A visit to Aachen

Just after Christmas, R and I drove the two hours to Aachen, Germany, to meet up with my niece for lunch. X was visiting her boyfriend in Germany over the holidays and they took the train to meet us. After eating a delicious meal of schnitzel and fries, we ventured into town to explore the beautiful cathedral in the city center, and to see the sarcophagus of Charlemagne there.

The statue is of Charlemagne, but the building behind us is not the cathedral. :)

The mosaics, we learned, are from the late 19th/early 20th century,
although the center of the cathedral dates from around 812.

The ceiling.

The sarcophagus - the golden house-like structure encased in glass. 

More mosaic.

I always love the infinity of repeated design.

Mosaic near the entrance.