Koln - Day Trip; Huge Dom

Monday, the 15th, would be a nice day trip to Koln (Cologne). We got going late and once there, happened upon an absolutely ridiculously delicious bakery called Merzenich, where we were sucked into two delicious cappucinos, 2 tasty breads (one olive, the other beer), 1 almond and chocolate pretzel-shaped pastry, and 1 chocolate filled croissant. Later in the afternoon, at the end of our day, we would stop in again, for another round of those two breads. The main focus of our afternoon was the amazing Dom. We walked the insides, taking lots of video and pictures, and climbed the 500+ steps up the tower for expansive views of the city. We got close-ups of the huge bells in the bell tower, and the beautiful stain glassed windows. The city's pedestrian only streets are lined with high-end shops and it is quite obvious that this city is quite image-conscious. We saw lots of people wearing all kinds of interesting looking outfits, and haircuts. There was a band of young rockers doing a sound check, and we stopped to watch them for a while, but they didn't get around to actually playing in time for us to see them perform. We had a beer by the Rhein River, and talked and talked, enjoying the moment. The train rides allowed us to get some reading done, and once back in the hotel, we struggled for a few hours trying to arrange accomodations for the next week. Vee finally got ahold of Heinz and Hildegard and left a message for Sandra. They are unable to get together with us, but we might try to arrange something for after our trip to Britain/Ireland/Scotland. Tomorrow, the only day of decent weather in the next weeks forecast, will hopefully be a riverboat trip down the Rhein from Koblenz to Mainz, and then we'll be staying overnight in Koblenz tomorrow night, then 2 nights in Dusseldorf, then 4 nights in Brussels before heading into London for a week.