As alway, click on any of the photos to see them in full size.
Sunday October 2, 2011
This morning, by about 9:00 AM, everyone gathered in the club house for a great breakfast. After breakfast everyone was just waiting for the wind to pick up, so the day's event could begin. By about 12:00 noon, the wind was not very cooperative (although, again, it was a beautiful, clear sunny day), and unfortunately the regatta was cancelled. Most everyone was very disappointed, and then had to begin to dismantle their boats and get them ready to put on the trailers to head home. By about 1:30 PM, everyone gathered at the club house for some ceremonies and awards based upon yesterday's competition. Once the awards were given out, and dessert was served, many people continued to hang out a bit to chat, laugh and talk about the weekend. Slowly, everyone began to depart and unfortunately the regatta ended with only one day of sailing. Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun............I was introduced to sailing, met many friendly people, ate well, and took a lot of photos. This type of experience was great; the average tourist never has an opportunity to be totally engaged within the culture of a country by hanging out with the people for several days and really getting a true flavor of a nation as I did for the past few days. I thank Peter for such an opportunity. By 4:00 PM, Peter and I had the camper all packed up and headed back to his home. We had some dinner, relaxed and obviously, I worked on typing this blog.
Saturday October 1, 2011
Today we woke up early, had breakfast and everyone was getting ready for the sailing regatta to begin this afternoon. Everyone was getting their boats ready, Hobie Cat 14 or 16, ready for the afternoon event, but there was a problem; there was not very much wind, which is obviously essential for sailing. Aside from the lack of wind, the weather was absolutely beautiful with full sun and probably 80 degrees. By about 3:00 PM, the wind picked up a bit and everyone set sail from the beach to begin the event. I was lucky in the fact that I was able to go out in the lake as well, in one of the rescue boats. This enabled me to watch the sailing and take photos. The whole event was quite interesting, and I took about 200 photos. By approximately 6:00 PM the days event was over and all the boats came back to shore for the day..........tomorrow would begin the second day of the regatta. After everyone came back to shore and relaxed a bit, everybody gathered in the RSCZ club house for a very nice dinner. There was great food, beer, and a lot of laughs. As usual, I could not understand almost anything that was going on, but many people came over and sat with me and chatted in English. They were curious about my life and travels and I was interested in their lives as well......overall it was a very fine evening and a good time for all. Peter even played his guitar and other members of the club joined him in singing and music making. By approximately midnight, the "party" broke up and everyone went back to their campers for the night, to get rested for tomorrow's event.
Friday - September 30, 2011
Before leaving for Lake Zülpich for the weekend, Peter and I drove across the Rhine River and went to Drachenfels, which is a very high point on the outskirts of Bonn that overlooks Bonn and the Rhine River. We took a cog railway up to the top, spent about one hour there, and then were on our way again. We took a car ferry to get back across the Rhine, and then took a very scenic route back to Peter's home. Our ride home took us through the Ahr Valley (Ahrtal) which included Remagen, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Dernau, Rech, Mayschloss, Altenahr and several other small towns. This area is very well known for the wine vineyards, and the scenery through here was just great as we drove through this wine producing area. Gail, Peter and I had walked through this area four years ago, and it was great to be back. I recall that for Gail and me, on our last trip in 2007, this was one of our highlights. I took many photos, as usual, and we arrived back to Peter's place by about 2:00 PM. We packed up the camper and now headed out to Lake Zülpich for the weekend. Once we arrived we helped set things up for the weekend and the Regatta. I met many of Peter's sailing friends and everyone was very friendly and I knew it would be a fun weekend. After dinner we sat around and drank various Germany beers and had a very enjoyable evening.......even though I had no idea what most people were saying!
Thursday - September 29, 2011
This morning, by about 9:00 AM, everyone gathered in the club house for a great breakfast. After breakfast everyone was just waiting for the wind to pick up, so the day's event could begin. By about 12:00 noon, the wind was not very cooperative (although, again, it was a beautiful, clear sunny day), and unfortunately the regatta was cancelled. Most everyone was very disappointed, and then had to begin to dismantle their boats and get them ready to put on the trailers to head home. By about 1:30 PM, everyone gathered at the club house for some ceremonies and awards based upon yesterday's competition. Once the awards were given out, and dessert was served, many people continued to hang out a bit to chat, laugh and talk about the weekend. Slowly, everyone began to depart and unfortunately the regatta ended with only one day of sailing. Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun............I was introduced to sailing, met many friendly people, ate well, and took a lot of photos. This type of experience was great; the average tourist never has an opportunity to be totally engaged within the culture of a country by hanging out with the people for several days and really getting a true flavor of a nation as I did for the past few days. I thank Peter for such an opportunity. By 4:00 PM, Peter and I had the camper all packed up and headed back to his home. We had some dinner, relaxed and obviously, I worked on typing this blog.
