“Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.”
― Ludwig van Beethoven
Luxembourg to Bonn:
To start my European adventure I choose Bonn.
Why Bonn? Mainly because I have a good friend who studies there and because Germany is pretty awesome! Leaving Luxembourg, I travelled via car-sharing up to Cologne in a camping car (because nothing says adventure more then starting your travel with unknown people!). It was awesome, I got to meet a retired truck driver driving on the same day all the way up to Sweden where he lives. I don’t think I could have found a more interesting person to travel with! As we talked, he told me about all of his travels and gave me some tips for my own adventure. I am grateful that I got to share a part of his travel with him. After 3 hours of car-sharing, I left the comfort of the camping car for the crowded station of Cologne, to join a fully packed train to Bonn…
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemingway
Bonn, some facts about this underrated city:
Before going to the city itself, I didn’t have much knowledge of it to be honest. After spending a couples of days there and about, I got a feel of this multifaceted city, famous for its university and being the birth place of Beethoven.
Some things to know about Bonn:
Bonn is the 19th largest city of Germany
It dates back to 12-9 BC, with the first settlement of Roman soldier camps
The city was part of the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of the Franks, the First French Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire! All of that before the 20th century!
It was the capital city of the Federal Republic of Germany
A large number of Germany’s ministries still have their head quarters in Bonn
“C’est si Bonn…”, Bonn and the gift of food!
Before travelling to Germany, I had a set list of things I wanted to eat such as: a Currywurst, a pretzel and have Kaffee und Kuchen! Such cliché German food and I wanted to taste it!
My first food experience in Bonn was Liz’s Muesli in a jar recipe. Home-made and simply tasty, it made me genuinely so happy and motivated to get on with my day. This was all the breakfasts I had in Bonn for four days and I have to say that it got me hooked! It is only after breakfast that the German culinary adventure started…
The Currywurst (or how to light a fire in your mouth)
Some of you may have heard of the Currywurst and for those who haven’t, here is an introduction… According to Wiki, the Currywurst was invented in 1949 by Herta Beuwer in Berlin. The legend says that she added curry spices (brought back to Germany by the British) to ketchup and topped pork sausages with it. And so the Currywurst was born… Since then, it has become a popular street food which can be found all around Germany. There is even a song dedicated to this delicacy: Currywurst!
My first ever Currywurst. Here you can see that the curry is sprinkled on top of the ketchup. I decided to go for medium spicy but it was still really spicy!The small snack from which I got my Currywurst had spiciness levels from 1 to 5. 4 and 5 being so spicy that you have to be 18 and over to eat it, as well as signing an agreement that you are aware of the risk taken by eating this very very very very very spicy dish!
A yummy pretzel 🙂
Kaffee und Kuchen (because the day isn’t over yet so lets get filled with sugar and cream!)
(If this is true, imagine what it’s like when you have a plate and a cup full of sugar…)
Kaffee and Kuchen is a very peculiar moment of the day between lunch and dinner where you are allowed to stuff yourself with cake while being social (you can do it alone but it’s more fun with friends and/or family)! Nowadays, people tend to do it on Sundays, as it is the day where you can gather with your family, however there is no fix rule… It is a tradition that can bright up any day of your week!
German cakes are known to be köstlich (understand as exquisite, delicious, delectable) and pretty decadent. I mean, when you look at the Schwarzwald Kirsch Kuchen (Black Forest Cherry Cake), it has chocolate, cream, sugar, butter and booze… Pretty decadent right?! And these beautiful, often layered, cake are at the heart of this sugary tradition. For this particular Kaffee and Kuchen, I had a Sachertorte inspired chocolate cake, covered in a chocolate glaze.
You can eat them with a nice cup of tea, a coffee, and if you feel adventurous (and in this particular case, stupid because sometimes it’s just too much), you can even have it with an improved hot chocolate: a.k.a. a Tote Tante!
The Tote Tante is a boozy hot chocolate that will keep you warm during those cold winter times. If you replace the hot chocolate with coffee, it is called a Pharisäer. This is my winter post-study/work drink!
. 1 measure of Rhum
. 4 measures of hot chocolate
. whipped cream to top it up
I really enjoyed this Kaffee and Kuchen, even though it took me a while to digest it and I did feel a bit sick from this much sugar and chocolate, maybe Mary Berry is right after all…
“Cakes are healthy too, you just eat a small slice”
― Mary Berry
The last, but not least part of my food discoveries in Bonn: The Çigköftem!
The Çigköftem is a Türkish vegan dish that could be compared to a cold Dürum. Traditionally made with raw meat, this dish was updated to a vegan dish for sanitary reasons and restrictions put by the German authorities. Its main ingredient is a red paste/falafelly kind of nuggets that are made of bulghur wheat, walnuts, tomato paste, vegetable oil and herbs. You can order it ready or, like in our case, as a package.
The package option we chose for the 3 of us
In this package, we had the Çigköftem, 4 flat breads, a whole salad, a handful of fresh mint and parsley, half a lemon and a grenade sauce. All we had to do was to go home and put it together, which is exactly what we did!
Here you can see how it’s done
Bonn was full of surprises and amazing for food. I advise you to go to the discovery of the German food culture because it is definitely more then just sausages, sauerkraut and potatoes!
My first food experience in Bonn was Liz’s Muesli in a jar recipe. Home-made and simply tasty, it made me genuinely so happy and motivated to get on with my day. This was all the breakfasts I had in Bonn for four days and I have to say that it got me hooked! It is only after breakfast that the German culinary adventure started…
This is my winter post-study/work drink!
MaDAlicEsite 