Wilkommen home Herr Pieper

After our quick foray into the Netherlands (twice, so we could get a picture of the sign) we pushed on to Cologne.  This major metropolitan city in northern Germany is an interesting blend of modern and ancient.  This stop will wrap up our cathedral trifecta in as many days, and we saved the biggest (in footprint at least) for last.  This double-towered cathedral was the largest structure in the world when it was built and remained so until the Washington Monument was completed.  If you just have about six and a half centuries of time to devote to the task you too could have a structure of this magnitude!  For the record it is 533 steps to the top of the tower and you earn every single one of them.  What a workout that was on a tiny spiral staircase to the heavens!

Cologne Cathedral

Inside the Cologne Cathedral

Rufus made the trip to the top with us but was too exhausted to pose for a picture there.  He agreed to participate once we got back on the ground though.  We all were staring up in wonder at the tower we had just climbed.  By the way, the bones of the three wise men of the Christmas story are housed in the basement vault here…

Relieved to be back in the car we forged ahead even further to the northeast to the ancestral home of the Peeper (once known as Pieper) clan.  Beckum, Germany is a small community in Nordheim-Westphalia where the Pieper’s once lived.  It seemed as though we were entering a storybook German town and still wondered about it after checking into the hotel.  We ate a great meal in the hotel restaurant then wandered the town for a while before dark.  A stroll around the church of the Pieper ancestors and around the local market plaza gave us quite a surprise.  We found a neon sign on the outside of a shop with the word “Pieper” in large letters.  We hope to inspect closer tomorrow but we may have just found a long lost Pieper relative…

Our hotel in Beckum

Pieper Perfumerie at night