Johannisburg/Bonn

Let it be known that on this day I lived like a queen.

I did all of the usual things a queen is to do on any given day:

I took a cruise down the Rhine River with my closest friends, visited the house of Beethoven, and I returned home to my castle on the hill to sleep (the hotel). 

Next to the castle there was a park–but more on that later. 🙂 As anyone would expect, when we pulled up to this castle of a hotel gasps were heard throughout the bus. It had an old chapel inside it and we all decided to meet around 9:30 PM to try and record some songs (completely informal, of course). Everywhere in the building had a beautiful view and there was probably so much more to explore than I actually got to. Most o fee and my friends did our exploring down the ending roads of the town and through the open fields. We found a place to sit and talk and look at the sights around us. It was a little cold, but most of us didn’t mind. Everything in town was pretty much closed up since it was so late, but we enjoyed jus hanging out and consuming our gifts from the monastery where we performed earlier that day (lots of yummy bread. (: ).

I love moments when I can just sit and take in where I am. Sometimes I experience Deja vu. A friend of mine once told me that he likes to think experiencing Deja vu means you’re in exactly the right place at the right time. It’s a comforting thought, even if it isn’t true and I found myself having the feeling a lot in Europe, actually so maybe his words do hold some truth. We walked back to the hotel from there, but stopped along the way to catch more of the town at night. It was a cute and quaint town. In my own mind I referred to it as a “Snow White” town because of the architecture, and maybe because I could see a princess and seven dwarves residing there.

My friends and I were struggling to keep quiet on the way back for fear of disturbing anyone nearby, and despite the fact that we probably should have just gone inside the hotel…the park beckoned me. I knew I couldn’t stifle the laughter and the screams that were and at the park; it was too much fun. May the videos taken, the fast slide rides, and the insane swing ride we got to have never ver die from my memory. This will go down as one of my favorite nights, and favorite places to stay.

The next morning we were set to leave at 8:30 Am to catch our boat to Boppard Village and eventually get to see Beethoven’s House. I remember waking up at 7:45 and one of my roommates got in the shower….the next time I woke up it was almost 8:20 and we had nothing packed, nothing picked out to wear, and things strewn EVERYWHERE across the room. I’ve never picked an outfit so fast before, or packed my suitcase. Well–perhaps you can’t call what I did packing. It was more like tossing everything into my suitcase and backpack and literally running out the door. I was exhausted, but I regretted absolutely nothing.

We pulled up to this sweet little place next to the Rhine where I captured some lovely things. Everywhere in Johannisburg looked straight out of a story book. The vines on the brick walls, the freshly dewed roses, the locks on the fences by the water–everything. I couldn’t get enough of it, but was glad when our boat arrived and I got to get on.

We ate on the boat and I had a nice cappuccino. We were to spend about four (?) hours on the cruise and most of my time was spent above the main level. Outside were all the views–the castles, the winding river in front of us, the landscape. I couldn’t capture everything with my camera, but I sure as heck tried. There was a list of castles in a little book that we were following. I went down a few times to let my body feel some warmth as opposed to the biting wind that nipped my nose and cheeks. In the hurry of the morning, I had forgotten to leave my cardigan out to wear, so a friend lent me his vest and I was very appreciative of it.

The pictures and the videos I captured on the boat are by far my favorite of the trip, maybe besides Passau.  When we got off the boat we found a place to eat in a hotel, and it ended up taking up all of our time there. We then met the bus and walked to Beethoven’s House in Bonn.

Pictures weren’t allowed, and our guided tour felt very rushed, but being in a dead composer’s house will never not be interesting to me. All in all, this day was so good I don’t think there will be one to beat it…maybe come close.

Then again…I do say that about every day that I’m in Europe.

Stay tuned~

P.S. Here are some highlights from Passau. Got to go back!!

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