Köln

Another day of relaxing and sight seeing today. I went out for breakfast at a bakery and then took myself back to the Cathedral to see the treasury. 

When I bought my ticket yesterday we had a long discussion about how long it was valid for, could I come back tomorrow to see the treasury? There was colleague consultation and the answer was yes. Arriving at the treasury the answer was no. So I hiked over to the ticket office, got the ticket stamped because the college consultation was wrong and headed back to the treasury. 

I wasn't the only person facing ticket problems, I'd say that most people at the gate were turned away for one reason or another. The treasury was - as one would expect - full of treasures. Very beautiful, very fine and some pieces very old.  I resisted the urge to point out to an American lady that it wasn't a tapestry it was an embroidery (look at me with my self restraint). The work that went into those pieces is beyond comprehension. 

After the treasury I went to the art gallery. At first I'd planned to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibition but consultation at another ticket desk revealed it had sold out almost on release. I settled for the main collection and after returning to the ticket office as I had somehow ended up with two tickets and then having to return for a third time to put my bag in the cloak room I finally went to look at some art. Once again some familiar names and works. I did manage to glimpse into the Kusama at points.  It looked busy and involved queuing so I'd probably have been grumpy about that had I managed to get in. 

Art experienced I went back to the hotel for a little siesta passing a queue for the Cathedral that snaked round and round the square. 

My final destination was the Golden chapel at Saint Ursula's. It may have been my favourite of the trip - although I worry how much I enjoy seeing old bones. It is a beautiful chapel and reliquary decorated with bones theoretically from the martyred virgins although really from the Roman bones found when expanding the city. 

Ursula apparently was a Cornish princess who went on Pilgrimage with 10,000 virgins to avoid a heathen marriage. She was and her companions were behaeded in Cologne by the huns with Ursula herself turning down the hand of Atilla leading to her being shot by an arrow. All of this is open to interpretation and errors in translation but the mix of references blows my mind. 

Köln

I think today was the shortest cycling day I've ever done on tour- about 10km. I left the site after a slow pack up and cycled into the city. I'd found a good deal on a hotel and as it's a holiday, I decided to stay here for a couple of nights. 

I arrived way before check in but I had a plan. 

Step 1: cycle into the city

Step 2: visit a yarn shop

Step 3: find a good coffee shop

The plan went flawlessly. I enjoyed the short ride and obviously, found the yarn shop. It was very busy with lots of enthusiastic couples debating wool choices which I enjoyed seeing. I felt like I had to buy one skein but, with the temptation of Stephen and Penelope (a famous Amsterdam shop) coming up I managed to keep it to just that one. 

I'd gambled that wool shops are often near good cafes and my hunch was correct. The coffee was excellent. With that I wandered through the districts to my hotel which is situated just behind the cathedral. 

Mildly confused by the piper, as were the people in the cathedral ticket office. After they asked where I was from the asked me if 'that music is from your country'. Not the best piping I've ever heard, the Skye Boar Song had a few extra flourishes. 

I checked in, insisted on taking my bike to the room when there was no bike storage, fought with the teeny tiny lift and made several journeys to the fourth floor, and settled in. I didn't linger though.

Next stop was the famed Cathedral. It's famed for a reason, it's magnificent. I looked around in awe, it wasn't too busy because it's so big and so full of beautiful things that crowds don't form - everyone is looking somewhere different. 

After that I decided to get the feel of the city by taking a tour bus. My first feeling was that rush hour was a silly time to do such a thing but after 10 minutes in a tunnel under the cathedral it proved worth it. I found out about all the areas, the old town, rivalries and carnivals and even a cable car (cool as that would be - heights, nope).

That seemed to be enough for one day so I returned to the hotel to plan tomorrow. 

Rondenkirchen

One of my absolute favourite things about camping is waking up, lighting the stove and putting the trusty old kettle* on - making coffee then wrapping up in the sleeping bag and watching the world go by. These opportunities have been few and far between over the past couple of weeks because waking up in a tent fully blessed by the sun is very much like waking up in an oven. But this morning, this morning it rained.

 It really rained. I made my coffee snuggled up and watched as very little happened, everyone else choosing the same approach to the morning.  

Obviously, I couldn't stay there forever, I have places to be and as the rain cleared up, so did I. 

I set off along the Rhine, far less industrial than yesterday and rather pretty in parts. I enjoyed a few snack sitting on benches - no need for shade with proper cloud cover - and then turned off the river and into the city. It was a city that hit fast. It's busy, noisy and chaotic, pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, trams heading in all directions. It felt like urban German had suddenly exploded all around me. 

