Cherry up!

Apparently in the 1980s when the Bonn old town was renovated, they also planted Japanese cherry trees along the streets - which give blossoms as romantic and fairytale-like as one knows from pictures in Japan.

This used to be a "secret tip" known only by Bonner but, with the rise of the internet, social media and especially instagram has become world known. In any case this was no joke of LFSTYLT husband and so we decided to go the following spring. I.e. this year.

Strong from a childhood experience where we arrived at the Keukenhof to see cut tulip fields, we planned the week-end to make sure we didn’t come too late and miss out on the fun. 

I couldn't wait.

Weather forecast was great - we were being so lucky with the weather.

We checked in our hotel which looked grand. I probably should mention here that I was not paid in any way (nor freebies) for this post before you wonder, all the positive words come from us and a truly great stay!

The staff was proactive and very kind and we managed to upgrade our room to a suite for a good deal...this trip was going to be pure bliss!

We drove to the Bonn Altstadt, looking forward to seeing pink fluffy arches of blossoms over our heads and strolling through the city, stopping here and there for some good Coffee & Cake: a German tradition I love.

But…well…that was about it. Our arrival in the Altstadt was pretty disillusioning from a pink-blossom perspective!

We desperately looked for some blossoms – we actually got lucky as thankfully some magnolias were already well blossomed (and one cherry tree!) earlier than the rest.

I was slightly disappointed because I could picture how gorgeous the whole Alstadt would be...in a couple of days! 

So…we decided to make the most of our trip to Bonn and enjoyed our walk around the old town.

The neighbourhood is truly gorgeous, with pretty 'Altbau' buildings, calm and beautiful pastel colors. You can easily day-dream your way through the old town and just admire the different buildings.

The walk and visit were definitely worth it.

However, we headed to our hotel earlier than expected and first sat down for drinks overlooking the Rhine river.

Not only was our hotel located in a calm area just along the river, it was also right next to a playground.

This was perfect as we played with Baby Lifestylette and enjoyed our drinks in the afternoon sun.

The suite had a beautifully big room to share with Baby Lifestylette.

She was over excited when entering the room and kept on running around through the open bathroom to the bedroom to the seating area aka her room and all over again ;)

We got prepared for dinner that we were having downstairs, in the hotel restaurant.

We enjoyed a three course dinner which was excellent but mostly we were besotted by the dessert: a mix of brownie and crème brûlée.

It was absolutely amazing – even LFSTYLT husband who is generally not a big fan of desserts loved this one ;)

We headed to bed and still could remember the taste of that dessert in our dreams and when waking up the next day.

In the deal we had booked, we could enjoy a huge breakfast from the generous all you can eat buffet the next morning – as Baby Lifestylette wakes up early, we therefore could be more or less the first guests and enjoy a particularly long breakfast.

The weather was absolutely amazing so we decided to stay a little longer and have a walk along the Rhine before driving back. 

We ended up spending a great family and romantic trip even without much cherry blossoms ;)

In any case, now we did our research for next year and we know that there is also a blog which keeps you informed of the opening of the cherry blossoms ;) in case you are flexible...