Day 4 Cologne (Koln)

We got up at 6:15, ate breakfast at 7:00 then walked to the train station at 7:30. The train left on time at 7:44 and made stops at the Frankfurt Airport, Mainz and Koblenz arriving about 10 minutes late at Cologne due to a body being found at the railroad tracks.

The train station is located right next to the cathedral so it was such a magnificent sight to see coming out of the main entrance. The only drawback was the weather because it was gloomy/overcast and raining. History lesson: the cathedral was built mainly to house the relics of the three Magis which were taken from Milan and given to the Archbishop of Cologne in 1164. Other trivial information: it features the largest church facade in the world; has 12 church bells including the St. Petersglocke (bell of St Peter), weighs 24 tons and is the largest free-swinging bell in the world. Didn't get a chance to see this though because we had to climb up to the belfry.

Here's a picture of the Sarcophagus of the Magi, the largest reliquary in the Western world and is thought to hold the remains of the Three Kings, whose bones and 2000 years old clothes were discovered at the opening of the shrine in 1864. The Gero Cross (Gero-Kreuz) near the sacristy, is the oldest large cross north of the Alps. In the Sacrament Chapel, the "Milan Madonna" (Mailänder Madonna), is a wooden sculpture depicting Mary and the child Jesus.

Walked to the Rathaus (Town Hall) and then on to the Rhine Bank to enjoy the scenery. Walking back towards the rear of the cathedral, we saw a replica of Michaelangelo's David except that it is pink-skinned and blonde. Really weird. Did a little bit of shopping, had a late lunch at KFC (of all places) and then headed back at 1515.

Bought one more luggage for the Christmas stuff, some snacks and returned to the hotel because it was still raining and cold. We just ate sandwiches in the room and watched the news and went down to the lobby later on and read about the Chargers news in the Internet.