Cologne, Germany

 

Cologne Cathedral before the rain

Cologne was first settled by the Romans. Today, over 50% of the city are immigrants. It is also popular with gays. There are twelve churches in the city center.

We started our tour with a huge traffic jam, because many streets were closed for tomorrow’s marathon. We reached the Cathedral, and then we had stiff winds and pouring rain. We immediately headed for shelter and then when the cathedral opened, we rushed in there, but had to stay in the back because there was a special service that day. Most of us gave up on the tour but we ended up waiting over an hour for the buses to return. Some of our group continued the tour, the wiser decision.

Shrine of the Three Kings

Later that day the sun came out. I headed to the Cathedral for pictures of the interior, especially the Shrine of the Three Kings (holding relics of the Magi).  The Cathedral took over 600 years to build, because the city ran out of money when trade routes no longer came to the city. The coming of the railroad brought trade back to the city. The cathedral looks black because of the lichen in the sandstone. It has over 1200 statues. I took the opportunity to climb 512 stairs to see the bells and the views from the top of the tower.

From the top looking to the railroad bridge

I made it back to see the rainbow over the River Aria before the rain began once more.

Returning to the River Aria