Cavemen for Kevin

On Sunday I took the train to Neanderthal. (Typing that just made me smile.) Yes, I went to Neanderthal. Neanderthal is a little town located right outside of Düsseldorf. The very first Neandertal fossil was found here (hence the name "Neandertal") in a cave in August, 1856. (Well, the first one that was found and recognized as being anything different from us.) This place is kind of like my mecca.

Here's the train station:



The town really just consists of the Neanderthal museum, the train station, a hotel, and a few restaurants. Here's an old statue of a Neandertal with the museum in the background:



The statue is an outdated portrayal of how we think Neandertals actually looked. This is acknowledged in a plaque next to the statue, but it's kept there for sentimental reasons. Here's a more modern portrayal from inside the museum itself:



But I think the artist took some liberation with his clothing choice. (Chaps? Nice.)

The original find site is a short walk along the river behind the museum. The caves are all gone now (blasted away in the search for limestone), but the actual site location is marked, along with the exact location of where more fossils were found in the early 90s.





The next day I visited the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn and got to see the original Neandertal fossils that were found back there in 1856. That was really, really, REALLY cool. I've seen lots of famous fossils by now, but holding this skull was just the most amazing thing for me so far.

I also had time to wander around Bonn. It's a very pretty college town and every other shop is either a shoe or book store (that is not a complaint). The university is huge; it's one of the biggest in Germany. Beethoven was born here too. Right in this house:



Pictures of Bonn:





Today I wandered around Cologne. Also a very pretty city. The cathedral there is massive. Pictures just don't do it justice:



Tomorrow I start my trek back down to Italy, meeting up with Nicoletta in Florence by Thursday. Pictures soon to follow!