We continued our cruise through the night from Dordrecht, with me dreaming of the wonderful windmills we had seen in Kinderdijk that day. The ‘ship’ docked in Monheim at approximately 9am on Friday. Soon after we were on a coach and heading into Cologne where we would begin our walking tour. Our destination – the Cathedral. We needed to cross the bridge, you see in the photo, but so did zillions of others, and rather like we found in Amsterdam, the pedestrians had to fight with cyclists for the same space. I was surprised when the tour guide told us that we would likely be shouted at, or even sworn at by cyclists! And although I was never sworn at, the walk across the bridge was certainly memorable.

The 14th century Cathedral was certainly worth viewing; a great example of Gothic architecture. The arched ceilings certainly soared to the heavens, which was the aim I guess. Seeing such structures leaves me incredulous; at just how they were first envisaged, then built. The labour involved, and the years taken to complete is simply mind-blowing, as the last portion of this cathedral was completed in the 1800s. It is now listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. The stained glass windows were simply beautiful. I show you just one example below.

A return to the ‘ship’ for a delicious lunch, followed by free time for all. Hoorah! Kerry and I had already spotted a large Contemporary art gallery just along from the Cathedral, and were eager to see what it held.

What a delight to find the bridge almost free of tourists after lunch. Maybe they were resting after theirs. It certainly made our walk back so pleasant, that we were able to stop and admire the views. This view shows you more of the Cathedral’s complexity, quite a contrast to the modernism of the museum.

Kerry and I mostly spent our time in the sculpture gallery at the Museum Ludwig, which had high ceilings and was filled with light. A space you wanted to stay in, taking your time to examine the works. Which we did.

I’m sorry that I don’t have more images to show, but many of you have seen Picasso and the Impressionists etc. And I was wishing to show you something different, when we came across this interesting painting on the way out. It is probably even more important than the Picassos, or at least as intriguing, if you look at the name written in white on the image.

I wonder what Leonardo would have made of it?