Kölnisch Wasser - day three
It's partly cloudy when I get up, and after breakfast the lady at the hotel tells me the weather forecast is indeed cloudy but some rain every now and then - but not as bad as yesterday. Since my feet are still very sore I chance it and don't take my rain jacket along: every bit of weight off my feet will help.
My first target for today is around Heumarkt where yesterday I noticed a lot more of the weird blue water pipes I first noticed on day one. It's easy to get there: just one stop on the tram from Neumarkt. I potter around a lot in the neighborhood, trying to catch how weird the pipes look, going over and along buildings (sometimes right in front of windows), through streets, joining here and there, and finally ending up at the river. I suspect by now they're actually pumping ground water: one pipe sems to be coming up from the ground not far from a building site. Near the tram stop I get onto the grass to get near the pipes and momentarily lean against one: there's a deep rumbling and vibration in it: a lot of water being pumped through with considerable force.
Next I go to the riverside again, and along to the Rheinauer Hafen. Unlike the harbor in Deutz which is for freight, this is a harbor for pleasure boats, separated from the river by a long strip of land you can reach (as with the Deutzer Hafen) via a turning bridge. It's all good for a lot more pictures (finally some water hoses and taps as well). The Severinsbrücke crosses the Rhine right here, going right over the harbor and the strip of land as well. I have to get onto a building site (somewhat illegally) to get a picture from right under the bridge.
From there I take the bus back to the Heumarkt, just so to complete all forms of public transportation I am allowed to use on my WelcomeCard (and partly because my feet are sore, but it isn't very far). I have lunch at a very nice restaurant (12 Apostel) where there's supposed to be free WLAN - but the connection is dodgy and I don't succeed actually sending something from there - at least I can write a bit. Until now, it's been cloudy, but when I sit eating my delicious tomato soup the sun comes out - and it also starts to rain. I decide to have another go at the Aachener Weiher, just a few trams stops away from here maybe the sun will come out there, too.
Of course, when the tram stops at the Universitätsstrasse, it starts to rain in earnest, and the sun doesn't get a chance for a while. Still, a fresh look gets me some different pictures. A look at my map tells me behind here there's also a long stretch of water - a long pond? I decide to have a look, but the streetname already gives it away: the Clarenbachstrasse borders a stream which must be the Clarenbach (a Bach is a small stream, a brook); a bridge over it has a "danger" sign just like those at the Aachener Weiher, which suggests both were designed as a whole.
That's it for the day, I have about two hours left and still have a little shopping to do before picking up my luggage at the hotel and finding my train. I'm on my way back while I write this now, and will post it when back in Amsterdam. With a few typical pictures, as before.
