Rainy day in Copenhagen. My favorite photo from my trip to Scandinavia.

And when I say “go up,” I mean up. Stairs and stairs and more stairs with tiny dark rooms (mostly housing the carillon bell system) along the way. 400 steps in all.

These stairs get progressively more steep and narrow as you get higher — and then they spit you outside to a very small deck.

Just when you’ve caught your breath, you look up and realize you’re not actually at the top. There are 150 more stairs that go up a winding external staircase that was built in the 1700s. Only one person at a time can go to the very top because it’s so narrow.

Fact: The first things that you want to say at the top of the Church of Our Saviour are OH MY GOD, HOLY SHIT, and JESUS CHRIST PLEASE DON’T LET ME FALL OFF THIS THING.

I carefully walked back down shaking, almost in tears. It was one of the most intense and coolest things I’ve ever done. Towards the bottom, people were piled up waiting for others at the top to come down. An American man who was visibly annoyed with waiting loudly asked, “Is it even worth it?”

Absolutely.