Germany

We were originally going to just pop over the border from Prague into Dresden and Leipzig (and have a beer for you Felix & MK), but we suddenly felt like taking a big leap towards the UK.  I think we both got a touch of homesickness for a few days.  Anyway, we ended up catching an overnight train from Prague and woke up the next morning in Cologne , West Germany.

Cologne
Trudged over the Deutz Bridge to find our accommodation, paused a bit, then trudged back over the bridge to do our usual exploring in the Old Town. Checked out Cologne Cathedral, 2nd highest steeples in Europe apparently.  The next day we mapped out a few more things to see.  Managed to time our visit to the old Town Hall so we could see the old wooden figure in the tower poke its tongue out, on the hour. Heard the chimes, but unfortunately discovered we were on the wrong side of the tower as it happened... Visited the 4711 building /shop. They have a fountain where you can splash on some of the cologne.  I hadn't smelt 4711 for years, but it was an instantly recognisable fragrance.  Also came across the old Cologne Gestapo headquarters and holding cells which had a museum attached to it. All interesting stuff.  Also found St Maria church which contained a set of wooden doors from 1065.
Very thirsty work so ended the day with a couple of quiet ones at our local on the corner.

Bonn
We tried to organise a boat trip from Cologne, stopping at Bonn, then carrying on to Cochem, but it all got too hard so we resorted to trains again.  Managed to time the schedules so we were able to spend a couple of hours in Bonn before carrying on. We realised, after we had stowed our bags in the locker, that we had locked the camera away also!  Visited Beethoven's birthplace / house and looked around the central area. As we got back to the station with time to spare, I grabbed the camera and did a quick fly around for a few photos for the record.

Cochem
The rail line ran alongside the Mosel river and provided lots of picture postcard scenes out the window as we went along. A big wine growing area so vines going up the slopes and clusters of slope roofed houses, very picturesque.
Then we got into the town itself and it just went up another notch. Half timbered houses and a castle on the hill....
Tried to follow the visitors walking map around the town, but it was a bit sketchy in directions, however we did manage to see old buildings surviving from the 16/1700's and the castle of course.