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Dear family, friends, housepets, field mice, and other creatures:
I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to write a proper blog! However, you will be happy to know that I have been busy practicing my German, meeting new friends, and wandering around all sorts of places. In order to spare you hours of time reading this blog (or minutes, really), I’ll only put down the highlights.
First of all, two weekends ago (May19th), Meaghan and I decided to visit this tiny medieval town called Rothenburg ob der Tauber in northern Bavaria. Highly recommended by Rick Steves ( a traveler whose advice I find valuable), this tiny town boasts an impressive wall around the city, Riemenschneider artwork, and I believe they may be the only town that can say that the last “new” building was erected in 1650. Apparently, this place was the happenin’ spot in Germany in the medieval era, with an overwhelmingly large population of 6,500 people. Yes, that’s right, folks. 6,500.
The train ride here was uneventful and quiet; Rothenburg, as we discovered, is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I think Wartburg is about 2 hours away? Yes. My sentiments exactly. Once
we arrived in Rothenburg, we quickly oriented ourselves to the medieval town (didn’t take too much) and began to explore.
Some things, however, began to dawn on us as we walked around… It seems like we weren’t the only Americans who took Rick Steves’s advice to heart. The place was swarming with them! Good heavens! I heard more English in Rothenburg than I heard German. And tourists automatically assumed you spoke English, too! Startled one German family, that did… Also, Meaghan and I, in our ignorance, figured it would be nice to climb up this medieval tower in the town square. We had no idea that this nice and peaceful “climb” up to the top of the tower was actually designed by monks in the medieval era to sap climbers all of their strength, thereby draining them not only of life, but also the desire to live it. After step 534, Meaghan and I desperately wanted to turn back, but had climbed so high that we felt too much was at stake to turn back. Around step 700 or so, we saw a light at the end of the tunnel, which turned out to be this tiny room where
a man sits and asks tourists to pay 1 Euro to see the view from the top. We grudgingly obliged (honestly, climbing up that high is payment enough in my eyes), and got to see the beautiful view from the top! Quite nice!
Overall, our visit to Rothenburg was nice. It kind of felt like a tourist trap (reminded me of Venice that way; beautiful yet very expensive), and we did have a hard time finding cheap food. But have no fear! A Doener Kebab stand is always readily available, even in medieval towns like Rothenburg!
The way back home from Rothenburg proved to be just as eventful as our stay in the town itself… Because…ladies and gentlemen, back by popular demand (well, not really, but they just can’t seem to take the hint): Soccer Hooligans!
This time it was all my fault. It really was. Meaghan and I were about to board our train back home when she noticed our tickets weren’t making any sense. We ran to a ticket machine to look over our ticket information, and in a state of panic, I ran onto what I thought was our train back to Marburg. Poor
That famous Riemenschneider Work
Oh, dear... I fear I've forgotten the name of this work. But it's a Riemenschneider woodcarving of the last supper. Aren't they all called last suppers? Can't I just call it that?Meaghan had to run full-speed after me, and as the doors closed, she panted out “this is not our train.” Too late to get off, we figured a 20 minute train ride in the opposite direction wouldn’t cause too much trouble in our attempt to return back to Marburg.
We were wrong. That 20 minute train ride in the wrong direction cost us THREE HOURS! Instead of arriving at a doable time of 11pm, we arrived home at 2am! And of course, the Gods of Irony and Misfortune were gleefully smiling down upon us, because we got stuck in a car with hooligans.
We had tried to escape them, really we had. We carefully eyed several cars (some of which were filled with beer cans, beer stains, and party streamers) before we selected a nice, clean, and empty car. Our efforts were in vain. Without warning, a group of 15 thoroughly drunk German students swarmed the car and sat down screaming and laughing, cameras flashing. Highlights of this TWO-AND-A-HALF-HOUR-TRAIN RIDE included another CD player blasting obnoxious music. Instead of German techno soccer songs, we were subjected to The Killers’s “Mr. Brightside” for an evening. The entire evening. And
Riemenschneider Church
It really wasn't Riemenschneider's Church. I've just forgotten the name of it again. of course, this group, whose English was limited, tried to sing along to “Mr. Brightside” at every possible moment. As a result, it sounded something like this:
“Gotta do some sing I have been doing jos fein, gotta—was kommt jetzt? Ich erinnere mich nicht… ‘COS I’M MR. BRIGHTSIDE!!!”
Please feel free to insert much German mumbling, a reference to the band “Keane,” and someone attempting to climb out of the window in the midst of this song. And lots of screaming, laughing, and cameras flashing.
So there you have it. We can’t win. Although… soccer season is officially over now and has (thankfully) died. I like soccer. I really do. I just can’t seem to get along with drunken soccer fans wearing Stuttgart shirts and singing “I want it that way” by the Backstreet Boys. And yes, that did happen.
After my arrival into Marburg at 2am, I went to bed, woke up around 8:30 and went to Kassel with Eike, a Uni-Tandem partner of mine. Eike is hilarious and, as things would turn out, a monkey. When I called him that, he said “I can’t help it. It’s like instinct.” Wow. He climbs on trains, on
walls, on ladders, on anything that’s semi-attached to the earth… It made the trip more amusing than I had anticipated.
In spite of being semi-asleep for most of the day and relying on coffee as my main supply of nourishment and energy, I had a great time in Kassel! I would really like to go back there! The early nineteenth-century German historian in me rejoiced at being on such wonderful grounds as Wilhelmshoehe, which has some excellent examples of late 18th, early 19th century architecture! The castle of Loewenburg was also one of the first examples of German historicism in the 19th century! Can you imagine? And I was there… eek! What else? We went to the Wasserspiel, where these statues representing ancient mythological creatures blow horns and then water bursts out of the fountains. Unfortunately, when the ancient mythological creatures first started blowing their horns, alerting the audience members that the show as about to start, they sounded more like several loud Chewbaccas dying. Rather unpleasant. But a pretty show it was, nonetheless.
Anyway. Kassel was lovely, I would highly recommend going there. Perhaps more so than Rothenburg? Hm… I’ll have to think about that. And to
wrap things up, I will write a few lines about Essen, where I visited my friend Janine. Janine and I hadn’t seen each other in 6 years. I hadn’t realized that until she pointed it out to me! The last time she saw Jonathan, he was 4. Have things changed!
So I arrived in Essen on Friday evening, had a wonderful time playing catch-up on Saturday and Sunday, and then totally came down with the stomach flu Sunday evening. Not fun. As a result, I just got back (Tuesday) to Marburg instead of Monday, when I was supposed to return.
Although my trip was kind of set back by that unexpected event, I still had a wonderful time! Forgive me for being sappy for a moment, but friends really do make life so much better, don’t they? It amazes me to think that someone you pass by on the street is someone else’s friend, someone who that person relies on… When the going gets tough, the tough doesn’t get going or however that expression works… the tough calls his or her friend who listens to them (even if they’ve heard the story—albeit in another variation—before). So thanks, friends.
That durn tower!
The tower that we climbed... Alright. I’m done with my Oprah moment. I promise.
I have to get going. I have a German test tomorrow! Eek! But do write comments, emails, facebook messages, etc.! And I will try and write more frequently with this thing.
Bis dann!
~Me
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Connie
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Friends really DO make a difference!
You can have as many Oprah moments as you need. That is acceptable. Anyway. These pictures are so great-- I LOVE the view from the top of the tower. I'm also very proud that you went all the way to the top. Next, we'll have to conquer the third level of the Eiffel Tower! I know you can! I miss you and will eagerly await your next post... **hug**