Kolner Dom Cathedral

On a recommendation by my friend Rich, Kara and I explored the enormous cathedral that sits less than 2 miles from our apartment. It's called the Kolner Dom and it was AWESOME! On our first trip, the stairs to the top were closed for the day so we wandered around the outside marveling at the ornate stonework covering every inch of the structure. The next day, we went back and walked the 533 steps to the top of the south tower. I have never seen a spiral staircase that long in my life. The staircase was cramped, stuffy, and pretty dark. Every 20 or 30 vertical feet, there were tiny, grimy windows and as we were climbing, we kept catching glimpses of the surrounding square shrinking farther and farther away. The stone steps stopped at a landing and from there, a set of steel stairs climbed through the open air attaching to another spiral staircase even narrower than the main set that opens up at a landing. A platform has been built on a landing that goes around the entire tower and the view was outstanding. We got some neat pictures and headed back down the stairs in search of lunch.