The Rhine and Bonn

30/5 THE RHINE VALLEY

predictably NOISY  & thus challenging sleep/snooze.

BUT off for a treat of a day exploring the Schlosses( castle fortresses) of the Romantic Rhine between  Bingen & Koblenz.

Quick brekkie on last supplies ( yoghurt with cereal), maths test in transit, stop in Bingen to do massive first  grocery shop in Germany. What a relief - E157.00 ( more like France - cheaper than Oz)

First stop -  Bacharach. Easy park for Ed just outside the rampart walls.Look one way and see the wide grinding muscled Rhine ,busy with cargo barges & tourist ferries trimmed with cycle paths it’s entire length. Look the other and see steep vine covered riesling crops encircling crazy monster castles and old towns. Whilst they often dated back to the 1100s, subsequently apparently, greedy,fat aristocracy set up renovating old and building new castle to extract a passing tax from the shipping industry. Soon it became too expensive to use the river and other means across land were developed further.

An unbelievably magnificent walk along the ramparts behind the city to Stahleck Castle ( now youth hostel) and back through the altstadt admiring Brentano’s poetry on slate or bronze plaques by benches beside brooks and beneath willows. The charming central markt had more crooked old half timber houses and gorgeous courtyards where I’d like to linger for immeasurable time.

Back to Ed ,passed many more UNESCO listed towns beading the river banks & serpiginous vines to the next stop at St Goar where we catch a ferry across the Rhine to St Goarhausen. Here we take a bus up to the famous slate cliff Loreley lookout. It sits at the narrowest part of the Rhine and soars ~130m straight up. Legend has it that the gorgeous Lorely with her long white hair and bare breasts sat exquisite on the cliffs distracting captains & causing shipping disasters through history ! For Kel, it represents the spiritual home of her Beanie Kid, Lorelei.

Lorelie

After a poke through the visitors centre where we learned more of the legend,geology & history of the area, we came down the step Treppenweg,walked and ferried back for lunch at 1700!

Our final point of interest was a climb up behind Boppard through amazing bird rich forest to the Gedeonseck & Vierseeblick lookouts where we got the most incredible panoramas across the large loop in the Rhine.

Feeling incredibly satisfied & almost limp after the rich visual feast, we all slumped into Ed for a quiet, still wickedly picturesque ~90 min drive ,crossing over the joining of the Mighty Mosel with the Roaring Rhine ,to what used to be Germany’s capital, the beautiful Bonn. So much water.

We decide to stop in a campsite ‘cos the loo is full & stinky- maybe we are too!

Brief snacks by the river AND KEL’S SNAGGLE-TOOTH EXTRACTION!! (been hanging by a thread for 6 months)

31/5 A DAY IN BONN - ex federal capital until 1999.

Great sleep.

run along the Rhine with my groom and then my wee girl!

Brekkie and off at 1030 for a day of serious culture.

To start, we  ride ~ 15kms along the gorgeous banks of the Rhine admiring palatial buildings and manicured lawns,lakes and recreational paths ( as well as markers for flood levels which explain the wide esplanades and tall old stone walls running it’s length).

What a magnificent place, full of potential discovery and delightful experiences but we can only really see 2 museums with our average of 2-3 hours /museum( there are in excess of 20). This allows for the obligatory wandering, taking in the notable sites,the platzes and markets and people watching.

In great anticipation of saturating myself with ‘all- to- do’ with my favourite composer of all time, we spent 3 hours at the Beethoven Haus, learning about his person & life, listening to digital recordings of his most famous works and topping it all off with an extra-ordinary musical 3D interactive visualization of Beethoven’s Fidelio opera where the kids could move abstract computerized figures across a large screen whilst also modulating the crescendo/decrescendo of the surrounding voices that triumphantly envelope you from 8 superior quality loudspeakers - WOW. Apparently the city of Bonn is building the most striking concert hall to showcase his compositions performed by the world’s best that is due for completion in 2020. I’d like to return and sit for hours amidst his stirring outpourings.

Beethoven House of birth

Beethoven

Spectacular lunch in the markets before our next stop - Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik ,a thoroughly engaging lively exhibition on 3 levels that explore Germany since 1945. We have so many questions.

Sadly, most information panels are in German only but we learned stacks ( allies shared postwar control & gradual withdrawal; the growing division of USA,GB,France vs Soviet ; the massive displaced population,hunger,maltreatment in an attempt to achieve an idealistic denazification; the “Wests” strong support to rebuild;the people’s work ethic and exacting effort;the Communist East; real changes in the 60‘s with liberation thinking by students & women; a few great leaders Adenauer,Erhardt & Heuss; the Wall goes up, the Wall comes down; the uniting and joyful lift of sport ;amazing industry; globalisation with music & media ……) We still have so many questions.Could have spent 2 more hours here.

Joe's car 

Bikes home at ~1830. 

 Family brainstorming:

Impressions of Bonn

1.green,parklands,water,spacious,surprising 

2.vibrant,people everywhere enjoying life,on bikes,in markets,learning & living,multicultural

3.cream coloured mercedes E class taxis

4.ever-present river,transport hub;trains both sides,massive barges on the go constantly

5.pearl tea; the BEST dark bread full of nuts,soft in the centre with a thick chewy crust that we broke & dipped into a collection of small dip tubs of different colours with a punnet of juicy strawberries to freshen the palate.

6.history,old buildings,bumpy old streets,the Munsterkapelle,Beethoven….

7.beautifully shaped unpredictable interlinking platzes;abundant with activity;black rappers in front of Ludwig’s statue

8.fat people,friendly,abundant fast food (wursts & bread)

9.nowhere near exhausted this ex-capital city.

Beethoven Museum (in his birth house - Bonngasse, Bonn)

1.tragic deafness in a musical genius at only age 28

2.wonderful teacher often to kids only 1 year younger than he was

3.father advertised him for grand performance at age 6 ( he was actually 7 years) as wonder child hoping for a prodigy like Mozart. Therefore he remained unsure of his age throughout his life.
4. 6 sibs, poor background of largely farmers,rented only the back of this small house,mother died when he was 16,father became an alcoholic & was very harsh & exacting. Nonetheless was well liked and mostly described himself as “happy’.Never married as “married” to his music.
5. first & only true love, Giuliette Guicciardo, 17 year old student for whom he wrote the Moonlight sonata. She was promised to a Count.
6. took lessons from Mozart for 2/12 in Vienna as a boy; learnt from Hayden in his early 20s.
7. 20,000 people ( half the population of Vienna) attended his funeral - the first time in history that a musician’s death had been recognized in such a way