Ok, as promised, when we finished touring the Rathaus, our next stop while in Cologne, Germany was Huemarkt, or the Hay Market. This was part of my Viking River Cruise on the Rhine. On Easter Sunday we spent the day touring Cologne. We visited the Old Fish Market, the Alter Markt as well. And after leaving the Rathaus, we headed to the Hay Market.
I love how everything goes vertical in big cities, like these lilacs blooming over the An Farina entrance. And there is also a huge rosemary plant up there. Wow.
As we walked on to Huemarkt, we passed the Farina Perfume Factory. This is the oldest perfume factory in the world. I never knew, but this is where Eau de Cologne comes from. It simply means Water of Cologne.
An Italian named Johann Maria Farina opened his factory here in 1709 and started producing his Eau de Cologne, which became a sensation among the rich and famous of the period.
Here is a plaque honoring him on the side of the factory.
Remember how I told you there are always fountains, statues and other monuments in cities? Here is another old column. I believe these may be wells. They are located in and around the old squares here in Cologne and are similar in design.
And here is the Mardi Gras Fountain in front of the Neuerburg Haus, or old cigarette factory. I like the Neuerburg Haus name better. The fountain has a wonderful patina.
As we entered the Square, we came upon this charming sixteenth century town house that is now home to Gilden im Zims Pub. They pride themselves on being the best brewery pub in Cologne. I liked the architecture and love the little shrine to St. Peter on the side of the building.
And here I am (in the lower left window) doing what I do, taking pictures!
There has been a house at this address since 1163. The current town house was built around 1568 and in 1920 it opened as a restaurant. During WWII, it was destroyed, all except the façade. It was rebuilt after the war and in 2006 rooms were added for guests. It is amazing to think the foundations of this building date to the Roman Era.
At one end of the Square is an enormous statue of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, a Prussian King from around 1800.
Now this shot shows how large this equestrian statue really is! It towers over the Square!
Now it was not hard to miss this orange building housing the Brauerai zum Pfaffen!
It was a busy place and so colorful!
Just look at the detail above the door! There is a date of 1776 on the top. Hmmm….we were fighting for Independence then back here in America. Oh, and if you look closely, there is some graffiti on the actual door.
On the corner of the building is a plaque with a date of 1176. Not sure what it is about, it was in German. But again, another historic area dating back to Roman Times.
And how cute is the Monk carrying the Drunk on the side of the building?
Here is another little pub/brewery. Sunner im Walfisch is in a cute little old building from 1626! There were a lot of pubs and restaurants in Huemarkt. It was getting close to the end of our tour and we were headed back to our ship. And yes, we did visit the Cathedral, and I will have to have several posts about that, I promise. That was the highlight of the day.
Oh, remember when I was showing you all the cool signs that I snapped in Cologne and I saw that one for Poncho’s Steakhouse? Well, here you go. This is the side of Poncho’s, I think. We were in a very narrow alley and I loved the tiles on the side of this building.
I didn’t realize it was Poncho’s until later when I was looking through my pictures. How funny!
Walking back we went through streets that were not as busy and encountered many scenes like this.
I just love that door! And the decorative glass above the door.
And here is another narrow alley view of Great St. Martin Church.
I just love these beautiful lamps throughout the city.
And oh, what about this beauty? That metal scroll frame for the window on top is amazing. Such character.
And what a cheery little window with boxes full of red geraniums. I am glad our guide took us back this way. It was nice to see some of the architectural details off the beaten path.
And just like that, we were back at our ship where we decided to eat lunch before heading back out into the city. We had so many options of what we could see. You can see some of them here. There was so much to choose from:
- Historic Churches – like the Dom
- Museums
- Breweries – which on our cruise they offered a night excursion just to bar hop (we were too exhausted to partake)
- Shopping (we were there on Easter Sunday, so most were closed)
- Spas
- The Love Locks Bridge
- The Chocolate Factory
- The Harbor
- Botanical Garden and many parks
- The Famous Christmas Markets (if you go in December)
We knew we wanted to hit the Dom again and Römisch-Germanisches Museum (the Roman German Museum) and maybe the Chocolate Factory. When we visited the Dom on our tour, they were having services so we could not go inside but our guide said in the afternoon we would be able to enter so that helped make our decision. Of course, you could also just wander around Altstadt again or lounge on the ship.
Next I will tell you about our afternoon adventures in Cologne!
This is not a sponsored post. This is my experience from my trip with Viking River Cruises. Email me to find out how you can save $100 when you book your first cruise with Viking through their referral program.
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