Spiraling Up 533

See that conical spire at the top?

That is where we went the other day when we visited the Cologne Cathedral.

European churches and cathedrals have discovered another revenue stream...one more way to get the tourists to pay. Tourists like myself, love to climb to the top of the churches. I climbed the stairs in Rome at St. Peter's and in Barcelona at La Sagrada Familia. The Cathedral in York, England sells a red pin which says, "I made it to the top"....lest someone doubt that you made it.

So, I had to go to the top at Cologne.

Spiral stairs nearly the entire way. It made for an interesting moment or two when others were on the downward climb and you passed.

Eventually one reaches the inner shell of the cone. You can go no further, though I noted a ladder on the outside of the cone, for workers who just had to go for repairs.

Just us and the pigeons.

My only regret is that I could not be there at night to see the cathedral lit. It is a magnificent structure which miraculously survived massive WWII bombing.

And yes, I paid 4 Euros for a lapel pin, which I will display proudly on my sport coat!

But, onward to Amsterdam.

The biggest problem with this city is that it is so photogenic. Photos of church spires framed by the canals are almost cliche and yet they are still lovely.

The weather remained warm though overcast and the city had an air of terminal hipness and of pot, quite frankly. Everywhere there are cafes. More than I have ever seen. Paris and Bankok are second tier when compared to the trendy cafes along the canals of Amsterdam. It's also probably the most dangerous walking city in the world. Bicycles every direction, all the time. It all works, but one must look both ways twice before venturing across the street. I think bikes have the right of way when they meet a car, though one cannot be certain.

Yesterday a sleek sports cars came the wrong way on a single lane one way street. A cyclist hand gestured that the sports car was going the wrong way on a one-way street. Cars coming at the sports car merely drove the sidewalk and passed on by. The sports car was not about to turn around. (When YOU have a $90,000 sports car...no one tells YOU where to drive.) So the sports car waited until no one was coming towards him and then floored it and drove to the end of the street...the wrong way.

Welcome to Amsterdam.

This is the door to the English Reformed Church.

This is where the Pilgrims were before they left for Plymouth Rock. Granted, there is an entire history wrapped around that chain of events but for a United Church of Christ minister, which encompasses the Reformed Movement and the ancestors of the Pilgrims...this church is sort of Ground Zero.

I just stumbled upon it in the midst of the enormity of Amsterdam. Alas, I was too late to go inside but I'll do so another day. 

So, I found the only bench in Amsterdam that was not occupied by locals and tourists drinking coffee, smoking or checking their cell phones for messages. 

But within a minute, someone entered the courtyard and gruffly said that the place was closed and so we must leave. I and a Romanian Pentecostal family...I know they were because they asked about the church and announced..."We are Protestant Pentecostals from Romania!" searched for the exit.

But the bouncer of the courtyard was still yelling and so we tried one door and it was closed and then we went to the other door and the bouncer said..."No, no, no....you must use that other door!"

Man, everyone else in this city is totally mellow...if you catch my drift....except for this matron. She needed a smoke and a chill.

No wonder my spiritual ancestors left for the New World.

Peace,  Bob