This morning I freaked out a little bit because I had forgotten what time I was supposed to meet downstairs - 7:15 or 8:15 (that shot of ouzo was probably a bad idea). Not wanting to be that late person, I got up early and got downstairs, checked out, had breakfast, and then hung out for an hour because, of course, we didn’t have to be downstairs until 8:15. Go figure.
We did have a meeting before leaving Hamburg this morning at the University of Hamburg. The presenter was one of the most excited men I have met on this trip! He seemed genuinely pleased to meet with us, and told us of his wish to join the U.S.’s National Council for the Social Studies. He was funny and easy to talk to concerning issues of teacher education. He then took us on a short walking tour of the campus, and we were able to view a memorial to a Jewish synagogue that was destroyed on Hitler’s Kristallnacht. Next door to the memorial was a Jewish school, and lest you think that any Jews that the Jews faced during the time of Hitler have disappeared, think again. There are still right-wing extremist groups out there (Neo Nazis, as an example) who are still bent on hurting the Jews, and you could see how seriously Germany and the city of Hamburg is taking this by the security measures that were in place around the school. There was a police stand, guards, fences, and security lights and cameras. Very sad to see, and very sobering.
We had just enough time to get back to the hotel area and grab lunch/snacks for the train, as well as out luggage, and then board the train for our almost four hour ride to Frankfurt. I thought that I would get a decent nap on the train, and it turns out that I was maybe out for about 20 minutes or so. Make no mistake - I am exhausted. For whatever reason though I am having trouble sleeping. Not fun at all! We finally got to Frankfurt, and were met with a very welcome surprise - porters for our luggage! This was fantastic because it turned out that the Frankfurt train station was massive. Lugging baggage through there would have been a mess. Our hotel is right outside the station, so it is very handy for getting around. We had enough time to meet Stephan and Victor, our tour guides here, and check into the hotel before heading out to explore the city.
Our first stop was the Goethe Haus. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is the man for whome the Goethe-Institut is named, so it made perfect sense to go out to see his home. Want to know who Goethe is? Think of him as the German Shakespeare. He is Germany's most famous poet, and was also an important political official. The house was very nice, and relaxing to be able to go from room to room and see how Goethe would have lived. We next went to the Roemerburg Old Town Square, which one of the guides called Disneyland Germany because all of the "original" looking buildings were actually built way back in the 1980's. It was still cute! We saw the oldest remaining standing building in Frankfurt, visited the Nikolaikirche (another one!) and had a private organ recital of works by Bach (very very very cool). I also was excited to see some old ROman bath ruins that were unearthed when Frankfurt started to dig out another tunnel for the subway. We ended our tour at the Kaiserdom, Frankfurt's cathedral, which was a beautiful building of red sandstone.
By this point, we were all getting hungry again, so it was off to dinner - this time at a Japanese restaurant! While I am enjoying the international food, I do hope that we get back to eating German food again soon. I am pretty certain that will happen tomorrow!
Goodnight for now!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
August 4
Today was education day. Our scheduled meetings had us visiting the Teacher Training Institute, the Ministry of Education for the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and a school visit at the end of the day. As has come to be expected in Hamburg, however, things didn't exactly go as planned!
Our first visit to the Teacher Training Institute was interesting. We learned about how teachers in Hamburg actually do their professional development each year at this place rather than at their schools.
After this appointment we went back to the hotel for lunch and a short break before our next appointment. I went with several other people to find a store that sells Birkenstocks. Birks are a bit cheaper over here than what they are in the States, and since I know that they are good for my feet, I really wanted to get a pair. Great success! I quickly found the exact sandal that I wanted, and was out the door in time to grab a slice of pizza, a franzbrötchen (Liz, they ARE great!), and a Mezzo Mix (mix of Coca Cola and Orange Fanta).
Our next appointment at the Ministry was interesting because it showed how the city-state of Hamburg is dealing with integrating cultures other then German into the schools. Traditionally all instruction has been in German, and it has been a sink-or-swim approach to learning if you did not speak German. I thought that the speaker was really interesting, but others in the group found him to be boring. I thought he was fascinating because he was a perfect example of a politician making decisions for schools, and these people crack me up. Besides, he did have some good ideas.
We didn’t get to do a school visit because, guess what? School’s out! This seemed weird because we were supposed to go to parts of Germany where school was still in session. That didn’t happen. I was disappointed in this, as were others because we are all teachers and we were interested in seeing what goes on in German schools. Has the trip to Hamburg been cursed?
