Cologne! Cologne! So much history! The cathedral was one thing, with its construction starting from way back in the 13th century and its golden encasement of the skulls of the three wise men, but along with the ancient Roman artifacts that were found just a few feet below the ground—grand mosaics, glass, regal tomb stones—it was all completely fascinating. I love Cologne, not only for its history but also for the experience we had simply wandering its streets during our free time today. We bought gelato, I bought Farina 1709 cologne (cologne from Cologne!), and then we spent about 20 minutes listening to a church service in the cathedral. It’s so rare that on these trips you have time to stop being such a tourist, stop trying to see and do everything, and simply pause to take it all in. We also visited the Elde Haus in Cologne, which took a much more somber tone than the excitement of the rest of the day. It was a bit spooky to see the writings of prisoners on the walls of the Gestapo headquarters’ cells. I find myself having to actively open up to the history; it all just seems so unreal how much suffering people went through and how much suffering one human could inflict on another.
Tomorrow we leave Bonn for Berlin and 2011 for 2012. Looking forward to the Fest Mile!
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