"Cologne: Arrival of a packet ship: evening" (J. Turner).
Hotel Royale ~ We left Brussels this morning at half past six and arrived here at half past one, after an uninteresting ride of seven hours. The country in Belgium is highly cultivated, very fertile, thickly populated, and abounding picturesque villages. Our hotel turns out not to be the crack house. The Hotel de Hollande, next door, is better. This is however a good comfortable house and first class. Our windows look out on the waters of the Rhine and very beautiful they are, seen by moonlight. The steamers are at a wharf just under the window and the fridge of boats is only a few steps below. The city is dirty and mean looking and celebrated for its bad smells, while the river here is not as wide as the Hudson at Albany, and its banks are low and not picturesque. Cologne has no sidewalks and is a large bustling place. The streets are paved with round stone. Every second shop is a “Jean Marie Farina”! The currency changed again today and now we are handling Thalers, Groschen, and Pfennigs. The Prussian double headed Eagle covers us with her wings. The language is German, and English is about as much spoken as French here. A thaler is about 75 cts, a groschen about 2 ½ cts., and a pfennig about 1/5 of a cent. The custom house is strict but civil.
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