Köln

 Friday 26th June Hot, humid, a little cloudy.  We were surprised to be met by both Jeremy & Judith, she’d caught a late train from Heidelburg the night before.  Unfortunately we had to leave her behind so she could work on her thesis.
We travelled to Köln by train, amazed to see the cathedral right in front of us as we exited the station!  It's got some lovely features - stained glass windows, mosaic floors, soaring arches and treasures including a 12th century golden Polish chest (below). 




However, Bruce felt it was a bit like a mausoleum with so many tombs and monuments to long-dead bishops. 

We walked to the Rhine and sat under a tree to watch the barges and boats go by before visiting the Chocolate Museum.
It's in an interesting setting on a small island that you reach by crossing a bridge some metres above the river, a bit disturbing to realise that during one massive flood, it had been under water!
The museum has some really interesting displays about the whole process of producing chocolate from the seed pods of the cacao plant, and about world trade. You can enjoy the warmth of a small tropical hothouse before proceeding through a miniature factory where you can view the whole process and get a couple of tastes of the results. We were really impressed by the robot that puts solidified chocolates onto a belt which takes them to the wrapping machine. 
Upstairs are displays on moulds, packaging and advertising over the years, also a special display of artifacts from South American civilisations that used cacao.We were more than ready for lunch after that! Then all that remained was to shop for gifts for our African hosts. I was a bit cross that the Deutsche Bank ATM refused our VISA card, they're supposed to be linked to Westpac!
The train back was so crowded it was standing room only, we were on the stairs between the 1st and 2nd class compartments.  Two ladies found that it's cheaper to buy a 1st class ticket than to pay the fine for sitting up there with a 2nd class one! It was obvious why they preferred to be seated though, one had crutches.
Judith had had an eventful day in the flat!  The police had arrested a guy on the ground floor, and the council had sent staff round over complaints about the rubbish that had been put outside. It was the upstairs tenants' turn, but the refuse collectors had deemed some of it not suitable to pick up!  Everyone was very glad when it disappeared a couple of days later!
Our return to the hotel was delayed by a thunderstorm. We went back when it was still lightly raining, and I got pretty wet accidentally walking under a spout of water off the roof - right down my back - brrr!

Xanten

Tuesday June 25th Had a very nice buffet breakfast before meeting up with Jeremy, went to Xanten by train, a place with an interesting history. It's a cathedral city with walls & towers that date from the 16th century.
After climbing up inside the Kriemhildmühle (top right), a working windmill, we walked to the partial reconstruction of the Roman colony, which was founded in the time of Emperor Trajan around 200 A.D.








No one knows which god was worshipped at the Hafenstempel (above left). Other buildings include a Romanesque inn and herb garden (above right) and a large amphitheatre (below left).








Above right: an amazing example of Roman technology - a crane that could lift 9t blocks of stone.
After a cheap €5 lunch at an outdoor restaurant, we visited the Cathedral (left), which has been wonderfully restored since the Second World War. We especially admired the amazing life-size sculptures of the crucifixion outside (above right).
A grassed quadrangle containing an interesting monument is surrounded by beautiful vaulted cloisters behind the cathedral.

Brussels with Eleanor

Monday 22nd June Nice breakfast of yoghurt, croissants, bread rolls, juice and strong coffee. The waitresses were kept busy pouring coffee, clearing and resetting tables. All the guests except us were French-speaking Africans so we felt quite at home!
As Eleanor had still not turned up 20 minutes after the arranged time to meet, I went downstairs to try to phone her and was successful on the second attempt. She was having problems owing to a faulty Google map, and no-one seemed to know where the hotel was. However, our helpful hotel receptionist soon gave her the right directions, and she arrived very quickly, she’d only been a short distance away! I was touched that they didn’t charge me for the phone calls
After spending some time discussing where to go, we set off for the Cathedral on the metro. It's a great public transport system, a day ticket takes you everywhere within the city. Unfortunately our camera’s batteries went flat, and Eleanor’s were too!

We enjoyed looking at the Bourse and Grand-Place – fantastic buildings, some decorated with gilt. There were some lovely paintings on sale in the square, as well as plants in pots. After buying museum and transport passes, we walked to the palace through some interesting gardens.
We were quite amused by the guards’ slow march, each arm being raised up to horizontal at each step. What a boring job!
The yummy chocolates + beautiful lace in the shop windows were very tempting, but we resisted very well. We only came across the Manneken Pis by accident, nearly missed it as it’s so SMALL, but I really don't understand why everyone raves over it so much, I think it’s rather rude!
We ate some spicey Turkish kebabs for lunch, before returning to the hotel for a rest, our feet were sore after all the cobbles, which are laid in scalloped patterns.
There didn't seem to be a good restaurant near our hotel, it's in rather a grotty neighbourhood, so we returned to town, ending up in a Thai restaurant near St Catherine’s and the Bourse. The food was beautifully served; Bruce had an orchid on his plate + my beef curry was served in a clay pot kept warm over a candle in a bowl.
An amusing incident – a police car stopped in a side-street, a second joined it, blocking the entrance – 2 other motorists tried to enter the street, blocking the main road as they couldn’t get past the police cars! Traffic started building up in the main road, people started honking their horns! Eventually one of the police cars was moved, restoring everything to order!