Stats
It's day 32 and we've cycled a total of 1306 miles / 2101 km. We have about 308 miles / 496 km left to cycle before we're in Hook of Holland and ready to take a ferry back to England. We'll be cycling as little as possible in England.
Route So far
Travelogue
It's a rest day again. Yes, we're taking a lot of rest days now that we're on the home straight and ahead of schedule.
As is our usual pattern, after breakfast at a bakery across the road, we set off on foot to see the best of Cologne, following a self-guided walking tour that we'd found.
First on the tour was Cologne Cathedral, apparently Germany's most visited landmark. It's certainly an impressive building with its twin spires. It's exceptionally ornate but could really do with cleaning as it looks remarkably grubby.
It's architects that normally get all the kudos for buildings like this, but M1 was more interested in just how the place had been constructed. The stone masons and builders that had actually made the cathedral, presumably working at great height at times. They're the unsung heroes.
It took over 400 years to complete the project, which started in 1248 and stopped and started again a few times.
In some ways, for all its art and other exceptional features, it's a rather ostentatious monument to the super-wealthy, perhaps seeking to buy a place in heaven. Religion and money. Cynical, moi?
From the cathedral, we visited a bridge over the Rhine whose fencing is completely covered by padlocks. Walking further we saw another, somewhat disappointing church, a fountain or two and the "rathaus".
What stood out is just how poorly Cologne has protected its older buildings. With the exception of the cathedral, it was common to see ugly modern buildings crammed right next to and often almost hiding, the older historic buildings in the city. It made us realise that Britain's planning laws have done much better in that regard.
Overall, we felt that Cologne was a typical and somewhat dismal, modern city with little to make it worth the visit. It's like many urban centres. Dirty, noisy, shambolic and with more than its share of ugly buildings. There were what looked like junkies searching through bins and either drugged, drunk or mentally ill (or some combo) people ranting at nobody we could see in the street.
Koblenz was a nice, small and attractive city. Basel was lovely. Lucerne quite beautiful. Cologne doesn't even belong on the same list.
We'd expected this part of the trip to be urban and industrial. The Rhine passes through a series of large German cities and we have more to come (Dusseldorf tomorrow). We're looking forward now to leaving Germany in a few days and crossing into the Netherlands.
Nil point therefore for Cologne. But at least it's a rest day.
Photos
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