Kölner Dom, in our spare time
We gave ourselves some breathing room in out travel schedule from Brussels to the Eifel Region of Germany. We had to change trains at Köln anyway, so why not take an hour or two to see the Dom next to the station and get a Starbucks? Don't be fooled by my casual wording, by the way. Any visit to the Dom would be a big deal for us.
More after the jump
We are all in complete awe of this place. Still.
The age of many of the windows and statues is staggering. I mean, this crucifix dates to 970 AD. 970!
These windows 14th century!
The kids were very into their votive candles.
This Cathedral, among the greatest in the world, sits next to a train station in a busy German city. There are people that live in this world that walk past it everyday. This completely blows my mind. I think how fortunate we must be to see it twice in our lives. And yes, even while I can see the Great Wall from my kitchen (on a clear day) the idea that there are people for whom the Dom is just a part of their daily surroundings still strikes me as incredible.
And we walked over to admire the Roman Ruins which no child, mine or someone else's, seems to have damaged in the last 2000 years or so.
Afterwards, we grabbed snacks and coffee at the train station Starbucks. Myles was hoping for a repeat of last time, when I ended up ordering my coffee in Mandarin. That was not to be; my German mixed with English got us through. I did speak a little Chinese, though, to a pair of students from Taiwan that were sitting next to us. One of them had made the comment of Brigid being cute, so I bid both kids to greet them in Chinese. I always wonder if we should, but I think it would be rude of us not to reveal that we might understand their conversation.
More after the jump
We are all in complete awe of this place. Still.
The age of many of the windows and statues is staggering. I mean, this crucifix dates to 970 AD. 970!
These windows 14th century!
The kids were very into their votive candles.
This Cathedral, among the greatest in the world, sits next to a train station in a busy German city. There are people that live in this world that walk past it everyday. This completely blows my mind. I think how fortunate we must be to see it twice in our lives. And yes, even while I can see the Great Wall from my kitchen (on a clear day) the idea that there are people for whom the Dom is just a part of their daily surroundings still strikes me as incredible.
And we walked over to admire the Roman Ruins which no child, mine or someone else's, seems to have damaged in the last 2000 years or so.
Afterwards, we grabbed snacks and coffee at the train station Starbucks. Myles was hoping for a repeat of last time, when I ended up ordering my coffee in Mandarin. That was not to be; my German mixed with English got us through. I did speak a little Chinese, though, to a pair of students from Taiwan that were sitting next to us. One of them had made the comment of Brigid being cute, so I bid both kids to greet them in Chinese. I always wonder if we should, but I think it would be rude of us not to reveal that we might understand their conversation.
Comments