Tuesday, August 10: Today we drove to Cologne. It was fun driving on the autobahn... with no speed limit in lots of places. They recommend 130 kilometers per hour (80 mph), but it's easy to go much faster, and it's legal to do so. Their lanes are wider, the surface is smooth, and the drivers are well behaved. There is no passing on the right either. We found the Germany highways to be much better than those here in the U.S. At one time during our driving on the autobahn, we both went up over 162 kph, so that we could say that we drove over 100 mph legally. That was too fast for us, but even at that speed cars would be zooming by us. Following Steffen's directions we went right to the parking garage in Cologne. After lunch we went to the famous Cologne Cathedral and climbed the 509 steps to the top of the tower. Those steps, going around and around, never seemed to end! The view from the top was really nice, and we got to see the huge bells in the belfry. One is the largest church bell in existence. We went to a museum that Steffen recommended and to the Stollwerk chocolate factory where you get to see them making the chocolate, learn about where chocolate comes from, and get to try samples. We bought some in the store, too. We took a walk along the Rhine River, had dinner and then headed back to Aachen. |
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