Cologne, Germany 2012

This is the "Dom" in Cologne, Germany. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in Germany and probably Europe although folks in Barcelona may differ. This is one big structure! I'm sure it inspired a few of the batman movies. Totally Gotham City!

Look really close and you can see Batman atop the gothic spire on the far right...could be a pigeon I guess.

A lot of low angle camera shots to get the high towers.

With high towers comes high ceilings....very airy.

I never knew someone thought to collect the 3 wisemen's bones and whisk them away to Cologne, Germany, but HERE THEY ARE! That's what they say at least.
Outside the very large Cathedral stands a stone archway that dates way back to near 50AD. Europe is OLD :) I wouldn't put my family under this old thing if I didn't inspect it before and saw that they had wired things together.

Tessa is quick to strike a pose...so cute.
The Dom allows guests to climb one of its towers, 533 steps to the top. The lady at the ticket booth reminded me multiple times that there were 533 steps to the top when she saw we were determined to ascend them all with our HUGE family.

Tessa puts on a brave face before the climb begins in earnest. Look at the worn stone steps beckoning us onward and upward.....

...Mindy had a wiggly fluffy fireball stuck to her belly which made things fun...not so much fun for the paraspinal musculature of her thoracic spine....

....The climb up offered some nice views of the city, Cologne....

...We reached a nice open rest area and took a break, ate some snacks and took some picutres. The kids were in good spirits and hanging in there despite the ever upward climb.....

....Although moods can change quickly....

....We stopped by the Belfry. Thems iz sum bigguns!....

....we did a lap around the Belfry in these REALLY skinny passageways (no hunchback was getting through these narrow death chutes!)....

....then at LAST we made it to the top! Much to Mindy's delight!.....

...here is a nice view of the Rhein River. This city had the bejeebeezies bombed out of it during WWII and some how most of this cathedral was standing although that bridge only had chunks remaining....

....what goes up, must come down... the smile on Mindy's face tells it all....

....Max was trying to figure out a rail slide technique. It was tight quarters as the circular stairway had folks going both directions and often we'd hug the wall as people climbed up the middle or vice versa. As many Europeans climbed past our family the comments increased as they got to the end of the Larson line...yes these are ALL ours and yes we were aware of 533 steps to the top.....
There are some great museums in Cologne as well. We walked by a few as the kids were really crispy after the tower hike, no way were we going inside, but they had some artistic appetizers on the outside for us to enjoy. Here Max and Emma really did a good job of tapping into the sculpture's vibe....

....and while Brooklyn's vibe was ecstatic, Mindy was just ready to be unhitched :)) It was a really fun day!

Then it was back to the Bungalow at Centerparc, then back to the pools......