. I did not participate in the tasting, but did enjoy some of the cheeses accompanying the beer.

After a little more free time we regathered and went to the hotel for dinner.

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