Now with ample amounts of free time on our hands, we headed to the Rathaus area and the area around the Alster. I looked inside the Rathaus which was absolutely stunning, and then looked at a temporary art exhibit inside that dealt with different themes and how they are interpreted in each of the world's five main religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism). I was so impressed with the exhibit that I ended up purchasing the accompanying book, even though I swore to myself that I would purchase no more books! I just liked how it showed the similarities between the five religions.
I had shopping time after this, but I didn't have anything I needed to buy as I had done all of my souvenir shopping here and there when I had a few minutes to spare. Now, I had almost three hours! I ended up getting a cup of hot chocolate at Godiva and walked over to drink it on the banks of the Little Alster. No sense in spending money when you don't have to (Dad would be proud!). I then headed back to the square outside the Rathaus and was able to witness something pretty funny. Apparently there is a tradition that if a man turns 30 and is not married/engaged, his friends can harass him outside the Rathaus. This guy was dressed in a bunny costume and was sweeping the sidewalk. The only way that he could be freed from doing this was to have a woman kiss him and free him. It was interesting to watch because they were really having a good time, drinking beers and laughing.
We ate dinner that night at a Turkish restaurant. Germany has a high number of Turkish immigrants, so this made sense. I have no idea what my food was called, but I had hummus, some ground meat thing stuffed with goat cheese, a salad, rice, and some drink of apple juice that is mixed with sparkling mineral water that I have not had 20 of while on this trip. We were brought out shots of some liquorice-flavored alcohol that tasted a lot like ouzo. I’m pretty sure it was ouzo, but they called it something different. Tasty tasty.
That night at the hotel I had to pack up the bags, which are oddly heavy (stupid books) and get ready to leave Hamburg for Frankfurt.
Our first visit to the Teacher Training Institute was interesting. We learned about how teachers in Hamburg actually do their professional development each year at this place rather than at their schools.
After this appointment we went back to the hotel for lunch and a short break before our next appointment. I went with several other people to find a store that sells Birkenstocks. Birks are a bit cheaper over here than what they are in the States, and since I know that they are good for my feet, I really wanted to get a pair. Great success! I quickly found the exact sandal that I wanted, and was out the door in time to grab a slice of pizza, a franzbrötchen (Liz, they ARE great!), and a Mezzo Mix (mix of Coca Cola and Orange Fanta).
Our next appointment at the Ministry was interesting because it showed how the city-state of Hamburg is dealing with integrating cultures other then German into the schools. Traditionally all instruction has been in German, and it has been a sink-or-swim approach to learning if you did not speak German. I thought that the speaker was really interesting, but others in the group found him to be boring. I thought he was fascinating because he was a perfect example of a politician making decisions for schools, and these people crack me up. Besides, he did have some good ideas.
We didn’t get to do a school visit because, guess what? School’s out! This seemed weird because we were supposed to go to parts of Germany where school was still in session. That didn’t happen. I was disappointed in this, as were others because we are all teachers and we were interested in seeing what goes on in German schools. Has the trip to Hamburg been cursed?
Now with ample amounts of free time on our hands, we headed to the Rathaus area and the area around the Alster. I looked inside the Rathaus which was absolutely stunning, and then looked at a temporary art exhibit inside that dealt with different themes and how they are interpreted in each of the world's five main religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism). I was so impressed with the exhibit that I ended up purchasing the accompanying book, even though I swore to myself that I would purchase no more books! I just liked how it showed the similarities between the five religions.
I had shopping time after this, but I didn't have anything I needed to buy as I had done all of my souvenir shopping here and there when I had a few minutes to spare. Now, I had almost three hours! I ended up getting a cup of hot chocolate at Godiva and walked over to drink it on the banks of the Little Alster. No sense in spending money when you don't have to (Dad would be proud!). I then headed back to the square outside the Rathaus and was able to witness something pretty funny. Apparently there is a tradition that if a man turns 30 and is not married/engaged, his friends can harass him outside the Rathaus. This guy was dressed in a bunny costume and was sweeping the sidewalk. The only way that he could be freed from doing this was to have a woman kiss him and free him. It was interesting to watch because they were really having a good time, drinking beers and laughing.
