Day 5 - Cologne and Roermond

By now, my foot was hurting badly. One of the tour members offered to lend me her ankle support sock. Another handed me an ointment made of real snake oil and the tour guide himself gave me Chinese meds that looked like black pearls!

I had to pass up the sock brace as it was too thick to fit into my rather tight boot. I eyeballed the weird black pills skeptically. Snake oil (pardon the pun) or not, I applied the ointment and swallowed a couple of the pills. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

From Frankfurt, we traveled to Cologne, a two-and-a-half-hour journey by coach.

Today's itinerary began with a walking tour of the Cologne Cathedral.

The mere sight of the mega structure from the outside just blows you away.

Cologne is one of the hippest shopping metropolises in Germany and where the most iconic monument, the Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom), is situated.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cathedral is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture. It is the most visited destination in Germany, drawing an average of 20,000 visitors daily.

The nave

Sunlight pours through the stained-glass windows that adorn the walls

The 12th Station Of The Cross

A lapsed Catholic, I have not stepped into a church for a long time and the cathedral was just the sanctuary I needed for some quiet time with The Lord to recharge my spiritual battery and rest my injured foot while the rest of the group wandered off to the streets outside for shopping.

Lighting a candle at the 13th Station, I said the Rosary and prayed hard for a quick recovery.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE COLOGNE CATHEDRAL

1. Like other Gothic cathedrals, the shape of the Cologne Cathedral is a Latin Cross, the length and width of which are 144.6 meters(474.3 feet) and 86.3 meters(283 feet).

image source - thetowerinfo.com

2. It is believed that the remains of the Three Wise Men who visited baby Jesus are in this shrine.

image source - thetowerinfo.com

image source - https://commons.wikimedia.org

The shrine is a large gilded and decorated triple sarcophagus placed above and behind the high altar of the cathedral.

The Sarcophagus kinda looks like the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones, don't you agree?

3. The Cologne Cathedral was bombed 14 times in WWII!
The Cathedral survived 14 aerial bombs and more than 70 firebomb hits over the course of the Second World War. Whether an act of God or otherwise, the building did not collapse and remained standing in a flattened city.


A street artist at work outside the cathedral

After a quick lunch at McDonald's following the cathedral visit, we journeyed for another hour by coach to the McArthurGlen outlet in Roermond in The Netherlands.

Oh, did I mention you have to pay to pee in Europe?!  We had to pay 50 Euro cents for a pee at McDonald's which totaled up to 150 euro cents (USD1.69) for the three of us! That was almost 7 ringgit and could buy me a McDonald's meal back in Malaysia! Thank God I have a bladder the size of a hot-water bottle!!!

The McArthurGlen Designer Mall, Roermond

Opened in 2001, Designer Outlet Roermond offers bargain hunters 30-70% discounts at a choice of more than 120 shops with over 200 Dutch and international designer brands including Armani, Burberry, Gucci, Scotch & Soda, Nike, Diesel and The Bodyshop.

Designer brands are not my thing so I skipped the shopping and was content to just thaw in one of the heated cafes. Moreover, it was a good opportunity to rest my foot and  enjoy a nice steaming cup of Macchiato while people watching. Besides, the outlet is an outdoor mall and I was shivering despite piling on 4 layers of winter clothing!  Brrrrr!

The Hubs bought himself a pair of shoes and a windbreaker for my other son Josh who couldn't make it for this Europe trip.

After the shopping stop at Netherlands, we adjourned to our hotel in Belgium for the night.

Can you believe we were in 3 countries in just one day!!!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

Despite my hot flashes, I was frozen at 3°C!!  How do you guys survive winter year after year???!!!

Hats off to you!!