Cologne Cathedral, Burg Eltz

Today we went to see Cologne Cathedral, or Kooooln, as Andrew says it is really pronounced.

It is very large and dominates the skyline of Cologne, but there isn't much in the way of artwork, etc., on the inside of the cathedral.

We walked around a bit, got sandwiches at the least helpful bakery we have encountered - Andrew, champion line diver, with mad skills honed in 20 years of living at JPUSA- could not get anyone's attention so we could buy lunch. I have never seen such a thing. After 15 minutes we did manage to convince them to let us purchase food, but it was like the Twilight Zone of eateries. Yesterday we met the crankiest baker ever at a different bakery in Ghent, and short of smacking a tourist on the head for asking for a napkin, she could not have been more rude. Is this a thing with bakeries north of France, like Ed Debevic's in Chicago or the Soup Nazi on SNL? We will find out!

Then we went to Burg Eltz. 

Burg Eltz is a well preserved castle way out in nowhere, surrounded by woods and a meandering river. 

It is a 15 minute walk through the beautiful woods to get to the front gate, and was an easy hike.

The castle is made up of several buildings, all jumbled together in an 800 year old hodgepodge of architecture. We took the tour of the house and once again weren't allowed to take photos inside. 

Then we walked down to the river so that the toe dippers of our family could cool their feet while the chilly half of our family stayed warm in the sunshine.