Sunday, July 3: Köln Gay Pride Parade and Kölner Dom

Today we decided to go to downtown Köln, where a huge Gay Pride Parade was going on. There were 30,000 people involved in the parade alone (not spectators!). It was quite an interesting atmosphere being there among such a diverse crowd. Everywhere you looked in the city, there were rainbow flags flying, sometimes along side the German flags for the soccer fans!

We took a train from Charlotte's house again, since it is easier, quicker, and you don't have to worry about parking. When you arrive at the main station (Hauptbahnhof) in Köln, I love how you come up the stairs and you are right in front of the cathedral (Kölner Dom). It is so fun to see the grandeur of it right away.

 So after walking around for a while trying to figure out the parade route, start and end times, etc. we found a good spot. It started about an hour late, so we were waiting for a while, but even during the wait, it was pretty entertaining just watching people.  Among other things, we saw a guy wearing NOTHING but a rainbow flag cape and his "crown jewels" were painted shiny gold. He was posing for photos with various spectators and I think we were so busy watching with our chins dropped to the floor, we forgot to even try to take a picture! For the rest of the day we talked about the guy with the golden penis, though.., I'm sure we will never forget that experience. ;)

I did get a photo a bit later of a guy wearing black leather chaps with nothing but his bare butt sticking out in the back. These people have a very healthy dose of self confidence to walk through Cologne like that!

Once it got started the parade was awesome. So many groups and floats, tributes to the victims in Orlando, advocacy groups like Amnesty International, those promoting marriage equality, ending discrimination against LGBTQ persons, and groups supporting the welcoming of refugees.

A tribute to the victims in Orlando shooting

Cool music, dancing, and outfits. Some groups were a bit disturbing, like the BDSM advocates, walking around with chains and whips and a lot of black leather,

 It was actually quite funny, but for some reason every parade member wanted to give their flyers, stickers, free candy, condoms etc. to Ben, the 14 year old straight kid! They must have been drawn to his cute curls or he was standing in the most visible location, but it became kind of a joke over time! He even got a really cool rainbow bracelet!

Charlotte and I marveled at those dressed in drag with the most phenomenal heels ever... I could have never walked for miles in a parade in heels like that, yikes!!

One guy, whose whole body was painted in gold paint approached Alex and shook his hand. Afterwards, Alex's hand was covered in gold paint! The guy was carrying a bottle of paint to reapply it to his hand each time! Fortunately, I had Kleenex in my purse!

We did not stay for the whole parade,but it was a really unique experience and I am so glad we went to show support for the LGBTQ community!

After that we walked back to the Kölner Dom and decided to climb the tower. It had 533 steps to the top and we had to walk them all the way up (and down) a narrow winding stone stairway with two way traffic. It was dizzying and made your thighs burn!

Part of the way up we had a little break to walk around and see the bells before climbing the rest of the way to the top.

Also, Ben does not like heights, so for him it was even more unpleasant, especially when we got to the very top part and it became an open cage-like stairway.

Once we got to the top, the views were very nice. We could see the parade crowds at a distance as well as the Rhein river and the rest of the city.

Of course we also went into the inside of the cathedral, which is spectacular as ever. The ornate mosaic floors, the stained glass windows, all of the details are very impressive.

 Then we went back by train to Charlotte's house. Since Charlotte still owed us money from her visit earlier in the spring, we stopped by her bank ATM and she withdrew money to pay us back. For some reason the machine gave her all 10 Euro bills, so it looked like a ton of bills!

 In the evening, Charlotte's boyfriend Mario came over and we spent the evening together, had supper together, and then watched the soccer quarter-final game, Iceland vs. France. Even though we were cheering for the underdog, Iceland, the French team won by a score of 5:2. It was a fun game to watch, especially as Iceland scored both their goals in the second half, avoiding a total shut out score. Mario is quite camera shy, but I managed to get a few pictures of him! He seems to be a good match for Charlotte, a nice (and handsome and fit!) young man.