It’s the morning of the next day and we’re in Cologne. We arrived yesterday after a pleasant trip from Hamburg.
As soon as you exit the main station here you’re faced with this:
That’s the famous Köln Cathedral, which has stood for over 700 years and survived the bombs of WW2. I had to climb it!
There are some 533 steps, mostly in a (poorly ventilated) spiral staircase that looks like this:
It took me about 13 minutes to get to the top, but it was an extremely tiring climb since the steps are tall and since it was very warm in the staircase. It was certainly more difficult than The Eiffel Tower (which has more steps). Here’s me immediately after reaching the top:
Interior view of the tallest spire:
View of the city from the outside portion:
The viewing platforms actually look like a prison, I’m told due to suicides. There is graffiti everywhere as well. This is one major attraction that is not quite as pretty close up as the others we have visited:
After checking into our hotel (which doesn’t have air conditioning!) it was time for some brief shopping at the 4711 store, which actually has a fountain of the cologne you can dip your hand in!
And then K, J and I did a whirlwind tour of a Chocolate Museum…
Before we met three of my cousins (and their husbands) for dinner and drinks, which was great. Probably because of how tired I was I forgot to take photos so here’s another of the Dom as we headed back to our hotel near midnight:
