Almost vegan in Cologne

We got up way early the next day to take a morning cruise along the Rhine River. We were amid the Black Forest, and the atmosphere totally fit.



We hopped on our boat in the little town of St. Goar. Before embarking, a couple people had bought towering slices of real black forest cake from the one bakery that was open that early. I tried a bite—it was good. Black forest cake isn’t a favorite of mine (in general, I’m not a fan of chocolate + fruit), but it was cool to eat some while IN the Black Forest. Regrettably, I didn’t get a picture.

On board, I bought a little bottle of Riesling from a winery right there along the Rhine. No, I didn’t drink it at 9 in the morning; I actually brought it all the way home with me.



After our cruise, we drove to Cologne (which is, yes, the place from which eau de cologne originated). Cologne also had an ABC (another bloody cathedral), but I REALLY liked this one. It was similar to the one in Strasbourg – very Germanic – and was hugely tall and soot-colored.



The interior was awesome as well.



There are lots of Middle Eastern immigrants in Germany, especially Turks, and I’d heard raves about their food. I finally got a chance to grab some, at a Döner Kebab snack bar.



I got a falafel sandwich (with garlic sauce and spicy “ketchup”) which was served, strangely enough, in ciabatta bread instead of pita. I was a little disappointed to see that the falafel patties were premade-and-refrigerated, not cooked fresh, but it was a decent sandwich.



Before leaving Cologne, I peeked into a bakery for a quick look (and drool) at the goods.



Farewell to Deutschland! From Cologne, we head to the Netherlands to end our journey in Amsterdam.