On 7th March 1945, soldiers of the 9th US Armoured Division were able to take Ludenddorf Bridge, a.k.a. the Bridge at Remagen, completely unexpectedly. Planned attempts by the Germans to blow up the bridge, and to destroy it with bomb raids and frogmen all failed and on 17th March,1945 the bridge suddenly collapsed, plunging 30 American soldiers to their deaths. Years later, the remaining towers of the bridge were turned into a Peace Museum which was opened on 7th March, 1980.
On our way into Remagen yesterday evening, we stopped to have a look at the towers but decided to leave photo taking till this morning as we'd be passing by again and the morning light would be much more favourable.
The cafes and restaurants along the river bank were just preparing to open for the day when we passed through and there was a slight breeze blowing which helped keep the temperature down.
It was a glorious day with easy riding on good paths with lots of stops to rest and watch the river traffic, a ride through a gorgeous large park in Bonn
and when shortly after, while sitting on a bench watching a car ferry going back and forth across the river, we decided to go across ourselves to see what was on the other side, finding an impressive yacht harbour, an attractive residential area and buying a cold drink from a kiosk before boarding the ferry for the return journey. In another 10kms we had reached our accommodation in Wesseling.
Later, intending to ride into the town for an evening meal, we came across a beer garden a couple of streets away so went no further.
The cafe/bar was run by a chatty German lady and her Kenyan husband with whom we spent a very pleasant and entertaining couple of hours eating and drinking and chatting outdoors in the cool of the evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment