Today was one of the best weather days we’ve had on the river. We stated with chilly temperatures and sunny skies then are ending with clear, sunny skies and warm temperatures. Nina got up early and was out on the front of the ship camera, at the ready. By about 10 she was bundled in her sweater, coat, and blanket. By 10:30 she had come into the lounge almost frozen, but with several (hopefully) great castle pictures.

We spent the night docked in Ruedesheim and set sail at about 7:30 along the most beautiful part of the Rhine river, past all of the castles built to extract illegal tolls and taxes on the river traffic. The trip was very pleasant and we arrived in Koeln (Cologne) at 3:00 pm.

I really enjoy the days cruising on the river. It’s kind of like a sea day on the big ships, except there is always something to see. We spent a lot of time on this trip sailing at night, meaning we couldn’t see very much through sleepy, closed eyes. We’ll go past Duesseldorf late tonight. I’d like to get up and see the town from the river!

Koeln is still a fascinating city. The Cathedral is massive, one of the three largest cathedrals in the world. After all the others we have seen on this trip, the Koelner Dom just takes your breath away with it’s massive size and spectacular stained glass windows.

The infamous McDonalds is still there. That was the first McDonalds opened outside of Bravaria in Germany. When it opened, we took all the kids there on the train for Family Home Evening. The Germans in the Krefeld Branch thought we were crazy. I’ll bet we still have the tray mats from that visit!

We did a little shopping. I had to dial into a telephone conference at 4:00 pm about the 3rd quarter results. We sat in front of the cathedral watching the hoards of people walking past. The fine weather and a Friday afternoon seem to have brought the entire city! After we left the Cathedral, we walked down the pedestrian shopping street along with several thousand other souls. The size of the crowds certainly complemented the size of the cathedral!