Sundays in My City

I hated my Art History class at UW. Hated it! I'd never been to Europe, and at that time I didn't care to ever go to Europe. I thought I was too cool for Europe. I'd seen 3 Asian countries, Australia, and Canada, and I thought I was good.

Well somehow I ended up not only visiting, but living here. (But there are still places in Europe I hope to never see, hehe!)




Today we were geocaching in our neighborhood, and I said to my man, "Can we try to find some caches around the pretty cathedral?" He said "Sure" so down we drove. At the bottom of 5 or 6 steep hills is a floodplain where Altenberger Dom stands. I know, I've blogged about it before, cuz I rode there once. But today we got a chance to get up close for my first time.

First we climbed (hands and knees and roots for steps) up one of the steep hills surrounding the church, up to an abandoned grave of the Watcher. That is what he must have been, buried there at eye level with the figures on the top of the church. I could see them eye to eye too, and tried not to fall down the mountain. It's a very special place, that makes you wonder what it was like 400 years ago.

When we descended down to the cathedral, I started snapping some pictures (an excuse to rest my aching legs) and I noticed people were going in and out. Could it be open door day!? It was!








When you see windows like these, you wonder how they look from the inside. I was dying to know!










First we found another cache in the church's lawn, and then finally I got to see inside. Here is the gate entering the courtyard.









Wow. What an ugly freaking renovation job! Maybe I'm spoiled cuz I've been to Koelner Dom, but this one is much prettier outside. The colors are just all wrong here.








The doorknob was nice.










And the windows are nice.


















The pews are something!










The statue shows the man killing the dragon, which represents the Catholic church killing the Protestant church.









I wonder why there is a fence between the entryway and the pews.










I love the colors white and grey. They just look wrong here.














Here is the holy water between the entryway and the "fence."














The windows really are great though, don't you think?










Heading outside again I noted the flying buttresses holding the place up, and realized there was something to that old Art History class. I just had to see these things for myself to appreciate them.









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