Koln to Amsterdam

Onward to Amsterdam.

We’re staying at the Amstel Botel  It’s an old cruise ship moored on the River IJ a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown Amsterdam. The rooms are cruise ship small but super clean and our “porthole” opens to a view of the river traffic. What a great idea!

We leave the car in a designated parking lot near the wharf, drop our luggage at the Botel and catch the ferry.

People sit in swings on the roof of this building and swing out over the water. No thank you!

We attempt to navigate our way to Anna’s recommended fish place and end up taking a cab. We wait in line and quickly grab a place at the counter when it comes open. So delicious. The fish is incredible and worth the navigational challenge.

We wander our way to a canal cruise and enjoy seeing the city from the water and hearing the stories our guide has to tell. The homes on the canals are historic and unique and narrow. Many have hooks near the roofline used to hoist goods up and in through a window. We learn that once a year a canal clean-up is undertaken and around 12,000 submerged bikes are hauled out of the water.

We walk towards the “red light” district stopping for a cold drink at a sidewalk café, (heat wave continues). Walking in this city is challenging because of the many, many bikers. They have the right of way, and they take it. There’s no speed limit and they are fast moving. We see bikers riding hands free and texting, one with a dog in the basket, one carrying a baguette under his arm, one balancing two completely full laundry baskets (one stacked atop the other), one carrying two plants with the roots in plastic bags of dirt and one carrying a headless mannequin. Who needs a car??

The red light district, sadly, is a tourist attraction. Scantily dressed women stand in windows  attempting to entice customers inside while gawkers gawk. We hurry by.

The ferry takes us back to our boat hotel and it rocks us gently to sleep.

Dresden to Koln (or Cologne)

Another cruise along the Autobahn.  We’re heading for the fourth most populous city in Germany. It ranks behind Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.

As we near the city and cross the Rhine, Koln’s cathedral with its Gothic dome rises high above the cityscape. 

After we park and check in to the Hotel Engelbertz, we head for the church. We investigate the interior….gorgeous….but are too late to climb the spire, which would have been incredible. Blew it, but slightly relieved as the heat wave continues. Instead we stroll the pedestrian only old town streets. They are full of people and interesting shops. 

A street artist has drawn the flags of 60 or so countries on the pavement. People put coins on their country of choice. Jim gives the USA a donation.

We find a tiny outdoor Italian restaurant across the street from our hotel. The food is good and we retire to realize our room is not air conditioned making it hard to sleep. I take 2 tepid showers at intervals. It’s still sweltering. Impossible to sleep.

Nurnberg to Dresden

Back in the car and back on the Autobahn.  More precision driving and more speed. Exactly what we came for.

We find the Hotel Kipping which is a little off the beaten path. It’s an old house with parking (very important), in the back. Our room is huge with double entry doors and a balcony.  And it’s air-conditioned (equally important as the heat wave continues).

We spend the rest of the day exploring. Lunch is on a terrace, (Radeberger Spezialaussechank Café), overlooking the Elbe and the Augustus Bridge although the food is not as impressive as the view, and the view is interesting but not impressive.

We have a reservation to visit The Green Vault at 4pm so we wander through the massive pedestrian plaza admiring the beautifully ornate buildings. We enter the courtyard of the Frauenkirche and climb partway to the dome. It’s just too warm for too much exertion. We find a bench in the shade and spend some time church-gazing.

The Green Vault is filled with treasure arranged room by room in categories. It was all collected by Augustus the Strong, ruler of Saxony (now known as Dresden), in the 1700’s. Intricately carved objects of copper, bronze, amber, ivory, silver, gilded silver, gold, and gemstones: each one has a display room devoted solely to objects made of each material with a decorated ostrich egg thrown in here and there. It is overwhelming to consider the value and preciousness of the collection. Simply stunning.

Entrance to the Historic Green Vault requires advance purchase of tickets for a specific entry time slot. In order to enter the “vault” one must pass through an airlock and also put all bags and coats in an outside locker.

We use the rest of our time in Dresden walking through the Zwinger pavilions a beautiful collection of intricately designed architecture. We stand and wait patiently for the glockenspiel to chime to no avail. Not a peep.