A little walk down the river.

[onlyMark]

I’m currently staying on Bonn (Germany) and a little off the Rhine/Rhein river.
Now the leaves from the trees have nearly all fallen, I can see again a couple of things at a distance from my balcony and over the river -






I have a walk down again. I’m about just over halfway there in this photo. It’s not far -




There they are, on the far bank -




The other direction -




Plenty of boat traffic on here -








That’s the thing. Drachenfels aka Dragon’s Rock -



“The hill was formed by rising magma that could not break through to the surface, and then cooled and became solid underneath.”
So they built a small castle on it between 1138 and 1167AD and the object was to protect the southern approaches to Cologne. It was destroyed in the Thirty Years War, in 1634, by Protestant Swedes and never rebuilt as it was not needed anymore as warfare had moved on.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drachenfels_(Siebengebirge)

Nearby are several other large buildings up on the hills of varying ages and bear in mind Bonn was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 when after reunification, the capital of now “Germany” moved to Berlin.
We’ll carry on have a walk down the path and a look round -


























This is a normal river path, unfortunately in the shade at the moment, but had I come here in the morning the interesting other side of the river wouldn’t have had the sun on it. Generally around here the paths have a separate cycle lane. Either marked out on the pathway or completely separate. Here it is open to both without restriction, which does mean when it is busy (weekends and commuting times on work days), you need your wits about you when walking. Especially if you are prone to wandering across the path and/or distracted by talking to someone.

I must admit it is on this part of the path my arrogance shows through as commonly cyclists will, usually politely, ring their bell to say they are behind you and want to pass. But there are the rare few who you can tell by the bell ringing - several short sharp rings instead of a polite ‘ting’ - who seemed to be aggrieved you are in their way.
It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen, especially commuters who are trying to get to work. I walk down here often.
I tend to turn around and look at them but don’t move. I have an equal right of way -






Must get back, it’s getting late -

[bjd]

That looks like a nice place to walk. And your camera definitely has a great zoom.

[tod2]

Super photos Mark. Pristine and clean just as it should be. Peering into the zoom I noticed quite a lot. Those two guys don't look like fishermen to me. I love the old man with his dog just watching the world go by.

[onlyMark]

bjd, seems to focus well at that distance as well. Plus minimal hand shake blurring.

Tod, disciplined public and effective street cleaning, that's the key.
There are numerous old folk's homes abutting the river, there's one just nearly opposite me, and you'll get many of the 'inmates' who are more mobile lining up on the benches, all wrapped up and chatting or just passing the time. I asked Mrs M previously and they do allow you to have a (small) dog if you are able to take care of it.

[kerouac2]

Your river scenes remind me quite a bit of my excursion along the Moselle on the Luxembourg-German border -- totally civilised and landscaped and extremely pleasant. It looks like floods are never a problem, but I know that it not true -- these rivers can flood on occasion with disastrous results, even if it is rare.

I confirm that the zoom on those cameras is quite stable most of the time and permits one to make some really exceptional closeups.

The Prussian fantasy castle/manor looks like the interior could be spectacular. Do you know if it is still a private building or some sort of local monument?

[onlyMark]

There's two building I've homed in on, the fairy tale castle/palace type thing and the big white building.

The castle isn't a castle, as many of them weren't along the river, but a private residence built in 1882 by a local Baron, Stephan von Sarter.
It is now owned by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and is open as a restaurant/cafe and with guided tours of the house, now called Schloss Drachenburg.
"The historical architecture and splendid furnishings of the castle found many admirers even among contemporaries. However, Sarter never lived in his castle. His adopted home was Paris, where the bachelor died in 1902 without having settled his estate."
It became then a summer retreat, a hotel and restaurant and was planned as an amusement park but that never came to fruition.

Then a Christian Boarding School, in 1942 became a National Socialist elite school, (called the Adolf Hitler School (AHS 3)), was fitted with anti-aircraft guns which meant it was then damaged by the Allies, then in 1947 was repaired somewhat and became a training school for the national railways, became empty in 1960 to 1970, at one time slated for demolition but in 1971 a textile merchant obtained it, did it up and opened it to the public. He lived there until his death in 1989 and to all accounts was quite eccentric.
Before he died the building became a 'Protected Building' by the State and was taken over by them and in 1989 a series of renovations began, still going to this day.

www.schloss-drachenburg.de/index.php/en/

There is also a historic 'rack' railway running behind it which comes from near the local town up to Drachenfels with the only stop on the way being the Schloss Drachenburg.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drachenfels_Railway




The big white building is now a Steigenberger hotel and official guest house of the Federal Republic of Germany called the Grandhotel Petersberg.
It started as a private summer residence in 1834 but eventually changed hands and in 1892 opened as a hotel.
Then in 1912 a new owner turned it into a spa and after World War II it became the seat of the Allied High Commission for Germany.
Also then it became the government rest house for foreign guests but later became empty, renovated, back as the government 'go to' hotel whilst Bonn was the capital of West Germany, renovated again in 2017 and by now was being run by the Steigenberger Hotel Group.

