Bonn and the Rhine Valley (Germany)

A quiet city, Bonn 

Bonn, birthplace of L v B

Bonn, the uncontested birth place of Ludwig van Beethoven and once Germany's capital,.....  







....was our home for 10 days in May.

Roman ruins are everywhere.

Although Berlin is today's uncontested German capital, Bonn remains that little train that could!

Can you see three building styles?

Making good use of assets like the university, a plethora of conference centres, and the still-present secondary government organizations, Bonn has simply refused to lay down and play dead. 

River traffic on the Rhine.  At times, it's a wonder
that there aren't traffic jams.  They seem to get by.

 On the contrary, because of its many year-round cafes and summer beer gardens, admirers still call this little gem along the Rhine, Italy's most northern city.

It also serves as a great base for day-trips down the romantic Rhine River and other regions.

Just a normal Saturday at the market.

We loved the city but the Rhine Valley was extraordinary.

The youth hostel of my youth.

It was in 1971 that I first discovered Bacharach with its "Robber Baren" castle.  It still serves as a fabulous youth hostel, sitting high above the Rhine.

A Fachwerkhaus.
Isn't it beautiful?

Our afternoon there was full of surprises.....like these "Fachhaeuser",....

A village gate along the river 

...these magnificient town entry gates,.....

Settling a difference of opinion????

and, of course,...

........a Middle Ages Festival.

Wine at the castle at Sankt Goar.

Sankt Goar – The castle above this little Rhine wine village was a wonderful find for day's end.      "Zum Wohl!

 

Boppard – This is an underestimated little town. 

It even has surprise-fountains that lull you into looking at them, only to suddenly splash the curious cat with a mouthful of water.

In Koblenz, an old Roman settlement, where the Moselle and the Rhine meet,

Wine and a meal at the
Weinstube in Koblenz.

we had a wonderful couple of hours strolling the streets,.....

....eating ice cream

 enjoying the culinary delights of this "Weinstube".

The Cathedral in Cologne (Koelner Dom)

Cologne is a most uninteresting city, save for this incredible cathedral, the largest in Europe. 

Although it suffered seventy hits by aerial bombs during World War II, it didn't collapse, standing tall in an otherwise flattened city. 

The "Dom's" interior.

The reason: Its great twin spires are said to have been used as an easily recognizable navigational landmark by Allied aircraft raiding deeper into Germany in the later years of the war .  

It was, in effect, an unwitting but valuable asset for the allied pilots....and its survival insurance!  

In a few short hours, we'll be off to Holland where we'll be visiting cousins.

Until then.