Köln

Like many days here, December the 30th began with a delicious breakfast and a train ride. Our journey to Köln brought us to a very large and busy train station, a breezy plaza, and right up next to the Cologne Cathedral. If you ever feel like you need to be humbled, I recommend you stand next to that Cathedral. What a beautiful structure. The walls can't talk, but the windows tell so many stories!
Everything under Köln is so old! Just dig and there are Roman floors, tombs, and they're extracting a whole Jewish quarter! We had an awesome, energetic guide who aptly likened ancient jewelry to "Bling Bling like P-Diddy". In all seriousness, though, she was a fantastic guide and very knowledgeable!
Later, we visited EL-DE Haus. This is a museum made out of an old Gestapo building. Our tour began underground, in the rooms of a prison where people arrested by the Gestapo were held prior to interrogation. Every part if this process held a type of torture. From inhumane living conditions to darkroom isolation to physical torture, the acts done in that building, bunker and courtyard were horrendous. It is a clean museum; not showy, graphic, or overdramatized. But the starkness of its space demands contemplation and respect, and in me elicited the first chills that had nothing to do with temperature. Experiences with Holocaust museums and literature have always hit me very hard, and it is very hard to wrap my brain around the fact that it happened where I now stand. I still do not fail to recognize Germany's struggle in coming to terms with their history and I am growing an immense respect for the ways in which they have chosen to remember the past and live in the present.
Later, out and about after some free time exploring Köln, Abbee and I were heading back to meet the group at the train when we pulled out the map to check our direction. A lovely and fashionable woman approached us and asked if she could help us. She was holding a huge bowl of gelato, and spoke with an slight accent. She pointed us toward the Cathedral and wished us well. We thanked her and as we parted she yelled after us "have fun!" We sat in the Cathedral and enjoyed the singing that came from a small mass in the sanctuary until it was time to meet our fellow travelers at the station.