No pictures from the first day of travelling to get to Germany, but here is what it entailed...
Driving to Hartsfield
Train at Hartsfield
Plane to Paris
Bus to terminal
Bus to other terminal
Plane to Dusseldorf
Bus to train
Train to Cologne
Train to Neumarkt
Other train to hotel (Porz Markt)

Anyway, it was worth it to get to see Jill... The first night was low-key and was just a progressive dinner. Then, I crashed hard!

What better place to start our first full day than a brau haus?
We slept in pretty late. By the time we got downtown, it was just after noon. It was very cold, too. We ducked into the first place we saw and liked - which happened to be the famous 'Peter's Brauhaus.'

Then it was downtown to our first glimpse of the Dom, the largest building in the world when it was originally constructed.

Inside the Gothic cathedral are breathtaking stained glass windows...

...and a cool nativity scene.

They had a tower; we had to climb it.
(We're good Mulcays.)

Check out the ceiling up there!

...and the view.

It was SO hard to get far enough away to get a decent picture of the Dom. I had to back up against a restaurant to get a picture. (Remember this view...)

Walking around, Jill takes me past the brauhaus where she had her first kölsh with UPSers earlier in the week.

In front of Früh is a statue to the fabled lady who had elves/gnomes that cleaned up her house while her lazy husband slept...
She holds out her lamp, but can't see the little guys...

The obligatory shopping alley.

Very cool area!

The old city gate.

Back across town, we visit the area where, as the Germans dug out a parking deck, they discovered an ancient Jewish bath.

Even through the rain-covered Louvre-esque sheilding, you can see rooms, tile-floors, etc.

Down by the Rhine

St. Martin, nestled behind tall lofts in the old town area.

UPS pilots so frequent this pub, they were allowed to hang a sign.
No, they don't ship!

At dinner, we have our first major bathroom experience.
Self-cleaning toilet lids!
When you get up, the toilet senses it, throws out an arm and rotates the lid to clean it.

Back by the Dom. It is magnetic - AND the heart of the city.