Day 57 Sightseeing in Cologne (Koln)

Day 57 Sightseeing in Cologne (Koln). Cycled 19.5kms

In my travels overseas over the past few years I have seen some huge and incredibly imposing cathedrals. But I think I saw the most impressive of the lot in Cologne (Koln to the Germans) today.
There is only one word to describe it and that is huge. In fact it is so big that try as I did there was no way to photograph the entire building in one photo from any easily accessed vantage point around the city.
Inside and out the cathedral is massive and like most of the well known cathedrals allows visitors to climb to the top – all 533 stairs – to get a birds-eye view of the city.
Fortunately my fitness is right up there at the moment, so I had no troubles with the climb, but I certainly couldn’t say the same for many of the other tourists. One elderly lady bit off more than she could handle and had collapsed half way up and others were doing it very tough.
But once up to the top the effort became well worth it, with views in both directions along the Rhine and over the city.
Except for the cathedral and a couple of other small historical areas, Cologne is very a modern 21st century city with just about every upmarket shop label in existence.
And I even found an internet café that had a plug in cable so I could use my laptop to use skype and update the blog. It only took a week of looking, but I finally made it!

After chatting to a German couple in the campground I am staying in, I have decided to leave the Rhine and head for The Netherlands which is just 60 to 70 kms away from here due east.
From what I am told the Rhine from here on is very industrial again and there is not a lot to see of any interest.
The German couple have been very accommodating and have mapped out a cycle-friendly route for me that takes me to Roermond just over the border from Germany in The Netherlands.
From there I will follow the river Maas to Nijmegen and basically from there you know as well as me where to next (I will work that out when the time comes).
Initially I had been toying with the idea of going south to Belgium, but it means too much doubling up which doesn’t make a lot of sense.
So anyway, it’s off to The Netherlands tomorrow and my fifth country.

captions: Pic 1, 2 &3 The huge Cologne cathedral and it's great views down the Rhine. Pic 4: One of many pedestrian shopping malls throughout the city.