Cologne

I was invited to join my Atlantan classmate Todd and former exchange student to Atlanta, now classmate in Goettingen Peti, on their trip to visit Todd's Great Grandmother and a trip to Cologne. You know me, I can't say no to traveling. So at 5:00am on Saturday we boarded the trip South to Darmstadt to spend the day with Todd's Great Grandmother getting the personal tour of the town and hearing family stories. Sunday morning we boarded the train once more to head on to Cologne. I found myself so grateful that I got to travel to the city from Darmstadt because coming from such a direction allowed us to travel alongside the Rhein river.

The views from the train were spectacular. And there really are castle's at every river bend.

A view of a ruin from the old Roman wall, dated from 50 bce. The Cologne Cathedral is in the background.

The Cologne Cathedral, in its Gothic glory. It's the largest cathedral here in Germany

Inside the Cathedral. It's claim to fame is not only is it the largest cathedral in Germany, it also has the relics of the three kings (the golden glow in the middle of the picture). Who knows if they're really them or not, but the tradition carries on.

A view of the Rhein river running through the city

All in all it was a great weekend, full of many adventures, new card games for the train rides, and good conversations.

And by the way, the mystery of the date, going back to 808 in the last post is solved. It's the insurance number for the house... and a great way to intrigue the tourist.