Cologne Cathedral

All I can say about this place is WOW. Actually, that’s a lie -- I can say quite a lot about the Cologne Cathedral. I’ve seen a lot of cathedrals in my day, and frankly, at a certain point, they all start to blur together. Only a few prove otherwise -- Notre Dame de Paris, the Notre Dame basilica in Lyon, and now the Cologne Cathedral. I’ve never been in a place of worship so immensely huge and immaculately beautiful in all of my life. As Dr. Meyer said, I’m incredulous that man is able to pile stones that high.

The Cologne Cathedral was actually the tallest building in the world up until the 1860s, when it was trumped by the Washington Monument. Its gothic architecture gives the landmark an elaborate beauty, while its sheer size gives it a sort of omnipotent feel one might expect from one of the bastions of the Catholic faith.

It took 600 years to build, and it was worth every minute. The stop we made there was brief -- only an hour or so -- but it’s definitely the best “pit stop” of my life.

Heidelberg

Again, our stay here was short. Too short, in fact, if you ask just about anyone on the trip. This is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen in my entire life. We arrived late -- about 7 p.m. -- so it was impossible to go on an official tour of the castle. That didn’t detract from the experience, though. The Heidelberg castle is absolutely breathtaking, especially at night.

The structure is built on a hill for fortification purposes, but its location serves nowadays as a spectacular view of the town. From the castle, you can see Heidelberg in all its beauty: an ever-present serenity shrouds every hill and every valley, while the city’s world-class university adds a sage punctuation mark to the already sleek cityscape.

We only spent most of one night in Heidelberg; I will try my best to make it back someday.

The inside of the Cologne Cathedral. Absolutely beautiful.

-Zach Spittler