Two kinds of pilgrimages, as it were

With the rail pass we bought while still at home, two people can travel free for six days out of a month. We used it again yesterday, for day trips.
I had found the town of Aachen and its attractions while researching Germany more than a month ago. I am no great fan of churches, but the fact that Aachen's main church harkens back to the ninth century, and was associated with Charlemagne, intrigued me. I am so glad we went! These photos do not do the interior - the jaw-droppingly gorgeous interior - justice, but they should give you some idea. The walls and ceilings are covered with tiny mosaic tiles, most in gold. Even in dim light, the whole area glows and glistens.

We enjoyed the sunshine on the way there and as we walked around Aachen afterwards. It is a small and charming town. Alas, unaware of local traditions, we hadn't known that June 7 is a holiday in this German state! Everything not associated with the tourist trade was closed.
We returned to Cologne by 2:00 or so. We had time to go somewhere else, so chose another small town with very old sights. Xanten (pronounced K'santin) was about two hours away, with a transfer midway. We would see the Roman amphitheater in Xanten then come back to Cologne by early evening. Our bad luck: the first train was really late. We likely would have missed the transfer had we insisted on going anyway. So we hastened to find yet another choice, and settled on Bonn - a mere 30 min. away, no transfers.
I had considered Bonn a few weeks ago - Beethoven's birthplace after all, and I adore ol' Ludwig. But other than making a pilgrimage to his house, Eddie and I wouldn't have much else to do in the former German capital. The unwritten law of travel serendipity led us there anyway.
As expected, the house was nothing really special. I saw a few of his belongings, and took photos of a bust or two. Poor fellow: he's always depicted looking as if he's suffering from an ulcer or a fit of pique. That is, if going deaf weren't enough....

 The nicest treat happened to be pure chance: as we headed towards the house, we heard piano music: the Moonlight Sonata, one of my favorites. A woman sat in the pedestrian concourse at a portable keyboard, playing. She wasn't bad! We listened for about 10 min., gave her some euros, and left - slowly, feeling Ludwig with us.