On the banks of the Rhine
SHAMPA NATH
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Bonn is quiet and quaint, ideal for a perfect holiday.
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A favourite haunt ... the weekly flea market.
It was with a bit of hesitation that I had prepared for a trip to Bonn, Germany, some time ago. "It is a sleepy little town", or "You'll have problems with the language", or even "Germans are very cold", were some of the ominous comments that I heard from friends and relatives. On the contrary, my half a year's stay in Bonn proved all these initial feelings wrong.
The train journey from Frankfurt airport to Bonn takes you along the banks of the Rhine, skirting the hills. The scenery on either side is amazing. You see small villages by the Rhine, dotted with shiny slate-roofed houses and occasional churches with tall spires and vineyards on the slopes. The scene looks as if it is right out of a picture postcard. The train journey along the Rhine is one of the most scenic in the whole of Europe.
The statue of Beethoven.
The railway station in Bonn was small and rather gloomy. My destination was Bad Godesberg. There are a number of embassies here and hence most of the consul staff lives here too. Most of them were in the process of shifting to Berlin, which had become the new capital.
The Rhine is the beautiful part of the town. It is close to where I lived and I often walked along the banks of Rhine in the evening. There sailed barrages and ships on its waters from many neighbouring countries. The Rhine still remains a major way to transport goods in this part of Europe. But apart from its utility, it is simply a lovely river. A short cruise on the Rhine is indescribable. The river snakes between the hills, often guarded by castles on either side. There is a cliff not far from Bonn which is associated with the myth of Lorelei, the maid whose songs apparently made sailors crazy and brought about accidents.
Beethoven, was born here. In fact they often call Bonn the "Beethoven city" (Beethovenstadt). There is a life size statue of the composer in the centre of the city, just opposite the main post office. Apparently Queen Victoria herself was invited to the unveiling ceremony of the statue.
Picture postcard scenery.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in a small, two-storied house in the central part of the city, which has now become a museum. The room in which he was born is empty except for a bust. It is a small room on the second floor, with tiny windows. The museum has a number of things used by Beethoven, like his shaving kit and his spectacles, as well as the horns he used to put on his ears to try to listen. There is a big piano with all its legs cut off, so it sits on the wooden floor. When he was on the verge of total deafness, Beethoven cut its legs off out of frustration, so that he could kneel down to put his ears on the floor to try to hear a bit of sound.
Bonn hosts an annual festival celebrating the music of Beethoven, where performers and orchestras from all over the world come to play his music. The main auditorium in the city, aptly called "Beethovenhalle", is a lovely piece of architecture, with a large bust in the lawn in front of it.
Here, in this very Catholic part of South-western Germany, one not only finds churches all over the place, but also small figurines of Virgin Mary with candles lit on many street corners and junctions. There are open-air markets in the weekends, where farmers from nearby villages and towns bring their produce to sell. I enjoyed shopping for grocery there, as everything was fresh. The market ended at a fixed time and the whole place was then meticulously cleaned.
Once a month there is a large flea market on the banks of Rhine. People display and sell used things, from as trifling a thing like buttons to large furniture, from toy train engines to real home appliances. Many simply came for a picnic or even sunbathing. This became a favourite haunt for me, looking for antic decorative pieces, while munching on Deutsche snacks like Reibekuche (fried potato) with applesauce.
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