Miles walked. 11.1. 115.1
Feet climbed. 310. 12,810
Song of the Day: Jesus was an only son by Bruce Springsteen
Now there's a loss that can never be replaced,
A destination that can never be reached
A light you'll never find in another's face,
A sea whose distance cannot be breached
Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands
Whispered, "Mother, still your tears,
For remember the soul of the universe
Willed a world and it appeared
A brief advertisement here: while Springsteen is best known for his anthem like rock songs, I like the acoustic stuff as well. He has recently released live recordings of a number of shows from the last 20 years, including an outstanding acoustic show from 2005 in Columbus, Ohio. The recording of this song Jesus was an only son is terrific.
When we awoke this morning, it was still quite warm, almost 80 degrees at 7 am. I then got online to check email and was shocked to see that the UK had decided to leave the EU! I just had a feeling this was going to be one of those days....
After another delicious and filling German breakfast, we headed for the train station, about a 15 minute walk. We were sweating by the time we reached the station from the heat. Today we are heading to Bad Hoffen, about a 40 minute train ride. Our plan is to check our bags into the hotel, then hike a section of the Rheinsteig.
About 35 minutes into the train ride, it started to sprinkle. By the time we arrived in Bad Hoffen, it was pouring, with thunder and lightning. The good news is, the temperature had dropped 20 degrees in the last hour. The bad news- the forcast is for more rain during the day. Hiking today is starting to look iffy. We managed to find our way to our hotel, a little under a mile walk.
I booked this hotel online, after checking out reviews, etc on booking.com. The hotel is called Katholisch-Soziales Institut der Erzdiözese Köln and looked very nice in the online photos, with a spa, swimming pool, game room, etc. Seems like it will be a nice respite after the fairly bare bones place of the past week....
When we enter the hotel, I notice religious crosses, religious art, etc everywhere. Hmm.....I start to wonder if the word "Katholisch" has anything to do with the Catholic Church? Turns out, this place is a Catholic Church retreat, but they also rent rooms to the public! The online reviews and write up did not say a thing about this. Our room was austere, but nice. It was loaded with religious books (all in German). There appeared to be a couple of groups at the hotel, including a bunch of women who looked like Nuns.
With the rain, we decided to explore the small spa town of Bad Hoffen. Bad Hoffen is famous as the home of Conrad Addenauer, the first leader of Germany after WWII. Because of Addenauer, the German capital was designated as Bonn, which is about 15 miles from Bad Hoffen. Bonn remained the capital of Germany through the early 90's, when it was switched to Berlin.
In exploring the town, we came across a small train that went to Bonn. We made an impromptu decision to go to Bonn for the afternoon. After a 45 minute train ride, we arrived in Bonn. Bonn is a relatively large town of over 300,000 people. After arriving in Bonn, we walked (and walked) exploring the town. Many very nice buildings. We had a lite lunch on the river and then took the train back to Ban Hoffen. In spite of not hiking today, we still ended up walking a total of 11 miles.
We enjoyed an excellent Italian dinner in Bad Hoffen. Of course, a good bottle of Italian wine to go with the dinner! In the morning, we will take a 1 hour train ride to Cologne for a day of touring. This will be our last day in Germany before heading to Belgium on Sunday morning.
I will close with the always popular "no shit" photo:
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