Burg, Schloss, und Fähre

Here is a series of photos from the last couple of weeks showing what I did on the weekends. On April 17 I went to the Bad Godesberg castle with Marcel.

Marcel at base camp "Bad G" about to climb to the summit of the tower ("Berg")

The view from the top is amazing. To the north is the business district of Bonn. The shiny building is the Deutsche Post offices.

At top of Bad Godesberg tower. View is to the north.

Later that afternoon I met up with a co-worker and her partner for a bike ride south along the Rhine. Then we took a Fähre (ferry) over to the other side and returned along the east bank. I don't know if it is all part of a Commie plot to squeeze the secret of maple-syrup-making out of me, but my colleagues at iFQ are really nice and go out of their way to make my time here enjoyable.

Rolandseck ferry

Manuella on the ferry

Christine bought a Burly bicycle kinder-wagon a couple of weeks ago. Now we are much more mobile with Arianne. On Sunday, April 24 I loaded her into the Burly and biked downtown to meet up with a co-worker at the Poppelsdorfer Schloss (palace), which is now part of the University of Bonn. Kalle has two daughters, so our manly, extreme activities consist of feedings and nappy changes. But it was still fun. The botanical gardens aren't much to write home about, but they do have a giant flower (7ft tall) from Indonesia that blooms only once every seven years. The most entertaining thing to see were the Blumenschnappers that Kalle pointed out: Thse are wierdos with professional-grade DSLR cameras who are loaded down with utility belts that holster a range of mega-zoom lenses. They wander around the garden in Tilley hats and safari gear taking extreme close-ups of flowers. Fucking flowers.

Kalle and daughter Helena at the Botanische Gärten

Little Arianne was a real trooper. We were out and about for 5-1/2 hours on a hot day. We must have covered 15 kilometers in all. She didn't cry or make a fuss, and fell asleep on the ride home.

Wheeeee!!