The Drachenfels on the Rhine

 Well, in 30 degree heat, we've slowly explored just a few parts of Königswinter.

The great Rhine separating it from the city of Bonn provides an idyllic setting for boats, barges and ferries.

But it wasn't the Rhine that drew us in. It was the Drachenfels mountain railway, a cogwheel set-up begun well over a century ago. The green carriages really are quite beautiful.

Once at the top we did what has to be done. Sat on the summit cafe terrace and drank Kaffee and ate pommes!

From there we discovered

Drachenfels, the mystical ruined tower beloved of Wagner, Byron, Turner

Schloß Drachenberg

Distant Bonn city, its tall Telephone Building and the UN Centre

St.Petersburg where Adenauer entertained Presidents and the Queen

And another of the many highlights was a Goodyear zeppelin passing over the mountain cafe terraces.

I waited for the Skyship 1 shot, where it's stuck on the tower! 

All in all a fabulous day in an historic setting. 

With one last glimpse of the Drachenfels and the castle from the town

We're Back in our hotel now cooling off!

In the footsteps of John Le Carré

We have arrived at our final stopover on a German rail tour and I'm so excited to be here.

Königswinter.

60 years in the making, I missed out on visiting two years ago when we visited Bonn, but this time I was determined for the missus and me to end here.

Being a boomer and a cold war kid I have always been fascinated by spies. 

Königswinter was spy central in the 50's and 60's. Bonn, the West German capital was just across the Rhein and the post-war republic's first Chancellor worked and lived here, Conrad Adenauer.

But personally much more important to me is the fact that Königswinter was the residence of one John Le Carré, the master spy author and my late Dad's favourite. I can clearly remember his small collection of Readers Digest hardbacks of Smileys People, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and A Little Town in Germany, which is set in neighbouring Bonn.

Understandably the actual Gästhaus where Le Carré stayed is unknown, as he himself was an assistant secretary at the British Embassy in Bonn, before becoming a full-time writer when The Spy Who Came in from the Cold made him world famous.

Oddly, I can find no trace at all of Le Carré in Königswinter, unlike Lord Byron and Turner, whose residences are on the town map.

I even asked in a second hand bookshop if they had any of his books. Nichts.

No matter, I'm making up my own spy master footprints!

My second hand retro pen bought in the town's charity shop in commemoration of the author,

The attaché cases stacked unceremoniously in said shop too. Who knows what they once contained!

And imagining that this old photo of a hotel here held the sort of milieu Le Carré mixed in as part of the post-war diplomatic service.

Dossier closed!

😎

All at Sea

I have a feeling we've seen this before but here goes, an LP I saw in a charity shop.

Just what are those model ships on the sleeve?

Lazing in Limburg

 Our penultimate stop on our Deutschland tour is Limburg an der Lahn in the state of Hessen.

Like many German towns it's chocolate box quaint with fairy-tale charm.

Limberg is a tourist hot-spot and my schnapps of the old town will attests to that. There must be ten thousand outdoor seats at the myriad eateries.

Our one evening here, it's 30 degrees in the shade. The predicted thunderstorms should cool us all off.

The 7 deadly sins!

Tomorrow, our final Übernachtungen, Königswinter, erstwhile home of one John Le Carré.

Two hours by Deutsche Bahn.

🇩🇪

Arto's Ultraman

I bought this attractive Chinese bootleg Ultraman / Kamen Rider 12 figure set, which my collector friend had brought from Malasia in the early 2000's. The card is huge, 43 x 32 cm!

Arto

Helsinki Base

Anyone else got Ultraman?

Breaking TB5 Space News!

International Rescue are to return Thunderbird 5 to Earth for a major overall. Plans of how they envisage accomplishing this task can be seen below!

Terry H.

Lizbeth Myles Reveals the Secrets of Writing Project SWORD: from the Gerry Anderson Blog!

Part of the Kickstarter campaign, this is interesting reading for Project SWORD fans.

https://gerryanderson.com/blogs/blog/lizbeth-myles-reveals-the-secrets-of-writing-project-sword 

Ich bin ein Frankfurter

 Mostly train travel today as we chew up some miles to get back to our starting point in the Rühr Gebiet.

Six hours in total to go across from upper Bavaria to the east of neighbouring Hessen.

Just changed trains in the megopolis that is Frankfurt. Our connection was on platform 24. Yep, the Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof is massive.

Anyone been?