Oh de Cologne - So Refreshing!

Just 3 hours by train from The Hague, and I’m in Cologne, the refreshing Cathedral city on the Rhine in Germany.

I make a beeline for The Claudius Therme Spa, supplied by a natural thermal spring. It’s wonderfully rejuvenating and is said to have therapeutic benefits. Attractively designed with a Roman Bath ambience, it’s directly accessed via the cable car or ‘Seilbahn’ providing an exhilarating flight over the Rhine. As the cable car approaches the spa, a discrete peek down gives a birds-eye view of the facilities and I can clearly see that parts of the complex are “swimwear not permitted” zones - a delightful vision. I’m not in the mood for nude so thankfully there are “swimwear necessary” zones as well. The indoor and outdoor pools with massage jets and waterfalls, comfy sun lounges and giant fluffy white bathrobes are lovely. The water actually feels great on my skin, soft, warm and only slightly salty. There are also saunas (in the nudey zone), herbal steam baths (nude) and massages (probably nude too). Sean likes the sound of the spa, so we will probably return to Cologne together (but not nude).

The spa’s name ‘Claudius’ comes from Cologne’s Roman history. Cologne became recognized as a city by the Romans in 50 AD by the name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.Wandering about Cologne it’s difficult not to trip over vestiges of the Roman city wall and also remains of medieval towers and gates. I find out more about Cologne’s Roman history inside The Roman-Germanic Museum which along with a plethora of Roman headstones and the renowned Dionysus mosaic floor from before 355AD, are extensive and exquisitely beautiful collections of Roman jewellery and glassware. It’s remarkable that these delicate artefacts are still intact.

The museum crawl continues at The Wallraf Museum. Their collection of European Masterpieces spanning the 13th to the 19th century is beautifully arranged with themed rooms .On the first floor, the museum has one of the world’s leading collections of medieval paintings including many pieces by the 15th Century Cologne Master Stefan Lochner. These divine gilded religious works with rich colours simply ooze sumptuousness. The second floor has some Rubens and a late Rembrandt self portrait. The top floor has the Impressionists and post impressionists – Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Signac, Van Gogh.

For a change of era, he funky Museum Ludwig is a veritable treasure trove of 20th and 21st century art with room after room of revelations. Not only does it boast one of the world’s largest Picasso collections but a large collection of Roy Lichtenstein’s pixelated pop art, Warhol works, fun mixed media, and ‘moving image’ art like I’ve never seen before.

Cologne is idyllically situated on the River Rhine whose banks by the Old Town are a pleasant playground for active rollerbladers, romantic promenade strollers and Koelsch beer aficionados. From the left bank, I saunter across the spectacular triple arched bridge called Hohenzollernbrücke and through the beautiful floral blanketed Rhinepark. The 400metre long Hohenzollernbrücke is weighed down with a guard fence covered in sparkling ‘lovelocks’ – a cutesy couples romantic tradition of affixing a padlock to the bridge’s fence as a symbol of love. Maybe Sean will get me a lock.

Cologne’s enormous Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The foundation stone for this church was laid in 1248 and only 300 years later the church was finished. The exterior ‘s twin dark gothic spires are imposing, the interior holds the enormous 12th century gilded sarcophagus with relics of the Three Wise Men , and deep in the cellar are the priceless artefacts of the treasury.

The obvious Cologne souvenir is Cologne. The original Eau de Cologne was composed by an Italian perfumer Johaan Maria Farina in 1709 and was delivered to all royal houses in Europe. Napoleon is said to have used a bottle a day. The other Cologne was introduced in 1792, the famous wonder water Cologne 4711 with it’s flagship store on Glockengasse. Eau de Cologne is nice and light, vibrant, citrusy and bracing. I buy both the original Eau de Cologne and the 4711 refreshing towelettes. Sean gets the 4711 Tabac for men soap. It’s retro cool!

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• Cologne is a blend of world-class museums, churches - and perfume (seattletimes.nwsource.com)