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Published: October 26th 2007
Weimar in the Fall
The street from the HauptbahnhofWell as many of you know, Weimar is where I spent my two glorious study abroad summers in Germany. SMU had a program there for Music History and German, which fit my studies perfectly, so I went twice! :-)
One of my great friends on the program, Justus, was placed in Erfurt, so I decided it would be wonderful to meet up with him at the Zwiebel Fest in Weimar and then he was nice enough to let me crash at his place! I woke up early on Saturday morning and headed out with the train, and was supposed to make a stop over at Goettingen to change to a regional train, but of course the punctual german train was 11 minutes late and I missed my 7 min connection. So after some crazy confusion with announcements and talking to the conductor I finally understood that I could stay on the train for a few more stops and then take another ICE over to Weimar. Phew. By the way, I would like to point out, now that I understand German, that announcements on the train do not cater to English speakers. If you ever sat on a German train and
Jakobsplan
My old dorm in all its glory wondered why the German annoucement was about 10 minutes long and the English one consisted of "thank you for traveling with us, good bye.", you should be concerned. They are giving connecting train information, problems with other trains, time difference, etc. Makes me wonder what I thought the whole time I was traveling around before. Wow.
Anyways, so I arrived in Weimar, a little late, but told Justus i'd meet him and his group in one of the squares. It was amazing to me, how quickly I remembered the city and how to get around. I know, Weimar is very small, but still, after 3 years one can forget easily. I took a side trip by my favorite bar, Plan Bar, and my old dorm, Jakobsplan. The dorm has not changed one bit, down to the really cheap bamboo blinds they bought us the first summer when we complained that the sun was coming up at 5 am in our faces. Foil still covers many windows, and the building is still falling apart. Oh the memories. I will attach a picture so that you can all appreciate this glorous building.
So after battling my way through the crowds
Park an der Ilm
The old park where I used to eat lunch every day, beautiful as ever of old people oodling at the painted onions (not sure about this one), I managed to find Justus along with 2 other PPPler participants, and then one of his roomates from Erfurt. We walked around the festival a little and then stopped in for a "cake and coffee". This just began my odd diet for the day, basically picking up something to eat wherever I could. (There was nothing substantial) I definitely had one Thuringer Brautwurst for old time sakes, because they really are much better than the rest of the country. I thought they were just being proud, but really its true. I wandered off at one point to meet up with my old friend Moritz, who is still studying at the Bauhaus Universitaet. We walked around for a while and caught up on things in life. It was really great to see him!
Back with the group, we wandered over to find ourselves some Federweiser (the young wine i talked about many blogs ago) and some Zwiebel Kuchen (onion cake). We tried a couple of pieces and finally found one that suited us. Each stand had very different versions of it. I am still swearing by the
Palace Tower
All that is left of the old Schloss one that I had in Ahrweiler at the wine festival, it was amazing. We walked by a booth at one point that said "koblauch schnapps" (garlic schnapps). Justus and I couldn't resist because we had never heard about such a thing..the schnapps tasted ok going down, but I have to say, even though it may have not mixed well with my diet for the day, the minute that hit my stomach I thought I was going to be sick. I gave it some time though and recovered, but that stuff goes right to your head. Good to know in the future if I ever run into garlic schnapps again.
I gave Justus and his roomate a small tour of the Bauhaus and also the cemetary, where many famous people are burried. They humored me by going to my old bar, Plan Bar, to have a drink. I couldn't go to Weimar and not visit my favorite place. I was sad that the owner was not around when i was there to say hi, but enjoyed reminiscing none the less. It was a bit surreal walking around all of my old places, because everything really was exactly the same! Even
Zwiebelfest
The festival the same vendors on the same corners....nothing had changed. But it was nice to know I could always go back and it would not leave me in the dust and become all modern.
It started to get very cold, and we met up some friends of Justus's roomate. We had some gluhwein (hot cider wine) to keep warm and stood around this little fire. We decided at that point that we were just too cold and headed back to Erfurt to get some sleep. The next day, Justus showed me around the city. I had been there on small tours twice but really didn't remember a lot of it. I enjoyed seeing the sights including the cathedral and also the big fortress that Napolean had built or used can't remember, up on the hill. You could see the whole city from there.
I hopped on a train and came back to Hamburg. I was very happy that I had the chance to see the old city and remember the good times, but very glad that I am in a new place. I think it is always better to make new experiences!
Well I better get ready, Lesli
Lots and Lots of Onions
Really didnt' understand this one. Neither did our german friends. and her mom are arriving in Hamburg in a couple of hours!!! And then my mom arrives early on Monday morning!!! I can't wait for my american visitors! :-)
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Jessica DeBow
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New Pics
Love all the pics- Love the new profile pic!