Wing'in It: Köln

For almost two years now, we've been hearing about the amazing cathedral in Köln, Germany. (It's also known as Cologne.) We've been talking about going to see it...it's about three hours away from us, but for some reason, we always find somewhere else to visit. Well in August, we finally made our way up there...and it was awesome.

Köln is a big city. I took these shots from the backseat of the BMW. (Maya gets car sick so she gets the front seat.)

I love this guy's enthusiasm. It says Macho Man on his t-shirt.

The next photo shows the Severinstorburg. It's one of twelve medieval gates that were built in the city. Only three gates still stand today.

As Steven made his way to the parking lot, we got a glimpse of the cathedral peeking over the buildings.

And here's where I handed the camera off to Mylee. She loves all of these cathedrals and enjoys taking photographs of them.

Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church. Construction of the church began in 1248, then was halted in 1473. It was left unfinished.

Work restarted in the 19th century and the building was completed in 1880.

It is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. It has the second tallest spires and the largest façade of any church in the world. The tallest spires belong to the Ulm Minster in Ulm, Germany. We've visited that cathedral as well.

the nave

The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs in World War II. Although Cologne itself was virtually flattened in the war, the cathedral did not collapse and stood tall. Repairs to the building were completed in 1956.

Maya got so many good shots, it's hard to choose which ones to include in this post.

I am so often times in awe of what I see in these amazing cathedrals.

Although we have no pictures of it, the Shrine of the Three Kings can be found here in Koln. The shrine is made of bronze and silver and is said to hold the remains of the Three Wise Men, whose relics were acquired by Frederick Barbarossa at the conquest of Milan in 1164.

He only looks trapped...he's wondering why the females in his family have to be so darn slow.

The boys taking a rest while the girls take their sweet time with the camera.

These were taken in the crypt.

We don't know what these guys were doing, but they had quite a crowd taking pictures of them.

This is the Hauptbanhoff, or the main train station.

When we went down by the river, there was a fountain and many restaurants and shops. We spotted this cute chocolate lab puppy who was gallivanting and playing in the water.