Cologne; Monday, 19 April, 2004

Monday was an early start to get to the Station so I could catch an early train to Aarchen, on the border with Belgium and Netherlands, once the most important city in the known world during the reign of Charlemagne (Circa 794AD).

It was Monday and Aarchen was closed... except for the Cathedral and the Cathedral's Treasury and I arrived in the city shortly after a service had started so I couldn't go into the cathedral!! Instead I had a wander round the city center which was very attractive and a look in the Cathedrals Treasury which is reckoned to be one of the most impressive in the world and includes part of the remains of Charlemagne. By then the service in the Cathedral had finished so I was able to look round the inside of the Cathedral which, despite being quite dark inside, is very impressive.

After that there was very little else to do in Aarchen so I got the train back into Cologne and caught the tram down to Bonn.

It was Monday and Bonn... You get the idea except the Cathedral is a large church without a treasury but there was one museum open.

After a quick look round the Münster I wandered over to the Beethoven house museum. The building is where the composer and musician was born and raised in and now houses the worlds largest collection on Beethoven artefacts.

After looking round the center of Bonn I decided to catch the tram to the end of line in Bad Godesberg, a spa town - hence the Bad - about 7Km south of Bonn. The town was very pretty but it was Monday and.... You get the picture.

I caught the tram back to Cologne, this time going along the course of the Rhine rather than down through Brüel as I had done coming.

After popping back to the hotel briefly to drop off guide books I wandered back into the centre of town for dinner in another restaurant in the Fish market before heading back for bed.