[lugg]

I enjoyed taking in the scenery with you mark. What a nice place to be staying. Great photos but I especially like the last one. Do you get a sunset over the river on less cloudy days ?

[onlyMark]

If I go down to the river then it is better because where I live it disappears behind some tall buildings. Not skyscraper tall, but six stories or so.

[bixaorellana]

Look out for those Protestant Swedes!

Beautiful walk, Mark, and your pictures are wonderful. I think you've probably generated a certain amount of jealousy by being able to get out in a such a lovely an interesting place right now.

This is great being able to see part of a city whose name is well known, but that I have zero idea of.

[onlyMark]

Sunny days are few and far between here at the moment and there's a bit of rain every day, plus I've got quite a few things to do otherwise I'd be out a lot more taking photos. I've got a list of places to go and they were open but the recent restrictions here have closed them all - like the Drachenfels and castle above.
Maybe next time I'm here.

[kerouac2]

Since we have not had much new material recently, this report made me want to go around and wander -- and then I immediately remember that it is not allowed anywhere in France until further notice.

[onlyMark]

I'm fortunate that I can wander at will but that does entail just wandering and not being able to visit any museums, tourism sites etc. The other problem is there also are a few places I'd like to go but that would mean an overnight stay, which is not allowed for now even if the place I wanted to go to was open.
But, I will have a trip out shortly to the DIY shop to buy a new shower flexible pipe.

[lugg]

Nov 16, 2020 9:13:40 GMT onlyMark said:

But, I will have a trip out shortly to the DIY shop to buy a new shower flexible pipe

looking forward to the report

[onlyMark]

I'm in a rented apartment and before we took it over an agent of the landlord took us around the rooms pointing out what was wrong, with me chiming in from time to time about various other things - the object being they'd be written into the contract so we couldn't be accused to doing the 'damage' when we leave.
One thing the previous occupants had broken, which neither of us noticed, was in the shower, which is in the bath with a folding glass screen to stop water going on the floor, the holder for the shower head had been superglued together - then broke after we'd used it a couple of times.
I needed to replace it, which I did.

But, the shower pipe was a quite rigid and heavy one and kept straining the shower head holder on the rail. No matter how I adjusted it, there was strain on the holder. That'd be why it had broken.
The only option was to replace it with a more flexible option. Both are/were the rubber hose type surrounded by a metal flexible case, but the old one was difficult to bend.
I went to our local DIY shop, a chain called OBI, where it was easy and cheap enough to get a replacement.
After bimbling around for an hour or so, picking things up, trying to decide if I needed it or not - mainly tools and car things, I adjourned to the sanitary wear section and purchased the object of my visit.

I happily returned to my car, walking past the obligatory caravan selling currywurst in the parking area.
On returning home I assembled the said shower pipe, taking probably forty five seconds, and celebrated by stripping off and testing it out.
I was happy with the results of the shower/head/pipe and my subsequent cleanliness.

[onlyMark]

Lugg, that ok?

[kerouac2]

I thought the report was excellent. Will you present the bill to the landlord?

[onlyMark]

A householder some years ago had a large copper boiler/hot water tank. It had a dent in it he wanted to remove. He called a specialist who came around, looked at the tank for ten minutes, picked a toffee hammer from his tool box, gave the tank a light tap - and the dent sprung out.
When presented with the bill, the householder was apoplectic. Several hundred pounds.
"You were only here ten minutes!!!"
"Yes," said the craftsman, "the charge is not for the labour, it's for knowing where to hit it."

Hence, as the parts cost less than ten euros for my little job but the knowledge I have of how to do it, the fault diagnosis and the knowledge of the best way to repair it - is priceless - thus I will forgo issuing an invoice for the sake of harmony. The total cost would be too shocking.

[tod2]

I now sometimes one cannot be picky about everything when renting an apartment - especially in Paris. If the kitchen is bigger than the normal broom cupboard, I find the bed unsuitable or the bathroom does not have a walk-in shower. Our last apartment was about the best we have ever rented (Kerouac has seen it), as the kitchen was lovely and big - even down to having a kitchen table that seated 4 people, a huge fridge/freezer, dishwasher and all the other mod cons. The beds were two singles pushed together which was the closest thing to a King bed, the view was only through a window in the kitchen and into a large leafy courtyard. But the failure was the bathroom. It had the smallest little tub with a hand held shower on the wall. I hated trying to get in and out of it without slipping and becoming a hospital case. Would I rent there again? Probably because the metro was near and we could walk across the road and be on the river Seine. But like your shower mark, that was a failure for me.

