Xerxes' Errata

I'm back from a trip to Cologne. I was there for a day and a half, but I could speend a week looking through all the various churches and other medieval remnants.

Naturally, I went to the Cathedral (der Kölner Dom in German). I reas somwhere that said that the cathredal seems to be reaching in vain to th heavens and I must say that's an accurate analysis. Coming into main train station in Köln, it is the first thing I saw, it so dominates the city's skyline. Despite it's obvious gothic exterior, the catherdal is also amazing to behold. It was then i began to wonder how it would look if it had survived WW2.

Then of course, there is the interior. Again, simply amaying. The statues and sculptures are wonderous as are the stained glass windows. What was unfortunate on the day I was there was that the part of teh sanctuary that houses the Shrine of the Three Magi was closed off and could only be seen from a distance and around a corner. Also closed off was the crypt which would have been very interesting. What wasn't closed though was the Church treasury, a showcase of the various relics and gifts given to the Bishropic of Cologne over the centuries. I've never seen so much gold and silver and jewels in my life. What was sad is that apparently in 1975, the treasury was broken into and many of the artifacts were either stolen or damaged.

After that I went up to the belfry, which also doubles as a death march there are so many stairs. Nevertheless, despite the threat of having one's legs falling off, the view from the top is worth it.

Also in Cologne are a dozen Romanesque churches. You can see most of these from the belfry of the cathedral and are worth seeing themselves.

Also, with Cologne being a former Roman city, there is larege Roman history museaum with a ton of neat artifacts and leftovers. There is a huge monument of a Roman soldier with takes up almost three floors. Beside it is large floor mosaic to Dionysious which dates from about the 3rd centrury AD and was found by accident as Germans were digging an air raid shelter. There's also an art gallery nearby with a a large collection of works by Picasso.

There's also a good local beer called Kölsch which is served everywhere and is really good. But they serve it in 0.2 L glasses which I can't understand. But I'm told that if you ask for a bigger glass, you're marked as a foreigner instantly, so be warned.

Till next time...