Waking up at 4:00 am is generally not the most pleasant thing in the world, but Kierstin and I had packed the night before and were all ready to go, even up to the peanut-butter-and-jam challah sandwiches we cleverly wrapped to eat on the train for brunch. We met Mir and Linda and headed out to catch the first RER train of the morning to Gare du Nord. Mir had his camera ready, and I mostly relied on his outstanding documentation for photos this weekend. Unless otherwise noted, any photos in this post are the work of Mir Henglin, photographer extraordinaire. (As always, check out his blog for many, many more.)
We made it to Gare du Nord with time to spare and tickets on hand.
The train was very comfortable - I understand now why the ticket was rather pricey. It's rather strange, though, because of course we opted for the least expensive tickets, and I wonder where the economy/coach trains are. Do they still exist? At any rate, we snuggled into the large padded chairs, arranged our belongings in the bins overhead and on the fold-out tables between our pod of four seats, and alternately watched the countryside roll past through the huge windows and slept. For whatever reason, our train was delayed several times and sat on the tracks, delivering us to the Cologne Hauptbahnhof almost an hour behind schedule. There were stops in Brussels and some German cities. I suppose now I've been to Belgium too! I've seen it through the windows of a train.
Upon our arrival in Cologne, things got a bit dicey for a while. However, we made it onto a light-rail train headed for Hersel relatively quickly, and even managed to purchase train tickets shortly afterwards. It was past noon when we arrived in the small town of Hersel, about fifteen minutes outside of Bonn, where Linda's host-mother of sophomore year lives. Walking through the narrow streets, reading the German street signs, enjoying the sunshine, I began to feel like things were under control again.
My relief was greatly increased once we made it to Linda's old house and met her host-mother. Sabine is an inspirational person; there's no other way to put it. She spent decades in her youth working on humanitarian projects in Africa, lived in Paris for a time, and now paints, and hosts international students almost continuously. Her house and studio have a bright, cheerful, tranquil quality about them that I've only ever encountered in a few other homes. She put us at ease immediately, and fed us a brunch of breads, spreads, and cheeses that had Mir laughing with happiness. (That was when he first bit into the sugary, raisin-y pastries.) We are extremely fortunate people - staying with Sabine was the best possible way to visit Germany, as far as I'm concerned.
After brunch, we caught the train into Bonn, where Linda's old friend was patiently waiting at the station to meet her. They had planned on an afternoon together, so Kierstin, Mir, and I saw the Beethoven house and museum while they ate currywusrt and got ice cream. Kierstin is a classical singer and a music lover, and she very nearly swooned upon her first sight of the house in which Beethoven was born and raised.
Then we wandered the streets of Bonn. It's a small city, and old, and quiet, and full of history. It was the capital of Germany before the reunification, you know. I quite liked its cobbled streets and tall churches. We looked around at least three churches, and an open air market, and saw what I guess was the old capital building, and passed a pleasant afternoon.
Then it was time to see the Rhine! Oh boy, the Rhine. I was very enthusiastic, even though I know almost nothing about the history of the area. But the Rhine is famous, and also important. Turns out it's a lovely river in its own right, too. So we walked to the riverside, and across a bridge. On the way we passed and were enthusiastically greeted by several happy, questionably-sober men pedaling an absurd contraption up the street:
Leave it to the Germans to build a bar-bike...We took another train to Konigswinter, a nearby town on the Rhine, and walked along it for a while. (We meant to go up the mountain to visit the ruins of an old castle, but it was too late in the day. Oh well.) After a dinner in town, where I was not-too-adventurous and had bratwurst and fries, it was time to go home and sleep.
Sunday began on a wonderful note, with another delicious breakfast and a stroll down to the Rhine a few minutes' walk from Sabine's house. The river had actual banks at that point, instead of being channeled between walls as it was near the city, and we waded, hunted for Rhine stones, admired the views, and thoroughly enjoyed the river. Mir and Kierstin plunged right in and went for a quick swim. I stuck to the bank, but still was very happy. After spending several weeks in cities, it was a relief to stand quietly on the bank and listen to the lapping of the water. Shorelines are some of my favorite places.
Here we are, the three Rhinemaidens of Kierstin's beloved Ring Cycle, recorded by the Amazing Mir:
But we weren't done with Germany yet! Sabine drove us to Bruhl, where we toured an opulent manor house built by some archbishop or other. It was quite impressive - in all honesty, I enjoyed this tour rather more than my rushed and crowded whirl through the Versailles palace. Then it was time to bid farewell to the inspirational Sabine and catch a train back to Cologne.
I haven't mentioned it up until now, but when one exits the main train station in Cologne, one is immediately stricken with awe and astonishment. This is entirely due to the Dom Cathedral, a marvel of the medieval times and a structure which must be seen to be believed. I had thought Notre Dame was built on a staggering scale...in fact, Kierstin's initial reaction upon glimpsing the cathedral would have satisfied its builders: "Oh my god."
So we walked around it, and walked inside it, and admired. (Today, Monday, Kierstin and I read the Wikipedia article linked above and fully realized what savvy tourists we unintentionally had been. My goodness.)
Dinner and a visit to a shop in the station for German chocolate filled the time until our train left. Due to some quirk of scheduling, the first-class tickets for the return trip were only three euro more than the cheapest tickets, so we had a grand ride back to Paris. Snacks, tea, wi-fi, and four contented students.
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