Hidden Treasures of NRW: Bonn
Now that the weather is finally getting better, I am back to exploring towns in my state (North-Rhine Westphalia). My friend from Aachen and I wanted to catch up but were both too lazy to travel to each other’s towns! We live on the opposite ends of the state. We took this opportunity to visit a new town, and we could spend a relaxing weekend along the banks of Rhine river.
Situated along the banks of Rhine is a very interesting town called Bonn. It was the capital of West Germany up to 1990. The University of Bonn is one of the largest universities in Germany. Bonn is also well known to have some of the best cherry blossoms1 in Germany. These blossoms put on a magnificient display for tourists in the second week of April. While we knew we were a little late to the party, it turns out that the afterparty wasn’t half bad! We were just in time to say a final goodbye to the blossoms, promising each other that we will meet here again next year (hopefully during the peak season).
Cherry Blossoms Lane
I found Bonn to be of the perfect size: not as small as Paderborn but not even as huge as Frankfurt. While most of the town looked new to me, there were some historic places worth a visit. One of Germany’s oldest churches, Bonn Minster was glorious and was built in the 11th century by the Romans. I had heard of Ludwig van Beethoven so it was fascinating to see his home. A very unique feature of the town center was the presence of cherry blossoms at random places on the street. The peak season was over but some trees still had a hint of pink (I guess you can see them in some photos below).
Old Town
Left to Right: Bonn Minster and Beethoven House
Town Hall
We had a great time walking through the town but soon got distracted by shopping. Since I had done some research on Bonn before I went (yes I’m a very organized traveller), I knew exactly whom to shop for. Our grandfather used to spend a few months in Germany every year for his research, and he used to bring gummy candies (gummy bears) for us. My sister and I love these candies! They are manufactured by Haribo and their birthplace is Bonn. Visiting the huge Haribo store in the town was so overwhelming: it was a two-storeyed heaven, probably my place of worship! I almost felt like I was still the little girl who waited patiently for her grandfather to get her candies! The chocolates and candies here are absolutely delicious. This country is a paradise for a sweet tooth like me (and I guess it also gives a lot of business to dentists). I was a little bummed that I couldn’t visit this store with my sister, but maybe I’ll bring her here when she visits me :)
Haribo Store in Bonn
After finishing the most important part of my visit (the Haribo store, yes), we checked into our Airbnb. What I love the most about traveling is getting to live with the locals! Our hostess was amazing and even gave us recommendations on where to spend our evening. Bonn reminded us of India because this was one of the first places in Germany where we noticed large housing societies. We spent all evening walking by the Rhine. This river is a major transport route and has always been used to transport goods into inland Europe. Even though the river was busy with cargo ships passing by every five minutes, our stay near it was very peaceful. We really enjoyed the change of scene and we could also relax after the hectic work week we had.
Rhine River
My friend Apeksha and I never spent so much time together when we studied together in Pune. We coincidentally ended up in the same state so far away from home, and she slowly became my go-to person in this beautiful (but strange) country we now call our home. We ended our short trip with a bagful of memories, a very full heart and a promise to visit this quaint town again in the next cherry blossom season.