Cologne by Day

Cologne is far more than just its famous cathedral. Our entire day there was filled with beautiful scenes and visuals.

In fact, the beautiful visuals began before we even made it to Cologne.  Our ship docked in Zons, and right outside our cabin window was a dormant tree gorgeously lit by the morning sun.  One thing I've been told repeatedly about photography is that an ordinary scene in special light is better than a special scene in ordinary light.  Images like this really help drive that point home.

The late Gothic style tower of the Cologne City Hall boasts an impressive 130 stone statues and the famous "Platzjabbeck," a wooden face sculpture which opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue when the tower clock strikes the hour.

The Great Saint Martin Church rests on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine, and is a landmark of Cologne's Old Town.

The equestrian statue in Cologne’s Heumarkt Square of Friedrich Wilhelm III, King of Prussia from 1770 to 1840, was dedicated in 1878.

Lights hung festively in trees over one of the city's seven Christmas Markets.  We were fortunate that the markets opened the day we arrived in town.

I don't love the light on the front of the City Hall in this shot.  Frankly, the tower was probably in better light from just about any other angle.  But the clouds behind the tower were striking enough that I felt I had to capture them.

The city was definitely beautiful by day.  In my next post, I'll share some of what we saw when we came back that night!