Like all medieval European cities, Köln's streets are narrow and twisty and difficult for tour buses to navigate.  Like all medieval European cities, Köln's cathedral is in a constant state of repair.  Modern (and not-so-modern) air pollution have rendered its cathedral a dark-gray-to-black and the fact that it's made of a relatively soft stone doesn't help.  Artisans and craftsmen are carefully pulling original blocks from the structure and replacing them with freshly-hewn duplicates.  In 300 years, the Cologne Cathedral will be completely reconstructed... and by then, it will look exactly as you see it today.

Shown here is a finial for one of the spires.  We never see such things 'close up and personal' and so we never get an appreciation for how big they actually are.  They are gi-normous.

This is our first port-of-call in Germany, so we indulge ourselves at lunch with good German beer, sauerbraten, dumplings, and red cabbage.  Their chocolate is not exactly 'shabby', either...

We're tired from all that walking around, so we take the tractor-tram back toward the boat with an eye toward taking the cable car across the river to see what's on the other side.  Well!

On the other side is a sort of spa or water park — hot and cold pools, whirlpool baths, sauna, massage rooms, and we notice that some sections seem to be marked 'clothing optional'.  Hmmm...

Yes, indeed, that bunch of guys are sloshing around in the CO area.  I'm too much of a voyeur not to document the find.

That evening we are entertained by two lovely young local artistes who presented a program of classical and semi-classical pieces arranged for cello and piano.