We wake up this morning docked in Cologne, Germany. Patsy
and I take in the early breakfast and make ready for the walking tour of
Cologne—big
cathedral today. For those that do not realize it, this is where it all
started.
Eau de Cologne became the generic term all over the world
and Cologne is the city where it all started in 1709. An Italian perfumer, John
Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina, 1685 – 1766) made Cologne famous by naming
his fragrance after his new hometown. He started producing the fragrance in
1709 and still the firm of Maürer
& Wirtz produces the same formula there today.
Gathered and ready to hit Cologne
Cologne’s fat pigeons
Another group waiting to depart
Unfortunately, our guide this morning is so full of himself,
it makes it hard to listen to what he has to say. He goes on and on about his
first book and what he is thinking might be his second book. He seems to be
very well versed on architecture and wants to let us know this but he stays
grounded in the minute details of what he has to show us and never seems to
understand that we are not as interested as he might think. You would think
that when he asks if there are any questions, the lack of response ought to
give him a clue—maybe
he thinks that we have taken it all in and absorbed our fill—he just does not get it.
We are visiting the Cathedral of the Three Kings (the
Wisemen who visited the birth of the Crist Child) and the place is fabulous,
but I have no desire to know the exact dimensions of each of the stained glass
windows on every wall of the structure.
The Cathedral of the Three Kings (Cologne)
Eventually we have to walk away and leave the guide with
those that have the desire to listen to his mundane drivel. A group of us
peeled off—pretty
much the usual suspects—we
headed out the door and down the steps to a massive town square and over
to a pastry shop which turned out to be an entrance to the main downtown train
station—the cinnamon
flatbread was fantastic.
Then we
make our way across the square where we have spotted a coffee shop. Knowing
that we need to continue to support the local economy, we partake of their
beverage—I know you are thinking we have found another place to imbibe a couple
of more beers, but this time it is still early morning and we order some
coffee.
Patsy, Ginger & Jerry Leininger, Buddy & Carolyn Morgan,
Jim & Leslie Clemments
While we are taking in the activity of the square, a spontaneous
pep rally breaks out on the massive steps leading up to the Cathedral entrance
that we made our exit from. They were too far for us to determine their language,
but we were entertained by their performance.
Spontaneous Pep Rally
Making our way on our own back to where the Amadeus Elegant is docked and knowing
that we will not have another chance to support the local alcohol industry,
several of us begin to look for another establishment that will take our meager
Euros and provide us a beverage in kind. Carolyn and I find an establishment
run by a guy and his two children (son & daughter) that is open and willing
to serve us. We are quickly joined by Buddy and we order a round.
Our last German Beer
Making our way back to meet up with the others, we come
across the stragglers who have waited on us to return.
Jerry & Ginger Leininger and Leslie & Jim Clemments
At lunch today aboard the Amadeus Elegant, Patsy and I are joined by Stan and Christine Key
and Lee and Joanne Billingsley. What a great bunch of people we have met and
gotten to know on this trip.
We spent a little time in our cabin filling out the
Gohagen questionnaire and getting our tip package ready for the Amadeus Elegant crew—an obligation all
European riverboat travelers must undertake.
Next up is the port talk by Shelley on what our tactics
will be for tomorrow morning’s arrival in and departure from Amsterdam. Sounds
easy enough!
Professor Josiah Osgood (Georgetown University) has our
attention at 3 PM to finish up his lecture on the Romans and the Rhine. He
discusses how some of the German stereotypes persist until today and how the
Germanic people moved from the east side of the Rhine into all the other areas
of the European continent. His take on the entire subject is that the German
General Flavius Stilicho (sometimes Stilico, a member of the Roman Army)
insured the better organization of the German peoples and the fact that the
Rhine froze over on New Year’s Eve in 406 AD for the first time in many years,
allowed the peoples in the east to cross over and begin to move into the western
parts of Europe—thus
beginning the Fall of the Roman Empire.
Almost immediately following the lecture, Patsy and I
make our way to the aft library and gather with Giesela Boelhouwer and Juliane
Heynen (those Saskatchewan ladies), Ginger (and later Jerry) Leininger, Sara
Hill, and Joanne (and later Lee) Billingsley for some very spirited discussion on
all that we have seen and done during our trip.
Following our trip aft, we head to our cabin to get
(semi) dressed for the Captain’s farewell dinner. We find seats this time with
Lee and Joanne plus Dave and Joyce. Boy, the stories that were told that
evening would make your ears curl. Nothing was left to wonder about. A great
deal of the stories centered on our days on the campus of Texas A&M; a
common thread that we all have. Roy Bud (Ball State attendee) stopped by and
talked just a little. I had the chance to discuss our common past in the
military several times and enjoyed meeting him very much. Roy was a two tour in
Vietnam Army Captain who left the second time pretty well shot up. A True Veteran.
After dinner, it seemed that nobody was going to be the
first to exit the dining room. Everybody wanted to hang on and talk just a
little more. We all had become such good friends, no one wanted to leave.
Eventually we had to hug everybody and say our goodbyes—we were on one of the early busses to the airport
and some others were staying for the two-day extended tour of Amsterdam.
Morning found us docked in Amsterdam. We were up early
and had our bags out for our last luggage pickup and handling by the Amadeus Elegant crew.
Bags ready – Last morning
Hello, I’m A’DAM
Patsy and I made our way down to breakfast; joined by Kevin
and Becky, then Rick and Tamara Dirkse (from Rockwall). Before you know it, we are on the bus to the
airport. Our bags were loaded early and I feel very lucky that they were easy
to find—the loading
and multiple flight carriers was not thought through very well by the Goahgen
guys. Luckily enough, we were much earlier than the other departures that the
guides were able to call back and get the situation corrected for the next departures.
We made it through the passport check and baggage
handling without too much trouble, but the airport was really crowded.
While waiting in the staging area, the guy next to me got
up and left the area and his bags. I first thought he was behind me just
stretching his legs, but when he didn’t come back around and sit down, I ask
the lady across from me if he was still behind me. She immediately got up and
reported him to the Dutch authorities. When he did walk back up, they took him
off to the side, inspected his carry on and questioned him for some twenty
minutes—pretty gruffly,
I might add—before
they let him resume his seat.
Once again, I headed through the security check—the Dutch having this a
bit backwards from the US.
I didn’t make it—two shoulder replacements caused the machine to go crazy. I
underwent a fairly rough full body frisk before I was passed and allowed to
board the flight.
Coincidentally, we were departing west only a few days
ahead of the Malaysian Air flight 17 that was shot down over eastern Ukraine—another time we were in
the right place at the right time.
We had a fantastic time and would do it again—but only after I have
checked more of my wanta-go-tos off my list. Man! Was I glad to get back home to
my Pups: Little Gus and Otis!
