Walking Through the History of Cologne

Today we were treated to a walking tour of Cologne, which was really fun and informative. We started at the famous Dom (Cathedral), the silhouette of which is everywhere here. My favorite part was the modern stained glass window by the artist Gerhard Richter. After a stop for lunch (at a brauhaus, with more Koelsch, natuerlich), we walked through the old city, which dates back to Roman times, and has lots of archaeological sites (that's an ancient well in the picture). We stopped at the perfume factory where eau de cologne was invented in 1709, passed the excavation of the old Jewish Quarter, which has the remains of the oldest synagogue in Europe, and strolled through the Alter Markt (Old Market). Before leaving, we stopped to rub the noses of these statues, for luck.