Germany trip

Germany was really nice. I keep saying that since I got back; it was just really nice.

I stayed with Dorothea and Hartmut Samtleben, friends from my days in Hyde Park, Chicago. They have two beautiful and rambunctious children, Armin and Iris, and live in a quiet neighborhood in the outskirts of Bonn.

I decided not to spend a lot of time exploring famous big cities. Instead, I tried to see some of the countryside around Bonn and neighboring cities. I even took a couple of days just to rest and read a book.

On the first weekend, the five of us took a train to Limburg, which is what Hartmut called a "preserved city", meaning there are lots of preserved old houses and other structures. From there we biked (with the little ones in bike seats on the back) along the Lahn river toward the Rhine (Rhein). This was my favorite part of the vacation. It was beautiful and the river and forest air was pure (The cities and riverways are very friendly to bikers which I really appreciated. There are bike paths everywhere).

I spent one day in Cologne (Köln), mainly to see the famous Cathedral. The cathedral is the most impressive man made structure I've ever seen. I took no pictures, but there is a nice virtual tour here. I was impressed by many things, but my attention was drawn the the floor mosaics. These are hand made mosaics of little pieces of stone arranged into pictures. They are quite robust as a floor and beautiful to see.

I also took a 50k bike ride South along the Rhein starting in Bonn. This was less nice because the Rhein is heavily populated, but still enjoyable and I saw a number of beautiful things such as an ancient Roman Church, many castles, and the remains of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen.

I think the people in Germany are friendly and warm but quite reserved. Overall I felt quite welcome there.

I didn't take that many pictures on this trip. I took no pictures at all of things for which one can Google to find many excellent representations. Here are some highlights of my own pictures from the trip:

2007 Germany Highlights