On Monday, September 14th we checked out of our hotel in Bonn and were picked up by Dr. Klaus Lotz. Our first stop of the day was at Klaus' home where we met his wife and looked at her pottery studio. She gave us each a piece of her handmade pottery. I know that I will treasure the bowl that she gave me. It is beautiful and means a lot to me because I met her and her husband was so wonderful to show us around. We then walked down their street to a small market that is owned by an apple grower. She showed us around and let us taste all of the different varieties of apples that they grow and sell. Below is a picture from the market.
Since Steve is the owner of a garden center, we stopped at a nice garden center on our way from Bonn to Cologne. It was a very nice place with beautiful displays. Below is a photo of a beautiful orchid that I took there.
We stopped in Cologne for a visit to the Cologne Cathedral. This is an amazing example of Gothic architecture. My pictures don't do it justice, there wasn't anyway that I could get back far enough to photograph the whole thing at once. It houses relics from the Three Magi and therefore has been an important pilgrimage site since 1164. The current cathedral was built beginning in 1248 and not completed until 1880. It is under constant renovation as you can see from the scaffolding in the pictures below. The dark color of the cathedral is caused by polution. We hiked up the more than 500 narrow, steep steps to the top of one of the two tall towers. Klaus said that we are the first McCloy Fellows group to do this. He was very impressed. I was more impressed with him, he is 71 years old and has met ever McCloy Agriculture group from the U.S. and he outpaced all of us on the way up the stairs. The view from the top of the cathedral was good but I was amazed and saddened by all of the graffiti covering the walls in the staircase. There is graffiti everywhere here including on historical buildings and pieces of public art. There are many more pictures of the cathedral at the fellowship photos link on the right side of my blog.
After visiting the cathedral we ate lunch at a local restaurant and bar and then headed for Brussels, Belgium. Klaus let Steve drive for a while after we got into Belgium.
Since Steve is the owner of a garden center, we stopped at a nice garden center on our way from Bonn to Cologne. It was a very nice place with beautiful displays. Below is a photo of a beautiful orchid that I took there.
We stopped in Cologne for a visit to the Cologne Cathedral. This is an amazing example of Gothic architecture. My pictures don't do it justice, there wasn't anyway that I could get back far enough to photograph the whole thing at once. It houses relics from the Three Magi and therefore has been an important pilgrimage site since 1164. The current cathedral was built beginning in 1248 and not completed until 1880. It is under constant renovation as you can see from the scaffolding in the pictures below. The dark color of the cathedral is caused by polution. We hiked up the more than 500 narrow, steep steps to the top of one of the two tall towers. Klaus said that we are the first McCloy Fellows group to do this. He was very impressed. I was more impressed with him, he is 71 years old and has met ever McCloy Agriculture group from the U.S. and he outpaced all of us on the way up the stairs. The view from the top of the cathedral was good but I was amazed and saddened by all of the graffiti covering the walls in the staircase. There is graffiti everywhere here including on historical buildings and pieces of public art. There are many more pictures of the cathedral at the fellowship photos link on the right side of my blog.
After visiting the cathedral we ate lunch at a local restaurant and bar and then headed for Brussels, Belgium. Klaus let Steve drive for a while after we got into Belgium.
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