Roamin' to Rome

For reasons too boring to go into, I had the bright idea that rather than fly to Rome like any normal couple, we would go by train. The objective of the trip is to watch Italy play England in the 6 Nations. It so happens it is also Valentine's Day on Sunday but to be honest I didn't realise this when I booked the trip.
So at 7:30 this morning we set off on our epic trip. Virgin trains took us to London in just over 2 hours. A short stroll to St Pancras and we boarded the train to Brussels.  Another 2 hours and we had zipped though northern France and we were in Belgium.  Honestly Londoners have no idea how lucky they are. The continent is a mere hop, skip and a jump away!
A quick change in Brussels and another two and a bit hours and we arrived in Colone, or should I say Köln, at 16:15. The plan was to break our trip here.
As you walk out of the station the first thing you see is the Cathedral. It is an impressive building but could do with a bit of a clean. I think it is a work in progress as a little bit has been done and it is a beautiful white stone. The Old Town well, isn't that old as far as I can see. Perhaps most was destroyed in the war ( must Google that later ) . The street plan looks old but not the buildings. The main street is a shoppers paradise. A lot of the shops were familiar and one old friend C&A; I almost went in for old times sake. They have a different take on street life here, a homeless lady with a pig and a busker with a grand piano! 
We wandered down to have a look at the Rhine and the had a wonderful hot chocolate at a cafe called Fassbender.  It is a very elegant circular building inside.
Somehow I managed to keep my lentan promise and said no to the cakes. Boy was that hard. After another wander we found the 4711 building where the Eau de Cologne comes from; who'd have guessed. It is a smell that reminds me of my Nanna.
We had dinner in what I suppose is the German equivalent of a local pub. Certainly the clientele were local and known to the staff. The food was filling and not expensive. I had potato rosti with salmon and hubby had beef with red cabbage and potatoe dumplings, which looked very suggestive with a red jam type stuff on top. I shall leave that one to your imagination. 
So now we are sitting in Starbucks at the station,using their wifi while we wait to board the sleeper to Zurich.  Night all.