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Train System

At our Cologne hotel we were located right next to the railroad tracks -- good for downtown access but questionable for sleeping. Not to worry! The all-electric trains run smooth as silk and whisper quiet. My engineer side loved the ride: one continuous seating space where the articulation plates barely move a quarter inch on turns. Meticulous craftsmanship: no "click, click" noise and no swaying back and forth. The rest of the world should have such a great transportation system!

Cologne Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral blew me away -- perhaps the most beautiful church I have ever seen. No wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a HUGE building: if you turned a football field on end and then stacked another half field on top, it would approximate the height of its twin spires. The number of stained-glass windows is beyond counting and each is full of color and detail. Around the columns are fine statues. Even the floor is beautiful, full of detailed stone mosaics. While one may not agree with the religious specifics, the beauty created here evokes a universal sense of awe and reverence.

European Union

Just 60 years and two generations ago Germany and France were bitter enemies, heavy into killing each other. Today they are both members of the European Economic Union. Wow! Driving across the border from Germany into France was as uneventful as driving from NH to VT: there was just a little sign saying "welcome to France" (in French, of course). Yesterday -- just two days back in the U.S.A. -- I got stopped at a Homeland Security roadblock while driving south on Route 93 below Lincoln. I hope we (and the whole rest of the world) can learn from what Germany and France have learned.

The Bossy Elevator

One of the things I like about travel is the intellectual stimulus of being exposed to new ideas. Occasionally, something is so far out of the box, I am taken completely by surprise. The "bossy elevator" we found at one of our hotels was a classic. At the entry door was a numeric keypad where you must enter your floor number to summon the elevator. Then it will come and take you there -- there are no other controls inside! Gee, who's in control here anyway? What if (heaven forbid) I make a mistake??

German Modern Art

German modern art seems to cover a very wide spectrum. Some of it is so off beat, I tell Betty Lou "I don't get it". In one old-town plaza we saw water bubbling quietly up out of a sewer top, flowing down the street in a brick channel, and quietly disappearing into another sewer top. I thought it was a modern-art fountain (I've seen similar on this trip -- kids love 'em), but Betty Lou thought they were just flushing a water main. I thought it was a riot that we couldn't tell which was true. On the other hand, I find some of the modern art strikingly beautiful, such as the orange-haired mannequin.