Our first full weekend in Bonn

The statue of Beethoven in Bonn Zentrum. At any given time there is a bird on its head.

We have been living in Bonn, Germany for almost two weeks now, however, this past weekend was our first real chance to explore the city and our last one for a few weeks to come; last weekend we were in Paris, France, next weekend we’ll be in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and the following weekend we are traveling to Brussels, Belgium. In fact, I didn’t realise, but Friday night was the first time Anna had ventured into town since the day we arrived.

Spring is a great time to be in the western area of Germany, there are festivals, carnivals, and flea markets on almost every weekend. We only found out on Friday night that Bonn has cherry-blossoms this time of year, much in the same way Japan does, and has a festival based around them next weekend. This past weekend was also the last weekend of the spring holidays, so a lot of families were getting out to try and enjoy the weather, many people jogging or cycling, just wanting to get outdoors and bask in it. Also, very little is open on a Sunday so everyone is somewhat encouraged to get out. All that really does open of a Sunday here are restaurants and bars so there are really only three options: Eat, drink, or be merry. Or all three.

Definitely not shirtless frisbee weather…

Winter in this part of the world can get extremely cold, so I guess people here have a differing opinion of what “nice weather” is. There has been one or two days of what could be considered “t-shirt weather.” Maybe it’s because I come from Australia, where the temperature can reach half-boiling point, or perhaps it’s because I have spent the last seven years in Singapore, a country where you are hot and sweaty, 24/7, but one thing I know is this — It can be sunny and still be cold. Case in point: Sunday. Sunday was sunny, the temperature was expected to reach 16°C (60.8°F), a nice day, but still relatively cool. I just must have a completely skewed perspective of heat, because I don’t think it even got that warm. I was wearing thermals, a t-shirt, jumper, and a jacket. Admittedly, I did end up removing my jumper and jacket at one point, but I’m still glad I wore the thermals. Anyhow, it was just refreshing to see so many people getting out, having picnics and enjoying themselves.

If you look in the background you can see the most stereotypical German image: A man holding a stein and two giant pretzels.

When we were in Pondicherry, India I saw people playing a game that looked like a bizarre combination of shot-put and lawn bowls, where a large metal ball is thrown towards a “jack”. The game was played on a dirt or gravel surface and I thought it must have been unique to that area. On Sunday I witnessed people playing it in a park here in Bonn (pictured, right). Pondicherry was occupied by the French and Bonn is relatively close to France so I guess it’s a game from this region that I hadn’t seen before. Like lawn bowls, it seems to be largely played by the middle-aged and retirees, but some young people, like the woman in the photo, were getting into it as well.

We have three months in Bonn and we are doing a lot of traveling in the first two, but we also know it’s not necessary to do everything here in the first week. So, what else did we get up to?

Visit Beethoven’s Birthplace
It is reasonably common knowledge that Beethoven spent his most productive years up until his death in Vienna, Austria, but he was born and spent the first 22 years of his life in Bonn. How could we not check out Ludwig’s joint? Since 1889 the Beethoven-Haus Society has maintained a commemorative museum in his birthplace, which today houses the largest collection of Beethoven material in the world. Photos weren’t allowed inside the property, but external shots in the street and the courtyard were permitted, Here are some we took:

Street view

I guess this was written after he was born…

…this, too

A general map of the area, pointing out significant places in Beethoven’s life.

In the courtyard

View from the rear

Explore the City / Go Shopping
As I’ve previously mentioned, Bonn is is one of the oldest cities in Germany, but Anna has been working exceptionally hard every day and hasn’t had much of a chance to explore the city. Naturally, she wanted to go shopping, but she was also interested in the architecture here, too. At the top of this post I showed the Beethoven statue, but there is far more to see than just that. The buildings here are beautiful. Well, most of them:

An old church

The tiles are tapered over the attic windows

Yet another old church

These corner buildings are cool

A shopping area

1313 Mockingbird Lane

Just chain your bike to the old cannons…

This thing is just weird.

Eat and Drink
The old German beer halls are awesome and people here just drink any time of day, it’s a part of their culture so how could you say no? Also, the food here is great. Contrary to popular belief, not everything is pork based, it isn’t all schnitzels and sauerkraut, and Anna will also tell you that the desserts aren’t bad, either. I’m going to go to McDonald’s at least once here because the McRib is a permanent feature on the menu! I used to love them as a kid, but they only appeared for a brief time every year or two in Australia and you can’t get them in Singapore because they obviously aren’t halal.

McRib is permanent!

Anna has what I call “Earl Hickey Disease”: She can’t keep eyes open in photos

This is what breakfast should look like.

…or this

Great beer hall food

Anna and yet another cake.

So the next couple of weekends will be spent traveling overseas, but after that we will still have two months remaining in Germany and the weather will be improving. What to do then? Well, there is plenty of the city left to explore, we found an entire area that was similar to Brunswick Street in Melbourne, Australia, plus Anna wants to see a play or a Ballet here. This is the first one I saw advertised:

This could either be terrible or incredible!

We’re also looking at joining a pilates class, because we need some exercise besides the huge distances we’ve been walking. Anyway, we’re off to Amsterdam, Netherlands on Friday for the weekend so most likely the next time you will hear from me will be after that. Danke sehr.

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