Koln, Germany can be found a little less than 2 hours from Brussels, so we hopped on a train and we were off. Adelaide was entertained by coloring books and then eventually throwing all of the cards the rest of us were playing with. With that being said, she was a true champ on the trip between planes, trains, buses, taxis and any other kind of moving device you can imagine (a lot of stroller time) the whining was kept to a minimum by all.
One thing that was truly shocking for me was that you get off of the train in this modern station full of iron, glass and shopping. Before you are even off of the escalator and out of the glass area you see this mammoth of a church. This would be the church we came to Koln (or Cologne depending on if you want to be English or German for the post) for, DOM.
DOM is a Roman Catholic Church in the heart of the city. DOM is one of the largest Gothic churches in Europe and one of the few buildings left in tact after the war.
In the last 2 or 3 years we have spent a good amount of time in Europe and it is still astounding to me that you can walk through and touch the walls of a monstrosity that was built and touched by others for the last 800 years. Granted we have seen older and more impressive, but this site was different. It didn't give you a sense of peace, joy or faith that I have found in other religious sites. DOM made me feel eerie, almost as though I was in a scary movie and I was waiting for something to pop out at me. I do find this ironic in that when we were in St Peters Basilica in Rome a few years ago I had all of the feelings I described above along with a sense this is the kind of place that religion was founded and made to live on except this is where we accidentally turned a corner and found a dead body. No worries, just a well preserved Pope.
We found out in Rome that Kari's anxiety in life is exacerbated when in tight, confined spaces so we didn't invite her on the climb to the top of the church. Grant and I trekked it alone and when we got to the top, not only were we tired but Grant was anxious to get down. You see, somehow I can always convince my husband to do these types of things even though he is afraid of heights.
A few of the 11 church bells to be found, but not quite at the top, must keep going...
After all of those steps (1000 round trip) we deserved some German food. Adelaide fell in love with the apple pancakes and bread.
After roaming the streets with quick stops for pastries and perusing the book stores we went to the Gestapo Nazi Prison. We took a trip down memory lane for those who had to endure all horror of the Holocaust. This was a small prison right in the middle of town. We literally walked right by it because it looked like just another building in a row of shops, schools and well hey, there is a prison.
Last stop before getting back on the train...more food. This is where we ate, laughed and watched Grant judo chop my wine glass into two pieces. Long story short, yet another drink I didn't get to finish and this time it wasn't Adelaide's fault.
The two pictures above are more what I expected our trip to look like. Quaint row homes, little did I know what a happening city Cologne was. These pictures were taken along the Rhine River.
Kari tickled Adelaide so much on the trip that she made her pee her pants we are sure, but no worries the kiddo still wears a diaper.