Once I got off the main traffic street the city opened up into squares and cafe lined shopping streets. I wish I'd had a bit more time to properly explore but I only had 2 things on my agenda - food and the Beethoven museum. Lunch was a poke bowl (very much in vogue here, luckily because they're a favourite of mine) then the museum. It was packed with facsimiles of documents and music recordings. There were a few of his instruments (including ear trumpets in increasing sizes) but the most recommended part, a basement of treasures has been closed to those not on a tour. The museum has an audio guide / app thing, not my most favourite way to share information. When I'm in a museum I want to scan to get the information I'm looking for, not listen to a heartwarming welcome from the director. 

Anyway, off I went. I decided today to move away from the river and followed a different route out of town. I quite enjoyed the change despite the miles (maybe - just checked 4.4km2 ) of the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park. A bit like cycling though Grangemouth I suppose. 

Once I'd passed the park and negotiated a lift (Google maps believing a station was the appropriate place to cross a railway line -not wrong I suppose) it was a short cycle through pretty, expensive looking houses to what is a rather nice site. 

P.s. I've just been to the shower. It is a site full of parakeets. Not my immediate guess when listening to the bird shrieks, makes a change from last night's frogs. 

*A kettle I love so much, I made a replica of it in my ceramics class. 

Remegen

It's raining!  That's exciting enough to be the whole post don't you think? It's half seven and still 28 degrees but surely rain is a sign that things might be cooling a bit?  For the first time I'm writing to you from inside my tent.

Today marked a change in my trip. I said goodbye to the vineyards of the Moselle and started following the Rhine instead. Although the start of the Rhine is very romantic and beautiful (see summer 2014) once the river gets going it's like an industrial motorway connecting factories and towns. I was hoping that this bit - the famed Rhine Gorge might offer a bit more but that's not what has stuck out so far. 

Once I navigated my way out of Koblenz I have been following big roads, goods laden railway tracks or navigating my way round factories. This was interspersed by bouts of river side paths and side streets in little towns. 

I was making good progress until a headwind hit me. The wind was the kind of  you get before a thunderstorm so I cycled along trying to decide if I needed to hunt for my much neglected cagoule.  Luckily, unluckily, I'm not sure which, the rain stayed ahead of me all the way to the campsite. 

Koblenz

Another rest day?  I'm spoiling myself this summer!  The Moselle has joined the Rhine and the planned part of my travels is done. Next I'll be following the Rhine, although Cologne has been on my list for a long time, the Rhine hasn't. But I've done the beginning and the end so I might as well do the middle.  It should be well signed and relatively flat and it goes in the right direction.  

After a decent night's sleep in a rather sweltering hotel - it might have been hot but at least it was quiet, I've been on a lot of noisy sites - I had a slow morning. 

I did some washing, sorted through my bags and obviously had a bit of a knit. When I got hungry I decided I might as well go and explore. 

Koblenz, interesting as it is, isn't packed with must see sight seeing opportunities. This is a pleasant change and provides a chance to just relax. I wandered through the Aldstadt and mooched in and out of shops. I stopped for coffee and a sandwich where looked round a church or two and generally explored.

 

Sneaky peak at the Rhine before setting off along it tomorrow 

Once I'd had my fill (by which I mean I'd got too hot) I headed along the Rhine, past the castle and back to my hotel. 

Koblenz

I kept it simple today. Once the temperatures move beyond 30, I've no tolerance for faffing, so faff we did not. 

I woke up in my shady tent, had coffee and a banana then packed up. I was on the road nice and early so for the first hour at least, it was quite a comfy ride. 

The second hour may have been a bit warmer and, although I'd planned a lunch stop, I just couldn't face sitting in a cafe dripping sweat into my hot food.  And salads are a pointless cycling meal.  I contented myself with rice pudding, sweets and more bananas.  

With that attitude it won't surprise you to hear that I was soon making my way out of the Moselle gorge (not going to lie, rather glad to be leaving the white railed meanders behind me) and into the last of the vineyards. 

As is ever thus, the last 5 miles were a bit of a killer. It was 32 degrees, I was hot and hungry and I probably should have had that proper stop. When it gets to three miles, I tell myself that's just the distance to the station, one mile - as I'd got to the city proper by then - was a lot of navigation and then ... boom, I'm here!  

Cochem

 Today I was a tourist. 

No, it's not a Kermit tribute. It's a lion with a visor, obviously. 

I cycled into town, had a massive sandwich and mooched round the shops. 

Then I caught the bus (get me, 2 buses in one trip, quite the expert now) and visited the castle. 

I took the obligatory English language tour with a delightful guide who mangled the translations wonderfully. 'You're welcome' sprinkled throughout the tour,  suspicious instead of superstitious, flowers planted in the shape of the town 'weapons' which I eventually understood as coat of arms.  It was like being shown around by a small enthusiastic crossword clue. 

The castle itself was very pretty rebuilt as it was in the 19th Century by a steel merchant. It had a whimsical filmic quality about it. 

I walked back down the hill, retrieved my bike and headed off to search out something for tea.