We ate dinner that night at a Turkish restaurant. Germany has a high number of Turkish immigrants, so this made sense. I have no idea what my food was called, but I had hummus, some ground meat thing stuffed with goat cheese, a salad, rice, and some drink of apple juice that is mixed with sparkling mineral water that I have not had 20 of while on this trip. We were brought out shots of some liquorice-flavored alcohol that tasted a lot like ouzo. I’m pretty sure it was ouzo, but they called it something different. Tasty tasty.
That night at the hotel I had to pack up the bags, which are oddly heavy (stupid books) and get ready to leave Hamburg for Frankfurt.
August 3
Today was a scheduled tour at the German Emigration Museum in Bremerhaven. This museum was one of the things I was most looking forward to on the trip, so I was very excited about taking the train to Bremen, switching trains, and ending up in Bremerhaven. Unfortunately, we got a bit delayed because our train out of Hamburg arrived to Bremen late, making us miss our train and forcing us to take the next one. That was a 50 minute wait. There was some serious shopping to get done in that time! I had no idea what I was going to find, but it didn't stop me from looking! It's funny how fast 50 minutes flies by when you have some unexpected unstructured time!
We had another hour or so on the train from Bremen to Bremerhaven. As each minute ticked by, I could feel myself getting more and more excited. I truly was looking forward to this museum! It won the Best Museum in Europe award in 2007 - and there are a LOT of museums over here! In the lobby I was about ready to lose it - I'm crazy in museums! We were given a card that corresponded with a different emigrant, and as we moved through the museum, we could see how our emigrant did, if they were allowed passage, what happened to that person on the passage, and if they were finally allowed into the country to which they had emigrated. My emigrant was Justina Tubbe, who, rest assured, finally made it to the United States in 1835 and ended up settling in Texas. We had another guided tour, which lasted around two hours or so, which was just enough time to scratch the surface. I SOOOO wish that we would have had longer here. I was fascinated by this place - lots of interactive exhibits for visitors, a place to do research on your own family at the end, and very informative signs throughout the museum in both English and German. I even managed to have my picture taken as an emigrant (unfortunately the machine was out of ink so they are supposed to mail the picture to me - we'll see!). I wanted to take pictures, but once again this was a museum where you had to pay to take pictures and I thought I would console myself by buying the museum book in the gift shop. Guess what they were out of? They are supposed to e-mail me when the new book is available. I was utterly fascinated by this place. We had to move on, though. I was hoping that I could have used my remaining time in Bremerhaven to explore the museum more (we were scheduled to spend the afternoon in Bremerhaven at our choice of museums, but something happened - a vote or something that I didn't take part in) but we were headed back to Bremen. I was a little disappointed here. Bremerhaven had this amazing sea breeze, and even if I just spent another hour there, I was looking forward to walking around Bremerhaven and just enjoying the city. Not spending time in Bremerhaven has been one of the lows for me on the trip so far, and it was made that much worse due to the fact that there was apparently a vote to determine what we were doing and I didn't get to take part for some reason. I think I had just built so much up around this part of the trip that when it didn't work out I was just really bummed. Bremen was a nice city, and I got to see the statue of the Bremen musicians, which was cool, but I still remained a little bummed about how the day turned out. I knew I couldn't pout - this is, after all, a trip that I am not paying for - so I put a smile on my face and tried to deal with it the best that I could. I did get a little souvenir shopping done in Bremen, so not all was lost!
Dinner that night was at a Chinese restaurant. Britta knew the owner, and called ahead to have the food ready when we arrived as it was getting late. This was a feast! We sat at two large tables with lazy susans, and food just kept coming out of the kitchen every time you turned around. It seemed as if we ate forever, but in reality I think we just bombarded with enough food that it seemed that we ate more than what we actually did. And what did I have to drink? Apfelshörle!!!
Back to the hotel for another great night's sleep in anticipation of tomorrow!
