Photo: Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral)

We took our hosts' son/Steph's friend Felix and drove to Köln (Cologne) to meet up with another of Steph's summer camp friends, with a side trip to the famous Cologne Cathedral. This is one whopping bit of gothic architecture. Its construction began in 1248 and it was finally completed in 1880, after which it was the world's tallest building until the Washington Momument was completed in 1884. It is almost 150 metres long, 90 wide, and 156 metres high. It was damaged during WWII, but not catastrophically so, and rebuilding the damaged areas was quickly completed. We climbed the 533 steps to the top of the right spire; I thought several others making the effort were going to require first aid at best, a defibrulator at worst, based on the amount of wheezing and puffing one could hear wafting up the spiral staicase. Going down, one can get dizzy if one goes fast enough, but falling down 400+ spiral steps is not recommended.

We hooked up with Jasper, Steph's other CISV friend, for dinner and a dog bite (Marine somehow did not make a good first impression with the household hund, so the dog left an impression on Marine...nothing serious, but Marine has now learned that not all dogs are man's best friend...)

Back to Düsseldorf, and we'll explore more of that city tomorrow!