Tues., 7/15/14 – Bonn
It was sunny this morning and 70°. What a delight for a while. It was very cloudy by noon.
We are docked just down river from the Kennedy Bridge. Kennedy visited here shortly before he was killed and trying to say something in German he instead said, “I am a jelly filled donut.” We walked under the bridge to see the solar panels all along the one side and the statue of a man’s bare butt facing the town across the river, Beuel. When the bridge was built Beuel only paid one percent of the cost and donates nothing now to the cost of the upkeep.
The theater and opera house is at our end of the bridge and is ugly. Bonn residents call it “the tin sardine can.” It evidently does have wonderful acoustics.
We left the river and headed into the old town. There was a chunk of 20 BC Roman wall. Next to it was a statue of the “Lady of the Rhine.” Legend declares that she waited 60 years for her lover who was a miner caught in a collapsed mine. When they finally removed the corpse she said she would not leave her spot because she would soon be going to join her lover.
Statue mooning Beuel, Germany
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Kennedy Bridge |
Lady of the Rhine
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Bonn Theater and Opera House |
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Bonn University |
Bonn University
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Castle Church and Clouds
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Haribo Store - Gummy Bears |
Heads representing two Roman martyrs (Saints Cassius and Florentius)
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In the Munster Plaza we walked around the Bonn Papal Basilica of St. Martin. Outside are two large heads – Cassius and Florentius. Later we went inside to admire the new stained glass windows that are predominantly gray. They are very unique.
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Basilica of St. Martin
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Beautiful windows in the Basilica of St. Martin |
Market
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We went into the Market Square where the fruit, veggies, cheese, bread, and flower stands were set up. There were many different kinds of lovely looking foods. In the sidewalk cobblestones of the square are bronze book spines with titles of the books that were banned and burned by the Nazis.
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Plaques representing books burned by the Nazis
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Beethoven
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Plaque to Beethoven who was born in Bonn |
Beethoven's House
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A cigarette machine on a street corner |
Interesting building
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We had the afternoon free so we walked down the river promenade to find the unique statue of the head of Beethoven. It is made of concrete pieces that when you look at it straight on, the light and shadow shows his face. From the sides it looks like a pile of concrete forms.
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Beethoven sculpture by Klaus Kammerichs
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Bee on the flower
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Bee on the flower |
After dinner we went up on the sun deck and listened to a short commentary as we sailed by Cologne. We passed under a cable-stayed bridge and then the Hohenzollern railroad bridge with more train traffic than anywhere else in the world. We saw three trains on the bridge at the same time. We saw the Cologne Cathedral, a place we want to visit.
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Cable-stayed Bridge
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Cable-stayed Bridge |
Cologne Cathedral
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Skeleton on a bridge girder |
Hohenzollern Bridge
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