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Published: August 14th 2009
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The other day I opened a fortune cookie " It is up to you to create your own adventures today! "
July 16, 2009, Thursday, Potsdam to Cologne (Koln), Germany
A long drive day across Germany to Cologne, Germany, our campingplatz Berger is right on the Rhine River, and we are right on the bike trail.
There is a nice Restaurant/Biergarten… time to have dinner and relax.
July 17, 2009, Friday, Campingplatz Berger to City of Cologne and back to the campground.
We bike 6/7 kms along the Rhine River bike trail into Koln, and to the Cologne Cathedral Dom. This is Germany’s greatest Gothic Cathedral. The Koln Cathedral is huge and was built over the course of six centuries! It was finished in 1880 and it miraculously escaped destruction during WWII. Its colossal spires define the skyline of Cologne. The stain glass windows are beautiful and so large, one feels tiny entering the church.
This is July and it is holiday-time, the city is crowded with families on vacation. The Wallraf-Richartz Museum is our next stop today. They had a wonderful visiting collection of man’s fascination with “Der Mond” (The Moon). It tracked man’s interest in the moon and how it changed with the invention of the telescope, then photography
and finally manned space travel.
The Rhine was the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. Just across from the museum is an archaeological dig. What began as a new construction turned into an amazing “find”. Besides unearthing Roman Baths in the center of Koln, they now are in the process of unearthing the remains of a very early synagogue, with artifacts. I guess the future will tell.
Back on our bike, we started home, but had to stop at the chocolate factory for some goodies. Biking along the Rhine is grand. We got back to the CG just before the rain came.
July 18, 2009, Saturday, Cologne on the Rhine River to Cochem on the Mosel River, Germany.
The drive was not too long, but a bit tricky with this large vehicle maneuvering the small roads down to the river valley.
The misty Mosel is a peaceful beautiful area, with little village towns slipped between impossibly steep vineyards and, of course, the river.
Our spot at the Campingplatz Mosel is right on the Mosel River, and as we got the bikes ready to roll, the clouds moved-in. We waited for the downpour to
stop and then biked into the center of town. With our ponchos we are ready for the weather.
Cochem is larger than I recall, either it has grown or my memory is hazy from 1980. The medieval streets wind up and up hills, with lots of shops. Sitting up on a very steep hillside is Cochem Castle, Reichburg Cochem. It sits majestically looking down on the village and river. It is like a fairy tale picture!
At the Info Center, we got details on how to get up to the castle and also for a boatride …tomorrow.
All day the rain comes on and off, then the sun shines and it is beautiful. Back to the campingplatz we go for a hot shower.
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