EuroMegavacation Episode 2: Cologne, Germany

Cologne was our first stop in Germany.  It was also our shortest stop in Germany--two days, one night.  

Matt on the train between Namur and Cologne.

We could literally see our hotel the moment we stepped off the train at Cologne's main station.  The Ibis Koeln Am Dom was a sweet location smack dab in the middle of things.  One door from the lobby opened onto the train station.  The other door opened onto the square in front of the towering, unbelievable Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom or the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter).  This Gothic cathedral--which took 600 years to complete-- is the most-visited landmark in Germany.  It was easy to see why!  

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

After checking into our room--and buying our first bottle of Sprudelwasser (sparkling mineral water)--we set off to see the cathedral straight away.  It is...so tall.  It is crazy.  Almost unbelievable.  The Cologne Cathedral is the third-tallest church in the world.  The fabulous spires reach an incredible 515 feet.  It was tricky to take a picture of the whole thing at once.  Like with a redwood tree.  It was just too epic.  

Matt in front of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

I looked up the dimensions for Notre Dame in Paris as a comparison.  I think that was the biggest church I'd seen previously.  The Cologne Dom is bigger by a long shot.  For another frame of reference, the tallest building in Montana--the First Interstate Center--is 272 feet tall.  Perhaps folks accustomed to the NYC skyline might not have found its height so baffling.  I sure did though.

Fountain outside of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

The Kölner Dom is grand in every sense of that word.  It is towering and ornate in a way that is hard to describe.  Huge and busy with details--gargoyles, grotesques, statuary, trim, stained glass--it is really a lot to take in.  

Every inch of this church was covered in detail work.  Just look at this doorway!  With Matt for a sense of scale.

And that was before we even stepped foot inside.  

Stained glass windows inside the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

The tours were sold out for both days we were in Cologne, so we were left to explore on our own.  By the end of it, our necks were getting sore from gazing up, up, up at all that soaring architectural grandeur.  Again, it is SO tall!

Interior of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

Every interior surface was decorated somehow--paint, goldleaf, sculpture, woodcarving, etc.  Even much of the floor was mosaic tile.  The stained glass was so vibrant and rich in the afternoon light.  The interior was a cool, shady relief from the relentlessly sunny, hot day.

The mosaic floor and interior view of the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne

We decided to climb the 533 stairs up the south tower of the cathedral to the viewing platform.  This was quite the experience!  The spiral staircase really seemed suited for one-way traffic, but had to serve two-way traffic for the tower climbers.  At several points, we were toeing the tiny, inches-wide interior part of the spiral step as a steady stream of folks made their descent from the tower.  Packed with bodies on a hot and sunny day, that narrow spiral chamber was quite the steam cooker.  Matt and I were dripping with sweat.  When we reached the top of the stairs at last, it opened up into a fabulous city view, buuuuuuuuut it was actually the fabulous gust of fresh air that was the best part.  

One of the church bells inside the South tower at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne

We hung out at this belfry level for quite a while, sitting on the cool, breezy stone benches.  We could gaze up at the inside of the cathedral spire.  The textures carved in the stone up there were off the hook.  The wind danced through and was a delight.  

A view up into the inside of the cathedral tower spire.

That wasn't the end of the stairs though!  We had one more open metal staircase to go to get to the final viewing platform at 325 feet above Cologne.  This interior staircase made me dizzy with the height as we spiraled up to the top of the tower--and I did not like it.  That said, the view was worth it.  

Looking out over Cologne from the South tower of the cathedral.

The people on the square below were so tiny!  We could see the Rhine River and the city as it spread out toward the horizon.  It was an amazing perspective on the cathedral itself, too.  We were at eye level with some of the gargoyles!  I even got to touch one!    

Looking at the North tower from the viewing platform in the South tower of the cathedral.

We were among the last folks down the tower as it closed for the evening.  We enjoyed having a lot more room in the spiral staircase on the way down.  Nonetheless, boy, we were hot, sweaty, tired, and hungry!!  We went back to the hotel for dinner in our room--marinated tofu on fresh bread and our first local beer.  Cologne is the home of kölsch beer.  Kölsch is one of my favorite beer styles, so I was very excited!  

Looking out over Cologne from the South tower of the cathedral.