We had another hour or so on the train from Bremen to Bremerhaven. As each minute ticked by, I could feel myself getting more and more excited. I truly was looking forward to this museum! It won the Best Museum in Europe award in 2007 - and there are a LOT of museums over here! In the lobby I was about ready to lose it - I'm crazy in museums! We were given a card that corresponded with a different emigrant, and as we moved through the museum, we could see how our emigrant did, if they were allowed passage, what happened to that person on the passage, and if they were finally allowed into the country to which they had emigrated. My emigrant was Justina Tubbe, who, rest assured, finally made it to the United States in 1835 and ended up settling in Texas. We had another guided tour, which lasted around two hours or so, which was just enough time to scratch the surface. I SOOOO wish that we would have had longer here. I was fascinated by this place - lots of interactive exhibits for visitors, a place to do research on your own family at the end, and very informative signs throughout the museum in both English and German. I even managed to have my picture taken as an emigrant (unfortunately the machine was out of ink so they are supposed to mail the picture to me - we'll see!). I wanted to take pictures, but once again this was a museum where you had to pay to take pictures and I thought I would console myself by buying the museum book in the gift shop. Guess what they were out of? They are supposed to e-mail me when the new book is available. I was utterly fascinated by this place. We had to move on, though. I was hoping that I could have used my remaining time in Bremerhaven to explore the museum more (we were scheduled to spend the afternoon in Bremerhaven at our choice of museums, but something happened - a vote or something that I didn't take part in) but we were headed back to Bremen. I was a little disappointed here. Bremerhaven had this amazing sea breeze, and even if I just spent another hour there, I was looking forward to walking around Bremerhaven and just enjoying the city. Not spending time in Bremerhaven has been one of the lows for me on the trip so far, and it was made that much worse due to the fact that there was apparently a vote to determine what we were doing and I didn't get to take part for some reason. I think I had just built so much up around this part of the trip that when it didn't work out I was just really bummed. Bremen was a nice city, and I got to see the statue of the Bremen musicians, which was cool, but I still remained a little bummed about how the day turned out. I knew I couldn't pout - this is, after all, a trip that I am not paying for - so I put a smile on my face and tried to deal with it the best that I could. I did get a little souvenir shopping done in Bremen, so not all was lost!
Dinner that night was at a Chinese restaurant. Britta knew the owner, and called ahead to have the food ready when we arrived as it was getting late. This was a feast! We sat at two large tables with lazy susans, and food just kept coming out of the kitchen every time you turned around. It seemed as if we ate forever, but in reality I think we just bombarded with enough food that it seemed that we ate more than what we actually did. And what did I have to drink? Apfelshörle!!!
Back to the hotel for another great night's sleep in anticipation of tomorrow!
August 2
Today was our sightseeing day around the city of Hamburg, and it was also the day that I thought I was going to die. Simply put, I think Hamburg was trying to kill me. Read and discover.
I opted out of going to the fish market this morning for multiple reasons. One, I had seen the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, the world's largest, so I wasn't really concerned about seeing another market. Two, it gave me more time to sleep in. As I had stayed up far too late last night, I really needed the extra time to sleep in. I even slept so late that I didn't allow myself enough time for breakfast. No worries, though. I ended up being fien throughout the day, so no complaints!
We took the subway to the harbor to look around. Hamburg is a very industrial city, and its harbor is always bustling. We took a 1.5 hour boat tour of the harbor, which was interesting if not a bit smelly (fuel) and rocky (bustling harbor = lots of waves). The narration was all in German, which was a bit frustrating. I eventually quit trying to listen to the guide translate and just looked around me. When the boat was only gently moving back and forth, I think I caught a few winks along the way. After that someone had the bright idea to go down into a tunnel that would take us to a small island out in the harbor.
This is where I think Hamburg was trying to kill me. Just saying.
I wasn't initially afraid of the tunnel. We took the elevator down, and it was very noisy. This tunnel goes under the Elbe River, and is open to traffic on weekdays. On the weekend, it is for pedestrian use only. However, today, for whatever reason, there was a group of motorcycles that were circling the route of the tunnel. Motorcycles equal exhaust fumes. Turns out, the tunnel wasn't that well ventilated.
Would this be a good time to tell you that I am claustrophobic?
