Beethoven-Haus, Bonn

Cologne and Bonn are sister cities, served by the same airport. Once I'd decided to go to Cologne for last night's concert, I just had to fit in a visit to Bonn also. Apart from being the capital of West Germany until reunification after the fall of the Wall, the city's main claim to fame is that Beethoven was born there, which makes of a place of musical pilgrimage for me.

An online check yesterday advised that my best travel ticket was to get a Zone 1b day ticket which covers travel within both cities for the entire day, up to 3am the next morning. I got one yesterday and got another today. It looked as if I'd got to the central station in Cologne with just a couple of minutes to spare before the next train for Bonn, but what first showed as a 5-minute delay on the display board on the platform turned into more like fifteen minutes by the time I got moving again.

Two trains going to Bonn arrived at more or less the same time. I got on the one which came in to the platform I was waiting on and showed my day ticket when ticket-check time came round. 'That isn't valid for this train, sir', I was told. Apparently the Zone 1b day ticket only covers regional trains and not the inter-city express that I'd got on. The ticket checker played around with her gadget, having warned me that I'd chosen the most expensive connection possible between Cologne and Bonn. Then she showed me the large exclamation mark on her display, told me she couldn't give me a ticket at that time, said she wouldn't charge me, and advised me to be aware of my ticket's limitations next time. So I travelled in style and got to Bonn in no time at all.

After yesterday's dull and damp weather, it was pleasant to wake up to blue sky and bright sunshine today. The old town in Bonn is a delight, full of fascinating corners, narrow streets and fantastic architecture. But I was a man with a mission, and made my way direct to number 20 Bonngasse, where the Beethoven House is. It's a museum now, dedicated to the great composer, packed with memorabilia either belonging to him or connected to him. I spent an hour and half making my way around, getting increasingly emotional as time went by. Highlights were seeing the last piano which Beethoven used and standing outside the tiny chamber at the back of the house, the room in which he was born.

Further exploration of the city followed, along with a couple of pit stops, and then it was time to get the train back to Cologne with time to spare for a little nap before making my way to the airport and back home to dear old Dublin. German efficiency let itself down rather badly during the rest of the day. The train back to Cologne was also delayed (this time by twenty minutes) and was packed. I had to stand most of the way back – a big contrast to the comfort I'd enjoyed on my first journey.

I left the apartment at 7pm. When I got the central station in Cologne I went straight to the information desk to enquire about trains to the airport. The person there printed out details of the next three trains and directed me to platform no. 4 for the first of these. I stood there for twenty minutes without any sign of the train, spoke to a train official who'd got another incoming train who said he didn't know why I'd been given incorrect information and told me I should be on platform 10. On the way, I double-checked the list of departures and saw that I should have been sent to platform 2 and not 10. There were further problems there, though, with absolute confusion on the display boards on the platform and announcements being made which were indistinct to say the least. Finally, the display board said the next train would be the one to the airport, but it wasn't clear that this was the train which had pulled in to the far end of the platform ten minutes beforehand. Fortunately, others waiting with luggage began to move towards that train and we were finally on our way.

The wait in the airport wasn't great either. I went straight through to the departure area since I didn't have anything to check in. That was a mistake, since what looked like decent facilities to eat and drink were then cut off by the security area. Anyway … I finally got on my Ryanair flight and got back to Dublin twenty minutes ahead of time.