Siebengebirge

On Saturday the CFO in Jim's office (Helmut) organized a day touring the area for the head CFO visiting from Australia. We started out at the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (House of History of the Federal Republic of Germany). The museum concentrates on the history of Germany from WWII to the present. We were able to have a tour in English by joining a group of teachers from Turkey and England. It was a great review of recent German history.

After the museum we went to the Siebengebirge which is literally translated as seven mountains. I don't think I would actually call them mountains but they are decent sized hills. The area of the Siebengebirge is on the other side of the Rhine about 20 minutes south of Bonn.

We hiked up one of the gebirge to a restaurant at the top. Unfortunately, I can't remember which mountain it was or what the name of the restaurant was, but it had an amazing view. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so we had to again take pictures with Jim's phone.

The restaurant specialized in wild game which the owner of the restaurant went out and hunted (according to the menu). It was typical German fare. They love their cream sauce here in Germany. I got Spaetzl with Pfefferlinge (chanterelle mushrooms) in a cream sauce and Jim got venison which was quite good.

After lunch, we hiked down and drove to Linz which is located directly across the river from Remagen. Ramagen is the remains of a bridge which had been the only remaining bridge along the Rhine during WWII. The Germans tried to blow it up to prevent the Allied forces from crossing. However, two Polish engineers who were forced to work for the Nazis cut the fuses. Hitler executed the four generals who failed to blow up the bridge.

In Linz we visited a museum which had various instruments of torture from the middle ages. It was a bit like visiting a haunted house. They had a moaning soundtrack, a bunch of skeletons and a rattling door which was set off by a motion detector when you approached. In the same building they also had a guy blowing glass and a store where you could buy his creations. I'm not sure I understand the connection between glass blowing and torture.

After Linz, we took a ferry across the Rhine. There aren't a lot of bridges south of Bonn but every 10 miles or so there is a ferry. The ferry only takes about 5 minutes so it is a much faster option than driving up to Bonn to cross one of the three bridges there. You simply drive onto the boat and drive off when you get to the other side.

On the other side of the Rhine in Rolandswerth we went to a restaurant high in the hills with another stunning view of the river. It is apparently one of the best restaurants in the area with a more casual menu on the terrace. There was a wedding at the restaurant and none of us were all that hungry after the big lunch so we were content to sit on the terrace and drink local wine with some antipasti until late into the evening.