Day 3 – Cologne, Rhine Cruise, and Heidelberg

9/13/2006 – Day 3 – Cologne, Rhine Cruise, and Heidelberg

Today we are leaving Amsterdam working our way to Heidelberg with a stop for a scenic cruise along the Rhine River.  Our ride in the tour bus will take about three hours or so passing near Dusseldorf.  Because of what we will do today, we left the hotel early and when we got out of town I was able to get a picture of the sun coming up.

Traveling east we cross the bridge heading into Cologne, you can see the twin spires of its imposing cathedral in the background.  It is said to be the final resting place of the Three Wise Men.  Check out the size of the Cathedral, it towers over everything else close to it.   

Now that we are here, I cannot believe its size.  Imagine the cathedral construction started in 1248 and stopping in 1560 unfinished until construction started again in 1840 finishing in 1880 to the original plan.  The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at 515 feet is the tallest twin-spired church in the world.  The dark color is weathering over the years and you can see by the scaffolding and some of the statues near the bottom, they have been restoring the Cathedral.

Look at the carvings at the entrance arch.  I am very impressed with this construction.  Look at the larger statues at the base, the smaller statues one on top of each other forming the arch, and the statues over the arch.  You will notice that he larger statues have been cleaned as the whole cathedral is undergoing restoration.

We walk around to the side of the cathedral before going inside.  Here we can clearly see the flying buttresses and pinnacles.  The plan is based on the Latin Cross as is usual for gothic cathedrals.  The two isles on the sides and the flying buttresses take up the outward push of the gothic vault.  You can see that this section of the cathedral is in restoration.

From the side of the cathedral, it appears even larger than from the front.  This is the entrance to one of the cross wings that makes up the cross.  There are three door arches with some of the statues already restored.  Compare the size of the people at the base to the size of the statues and the cathedral itself.

Inside I am in awe.  You can see the organ pipes high up in the picture.  Statues on each of the columns look down on the people in attendance.  Stained glass windows let in sufficient light to see by.  The stained glass at the south transept is composed of 11,500 identically sized pieces of colored glass resembling pixels. 

Tucked behind a glass case, this is the Shrine of the Three Kings.  The Three Kings sometimes referred to the Three Wise Men and also the Three Magi were the foreigners depicted in the Gospel of Mathew.  Parts of the relics, the bones of the Three Wise Men, were returned to the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio in Milan, Italy from where they were taken. 

We leave Cologne and the Cathedral of St. Peter and make our way to our scenic Rhine River Cruise.  We get on the cruise boat and after checking it out, Carmen and I move up to the top deck, which is open. 

As the boat works its way down the river, we can see small towns along the banks and Castles up on the high on the hills.  This is the Marksburg Castle, built around 1324 as a toll station on the Rhine river. 

Further along the river we come to Maus Castle above the village of Willmich.  Construction started in 1356 and continued for the next 30 years.  The castle was constructed to acquire Rhine River tolls and to secure the areas borders.  The castle suffered from shelling during World War II.  After repairs, the castle now hosts an aviary to falcons, owls, and eagles.

All along the river, we have seen a number of wine grape vines groves.  Like this one, many have the vines sectioned off into smaller groups.  I have to admit some of the wine we have had has been Rhine River area wines and they have been pretty good.

Many of the towns along the river have grape vines within the town’s borders.  Some of the towns have docks for the cruise boats to use as a visitor stop.  Some towns have a Castle or large manor house and others large churches like the one in the background. 

Futher down river we pass more towns, vineyards, and other castles.  We pass these two castles, Pfalzgrafenstein Castle on a small island in the middle of the Rhine and Burg Gutenfels Castle up on the hill. 

We are done with our river cruise portion of the tour and are about to disembark.  Carmen is waiting for me at the bottom of stairwell.  Many of the people here are with us on the tour.  We are now on our way to Heidelberg.

We are in Heidelberg, having just entered the plaza near the river and have a great view of Heidelberg Castle,  The sun is just right, hardly anyone in the plaza and we haven’t started to run around yet.  What a great day!

What looks like a side street or alley way is actually a regular sized street.  Remember, the town was founded in 1386, so they didn’t worry about motorized vehicles back then, just a horse and cart. 

It was not unusual for us to find a plaza and with a fountain and statue.  But, check out all of the people at the tables set up by one of the local cafes.  There is also a Classic Country Clothing shop in the background.  Live is good.

The history these roads have seen.  As we look to the manors on the hill, we can imagine that at one time, and possibly even now, house the professors from the University. 

How about this, restaurants all the way down this side of the street, sit and eat and not a care in the world.  Not to be outdone, check out the Subway halfway down the street.

The shadows are getting long and we meet our bus and go to the hotel.  Tomorrow we will go to Rothenberg.