Crazy for Cologne! (Blog Post #2)

What a day! Today the girls and I went to Cologne for our first weekend out. Our new friend Casey came to help us orient ourselves at the train station. On the way to Mg station (Monchengladbach) I found a wonderfully inexpensive shoe store with a pair of amazing strappy sandals for only 5 euro! I decided to wait until we had returned to buy them and I was sorely disappointed when we arrived at Mg to find all of the stores closed before 8:00 pm! On a Saturday night! Complete rubbish if you ask me.

Back to Cologne. The station we got off on is literally right next to the massive and gorgeous Cologne Cathedral. Construction began in the mid-thirteenth century and continued for over six hundred years. It is a marvel of human ingenuity and was the tallest building in the world until the Washington Monument was erected. It has the largest façade of any church in the world and is the largest gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. It is an excellent example of the intricate gothic architecture of the high and late medieval period. Standing outside of it was absolutely overwhelming. Finding myself face-to-face with a building I have only ever marveled at in books left me speechless. The inside of the building was gorgeous and built in the traditional floor-plan of medieval churches (following a cross shape) and was filled with amazing art and the most beautiful mosaic floors. As an admirer of Medieval architecture and as a Catholic I was completely blown away by the beauty of the place (stay posted for my vlog, I have been having some problems uploading things to youtube so it might be a bit).

After exploring the interiors some of the girls and I decided to climb to the belfry—not an easy task as we would find. The staircase spiraled into one of the two massive spires of the cathedral and the squeeze was extremely tight with people using the same narrow passage going up and down. The view from the top was incredible—you could see all of Cologne and the surrounding countryside. It was an amazing moment and I am glad I got to share it with my friends. The way down was very difficult and crowded, and just as we were reaching the bottom I missed a step and went sliding down! A kind German man grabbed me and helped me up, but I am afraid that my bum took the brunt of the tumble! It was certainly a memorable experience!

After climbing down we met with the others who had been shopping for most of the morning. Cologne offers a wide array of shopping opportunities and has a lot of popular American stores just steps away from the Cathedral and station. After a bit of shopping we stopped for lunch in a charming café with outdoor seating. I ordered a platter of traditional German cheeses with bread to taste the full spectrum of German cheese delicacies—it was wonderful. I was shocked to see that they charged for water (and no ice!) and even more surprised to find that the only water available anywhere was mineral water! It makes me worry about the tap—I had been told that it was ok to drink from the tap, but now I am a bit worried.

After a leisurely lunch (trés European!) we strolled around the shopping district and people watched. While waiting for our train to arrive we sat outside of the Cathedral on the steps and watched as the sun began to go down. A group of Russian-Germans were out on a Bachelor’s party and were trying to sell a basket of useless crap to earn money for drinks. I didn’t see anything to my liking, but I put in a bit of money just to be nice. In return (plus a little bit of input from my friends) I got a rather old gem-stone headband and a kiss from the husband-to-be! They were very nice young men and great fun, and they sent us on our way with smiles and laughter. Then it was on the train and back to Mg. Cologne Cathedral was definitely the highlight of the entire day and one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Europe just keeps getting better and better! I am very excited about visiting “Holland” (as people around camp call it) tomorrow. Cheers!