I am not sure how long this tunnel was, this Gateway to Hell as I now like to call it. I would give an estimate of six to seven football fields end to end, but I am really not sure. It seemed as if it stretched on forever. About halfway through the tunnel, after breathing in all kinds of exhaust, it occurred to me that there was nothing protecting me in this tunnel from a massive onslaught of water except for the tiled walls that arched over me. I freaked out. I definitely quickened my step to get out of the tunnel, and by the time I reached the end, I was hyperventilating and crying. I definitely lost it. Unfortunately for me, there was no way to get back from the island except to go back into the tunnel again. There were no taxis (remember, no auto service on weekends), no busses, no ferries...no nothing. The only way I could get back to civilization was to go through that tunnel all over again. Claustrophobia, my friends, is no laughing matter. Generally when I get in an enclosed area, I am okay, but for whatever reason today I couldn't handle it. Wood, Britta, and Nicola tried to find a way to get me back, but something in me told me to run for it. I told them to call off the search, that I had made a decision to run through the tunnel. As we all know that mine is not a body built for speed, this was going to be quite a feat. I estimate that I made it a good distance before I lost it again, becoming a hysterical mess. I have never been so happy to make it to the end of something. Thus far, that tunnel has been the worst moment of this trip for me, and I am hoping that nothing else will pop up that could rival it in any way, shape , or form. After this (and after I had the chance to calm down), we had the chance to look around the harbor a bit and grab some lunch. I have to admit that the area bothered me some, but it could be that my impressions are colored by the tunnel incident. I thought it was a little touristy. But, overall the weather was nice and I had the chance to get lunch (a cold fish sandwich, which is much better than what you think), so I'll take it.
Here's where the unfortunate part of Sunday kicks in. The hotels that we were scheduled to visit weren't open, so we literally walked around for almost six hours. We saw a couple of churches including another Nikolaikirche, which was just the bombed out remains of a church destroyed during World War II. We were able to go up into the remaining steeple and get a view of Hamburg. It was very windy and chilly up there, but nice nonetheless. I also got to see the Alster, the big lake in the middle of Hamburg. I think overall though I was a little frustrated with today. It just seemed that we walked and walked and walked, and really didn't see much. Again, I could just be saying that because of the tunnel. Not sure.
Dinner tonight was at a Pakistani restaurant, which is essentially very much like Indian food. Here's the fun part though - translating it from Pakistani to German to English. Ordering took FOREVER, but once the food showed up, it was worth the wait! I had a samosa and chicken tikka masala, and some apfelschörlen. After the group finished eating, some of the members decided to go tour the Red Light District. I just wasn't interested. Morally the idea of gawking at people who make a living of selling themselves just gets to me, and I just felt bad about making these women my spectacle for the night. I wasn't alone. More power to the ones who went out and viewed it, and I know they had fun, but I had a great time going out for drinks with Michael, Siggi, and Karen. In fact, that has been one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip for me to this point. Sleep came VERY easy Sunday night! I had abused my body with too much food and some running - I needed rest!
I opted out of going to the fish market this morning for multiple reasons. One, I had seen the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, the world's largest, so I wasn't really concerned about seeing another market. Two, it gave me more time to sleep in. As I had stayed up far too late last night, I really needed the extra time to sleep in. I even slept so late that I didn't allow myself enough time for breakfast. No worries, though. I ended up being fien throughout the day, so no complaints!
We took the subway to the harbor to look around. Hamburg is a very industrial city, and its harbor is always bustling. We took a 1.5 hour boat tour of the harbor, which was interesting if not a bit smelly (fuel) and rocky (bustling harbor = lots of waves). The narration was all in German, which was a bit frustrating. I eventually quit trying to listen to the guide translate and just looked around me. When the boat was only gently moving back and forth, I think I caught a few winks along the way. After that someone had the bright idea to go down into a tunnel that would take us to a small island out in the harbor.
This is where I think Hamburg was trying to kill me. Just saying.
I wasn't initially afraid of the tunnel. We took the elevator down, and it was very noisy. This tunnel goes under the Elbe River, and is open to traffic on weekdays. On the weekend, it is for pedestrian use only. However, today, for whatever reason, there was a group of motorcycles that were circling the route of the tunnel. Motorcycles equal exhaust fumes. Turns out, the tunnel wasn't that well ventilated.
Would this be a good time to tell you that I am claustrophobic?
