We decided to drive to the riverside town of Ruedesheim am Rhein this morning. But before that, we enjoyed the delights of Sunday brunch in the hotel we're staying in! I ate a lot, so there goes my diet, haha! ;p But it was worth it! And tonight will be sushi! Anyway, back to the original story, we set off to Ruedesheim, a quaint little town, though not so quaint today since it was hosting some motorcycle convention hosted by Harley-Davidson, haha!Anyway, we parked beside the river and went for a walk towards Market Square, where the St Jacob's Catholic Parish Church is located. The architecture of the church is quite suited for the town. There were too many touristic souvenir shops for my liking, but ah well...
After the walk, we drove up to see the Niederwalddenkmal, which is located on a hill overlooking the town. It is a statue of Germania, which was built to commemorate the unification of Germany in 1871. One can get a wonderful view of the town and the Rhein River.
It really is a beautiful monument to behold. Unfortunately, some visitors who weren't very good at reading their own language ruined the beauty of it all. If you look closely on the second step in the second photo, there are the words "NICHT BESTEIGEN" carved into the monument, which means "DO NOT CLIMB". Even someone like me who only knows "nur ein bisschen Deutsch" could tell what it means. These lovely kids obviously took it literally, they weren't climbing after all, they were ONLY sitting. Well, dearies, how do you think you got to sit there in the first place?! Argggggh!!! And what's more, the adults who were with them ALLOWED them to do it! I remember when I and the SAT members (see two posts before) were told off (and almost reported to the Polizei!) for signing on the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery. There were NO signs telling us that we weren't allowed to do so, and lots... millions of signatures and graffiti already on it. It was an honest mistake on our part! But this... this obvious act of not following the rules irritates the hell out of me. I mean, it looked like the monument was currently being restored and they SIT on it! In Berlin, you get told off for doing something like what these kids are doing! Oh, a possibility may be that they don't speak German... Oh wait, what's that I hear... ohhh, they're speaking German! Grrrr! [takes a deep breath] Okay, I'd better stop ranting now, or else I'll ruin my mood for sushi tonight! So ja ne, minna-san!"Beginning is easy, continuing is hard."
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