Bonn-Bonns?

The afternoon we arrived in Bonn, we literally walked about two blocks to Chip and Claudia' shouse right in the heart of the historic city of about 300,000 that sits next to the Rhine River. Tess was a little girl when she met Chip, a college friend of her parents. When Tess and her parents moved to Germany when she was 7, Chip and her parents were fresh out of college, so Chip came along and worked at a software company with Tess's dad. After 2 years, Tess and her parents moved back to the states, but Chip stayed in Germany after meeting his future wife, Claudia. He's now lived in Germany for 15 years, and he and Claudia have the cutest little 2 year-old, Luisa. There house has been imprinted with a two-year-old's presence: the white, big-windowed living room is filled with colorful pillows, a kids table, puppets, and stuffed animals. It was interesting to see American and German styles combined. A framed picture of Zion National Park in Utah, where Chip is from, hangs on the same wall as a cardboard moose head and a standing CD collection of American artists. But on the coffee table, German movies and newspapers are loosely piled. There was something so reassuring about staying with an American. It's a cute house, too. The kitchen has bright red counters and a view of the backyard they share with thier flatmates. In Germany, apartments do not come with ANYTHING- no appliances, no washing machines, not even kitchen counters! You have to buy everything yourself. They gave us the grand tour, and said that when they first moved in they were worried the place would be too dark since all the bedrooms are in the basement- but they've adjusted. After spending a couple hours with them, it's obvious that Luisa brings enough light into their home simply by how darn cute she is. She was constantly laughing, chatting in German and English, and when we went on walks, Luisa ran around as Chip followed close behind her, crouching down to her level. It was very cute to watch! We all walked down to the Rhine River and had a little snack at the biergarten (outdoor bar) under a giant oak tree. The sun was out, and there were tons fo lovesick couples holding hands from across the wooden tables, along with friends gathered together to enjoy drinks next to the river. We then walked downtown, where there are ancient plazas built in the 1300's, and every building is tall and stately with fancy architecture. The buildings are literally right next to eachother, so it looks like one building except they are often different colors. We walked by Beetoven's house and countless clothing stores with odd names in English like "Mode Rat", "Chewing Gum", and "Christ"! We had lasagna for dinner in their backyard.