Saturday and Sunday, September 17th & 18th

As you come out of the Cologne train station, the Kölner Dom smacks you in the eye. It's 700 years old, with towers that look like melted and dripped black wax.

It was damaged during the Big One, but was left standing, Bomber pilots used the towers for navigation.

This place is on the tourist route. Lots of people from all over were enjoying it.

When Chinese people take pictures, 
they don't say "Say 'cheese.'"
They say "1,2,3" -"Eeeeeeh, Arrrrrrrr, SAN!"

Sunday morning I went to high mass at the Kölner Dom. They try to keep the tourists out during mass, so there are a couple of old men in long red dresses at the roped-off way in. You can't go in unless you look Catholic, which I do I guess.

Archbishop Cardinal Woelki walked in wearing a squarish black hat and brandishing his crosier, followed by hangers-on and acolytes, and several guys swinging censers that poured out incense smoke like mad. I never saw so much incense in church. I really like the smell, and it chases Satan away.

Then came a couple dozen little boys in chasubles, at least half of them blondie-heads, and then some big boys - this was the boy choir. Then some random old men in red hats a some nuns.

The organ and choir sounded pretty nice in that big tall ancient space. The mass was in German of course, but when the choir sang the various chants, it was in the old languages. When they started to sing the Credo, I recognized the melody from when I was in the 5th grade choir at Gesu School in Detroit. I still remembered almost all the words, and the congregation sang along to parts of it, so there I was singing out loud, in Latin, in church, for the first time in sixty-two years (but in a lower pitch than I did back then). I really liked it. 

♫"Et resurrexit tertia di-eee, secundum scriptuuuraaas..."♫

Monday morning I said goodbye to host Eddie. He is studying French horn with the guy who plays it in the Westdeutscher Rundfunk orchestra. He is completely bilingual (German father & American mother). I took the train up the Rhine to Heidelberg. 

The Lorelei.