Rhein in Flammen

BBQing

I feel like I could start writing adverts for the city of Bonn now that I have positively mentioned the Rhein River in my blog for the umpteenth time. So yet again this post will be about the adventures that occur right outside my door step on the beautiful banks of the Rhein. As I mentioned previously, there are many events taking place this spring and summer that have me excited about living next to this beautiful river, and this past weekend was one of them. “Rhein in Flammen” took place this May the 2nd, and it was fantastic.

The actual fireworks show during “Rhein in Flammen” didn’t actually start until after eleven at night, but that didn’t stop the many eager spectators from arriving early to celebrate the entire day on the River. I arrived at three pulling a wagon full of food and had a BBQ with friends. By six o’clock there were so many other people doing the same thing that the river bank really looked like it was on fire due to all the smoke from the many grills. The local newspaper reported over 400,000 people attended this years event on Saturday. And the weather, at least during the day, was perfect. Everyone was wearing shorts, t-shirts and sandals. It actually felt like a

the Rhine at 8 pm

spring I could relate to. As it got a bit later, and the sun started to set, we decided to abandon our BBQ plot and move to a beach bar that had just opened for the season this past Friday. Complete with white sand, beach umbrellas, and tiki torches it is almost

the beach bar

like escaping to some far off place once you entered the gates. Although I was quickly brought back to reality as I looked down at my clothes and remembered I was now bundled in a sweater and jacket, which felt totally out of place at this awesome beach bar.

After a couple caipirinjas it was time to find an open space back on the Rhine for the fireworks show. Over 60 tour boats started to fill up the river in front of us (they had been following the firework show up the Rhein) to get a good place for the finale. The show was a great way to end the day, and luckily for me I didn’t have to fight the other 400,000 people to get home, as I lived only twenty steps away.