Keen's European Vacation - Day 5 Monday 10 August 2015

Day 5 Monday 10 August 2015 Frankfurt - Bonn - Cologne - Amsterdam.

Today we are primed up for some German culture. We are going to Bonn about 2 hours from Frankfurt to Cologne and finish up in Amsterdam this evening around 7pm.

First stop Bonn to visit the home of Beethoven. Twin servo comfort stop, same, same, but different! Burger King attached but in the servo area is a full on breakfast smorgasbord set up with German sausage heaven, cereal, eggs, pastries and a fridge full of beverages including beer and champagne! A bottle of Mumm for €12.99! No I didn't buy one! Toilette cost €0.70 and you get a voucher to spend in the shop. They have no idea about skinny milk and no chocolate sprinkle on your cappuccino but you get a yummy thin cinnamon biscuit to go!

Beethoven's House in Bonn - Germany

Continuing our journey into Bonn it is raining quite heavily but we feel safe and sound in our massive Mercedes Benz coach all of us have our umbrellas packed in our luggage under the coach. Lex our tour guide has given us a brief history of the life of Ludwig Von Beethoven. It bought back memories of my high school elective music classes with Mr Pickering and the facts that I learned as a school girl that were locked away in memories from many years ago. Lex played Beethoven music as we drove through the rain to Fur Elise, Beethoven's 5th and Ode to Joy. Beethoven the child prodigy, who at the age of 2 was dragged from his bed by a drunken father to play for his friends in the middle of the night, if he did not play well he was slapped around the head. He loved his mother deeply and he travelled around Europe as a youngster and at the age of 10 played for the King of the Netherlands Willem 5th. He went to school for 4 years at the age of 7 and was taught Latin, not music. He travelled to Vienna the home of music aged 16 to meet and learn from Mozart. He was called back to Bonn as his mother was very ill and she died that year. He stayed in Bonn for 4 years and then travelled to Vienna again, but by the time he arrived Mozart had passed away. He found another teacher in Handel but they had a rocky relationship as Handel said he had too much anger in his music. He became deaf at the age of 27 and became suicidal but continued writing and playing by cutting the legs off his piano so he could feel the vibration of the music through the floor. He died age 56 of liver disease as his major symptom was jaundice. So off to his birthplace we go.

Beethoven's piano's ( I can hear the music!)

Amazing, seeing the original manuscripts written by his own hand! In his house where he was born and raised and where he created magic and became one of the greatest composers of all time! Listening to his music in his house was magical, and his house is full of the music of people walking through his home and soaking up the history, the squeaky floorboards being played hour after hour of people who still adore the music from the deaf musician. While I walked through the museum Pete explored Bonn, he found the market and bought me fresh raspberries, strawberries, bananas and nectarines for lunch. They tasted amazing, so juicy and full of European sunshine, grown by local residents and not on mass produced farms.

Cologne Cathedral - relics of the 3 Wisemen

A half hour drive from Bonn to Cologne and we are visiting a gothic church and we have 2 hours to explore the city, then back on the bus! Back on the bus 2 hours later, Holy Relic Batman!  The Cologne Cathedral houses the relics of the 3 wise men! You heard me right! The vessels that transported the gold, frankincense and murre when baby Jesus was born in the manger on Christmas Day. Construction began in 1311 and was completed in 1817 it is in the gothic style with spires, carvings, sculptures and paintings making up the gorgeous interior. The floor was indescribable, intricate mosaics that are thousands of years old with millions of feet walking over them. Pete got chipped for wearing his hat in the cathedral by an imposing German chap in a cassock! It was fascinating, I wish we had been able to take the guided tour but not this time, due to time constraints. It was very wet so I bought an umbrella for €3, after we got soaked! We bought bratwurst roll for lunch, 2 rolls and a large bottle of beer for €5.50. Aussies have got no idea how to do sausage in a roll, the Germans have nailed it, we come a very sorry second! It makes Bunnings Saturday morning offering a very poor attempt, (I must remember it is fundraising!) The city centre was bustling with people shopping, eating and drinking. We got caught in a storm. The music shops are amazing but we had no time to look. In the money exchange we met a family from Perth who are touring Europe booked entirely over the Internet, they said the driving was scary, as on the other side of the road and on the other side f the vehicle, trying to listen to navigation as well as concentrating was very challenging, but they are having a ball. Now driving to the Netherlands 300km away, it will take approximately 4 hours.

The traffic was terrible and we stopped at petrol stations for rest stops. All toilets in Germany you pay for about €0.50. We bought burgers at Burger King for dinner, they were massive, fatty and we had little time to eat. We should have waited until the hotel or selected the healthy option next door. Lessons learned from yesterday, always take an umbrella, carry panadol. You can buy booze anywhere but not head ache tablets.

The hotel in Amsterdam is the Hyatt Place near the airport, it is the best hotel so far. They have face washers! They are not widely used or provided in Europe. The rooms are modern and spacious but out of the city centre once again. The breakfast was great and I love the Dutch Gouda cheese.