Rococo a Go-Go

I thought we couldn't possibly overindulge in anything else on this cruise ... delicious food, abundant wine, whipped cream seemingly adorning everything, baroque architecture ....  but today, we visited the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Brühl palaces near Cologne.

I don't think there was one square centimeter available for any more gilt, stucco, marble, or crystal!  Positively over the top, and everywhere the initials of the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, Clemens August could be found topping gates, in escutcheons on the ceilings, on the Meissen china, and carved into the exterior walls of the palace.  Clearly a man of modest, retiring, self-effacing character!

The palace was built to resemble Versailles (on a slightly smaller scale), and the gardens there were equally impressive.  A wonderful finale to our travels in Germany.  Tomorrow we arrive in the Netherlands for our last full day aboard the ship.  The time has positively flown by!