[onlyMark]

I've been in quite a few apartments in Germany and it always seems to be they have small kitchens, though I suspect not as small as in the middle of Paris and bathrooms that could do with another square couple of metres. In the older buildings it seems generally to be better, the type with the high ceilings, but refurbished and modern apartments could do better.
I also notice that no matter some architect has designed the rooms, it always seems they've lost interest halfway through and you often end up with a long rectangular room with a window at the end you don't quite know what to do with. Bedroom? Living room? Study? No idea.

Two other things and I have mentioned probably one of them at some time - the kitchen is usually owned by the renter. The cupboards/appliances etc. As are all the light fittings and fixtures. Thus, if you want a fitted kitchen you have to buy it from the previous tenant. If not, they strip it out and take it with them. Sinks and everything. Just leave the pipes and the sink drainage pipe sticking out the wall.
Same with the lights. I always have to fit new lights in every room as all that is left are the wires hanging.

Second thing is the descriptions and naming discipline regarding rooms. As some rooms can have a flexible use (like in ours now, the living room is very big and airy so we have a bed in it with a partition to make it half sleeping, half lounge), so as there is a flexible use and often an apartment is sublet to lodgers, so you'll get say a four room apartment has four bedrooms and four people live there with shared bathroom/kitchen - but two of those rooms would have been a living room and dining room - so the advert rarely states how many bedrooms the apartment or house has, but the number of rooms.
If I'm looking for a two bed apartment I need to look at at least a three room as advertised so I have a sitting room and maybe a dining room as there is rarely space in the kitchen for a proper table.
Not used to that in the UK though common in some countries.

[bjd]

So what do renters like you, Mark, do when you have a short-term rental and are afterwards leaving the country? Do you try to sell the appliances and light fittings to the next tenant? Would you even meet the new tenant? It seems much simpler for the landlord to provide that stuff and it stays when tenants change.

In France things have changed when you buy an apartment or house. Before, people (well, I guess not everybody) would strip everything including doorknobs and lightbulbs when they sold and moved out. Now, it is marked on the deed that certain things have to remain, any furniture or appliances that are agreed on, plus lightbulbs and basic fittings like lights.

[kerouac2]

I remember the days of not only the lightbulbs but even the light sockets being removed. There would be bare wires hanging out of the ceiling.

I think it was mostly the WW2 generation that did this, just like the Armenians leaving Azerbaijan.

[bjd]

Nov 17, 2020 16:32:29 GMT kerouac2 said:

I remember the days of not only the lightbulbs but even the light sockets being removed. There would be bare wires hanging out of the ceiling.

I think it was mostly the WW2 generation that did this, just like the Armenians leaving Azerbaijan.

The Armenians are setting fire to their houses!

[kerouac2]

That's because they can't sell them.

[tod2]

As far as I am aware, No tenant or owner of a rent building iI s allowed BY. LAW to remove any fixtures or fittings. Not even in the sale of a property. In other words when you view the empty /or habitable shell, it should remain exactly as you saw it. South African law…that is.

[bjd]

Nov 17, 2020 16:38:57 GMT kerouac2 said:

That's because they can't sell them.

I think they just don't want any Azeris to be able to move into them. They have so little time to evacuate that I don't imagine they have time to sell them anyway. Besides, there is so much bad feeling that they prefer to burn them than to sell them.

[onlyMark]

We will be renting this for some time, even whilst we are in Bosnia. We may sub-let it but that is for the (not too distant) future. It seems extravagant to be renting somewhere in Germany and in Bosnia when we can only live in one place at a time, never mind having the house in Spain as well, but for practical reasons to with with family and bureaucracy, it suits us for now. We can always re-appraise this in a year or so if it doesn't work out.
With this place we bought the kitchen off the old tenants, furnished it from Ikea and got the lights from there as well. We've invested in it for sure, but it is Ikea stuff and not expensive antique dining set, sofas etc.

Previous to the summer where I was in Spain and after leaving Zambia, we rented another apartment but that was furnished and like an AirBnB place for a few months. I organised this place then, fitted it out and then went to Spain leaving it unoccupied until our return.
It is though getting to be more and more popular, especially for the newer builds, for the landlord to fit out the kitchen before renting it out.

[lugg]

Nov 16, 2020 19:46:15 GMT onlyMark said:

Lugg, that ok?

perfect