Cologne and Dusseldorf, Decked out for the Holidays

unnamed2

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

Leave a Comment

Trusted by over 1.5 million cruisers since 2003.
Get FREE access to members-only pricing.
There is a highly acclaimed way to receive multiple quotes from a site called CruiseCompete, where cruise specialists compete to offer you the best deal. The media sums it up for CruiseCompete:
Score Luxury Cruises at Bargain Prices” (The Street)
Best site for cruise deals” (The Wall Street Journal)
28 Best Travel Sites” (Kiplinger's) Multiple annual mentions
36 Web Addresses You Should Know” (The Washington Post)