On my birthday this year, Brad and I took a day trip to Koln (also known as Cologne). We headed out mid-morning and made the hour and half drive up from the Wiesbaden area. The day was dreary, but at least we were able to get in a few hours of sight seeing before the down pour began. 

The main attraction for us in this large city (it’s Germany’s fourth), was the Kolner Dom–Cologne’s Roman Catholic Cathedral. It was completed in 1880, 632 years after its construction began! My pictures do not do it justice. In fact, I am extremely disappointed with how my pictures turned out that day. I think it was the camera ; )

What you will gather from my pictures is the size of the cathedral. It is one of the world’s largest and the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Europe. Fun fact: It was the largest structure for four years running until the completion of the Washington Monument. Aside from its eye-catching size, it also has beautifully intricate details (both inside and out) as well as 113 square meters of stained glass. In short, it is one massively beautiful sight.

The Koln area offers many churches for sightseers. Many are found in the vicinity of the Cologne Cathedral. We were not able to get a good view of many of them during our visit due to structure maintenance being done. We were, however, able to take in the bustling sites of the downtown area and indulge in some local cuisine.

Here is our list of places to go and things to do in New England. There are so many fun things to do and we want to accomplish as many as we can. So, this is the list setting our goals. If you think we are missing something important, please let us know! As we work through the list we will provide an update.

• Amherst-Winter Festival and the Eric Carle Museum
• Attend another Red Sox game
• Niagara Falls and Toronto
• Plymouth Plantation-No, we haven’t been yet!
• Skiing, Snowboarding and snowshoeing
• Camping-Vermont
• Hike the Appalachian Trail (of course only part of it)
• Fish for Striped Bass
• Kayak the Charles River
• Fourth of July in Boston
• Newport, Rhode Island in the summertime (we did this in the Fall)
• Cranberry bog
• Nova Scotia
• See the Nutcracker in Boston
• The Cape-Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard
• Eat at Blue Ginger
• Go to a Celtics or Bruins game or both if we can afford it
• New York City in Autumn; a Broadway show, a hot dog and the Empire State building (oh, and one more Pashmina)
• Concord-Minuteman trail, historic sites, museums
• Whale Watching
• Walden Pond
• De Cordova Museum (Pictures coming soon)
• Purgatory Chasm
• Walk the Freedom Trail
• Boston Commons/Quincy Market
• See a show – the Rockettes
• Arnold Arboretum
• Camping at Old Orchard Beach in Maine
• Sled down Jerico Hill!
• Six Flags Water Park in Springfield, MA
• Fire on the Water in Providence, RI
• Camping and Tanglewood in the Berkshires
• Camping in the White Mountains

Places we want to kayak:

• Assabet River
• Concord River
• Charles River
• Walden Pond