Wednesday December 5th, 2012
We land in the evening in Weeze and rent the car with which we go to Dusseldorf. Reached our hotel, we leave our bags and go out on foot to go to dinner. The hotel is not far from the center, but the air is pretty cold. We walk a little through the pedestrian streets to choose the restaurant. After dinner, we return to the hotel.
Thursday December 6th, 2012
This time we decide to go downtown by car. There is enough traffic. Left the car, we visit the city: the Altes Rathaus, the Burgplatz with Schlossturm, St. Lambertus, where we cannot get in because there is a mass. Then we go to Hofgarten and reach the Konigsallee, the shopping street. We take the car and go in Medienhafen district, where there are many buildings by famous architects.
Next we go Cologne: here we visit the cathedral and Christmas markets in nearby squares. We move to visit the oldest market in Cologne. Our next goal is Bonn, but before we get there, we stop in Bruhl, where there is Augustusburg, a UNESCO palace. In the evening we reach Bonn. We walk in various squares and ask directions several times for a typical restaurant, most are full, but after a while, we finally find a place. After dinner, it’s cold, so we decide to go straight to the hotel.
Friday December 7th, 2012
When we go out of the hotel it’s starting to snow (it will snow the whole day). We go straight to the Munster, but there is a religious function, so we decide to come back later. Then we go to university, we enter. Then we go to Markt, with the Rathaus, and the nearby St. Remigius.
We visit Beethoven’s house. Back to the Cathedral, and now we can visit it. In the afternoon, we drive along the Avenue of the embassies and then we go to Poppelsdorf where there is a palace. It is now seat of the university, so we cannot see it inside. We go into the garden, but it’s 4pm and it’s closing. We stop in a village to have a snack in a bakery. Before returning to the hotel we stop at Schloss Kommende, which is now a hotel.
Left the car, we take a short break at the hotel and then we go out for dinner. We take the opportunity to take some pictures at the illuminated city.
Saturday December 8th, 2012
First stop today is Bad Munstereifel, a town surrounded by walls. We park the car near one of the gates and walk along the main street.
Then we go to Nideggen, a town smaller than the previous one, surrounded by walls. In Aachen we have some problems to find a parking, there is a lot of people, market stalls are unreachable. We head to the Rathaus and we visit the Munster, where Charlemagne was crowned.
For tonight we booked a hotel in Heerlen, halfway between Aachen and Maastricht. We have dinner in Maastricht.
Sunday December 9th, 2012
Last day of our trip. In Maastricht we visit Sint Servaas Basiliek, then we stop to drink a hot chocolate.
We reach the Stadhuis and then the Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek, where there is mass. We take the car and go back to Weeze Airport. Our flight is a bit late but lands on time.
