Cologne and Dusseldorf, Decked out for the Holidays

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Since we had been to Cologne recently, we decided to tour nearby Dusseldorf as our choice of excursion today.

unnamed3This is a very cool town, with Frank Ghery modernism combined with medieval churches to produce a dynamic atmosphere.  There are several Christmas Markets in the heart of the city, each with a different personality.

One is the Angel Market, another is a traditional market, and one is very controversial . The designers attempted to make this market spare and clean, in blue and white, a kind of minimalist market.  But there was  so much blowback that they hauled in lights and Christmas trees and sparkled it up.unnamed1

We visited an elegant protestant church and an ancient brewery, had excellent coffee in a local coffee shop, and walked through the central shopping area, before heading back to the ship.

unnamed4This evening we had the Captain’s Dinner, the farewell extravaganza in the dining room.  Since Friday on board is busy, and people need to pack and prepare for disembarkation, this is the ideal time to dress up and celebrate. There’s even the parade of the Baked Alaska!

The captain joins us for a group photo in front of the Christmas Tree.

Photos by Barbara Ramsay Orr

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