I am not sure how long this tunnel was, this Gateway to Hell as I now like to call it. I would give an estimate of six to seven football fields end to end, but I am really not sure. It seemed as if it stretched on forever. About halfway through the tunnel, after breathing in all kinds of exhaust, it occurred to me that there was nothing protecting me in this tunnel from a massive onslaught of water except for the tiled walls that arched over me. I freaked out. I definitely quickened my step to get out of the tunnel, and by the time I reached the end, I was hyperventilating and crying. I definitely lost it. Unfortunately for me, there was no way to get back from the island except to go back into the tunnel again. There were no taxis (remember, no auto service on weekends), no busses, no ferries...no nothing. The only way I could get back to civilization was to go through that tunnel all over again. Claustrophobia, my friends, is no laughing matter. Generally when I get in an enclosed area, I am okay, but for whatever reason today I couldn't handle it. Wood, Britta, and Nicola tried to find a way to get me back, but something in me told me to run for it. I told them to call off the search, that I had made a decision to run through the tunnel. As we all know that mine is not a body built for speed, this was going to be quite a feat. I estimate that I made it a good distance before I lost it again, becoming a hysterical mess. I have never been so happy to make it to the end of something. Thus far, that tunnel has been the worst moment of this trip for me, and I am hoping that nothing else will pop up that could rival it in any way, shape , or form. After this (and after I had the chance to calm down), we had the chance to look around the harbor a bit and grab some lunch. I have to admit that the area bothered me some, but it could be that my impressions are colored by the tunnel incident. I thought it was a little touristy. But, overall the weather was nice and I had the chance to get lunch (a cold fish sandwich, which is much better than what you think), so I'll take it.
Here's where the unfortunate part of Sunday kicks in. The hotels that we were scheduled to visit weren't open, so we literally walked around for almost six hours. We saw a couple of churches including another Nikolaikirche, which was just the bombed out remains of a church destroyed during World War II. We were able to go up into the remaining steeple and get a view of Hamburg. It was very windy and chilly up there, but nice nonetheless. I also got to see the Alster, the big lake in the middle of Hamburg. I think overall though I was a little frustrated with today. It just seemed that we walked and walked and walked, and really didn't see much. Again, I could just be saying that because of the tunnel. Not sure.
Dinner tonight was at a Pakistani restaurant, which is essentially very much like Indian food. Here's the fun part though - translating it from Pakistani to German to English. Ordering took FOREVER, but once the food showed up, it was worth the wait! I had a samosa and chicken tikka masala, and some apfelschörlen. After the group finished eating, some of the members decided to go tour the Red Light District. I just wasn't interested. Morally the idea of gawking at people who make a living of selling themselves just gets to me, and I just felt bad about making these women my spectacle for the night. I wasn't alone. More power to the ones who went out and viewed it, and I know they had fun, but I had a great time going out for drinks with Michael, Siggi, and Karen. In fact, that has been one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip for me to this point. Sleep came VERY easy Sunday night! I had abused my body with too much food and some running - I needed rest!
Finishing up August 1st...
Okay, so we finally got to Hamburg after a long day of travel. Any hope of getting a little bit of immediate rest was immediately pushed aside as we went out for dinner. I was admittedly a bit hungry, so I was fine with it! We ate dinner at a local restaurant, which served some regional specialties. I had pannfisch, which was a pan-fried fish with a mustard sauce, with German potatoes (yes!), sauerkraut, and a salad. I had two big glasses of apfelschörle, of course! It's my new favorite thing! After a nice long dinner getting to know our new tour guides Britta and Nicola, it was off to the hotel to make phone calls home, play around on the internet some, and finally get some sleep for a long day tomorrow!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Saturday, August 1
Today was our last day in Gotha, and the day that we left to go to Hamburg. Our train didn’t depart Gotha until 3:45, so we had time in the morning to go on individual trips or to hang out longer in the city. I choose to go to the Thuringian Forest with other members of the group. This required us to take the electric train south into the hills. We were ble to get out into the German countryside and relax a little. Our first stop on the route was Boxberg, where we were able to see a horse racing track that dates back to the Victorian Era. It was a turf track. The stands were not so big, but the track itself was long. I am not exactly sure how long it was as I saw no signs, but it was cool to get a look at a German racetrack. We then took a short walk to a small gasthaus that overlooked the hills, where I had another apfel schörle! Love them! Then, after petting and oohing and aahing over goats (we were in the country, and there wasn’t too much to see), we took a hike through the woods. It got a little scary because at one point, the path split in two, and we had no idea which one to take. Of course, we ended up taking the high road – literally. This one went up a hill. It was a bit much for the Old Mickster, but I made it! We then got back on the train and headed to the end of the line, a little town named Tabarz. I was excited about getting here because I was interested in picking up some German crafts, but unfortunately the stores were closed. I thought that was a little weird since it was a Saturday, a big shopping day in the U.S. but apparently not in Tabarz. After a stroll around town I went back to the train station to wait for the train back. I had a delicious iced chocolate to drink, and then once everyone made it to the station, we began to order lunch. There was a large menu, but I think the size of our group intimidated the shop owner, so the menu was quickly reduced to either bockwurst or currywurst. I had ordered slightly before the group order went in, so I got fries with my bock (think oversized hot dog), whereas others did not. We had to scarf it down pretty quickly as you couldn’t take food on the train. We got back to the hotel in Gotha in time to get our luggage, and head for the train station. We had two trains to take today, one to Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, and there we switched for our train to Hamburg. All of this train riding was pretty uneventful, right up until we got to Hamburg, and the train had to stop because someone was on the tracks. I am not sure if they got hit or what, but we were there for a good bit waiting for things to get settled. We arrived in Hamburg around 8:30 or so, and by this point I was tired, thirsty, and hungry. Luckily we were able to check in and go right away to dinner. Okay, since you asked...pan fried fish with a mustard sauce over German potatoes, with a side salad. Scrum-diddly-umptious, as Ned Flanders might say. Hamburg looks lovely so far. We have a day of sightseeing planned tomorrow, and I get to sleep in a little!
