The synagogue was quite near the intersections of Mozart and Beethoven Streets

I have to admit I like heavy clear/colored  plastic furniture

So here we are.  We spent our time in the older areas closer to the river but you can see the ring shope of the city it much bigger.

Look one way and you see an ice cream cone sculpture and the other looks like a cake with white icing.

We’d seen similar street performers in London but never how they set up so as not to give away how they balance.  Wonder if the ones in London did the same thing?

Perfume testing didn’t go so well in Dordrecht but Mary was willing to try it again.  We were in Cologne after all.

Eau de Cologne

The original Eau de Cologne is a spirit-citrus perfume launched in Cologne in 1709 by Giovanni Maria Farina (1685–1766), an Italian perfume maker from Santa Maria Maggiore Valle Vigezzo. In 1708, Farina wrote to his brother Jean Baptiste: "I have found a fragrance that reminds me of an Italian spring morning, of mountain daffodils and orange blossoms after the rain".[1] He named his fragrance Eau de Cologne, in honour of his new hometown.[2]

The most famous Original Eau de Cologne is 4711, named after its location at Glockengasse No. 4711. It was also developed in the 18th century by Wilhelm Mülhens in Cologne and is therefore one of the oldest still produced fragrances in the world. On 12 December 2006, the perfumes and cosmetics company Mäurer & Wirtz has taken over 4711 from Procter & Gamble and have expanded it to a whole brand since then.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eau_de_Cologne

http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=2&L=1  site of the Cologne Cathedral

The Dom

Cologne’s skyline is dominated by the Dom. On the left wall, past the transept, is the original stone-etched letter of protection of Cologne’s Jews issued by Archbishop Engelbert II in 1266. At the rear of the cathedral, the left side of the middle panel of three stained-glass windows depicts Elijah, Abraham and Isaac, Samuel, Salomon and Sheba.

http://www.germany.travel/

The nine pieces of baroque tapestry were designed by Peter Paul Rubens and show the “Triumph of the Eucharist”. They are only displayed for few weeks in about May to June each year.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/

This is the only source I could find about the tapestries.  The Cathedral brochure had no info nor could I find any on the website. 

Mary is a Franciscan so especially wanted to visit the St Clare chapel.

“Altar of the Poor Clares, about 11350/60.  This is the oldest remaining sacrament altar with a permanently fixed tabernacle.  This lavish winged altar can be opened in three different transformations.  It originates from the Franciscan convent of St Clare in Cologne and was brought into the cathedral in 1811.”  DOM brochure

(photo from the Cathedral brochure)

Jewish privilege, 1266

“What makes this privilege so unusual is that it was published ‘in stone’ in the cathedral. Following riots against the city’s Jews in 1266, Archbishop Engelbert of Falkenburg complied with the Jewish community’s request to be granted a privilege. The stone charter outlining the details of the privilege is divided into two stone plaques. The socle and crenellations are not original and were rendered according to a design by Arnold Wolff. The privilege granted the Jews the right to bury their dead without hindrance, exempted them from death duties and arbitrary taxes, and granted them a monopoly in the lucrative money-lending business. The taxes paid by the Jews constituted an important source of income for the Archbishop of Cologne, which explains why he was so keen to protect them. “

http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=16891&L=1

I only read of this afterwards but could visit on the website.

The Sherlock Holmes Club……?

We saw these guys in the Deerstalker hats.  When they saw me taking photos they waved and I asked them if they were all “Sherlock Holmes.”  They all were except for the painted guy who said he was David Bowie.  There were lots of bottles of beer on their table so they were having a good time.

They also enjoyed hamming it up.

A festival of Rhine wines.  Mary and Rick each tried one but I took a pass.  However, the next evening in Oberwinter I tried a lovely very dry white Riesling and quite liked it.

Looking into the Marina from the Harry Blum Platz just near the marina exit.  It was 1100 feet from DoraMac, at the very furthest dock to the harbor master’s office just inside the entrance to the marina.

Randal had to walk back and forth 5 times during the day we went touring and he stayed to do boat work.  There was a gigantic building with Microsoft just next to us.

Looking back in the early morning light at the clock tower in the Harry Blum Platz.