This Looking Back Series is dedicated to my Travel and Life Companion who shared with me the joys and sometime frustrations of travelling in Europe in 2012.
Zagreb was an unexpected find. It does not feature as a tourist destination for the British, but when I was invited to work there, I grabbed the chance. The city boasts a charming medieval old city with architecture and cobbled streets reminiscent of Vienna, Prague, Budapest and other Central European capitals. Numerous periods of foreign rule and proximity to some of the great dynasties of Europe have woven a rich tapestry of cultural influences over the city, as evident in Zagreb's art and architecture. Ottoman, Austrian and Hungarian influences mesh with Croatian life to form one of the most intriguing yet overlooked cities of Europe. A more surprising find was the Croatian National Theatre, where we saw the Ballet corps performing a number of classical ballet works at a fraction of the price at London's Convent Garden.
We visited Bonn because I did not want to miss the opportunity of seeing the former capital of West Germany. It was only when I stepped foot into this city that I realised that Bonn is the birthplace of Beethoven. The city is a disappointment; it is jokingly referred to as the "federal village" for a reason. At the Museum Mile, we escaped from the sweltering heat into the Natural History Museum and stumbled across a fine collection of lifelike taxidermy. Scores of lifelike animals and birds were captured as you would see them in an imaginary safari setting. The details are amazing, if I may use a most over-used word in these modern times. The Americans would use the word "awesome" to describe the menagerie of expertly stuffed animals on display.
We nipped over to Köln to reacquaint ourselves with this city where we once suffered heat stroke in the blazing summer sun. From the "world's greatest heap of rubble" (Rudolf Schwarz, urban planner 1945), Köln has risen from post war reconstruction to re-establish itself as a major cultural centre of the Rhineland. The Hohenzollernbrücke that spans the River Rhine is home to thousands of padlocks of love, commemorating couples' devotion to each other. These locks from lovebirds around the world hang on a fence along the bridge's pedestrian path. Some scratch their initials in the metal locks, while others have gone as far as having them professionally engraved to honour special occasions such as weddings and anniversaries.
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| A ballet performance at the Croatian National Theatre |
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| Taxidermy, National History Museum, Bonn |
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| Love padlocks at Hohenzollernbrücke |
