After a mid-afternoon nap we were off to The Flora und Botanischer Garten Köln, just a few tram stops up to the zoo stop, then a quick walk past the zoo to the free gardens.

Usually we see European gardens in late Fall to early spring, so it was quite nice to see this one at the height of flowering. The walks around the gardens are quite pleasant and a nice respite from the city.

We also visited the nearby sculpture park shortly before closing. It was very quiet, with a few interesting pieces and an epic number of rabbits.

Not very large, but if you are at the gardens it is worth a quick walk through, and it is free.

We took the tram down two stops to the restaurant we choose for dinner and thankfully, the restaurant wasn’t too far from our hotel, as we didn’t have coins to buy a ticket and the Ebertplatz machines wouldn’t take our chip card or bills… Germany, seriously?

At least we were rewarded with a few more interesting sites.

part of the old city wall

train bridge near Ursulaplatz

By the end of the day Leandra’s injured foot needed to be propped up, so I went out by myself to try some night shots. Apparently building lights turn on after 9pm in the summer, as I arrived a little before and was quite disappointed by the lighting. A few minutes later I was pleasantly surprised.

wow!

view from Deutzer Brucke bridge

Not surprisingly, we both slept quite well on our first night in Europe, and were well rested for our continued travels to Lanzarote the next day.