4th "Kinderkonzert" in Bonn: "The young person's guide to the orchestra" by Benjamin Britten

On May 8, 2011 we went by bike to the fourth concert for children in the concert hall of Bonn, Germany.
The city of Bonn, where the famous composer Beethoven was born, takes pride in offering a number of concerts every year that are especially for children and families. As the weather was excellent, we went by bike on an 8 kilometer long tour to reach the Beethovenhalle which is located on the left side of the river Rhine. Crossing the bridge from Beuel to Bonn you can spot it, as on this photo.

Crossing the recently improved Kennedy Bridge of Bonn (now with a wide bicycle lane)

Thomas Honickel directed the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn. At first "The composer is dead", a detective story by Nathaniel Stookeyrst, was performed in which a Sherlock Holmes actor helped to introduce all the instruments of a typical orchestra of classical music. The kids loved it.

The second piece of this concert of about one hour, from 11 to 12 a.m., was "The young person's guide to the orchestra" by Benjamin Britten.

After the concert, which ended with much applause, some children took the liberty to walk onto the stage where they had the chance to get a close up view of the instruments. The friendly musicians readily showed their instruments and answered questions. Six year old Konrad took the chance to talk to a man who was just going to leave with his violoncello. Konrad learnt that the man`s instrument was so old that Mozart could have played on it.

And finally we want to show you a picture taken inside the Beethoven hall. Some concert visitors took great interest in the way the author was unfolding his bike which had been securely parked in the cloakroom during the concert.

Some concert visitors taking a keen interest as the author is unfolding his Bromptom

After a wonderful concert, the question was whether to pedal back home uphill or to take the bikes aboard a bus and thus opt for an "easy sailing". (see my blog entry Up by bus and down by bike )

Why a Brompton?
I wanted a new folding bike. Why did it become a Brompton?

Two years ago I bought a low price folding bike - brand name "Born 2 ride". It was fun to ride - at first. But soon it became unreliable - in another posting I will talk about details. Dissatisfied, I started to look around for a better one.

One thing for sure, I was ready to purchase a high quality folding bike for several reasons:

I was tired of hassels with the technical shortcomings of a low quality product.
I was looking for a good value product that might even outlive the annual inflation rate.
I wanted a comfortable and practical, easy to handle bike.
I was looking for a brand with international recognition on the market.
I wanted a bike from a manufacturer with a good service record.
It had to be a bike whose looks would fit my life style.

My research on the internet narrowed everything down to two of the world`s best known manufacturers of folding bikes: the US American manufacturer Dahon with production sites in several countries and the British manufacturer Brompton in London. One of the bike shop experts favoured a Dahon for its lower price and better riding performance, saying that a Brompton was more of a British cult befitting dark suited gentlemen in the City of London. Yes, the price was a strong argument: About 700 Euros for a Dahon that promised to be a bit more comfortable than a Brompton. Next to the world`s best selling Dahon, the Brompton appeared in the shop indeed as somewhat conservative - and rather dear, at a price of 1,159.- Euros. But they say the Brompton consists of some 1200 parts, over three-quarters of which are unique.

Finally, some bloggers convinced me saying that the Dahon is a nice American bike, but the Brompton is its European counterpart: sort of home made, definitely the smallest folding bike, a great piece of traditional British engineering, stylish (It matches nicely my old black Mercedes Benz.) and in great demand on the German market. There were not even any secondhands available when I looked on the internet markets.

So I said, I will go for the more expensive product which hopefully has not a single bit of obsoleteness designed into it and which will be of very good value for a long time.

At the end, my question was where to shop and where I would get the best price.

An internet dealer was willing to grant me a rebate of 30 Euros.
When I told this at my local shop, they conceded me the same.
So the deal was made. I had my new Brompton and could take it home.

We will see whether the new folding bike is really fun and truely practical. The participants of the Brompton World Championship seem to be absolutely convinced as this video shows (External link, youtube):