The Rhine

Our next stop was Mainz, where we would board a boat to sail down the Rhine to Cologne. With a history dating back over 2,000 years, we found plenty to see in this quaint little town. One of the best places to experience the past is the restored Old Town, which is brimming with an authentic atmosphere. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around and enjoying our stay here, however short it was.

The entire day was spent admiring the beauties of the river and its environs. Terry joined us in Rüdesheim, and shortly thereafter, we admired the Lorelei Rock, the narrowest point where the legendary mermaid used to lure ships onto the cliffs. Kathy had suggested we get off the boat at Rüdesheim because she had visited there a few years ago and knew it was a lovely city with lots of ambience. Rightly or wrongly, I did not follow her advice since I was more interested in getting all the way to Cologne and then on to Berlin. It would be a few decades before we came back to this area and stayed in Rüdesheim for a couple of nights.

Our stay in Cologne was, unfortunately, very short, but we did have time to visit its famous cathedral, where, amazingly, the stained-glass windows survived World War II, when so much else was destroyed. Apparently, the survival of these windows was not due to luck alone; it was thanks to careful, deliberate preservation efforts. These windows survived because they were taken down and stored safely before the bombings began.