Sept 19, Monchengladbach and Cologne

By patmarkovich201515 minutes ago

Happy 75th Birthday to my dear Husband Dan, and my partner in crime on all these adventures. Here’s to many many more years of love and adventure!

Our plan for today was to head to Cologne and visit the cathedral and some of the sites in the old town. After breakfast we walked over to the train station and got our 1 day pass for 5 people (same price as for 2!) and headed for our train to Cologne.

So very handy to be able to walk to the train station in Monchengladbach and then walk directly over to the cathedral in Cologne!

We hopped on the train and were in Cologne within the hour. Once there we took a full walk around the cathedral, mesmerized with its height!

View of the cathedral from the east side where you see the immense twin towers. When this was built it was the tallest church in the world.

Our tickets allowed entrance at 2:45 which was cutting it close for us to get back in time for Alan’s banquet this evening. we headed down to the river front for lunch before our tour, and on the way we bought a guide book of the cathedral to make the most of our short time for touring.

After our lunch we headed up to the cathedral thinking if we were there a half hour early, we might get in a little early, or at least be at the beginning of the line….

Here’s the line running the length of the square, the width of the square and down side street! I felt like I was back trying to get our EU entry visa again!

The line actually moved very quickly. I was amazed that the hundreds of people ahead of us didn’t take up much space in this huge cathedral!

The building towered above us as we walked closer. You could see some scaffolding where they were repairing the church stone work. Apparently they have a full staff of stone masons working constantly on the building. The locals say that when the repairs are finished, it will be the end of the world!

Looking from the back of the church, the ceiling seemed like it was in the outer atmosphere.

Altar piece of St Agiloloph hand carved from Antwerp 1520

Shrine of the Magi. Here lie the bones of the Magi that were taken from Milan between 1190 and 1230

The Gero Cross. Carved in the 10th century it is considered to be one of the first larger than life sculptures from the Middle Ages . this priceless piece survived the cathedral’s fire in the 1200’s.

The window of the south transcept installed in 2007 on a design by Gerard Richter. The 11,263 glass panes represent the tension between chaos and cosmos.

It so hard not to look up, but when you look down you see the amazing tile work that has gone into the flooring throughout the cathedral

We could have stayed for hours in the cathedral, but we needed to get back! We headed across the square to the train station and within 5 minutes we were on a train heading for Monchengladbach. Once back at our apartment it was time to get ready for Alan’s big party.

We arrived at the venue and were sent straight to our table! Alan, our MC for the night, began this night with a toast for all those that could not be here. A thoughtful and touching tribute to those dear friends of his.

After this toast, Alan surprised us all with a big Happy 75th Birthday shout out to Dan, complete with a special song from Brec and Sandy and then dear Vincent played Happy Birthday on the trumpet while the whole gang of us sang Happy Birthday to Dan! Dan was delighted to say the least!

The evening was wonderful. Interspersed between courses, Alan regaled the crowd with personal stories of each one attending. So much love and laughter in the room, it was such a joy to be part of this celebration!

Petra and her son Vincent presented Alan with a book of pictures and messages from all those in attendance. Here, he has opened it to a page where he went camping with Dan and I and our friends Glenn and Gwen. Alan was amazed and delighted!

All in all, the evening was a great success. We were so happy to have been invited and able to attend! Now it’s time to say goodnight. Until tomorrow.