2020 has been a bugger of a year. This spring, while in lockdown, getting exercise was a must. Even though my husband and I have been in Köln for four years, these excursions opened our world even more. Planning a walk-about was as easy as determining a cardinal direction. Some time in April we went North and East. After crossing the train bridge we 'found' the Rheinpark. Of course it has always been there but that day we discovered it.
Flowers, gardens, ponds and sunbathers along the Rhein, what took us so long? Our first visit was a glorious display of bulbs. Tulips, crocus, daffodils, and flowering trees met up in the sunshine and quietly told us that everything was going to be ok, different but ok.
That morning was spent looking at the latest case and death numbers of the pandemic. The economic damage that the virus had ravaged was easily seen walking through the old town. The businesses were closed. The restaurant patio furniture stacked and locked and not a soul to be seen. The sound of birds, the wind in leaves and our own footsteps made our world seem abandoned. But walking into the Rheinpark, in the sun we started to see color.
An artists pallet of red, orange, yellow, purple white and green dotted the grass. The most exciting was to see that nature was continuing. The potential in the azalea bud, the budding water lilly and woody rhododendron life cycle still in process. Hope whispered into my soul. Nature puts life into perspective. I am so grateful that the city of Köln understands the importance of an urban garden.
As amazing as the bulbs were, another epiphany came two weeks later when the garden was renewed into a summer spectacular, water fountains and all. We can't wait for fall.
Rheinpark Park
50679 Köln Deutschland
https://www.cologne-tourism.com/see-experience/poi/rheinpark-park/
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