Europe diaries - Cologne
2004-05-28 ~ 3:18 p.m.

Wow, I really need to update more often.

Ok, so where was I? Oh, right. Cologne.

We took the train from Geilenkirchen (the town I used to live in) to Cologne first thing in the morning. It was a crappy day - all grey and cloudy and threatening rain. As soon as you walk out of the Cologne train station, your eye is drawn up. And up. And up. The Koelner Dom stands right across the street from the station. It's a huge medeivel church - construction began on it in the 1200's and didn't finish until over 600 years later. It's huge, and old and just gorgeous. It's amazing that we had the skills to build something like that back in those times - and the details on it are unbelievable.

After we gawked at it for a while, we got something to eat and then started wandering the rabbit warren of streets that makes up the shopping district. I love to window shop. I love looking in the different windows, wondering what I'll be looking at next. It's an adventure for me. We bought some postcards and an umbrella - it started raining - and then made our way over to the museum next to the cathedral. It's a German-Roman museum, with lots of old relics and statues dating back to the times when the Romans ruled the area. Pretty cool stuff - but then I've always been interested in archaeology and old things like that. The museum does a good job of showing what life was like back then - what they wore, their religious beliefs, etc.

We spent a couple of hours in the museum, we finally went into the cathedral. I can't describe how beautiful this place is from the inside. It's breathtaking - if you like that kind of thing. The stained glass is exquisite, and their is also a gold "coffin" containing the (supposed) remains of the 3 wise men. Pretty cool.

The best part of the cathedral, though, and I highly recommend doing this if you're ever there, is climbing one of the towers. 509 steps lead you up to the top of the right tower, and while the trip up is excruciating (especially when you're out of shape), the view makes it well worth it. The staircase is a steep, winding one, and there is not enough room for two people to pass each other. The stone steps are so old they have worn grooves in them. D. and I amused ourselves on the way down by telling people how far they had to go, and hearing them groan when they found out. Heh.

After all of this exersion, of course, we needed refreshment. A really neat pub accross the street from the cathedral did the trick nicely. We sat inside where it was dark and cool and smokey and got quietly sloshed before our train ride back.

Cologne is a great city - and I didn't see as much of it as I wanted. But I'm sure we'll be back again someday. My parents are in Europe for another 3 1/2 years!

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