Day 59: Freitag in Koln (Cologne), Germany

We woke up early today to look around Rothenburg in the day light before leaving town. One stop was to a church with an alter that supposedly holds a drop of Jesus' blood. We also walked around the city on top of the outer walls. Along the way plaques were mounted to show who donated to rebuild the wall after it was destroyed in WWII. The one that caught our eye was Todd Johnson from Racine, Wi. Anyone know Todd?

We hopped back in our Benz and left for Frankfurt. The drive wasn't too bad getting to the city, but finding the Avis return parking lot without a map or address was a bit tricky. All-in-all, 2 1/2 hours we were in the Frankfurt train station deciding what to do next. We opted to take the train straight to Koln and to figure out Rhine cruises from there tomorrow.

When we arrived in Koln, the only sightseeing we did was at the Dom, the huge cathedral right by our hotel and train station. First we walked inside and saw the three stone caskets that hold the remains of the Three Magi (I know, the 3 kings and Jesus' blood in one day!). Then we climbed the 533 steps to the top and looked out over Koln. We must be finally getting in shape, because we weren't that tired at the end.

In Koln, we kept seeing people wearing Bayern Munich and Koln soccer jerseys, so we asked and found out there was a sold out soccer game tonight in Koln. We decided to head to the stadium to try and scalp tickets.

The trip to the stadium was on cramped and energized train, where an occasional song would break out. When we finally got to the stadium, it was raining and we saw no scalpers. Twenty minutes in and out of the rain and thinking we'll have no idea how to actually do the deal in German anyway, we packed it up and headed for a beer haus.

As seems to be the theme, the home team (Koln) lost (to Bayern Munich 2-0). We still had a good time at a crowded local bar drinking the local brew, Kolsch. Not a bad Freitag in Germany.