As an added bonus, our hotel room had air conditioning.  We hadn't expected that, but we enjoyed the heck out of it.   So, after a little food, water, and AC, we headed back down to the square.  We popped over to the train station to buy the special train pass Matt had researched.  The Twin Flexi pass allows two adults to travel for a set number of days (3, 5, 7, 10, and so on).  In our case, we bought a seven-day pass.  The days don't have to be consecutive days; it can be for the fast ICE trains or the slow regional trains, and you don't have to buy any tickets on the day of travel.  Just look up the routes in the Deutsche Bahn app, pop on a train, and goooooooo!  It was terribly convenient.  It gave us a great deal of flexibility when planning our travel days.  We loved the train.   

Drinking local beers, enjoying local sights in Cologne.

With that essential travel detail sorted out, we found a sidewalk cafe with a great view of the cathedral in the sunset hours.  They served Gaffel Kölsch at that place.  Gaffel is a Cologne brewery that dates back to 1908.  They served the kölsch beers in the traditionally small, thin glasses (about 6 ounces).  This is done so the beer is always cold and fresh--maximizing its deliciousness.  The waiter has a serving tray with slots specifically designed to carry a dozen or more of these slim glasses at a time.  It was really fun to just sit and relax, people watching with a tasty kölsch.  We saw punk rockers, roller bladers, a pro Palestine protest and counter protestors and cops, a few impressive mullets, lots of leather pants, and so much more.   

Nighttime at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

After our beers, we walked around the cathedral again.  The dusky twilight was quite striking on the myriad spires and points and arches.  Lights came on to illuminate the cathedral.  It had a very different aesthetic in the evening.  We found a bench and soaked it all in.  

Nighttime at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

We saw a Byzantine floor mosaic starring Dionysus that was unearthed during the excavation of an air raid shelter in 1941.  It was made of 1.5 million cubes of stone, glass, and ceramic sometime around 220 CE.  It has been left in its original location.  We also saw the ruins of a Roman cellar that were discovered during the construction of the cathedral towers.  We checked out the remains of a Roman city gate, too.  It was pretty mindblowing to interact with such an ancient world.  Matt and I would be astonished over and over again by the almost incomprehensibly looooooooooong historical timespan as we traveled across Europe.  It made me think of walking through the cliff dwellings in Arizona...but even older!

Because the cathedral's towers are so tall, they needed a foundation that is like 45 feet below ground.  This is part of the Roman ruins discovered during the construction.

Back at the hotel, we would continue marveling over the illuminated cathedral.  We could see it from bed even!

The view of the cathedral from our hotel room window.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed back to the cathedral to check out the stained glass with the morning light.  It was right out our front door and all.  We were dazzled by such a beautiful building--inside and out--that we were drawn back to it almost helplessly.  It has a sort of gravity.

One of the altars inside the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

We marveled over the arches and the elaborately painted, wood-carved altar.  We discussed the size of the organ pipes and the acoustics of the building.  The paintings seemed more vivid than in the evening light.  The stained glass did, too.

Stained glass windows inside the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

We pulled up a pew and sat awhile.  It was loveliness and tranquility in 360 degrees.

A painting inside the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.  Like many others, it is painted directly onto wood instead of on canvas.  

We also wanted to visit one transept of the cathedral that had been closed off for services the previous evening.  This allowed us closer access to the main altar, where I had my first exposure to "relics" being displayed in churches.  The Kölner Dom houses a golden, gem-bedazzled shrine that contains bones from the Three Wise Men (the Magi) from the story of Christ's birth.  I was raised as a Catholic, but still...I guess I didn't know about this sort of thing.  Holy bones being venerated.  A bit of this or that object from biblical history.  We would encounter so many relics over the next two weeks.  The Magi were just the first.  

The Shrine of the Three Kings and stunning floor mosaics within the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.

Partly because my neck was a little stiff from all the gazing upwards, I found the floor especially compelling on this second visit to the cathedral.  The mosaic floor was stunning in its detail and variety.  I began to get a sense of the relationship between The Arts and The Church.  A sense that would only deepen as the trip progressed.

More mosaic floors in the cathedral.  

The morning was rapidly winding up, so we returned to the hotel to check out and collect our things.  Then we walked next door to the train station, bought a pretzel (that would prove to be the best one of the trip), and caught the train to a little slice of heaven called Bacharach! 

One of the altars inside the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Cologne.