We arrive into Cologne on a Monday which just happens to be a public holiday that forms part of a week long celebration that takes in Shrove Monday, Carnival Tuesday and Carnival / Ash Wednesday. Walking from the central train station to our accommodation has us passing volumes of people, all in various forms of fancy dress, heading to the street parade in the centre of the city. What a spectacle to see Minions, Angels, Devils, the odd Scooby-Doo and a huge variety of others all descending on the city, all in good spirits and looking for a good time. It is chaos, but in a good way.

We cross the Aussichtspunkt Hohenzollernbrücke which is the main rail and pedestrian bridge crossing the Rhine River. It’s an iconic bridge that provides the best location for a photograph of the Cologne Cathedral which is a 157m tall gothic style church that is an absolute standout. The other eye catching part of the bridge is its collection of padlocks used by people to show their love. There are literally millions of these locked onto the bridge’s fences and hand rails.

After settling in to our hotel room we head out into the pandemonium of the carnival to take some photos and look around the city. There are people everywhere making it a challenge to move around so we keep to the edges of the celebrations and do our best to stay out of their way. We stand out as we are not in costume.

The next morning provides our best time to look around as the crowds have gone and the city doesn’t wake up again until 11am. So we wander down both sides of the river, looking at everything from the Lindt Chocolate museum to the modernist architectural buildings.

We are here at the end of winter which shows the trees devoid of leaves and has me thinking that by late spring this whole scene will change.

Our side trip this time is to Düsseldorf where we are struck by the difference a short distance can make. There are beautiful parks and the banks of the Rhine are welcoming, but a few streets back is a completely different story. It is almost as if the Council has given up on keeping the place clean and the authorities have turned a blind eye to petty crime. Not our sort of place and we are happy to leave after a few hours. Here are some photos of the prettier areas. As the saying goes, “If you can’t say something nice…”, I’ll leave it unsaid.

Back in Cologne, we enjoy our last night here with dinner at L’Osteria before heading back to the hotel to pack. We are out on an early train tomorrow and looking forward to the next stop which is Hamburg for a couple of days.

But not before one last photo…