Friday, July 31
Today we spent the entire day in Gotha. Our first appointment of the day (actually, it was the only appointment) was with one of the oldest map making companies in Germany. The presentation was really informative. I really enjoyed seeing two copies of the Almanac de Gotha, which is a book that lists the European royal families and their lineages. We saw an older copy that was printed in Gotha, which was very cool. The book stopped being produced at the end of World War II, largely due to the fact that Gotha was in the former East Germany and the Soviets frowned upon the idea of royal families and monarchies. It began being published again in the 1990’s, but this time in London. We got to go to the map production rooms and watch cartographers at work. This really interested me because I was very interested in one time of becoming a cartographer. Before we left we were given a gift by the company, which was a very cool pocket atlas. This atlas is very different in that each country is labeled in its own language. For example, the United States is labeled in English, Germany in German, the Netherlands in Dutch, etc.
We then took a walking tour of Gotha. What I thought was a small town was in fact much larger. It was a beautiful day for a walk though! I had a bratwurst for lunch and an ice cream cone, which gave me just enough energy to make it through the rest of the tour, which involved much uphill walking. We stopped by the Rathaus, which is found in every large town. It’s the city hall, and is not pronounced “rat house” although it definitely looks like it should be! Near every rathaus, or in its basement, is a restaurant called the ratskellar. This particular day, a very alternative couple got married and was standing out in the square in front of the rathaus having pictures taken when they noticed us star9ing at them. So, they started waving at us, and let us take their picture. Very fun! From there it was off to climb the hill up to the Schloss Friedentstein. Schloss Friedenstein is a palace, and the largest example of Early Baroque palaces in Europe. It was built all at the same time, which gives it some major continuity. We were able to tour the palace, and see some of its refurbished rooms. For some of the rooms we were required to put on these really large oversized slippers over our shoes. I couldn’t take a picture as picture were not allowed inside the palace without buying a press pass, so you are going to have to take my word on just how funny these were!!
I was definitely feeling a nap at this point, and as we were done for the day officially and we didn’t have to meet up for dinner until 7, I thought a quick nap would be nice. I slept for maybe 30 minutes, and it may have been the single best thing I have done on the trip so far! When I woke up, I had a little epiphany that was brought on by nothing in particular. I suddenly realized while looking up at the ceiling that 20 years ago looking up at that ceiling would have been impossible. Since Gotha was an East German city, you or I would not have been allowed there. All of a sudden it made Gotha that much more interesting, and I was definitely ready to head back out and explore some more. One of the things that I noticed in Gotha was that very few people spoke English, so communicating was very interesting. Luckily I can ask how to get to a bathroom if I need one (not that I can understand any directions they might give me), but my shopping skills are pretty horrible. I can however look at things for a long time. It seemed to me that a lot of people were a little wary of us. Maybe we scared them! Or, maybe it is simply because we were American, and it was pretty obvious that not a lot of English-speakers make it into the area. In fact, when getting ready to order the second ice cream cone of the day (with all of the walking I did, I deserve it!), the waiter asked us to wait, went to the back, and sent out someone who spoke a little English. Perhaps it was easier on everyone, but still pretty interesting to watch.
