BonnGiorno: St. Martin's Day

Dan and I have been pretty busy the past couple of days. We already told you about our bike trip to the Lorelei and you've seen all of those photos. We've been having a great time biking around the Rheinland... everything they say about biking in Europe is true. It's probably the best way to travel when you're here, and well worth the time and effort it takes to get around on two wheels.

On Sunday we had dinner with Ingrid and Karl Tismer. Karl is Werner's second cousin, and he and his wife were kind enough to invite us over for a wonderful dinner at their house in Rheinback, a town about twenty minutes from Bonn City Center. We enjoyed some very interesting conversation, along with some puppy time with Whoopi, their half St. Bernanrd half Newfoundland momma dog. I hope Gus is in as good a mood as Whoopi when he gets to be her age. At 13 years old, Whoopi was as gentle and friendly as a new born pup.

We really liked meeting the Tismers, and listening to their stories about their lives in Germany after the War. I especially liked Ingrid's rice casserole cooked inside a small pumpkin. Daniel loved tasting the Reisling from Koblenz that Karl had picked for the meal. After several hours chatting and getting to know each other, Karl took us back to our apartment in Bonn.

Irwin and Marion, Daniel's parents, arrived this afternoon after a long day of crossing the pond and battling two terrible European airports, as well as a delayed train. We kept them up long enough to see the St. Martin's Day celebration here in Bonn Zentrum, where children from all the city schools get together and parade through the streets of the town with paper lanterns they made in class.

At the end of the parade, a huge bonfire is set in the middle of the Marktplatz, as everybody gather around to watch the fire and sing traditional St. Martin's Day songs. The children each get a pastry called a Beckman, as a treat for making their beautiful lanterns.