A Bonn Bonn Walk In The Park

As mentioned in my earlier post, we got out of the Maritim before sunset on the last day (Sunday), so after packing my bags, I rushed out for a little walk in the park (Freizeitpark Rhienaue) which was close to the hotel to enjoy the bright sunshine, blue skies and green inviting grass. Armed with a book and a bag of chips, I was hoping to find a nice spot on the grass to read something other than negotiating text or submissions for a change.   I was surprised to find that the usually quiet park was abuzz with activity. Families were having BBQs, teenagers were playing frisbee and little kids were running around with glee. As I walked towards the open field, there seemed to be some carnival going on. Turns out, there was a balloon festival at the park that day. So this is what Bonn residents do on Sundays when everything else is closed. I have always wondered where everyone goes when I wander the empty streets of Bonn central on our Sunday off days.  Looked like a whole lot of fun for the kids. I really wouldn't mind living in Bonn if I had little kids. Since all the signs were in German, I had to ask around to find out what was happening. Finally, one of the staff told me that it was a hot air balloon festival and the balloons would be taking off in an adjacent field at around 7.30pm. I convinced my friends to ditch our initial dinner plans and found a nice spot on the grass with some currywurst to watch the balloons. It was an amazing experience that I was glad to ditch dinner plans for. I have never seen hot air balloons before and I found that they were much bigger than what I had imagined. As we sat there, we thought about how we would never see such a festival in Singapore. And laughed over the number of government agencies that would have to give permission to hold such a thing. lol It was almost 9.30pm by the time the last balloons took off and only then was the sun about to set. So glad to have stumbled upon the festival. It was a wonderful walk in the park :)

at 1:58 PM