After looking around, it was then time to head to dinner, which was at the same restaurant where we had pizza the night before. Dinner tonight had an Italian theme, and this time I stayed away from the wine and drank apfel schörle instead. That drink is a mix of sparkling mineral water and apple juice, and is VERY good and light. In fact, I have had many of those so far on the trip. Dinner tonight was a bowl of baked onion soup (not French onion – it was prepared a little differently) and a baked pasta dish of stuffed tortellini, crabmeat, cream sauce, cheese, and some shrimp scampi. The shrimp were a little disturbing because they still had their heads on. Of course, this became a perfect opportunity to play with my food. It helps me take the sting out of my food still looking like it did when it was alive. Tonight was the last dinner with Monika and Wolfgang, who will be leaving us tomorrow when we leave to go to Frankfurt. They have been so much fun to be with, and very informative and very tolerant of our questions. We gave them parting gifts of German wine and American wine. We all drank a shot of limoncello at the end (limoncello is a very sweet, very powerful lemon-flavored liquor) to mark the end of our first week in Hamburg. It was a very enjoyable day!
We then took a walking tour of Gotha. What I thought was a small town was in fact much larger. It was a beautiful day for a walk though! I had a bratwurst for lunch and an ice cream cone, which gave me just enough energy to make it through the rest of the tour, which involved much uphill walking. We stopped by the Rathaus, which is found in every large town. It’s the city hall, and is not pronounced “rat house” although it definitely looks like it should be! Near every rathaus, or in its basement, is a restaurant called the ratskellar. This particular day, a very alternative couple got married and was standing out in the square in front of the rathaus having pictures taken when they noticed us star9ing at them. So, they started waving at us, and let us take their picture. Very fun! From there it was off to climb the hill up to the Schloss Friedentstein. Schloss Friedenstein is a palace, and the largest example of Early Baroque palaces in Europe. It was built all at the same time, which gives it some major continuity. We were able to tour the palace, and see some of its refurbished rooms. For some of the rooms we were required to put on these really large oversized slippers over our shoes. I couldn’t take a picture as picture were not allowed inside the palace without buying a press pass, so you are going to have to take my word on just how funny these were!!
I was definitely feeling a nap at this point, and as we were done for the day officially and we didn’t have to meet up for dinner until 7, I thought a quick nap would be nice. I slept for maybe 30 minutes, and it may have been the single best thing I have done on the trip so far! When I woke up, I had a little epiphany that was brought on by nothing in particular. I suddenly realized while looking up at the ceiling that 20 years ago looking up at that ceiling would have been impossible. Since Gotha was an East German city, you or I would not have been allowed there. All of a sudden it made Gotha that much more interesting, and I was definitely ready to head back out and explore some more. One of the things that I noticed in Gotha was that very few people spoke English, so communicating was very interesting. Luckily I can ask how to get to a bathroom if I need one (not that I can understand any directions they might give me), but my shopping skills are pretty horrible. I can however look at things for a long time. It seemed to me that a lot of people were a little wary of us. Maybe we scared them! Or, maybe it is simply because we were American, and it was pretty obvious that not a lot of English-speakers make it into the area. In fact, when getting ready to order the second ice cream cone of the day (with all of the walking I did, I deserve it!), the waiter asked us to wait, went to the back, and sent out someone who spoke a little English. Perhaps it was easier on everyone, but still pretty interesting to watch.
After looking around, it was then time to head to dinner, which was at the same restaurant where we had pizza the night before. Dinner tonight had an Italian theme, and this time I stayed away from the wine and drank apfel schörle instead. That drink is a mix of sparkling mineral water and apple juice, and is VERY good and light. In fact, I have had many of those so far on the trip. Dinner tonight was a bowl of baked onion soup (not French onion – it was prepared a little differently) and a baked pasta dish of stuffed tortellini, crabmeat, cream sauce, cheese, and some shrimp scampi. The shrimp were a little disturbing because they still had their heads on. Of course, this became a perfect opportunity to play with my food. It helps me take the sting out of my food still looking like it did when it was alive. Tonight was the last dinner with Monika and Wolfgang, who will be leaving us tomorrow when we leave to go to Frankfurt. They have been so much fun to be with, and very informative and very tolerant of our questions. We gave them parting gifts of German wine and American wine. We all drank a shot of limoncello at the end (limoncello is a very sweet, very powerful lemon-flavored liquor) to mark the end of our first week in Hamburg. It was a very enjoyable day!
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