Day Tripping in Germany

Alfons Sillaber treated Roger to a day trip from Frankfurt to Koeln. We took the high speed train up and the regular speed train back so we could see the sights along the Rhine river. Another great adventure. Enjoy the photos.

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Hi-speed train: Alfons posing by the cockpit before we got started.

Hi-speed train: The cockpit.

Hi-speed train: The train is either drawing 13000 kW (13 MW), which seems high, or is being supplied at 13 kV -- and is traveling at 300 km/h (187 mph).

Hi-speed train: View of country side

Another view from hi-speed train on the way to Koeln.

Hi-speed train: almost a castle.

Hi-speed train: Deutz is a city across the river from Koeln and the site of a major farm tractor manufacturer and air-cooled diesel maker.

Hi-speed train: Kaiser Wilhem

Koeln: A church seen from the train

Koeln: As we get off the train, we begin to see the Dom or the cathedral in Koeln, which is a famous one.

Koeln: the Dom.

Koeln: the Dom

Koeln: Scaffolding to catch falling stuff.

Koeln Dom: Typical ornate doors of many cathedrals throughout Europe. One of the apostles is missing.

Koeln Dom: One of the apostles has been replaced.

Koeln Dom: Depictions of events in Christ's ministry. Kept many a stone carver busy (they still are).

Koeln Dom: A gargoyle looking down from above

Koeln Dom: Inside. There was a mass going on.

Koeln Dom:

Koeln Dom: Stained glass window

Koeln Dom: another window

Koeln Dom: They tunneled out a section of the foundation to provide visitors access to one of the towers. The original foundation was a mixture of basalt rock and rubble embedded in a kind of concrete. They used a boring machine. Hence, the odd shapes.

Koeln Dom: We climbed on of the tower to the 100 m level. Once we got to the top of the small spiral staircase, we thought we were done, but there was more. Another 20 m up. Quite a workout!

Koeln Dom: Means you can go around the tower (tour).

Koeln Dom: There's still more to go (but you would have to do it on the outside (no thanks!).

Koeln Dom: Looking up through the caged "circuit". Ornate carvings everywhere.

Koeln Dom: View of the Rhine from the top of the tower

Koeln Dom: Graffiti everywhere. From all nations. Kids these days ...

Koeln Dom: People look like ants

Koeln Dom: Power plant off in the distance

Koeln Dom: A big power plant complex. Fuel is brown coal, common in this area.

Koeln Dom: Cars look small, too

Koeln Dom: Railroad bridge

Koeln Dom: Flying buttress construction on the older part

Koeln Dom: Scaffolding for the workers fixing the exterior.

Koeln Dom: You really didn't need the sign

Koeln Dom: The bells

Koeln Dom: Rinding away (forever, it seemed)

Koeln Dom: Alfons holding his ears while going around the bells

Koeln Dom: Still holding his ears

Koeln Dom: Looking down on a fountain of some sort

Koeln Dom: New part of the foundation meets the old. To the right is a modern concrete column.

Koeln Dom: Close up of the original foundation

Koeln Dom: This dates back to about 700 AD and was the doorway to a predecessor church on this spot

Koeln Dom: Year 1250

Koeln Dom: Year 1320

Koeln Dom: Year 1520. Took 200 years to build this part. Some building project!

Koeln Dom: This is the reconstructed (partly) wine cellar of a Roman house that was built on this spot when the Romans occupied this area.

Koeln: Street performer

Koeln: Funeral procession. You could smell that incense everywhere.

Koeln: Funeral procession.

Koeln: The archbishop. (I don't think the guy with the glasses liked me taking photos.)

Koeln: The deceased was apparently a police officer. Given the number of dignitaries present and the fact that it was held in the Dom suggests an important officer or one killed in the line of duty.

Koeln: You can see the railing where we walked around the tower.

Koeln: This is the tower we climbed.

Koeln: Kaiser Wilhelm again.

Koeln: Sweethearts place these locks on the railroad bridge as a symbol of their love. There are two keys and any one of them can remove it when they break up.

Koeln: typical locks. Someone is making some serious cash off of this.

Koeln: View of all the locks

Koeln: Boatson the Rhine

Koeln: Neat little park with an artistic wading pool

Koeln: Seems like it is great fun for kids

Koeln: Rhine riverfront

Koeln: Check out the date on this hotel

Koeln: Rhine riverfront view

Koeln: One of many performers on the riverfront

Koeln: A momunment to Neil Armstrong and Werner Von Braun for getting man to the moon

Koeln: Self explanatory

Koeln: Frederick III. How do I know? See next photo.

Koeln: Here's how I know.

Koeln: The other spelling (French?)

Koeln: the Dom head on.

Koeln: There were many groups trying to make a political point around the Dom. This is the singers for Amnesty International. Pretty good chorus. I think they were trying to sign up supporters.

Koeln:

Koeln: At the train station getting ready to head back. This is a high-speed train like the one we took coming into the station. We took a normal train back that followed the Rhine river.

Koeln: Inside the train station. This is apparently the busiest train station in Germany with a train leaving every 2 minutes.

Return train: View of Rhine

Return train: The first of dozens of castles along the Rhine

Return train: Nuclear power plant

Return train: More of the nuclear power plant. Germany says they are going to shut these down and replace them with wind and solar generation. We'll see. It will take about 10 wind turbines just to supply power to the high-speed train we took -- if the wind is blowing good. And Germany's peak railway load is about 4000 MW or better than 3 nuclear plants.