Our 13-day Uniworld boutique river cruise on the luxurious River Queen began in Amsterdam. After a must-do canal sightseeing cruise and a visit to the world-class Rijksmuseum, we set sail for Cologne, the oldest major city of the Rhineland.
There, our brightly painted tourist train wound through the Old Town and ended at the renowned Cologne Cathedral. The façade of the cathedral, with its monumental spires appearing to nuzzle the deep blue sky, was a sight to behold.
Next to the cathedral is the Roman-Germanic Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of ancient Roman glass vessels. The museum was constructed around its almost flawless Dionysus mosaic floor, the remains of a Roman villa. Since the Rhineland was founded by the Romans, the four countries we visited during our cruise—Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France—have many archeological treasures from that period.
Koblenz was our next port of call and the point where the Rhine and Mosel rivers part ways (“Mosel” is the German spelling). At the confluence, called German Corner, is a massive equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I who in the 19th century united the country.