Saturday October 1, 2011
Today we woke up early, had breakfast and everyone was getting ready for the sailing regatta to begin this afternoon. Everyone was getting their boats ready, Hobie Cat 14 or 16, ready for the afternoon event, but there was a problem; there was not very much wind, which is obviously essential for sailing. Aside from the lack of wind, the weather was absolutely beautiful with full sun and probably 80 degrees. By about 3:00 PM, the wind picked up a bit and everyone set sail from the beach to begin the event. I was lucky in the fact that I was able to go out in the lake as well, in one of the rescue boats. This enabled me to watch the sailing and take photos. The whole event was quite interesting, and I took about 200 photos. By approximately 6:00 PM the days event was over and all the boats came back to shore for the day..........tomorrow would begin the second day of the regatta. After everyone came back to shore and relaxed a bit, everybody gathered in the RSCZ club house for a very nice dinner. There was great food, beer, and a lot of laughs. As usual, I could not understand almost anything that was going on, but many people came over and sat with me and chatted in English. They were curious about my life and travels and I was interested in their lives as well......overall it was a very fine evening and a good time for all. Peter even played his guitar and other members of the club joined him in singing and music making. By approximately midnight, the "party" broke up and everyone went back to their campers for the night, to get rested for tomorrow's event.
Friday - September 30, 2011
Before leaving for Lake Zülpich for the weekend, Peter and I drove across the Rhine River and went to Drachenfels, which is a very high point on the outskirts of Bonn that overlooks Bonn and the Rhine River. We took a cog railway up to the top, spent about one hour there, and then were on our way again. We took a car ferry to get back across the Rhine, and then took a very scenic route back to Peter's home. Our ride home took us through the Ahr Valley (Ahrtal) which included Remagen, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Dernau, Rech, Mayschloss, Altenahr and several other small towns. This area is very well known for the wine vineyards, and the scenery through here was just great as we drove through this wine producing area. Gail, Peter and I had walked through this area four years ago, and it was great to be back. I recall that for Gail and me, on our last trip in 2007, this was one of our highlights. I took many photos, as usual, and we arrived back to Peter's place by about 2:00 PM. We packed up the camper and now headed out to Lake Zülpich for the weekend. Once we arrived we helped set things up for the weekend and the Regatta. I met many of Peter's sailing friends and everyone was very friendly and I knew it would be a fun weekend. After dinner we sat around and drank various Germany beers and had a very enjoyable evening.......even though I had no idea what most people were saying!
Thursday - September 29, 2011
I arrived in the Bonn/Rheinbach/BadMünstereifel area and returned the
car. My friend Peter met me at the
car rental facility and we were on our way. In the morning, I left Rüdesheim early, because I had to
meet Peter at 2:30 PM and there was a lot I wanted to see on my way north as I
took the road that “hugs” the Rhine River. Unfortunately, when I left Rüdesheim, there was a severe fog
over the river and there was very little I could see. The fog continued for
most of the morning, but I stopped wherever I could to take a photo. I recall this area very well, because I
took the same road (in the opposite direction) with Gail four years ago, and
back then the weather was great and it was a perfect day. It was so foggy today, I could not even
see the Loreley as I passed it along my way. I was driving up along the eastern side of the Rhine, and
crossed over at Koblenz, since I was headed to Euskirchen, which is on the
western side. I met Peter at 2:30
PM and on the way back to his home we stopped and had a very nice dunkels bier
at a small biergarten. Once back
at Peter’s, he made a nice BBQ for dinner and we chatted and caught up on a lot
of what has gone on in our lives over the past four years since I saw him
last. After dinner we “caught”
Gail, Lauren and Brian online for a video chat, which was exciting for
all.
What a great opportunity and how nice that you could chat with the family!!
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