MY TRAVELS - GERMANY

My Travels - Germany - Bonn/Gemund/Cologne/Koblenz/Duesseldorf
Current mood: complacent
Category: Travel and Places



Five of us flew into Bonn from London one late summer. Good Samaritan (GS), Robert, Kate and their daughter Tania and of course yours truly - me .

After arriving in Bonn we immediately rented a small dark blue Opel. It was a stylish and sporty car. Five of us crammed into the car and with the number of luggages, I wonder how we managed!!

GS took over as the driver, Robert assumed himself as the navigator and we three ladies took our seat at the back. A pact was made that everyday we had to take turn to sit in the middle to be fair and square. GS had always been good at driving so the switch from right hand drive to left hand drive was no big deal for him. On the otherhand, the job of a navigator was kinda simple as one just need to scrutinize the map and be good at directions. Kate, Tania and even myself felt we too could do such a job. But Robert insisted and we gleefully laughed that it was the comfort of the front seat that Robert really wanted. He denied the allegation with a forced seriousness on his face..

With a map clutched tightly in his hand, and GS at the steering wheels, we were all ready to start our german adventure....................

We drove 40 miles away to a quiet town called Gemund where we stayed in a time-sharing resort called Gemunder Farienwohnpark Salzberg. It was located on some hills and the place was very quiet and peaceful. It was so serene and tranquil that one hardly hear any noise except for some occasional sound of passing vehicle. The apartment we were staying was clean and reasonably spacious. Robert family took the living area as it was bigger with sofa cum bed and we took the only room. It was decided Kate would do the cooking, Tania and I the cleaning and washing up, Robert would clear the rubbish bin and GS, the driving and overall maintenance of the car. We shopped in Gemund for provisions eventhough we had brought along some canned tuna and curries from Malaysia.

After a hearty breakfast the next day, we started our journey to Cologne just about 40 miles away. It was a scenic drive with vast wide open green fields on each side of the road. We reached Cologne and walked around the streets. The sun was shining brightly yet I felt intermitent coldness and my nose was continuously runny. I guess I was not made up to live in cold countries ...

From Cologne we drove to Koblenz where we took the Rhine river cruise. It was wonderful as the day was bright and we could see beautiful enchanting castles on each bank of the Rhine as we sailed along. As we approached a beautiful place called Bopart (Boppard), hundreds of tourists and locals who were having drinks and coffee at the river bank's open cafes and restaurants waved and called out to us. It was a wonderful sight with riots of colours, blooming flowers everywhere and everyone seemed in a gay and merry mood. As we stepped from the boat after it had docked, the feeling of joy and happiness were in the air. Everyone was smiling and friendly. We took photographs at almost every nook and corners and bought sovenirs and trinkets. It was a really nice feeling to mingle around in Bopart. The air of merriment was evident as shown by the smiling faces of the people there. We left Bopart some hours later and sailed back to Koblenz.

We visited Cologne again two days later and this time we went to the oldest cathedral in Cologne called Koln Dom.. It was tall and old, mysterious and gothic looking. It took 632 years to build this cathedral. There were many tourists and visitors around. We went inside and saw hundreds of candles burning. It was my first time in a church. I had never been in one before. I was all the time repeating my "shahadah" in my heart over and over again. Yess... I was in a church but I am a Muslim and Muslims are allowed to go into churches as long as we keep to our faith". It was just like the recent visit of the pope to the mosque in Turkey. However when I got back to the apartment in Gemund, I kept remembering those candles burning in the church...the inside of the church was kinda dark and with the hundreds of lit candles, it gave a strange intoxicating ambience which kept coming back haunting me and playing in my mind. I thought and thought about it and realised that something was changing me....(ooo... dun be alarmed...I hv not finished yet....) I took a look at my luggage and quickly rolled out my praying gown and mat, and prayed to Allah asking him for guidance and protection. Yess... I found the answer...it took a while to realise that my going into the cathedral had made me a better Muslim.. I thank Allah for that!!

On other days, we also travelled to Bonn and did some shopping. Bonn was trendy then with good shopping outlets. We took photographs around Beethoven memorial area (Bonn was Beethoven's birth place) and other nice sites. We also drove to Duesseldorf and shopped at Horten. We visited museums and a zoo. On most of our journeys, we stopped at small quaint towns and villages and walked around stopping for coffee and snacks at cafes. We made friends with some locals in Gemund. One shocked us by greeting us in Malay. He said he took language study in the Netherlands and he chose Bahasa Indonesia which is similar to the Malay language. We also went to a town called Bad Mansrafal which was famous for its glass factory. We saw demonstrations on how glasses were made. There were nice and unique vases and ornaments. I bought a few items and one big exclusively designed vase as a souvenir.

On one of our road journeys, we came across hundreds of trucks of different sizes and models. It was like one big festival going on. Kate was so curious and asked what was happening. Robert answered curtly that those people were "truckers". Kate grimaced and echoed..."truckers...what is that???".. and we burst out laughing. We laughed and laughed at Robert thinking that as usual, he made that up to have his say/way. When we returned through the same road that evening, we were able to get a better view and as normally would a Malaysian and tourists alike, we slowed down and tried to get a good look at what was going on!! .. and sure enough there was a big banner with the words "Truckers Annual Racing Competition" or something to that effect!. Kate, Tania and I were taken aback...what Robert had said was true.. there was such thing as Truckers...!! And it seemed they competed in a race using trucks!! It was something totally different from normal car racing. They raced in trucks!!We were slightly embarrassed. GS was laughing and said aloud..."See Bert, u were right about truckers"..! Robert snorted and said..."These people... (refering to us) they have not seen life..!! Kate and I looked at each other and grinned sheepishly all the way back to Gemund!!

We drove around alot and went into Belgium and the Netherlands border towns. We found that most of the few places we visited in Germany besides Bopart, were rather quiet and inconspicuous except Bonn which we found it to be lively with shoppers and tourists.

During our stay, I found that Kate and GS could not get along well.. they were always bickering over non issues... whereas Robert, Kate and Tania were fine with me...I guess the german air had got something to do with their differing opinions...lol. Otherwise it was one nice, wonderful trip for all of us.

We flew back to London for a few days stay before departing for dear Kuala Lumpur.

Last year whilst touring Italy and Austria, I got the chance to travel into Germany again but this time it was into Neuschwanstein to see a beautiful castle of King Ludwig... the mad King...and it was captivating indeed....

Germany... I may be back again...with or without planning...



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