I came downstairs this morning and Irmi had a beautiful healthy breakfast spread prepared - freshly chopped fruit salad, yoghurt, muesli, rye breads, cheese, quince jelly, Marmelade and hummus. My type of healthy start to the day food 😊
She had planned our morning as had taken a few hours off work to show me around.
We cycled through the quaint town to the ferry,
locked up our bikes and crossed the Rhine
and then walked to the base of a steep cobbled lane hike to the castle ruins of Rolandsbogen. The walk was up through lush forest to the first lookout point with views along the Rhine valley and over to the 7 Sisters mountains on the other side of the river.
We continued up steps, past a small vineyard to the castle remains including the arched window which is one of very few left in Europe from its era.
At the top is a restaurant with incredible views and Irmi had planned for us to have morning tea there but they were setting up for a wedding.
This area is full of old and new luxury homes overlooking the Rhine 😊. We retraced our steps and caught the ferry again and cycled home. Irmi made us mushroom omelets with a side of herrings in a mayonnaise sauce.
We said our warm farewells and hope that she follows through and does some cycle touring by herself 😊
I cycled to the city of Bonn which was the former capital of Germany. The ride was stunning along the river with a leafy path, huge homes, parklands and villages.
One of my fellow volunteers had recommended a museum and so I headed there.
The Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland takes you on a timeline style journey of post WWII Germany. Post Nazi, ruling by France, UK, USA and USSR, how the East and West Germany started, what life was like for regular Germans during this time. It explores Germany's emergence into manufacturing (eg Volkswagen), rebellion and then reunification and then the continued growth of the Nation.
The exhibits are exceptional, it's a huge museum over 4 floors with ramps continually climbing higher. There were many people.from a wide range of nationalities there.
I emerged 2hours later and had researched a little cycle tour of the main buildings to see. I really liked the feel of the city 😊
Severe thunderstorm warning and so I opted not to cycle the 35kms back to Cologne but headed for the train station. It was a mess with delays and cancellations and so after arriving for the 6.15pm train - ended up on the 8.01pm 🙄. All not lost as I had a great 2hrs with a young recently graduated architect who also cycle tours 😊
Rode home from the train station in strong winds and rain 😂😂
A really enjoyable day 😊
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