Cologne (Koln) and Aachen

 Jeff and Karen Hilton were our traveling companions on this trip to Koln. 

Joanne has enjoyed working with them in the Communications Department.

Our river cruise gave us a great view of the sites along the river bank.

This was taken just minutes before Joanne spilled her hot chocolate on her white pants. Yikes!

This street artist created this with chalk. Amazing!

Joanne, Karen and Jeff toured Koln on Segways. Joanne really had a fun time, but said that it was a good choice that I opted out since it was a bit scary going through some of the crowded streets.

The Lindt chocolate factory was a must. We have been a consistent consumer!

Funny story ... on our way to dinner, Dave and Jeff were walking ahead and Karen and I noticed someone's ID in the street. We felt we should try to find the owner ... so... we tried yelling "Damien" many times with not avail. Then after trying to get help from our hotel without any luck, I did a FaceBook search on Damien. Surprisingly, Damien replied to my text on Messenger. 

Damien sent a thank you note and some sweets from his country. 
A good deed rewarded.

Aachen did not disappoint. Such a different feel. We wished we had stayed there in
one of the small boutique hotels. 

Aachen Cathedral a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the seat of the 
 Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen. 

One of the oldest  cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of Emperor Charlemagne, 
who was buried there in 814.