Stopping by Cologne

Before we left Brugge, David suggested that we stop in Cologne to see the famous cathedral since we would be passing right by the city. At some point during the drive, I asked, "The cathedral is known for being black. Was it built with black stone or is it just really dirty?" David's answer was, "Well, it's been around a long time, so it could be that it's dirty, but I'm not sure."

We parked in an underground parking garage right at the cathedral and as we made our way up the stairs, we could hear loud noises, lots of cracks and slams. "I think I know what that is," David said.

"Yup. Skateboards."  On the square to the side of the cathedral were about 25 or so skateboarders doing ollies and kickflips.

Better view of the side of the cathedral

The square in front of the church is a major gathering spot for tourists and troubadours.

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete. It is one of the world's largest churches and the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe.

For four years, 1880-84, it was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Washington Monument. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also presents the largest façade of any church in the world.

I tried to stitch those two photos together to give a good view of the front of the church, but it didn't work well.

Remains of a Roman wall in the square in front of the church. There are what appear to be the ruins of a Roman temple underneath the cathedral itself.

Here is the answer to the question "Why is the cathedral black?" In the middle of the 19th century the majority of the population began heating with coal, which affected the church's stone. In addition, train tracks were laid near the cathedral and for nearly 100 years steam engines drove by the cathedral every day and blew their smoke on the building and there was a nearby coal power plant that has since been moved.

As you can see in the bottom left part of the façade, the cathedral is currently undergoing a cleaning. The air in the city today is much cleaner, so one hopes the church will stay clean for a long time.

Above the main door

Entering the church

Beautiful stained glass window showing the adoration of the Magi. We were in the cathedral for only 3 or 4 minutes when we were politely ushered out as Mass was about to start. Had we had more time, we would have discovered that the cathedral houses the Shrine of the Three Kings, a large gilded sarcophagus dating from the 13th century, traditionally believed to hold the remains of the Three Wise Men, whose bones and 2,000-year-old clothes were discovered at the opening of the shrine in 1864.

In the square is an exact replica of the flourishes that sit atop the two spires.

A bit of the Köln (Cologne) skyline.

The 1½ hour drive home was some of the most cheerful time we have ever spent in the car.  The kids amused themselves surprising well gazing out the car window and identifying objects they spied in the cloud formations.  And what they saw got more and more outlandish, for example, "Hey! That cloud over there looks just like Elvis,...if Elvis had a long beard and wore a big pointed hat."   All the while, we listened to songs from Micaela's ipod and sang along with Green Day, Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson and the Black Eyed Peas.  And then we heard the opening to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance.  We all lost it when 4-year old Rebecca joined in perfectly for the lines:

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah!
Roma-Roma-ma-ah!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!
Want your bad romance

and then she sang perfectly the "Ohhhh" background accompaniment to the other parts of the song.

Note to self: Be careful of the music you play around Becca now that she can understand and sing along. The radio stations here play uncensored songs and we routinely hear the sh-word and the f-word in songs. Becca could get herself into trouble if she sings such songs in school back in the U.S.