Hello happy smiling friends and family. It is currently quite late here, but this is my time to update the blog, since my blogging time after now will not be so much.
6-12-08
Matthew and I had class today and basically spent the entire day on the train from 1:30 till like 7:30. It was a long time. Michael came and picked us up at the Train station. It was so nice to see him. He must be going through a longer hair phase now too, because his hair has gotten much longer since the last time we saw him.
Michael took us around Regensburg with the car, just giving us a taste for the city. We then headed off to his house, where we met his parents, Gabbi and Peter. They are both very nice and sweet, and I think that they enjoy us, especially me, because apparently I must be funny, because Peter is always laughing at me. Good naturedly of course, hehe, he is so sweet.
We were welcomed with a lovely dinner of Steaks, potatoes, and salad. It was nice to have some home cooking. After dinner, we went upstairs to Michael's room, where we stayed and talked for some time until we went to sleep.
6-13-08
Today we woke up... around 9 I would say. Michael came up to get us at about 10. Then we all proceeded to sit and talk for an hour or so before going down to eat breakfast.
At about noon we decided to head downstairs for breakfast. It was of course a typical Bavarian breakfast with hard rolls, cold meats, big pretzels, jams, spreadable meat (yup, kinda like spam), and very tasty juices made in this Regensburg area, orange juice and passions fruit, and then a mixed vitamin juice with like 20 different fruits.
After breakfast, we all showered and then dicked around on the computer with Michael for a time. when we were finished, like 2:30 pm we got going into town. Micahel showed us all around Regensburg. We went and saw two churches that were attached to each other. Michael has not been in these churches since his grandfathers funeral in one of them. He then showed us a huge palace that is bigger than Buckingham Palace in London. We did not go into it, because the tour cost like 9€ per person and Matthew and I felt that that was just a bit much for students to be paying.
We kept on walking through the city and saw several prominent buildings from the outside. I am not sure that we actually saw from the inside besides the two churches and then the Regensburg Dom. It is basically the equivalent of the Cologne Dom for Bavaria or at least for Regensburg. It is not as big as the Kölner Dom, but it was still pretty nice.
We also walked the old stone bridge, which for Regensburg is a treasure. It is quite old, and it gives a nice view of the very, very, dirty Danube.
We also saw a punk rock band and fest, which was interesting and was gathering a lot of punk and goth Germans. The band was pretty bad and was either from the states or from England. Either was their accent was not pronounced enough to make a definite decision.
After this, Matthew and I were starving, so we went to eat at an Italian Restaurant called Von Tito. Matthew had a huge pizza, I had a very rich four cheese pasta, and Michael had a very tasty tortellini mushroom pasta.
The food was so rich, that I got an upset stomach, so instead of taking rolaids, Michael made me, Matthew, and himself drink a shot of Ramonzotti which is supposed to be good for digestion.
Later we went and got an ice cream cone from a Gelatieria (Italian ice cream) for dessert!
We then went and met Michael's girlfriend Judith at the cinemax to go and see the movie "Nie Weider Sex mit dem Ex", Translating to "No More sex with the ex". this film is actually the U.S's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". Go figure huh? Apparently in Europe and so forth they change the names instead of simply translating them for marketing purposes.
the film was very funny and I am pretty sure that we all enjoyed it. It was my third time in a German theater and Matthew's first.
Afterwards we went to a bar called "Latino" Where we each had at least one drink and we chatted with Michael and Judith. It was a nice place, the music was fun to listen to and the atmosphere was good for talking; the only thing was that it was extremely hot!!!
I should mention that Michael and his family were generous enough to treat for dinner, Ice Cream, the movie, and drinks afterwards today. Matthew and I did not have to pay for anything today and while Michael may not think much of it, we are so very thankful to him and his family for doing this for us. We are poor college students and their treating us really helped us enjoy this weekend! Thank you for being so sweet, lovely, and generous to us!
After drinks, it was quite late, so we decided to head home. By the time we got in bed, I believe it was 2 AM.
6-14-08
Today, Matthew and I woke up at 10, showered, ate another lovely Breakfast, and headed into town. However, Michael had many problems today with his back. I am sure he either pinched a nerve or he pulled a muscle because he was hurting all day.
Since Matthew and I have done the hard core tourist things up until now, we decided to just spend today relaxing!!!
We spent basically the entire day clothes shopping. this resulted in my buying a jacket and a pink top (they are both very cute and European, My clothing shopping will end there, but I was lucky that I got my items on sale).
Later, at around 5 pm we went and picked up Judith and proceeded to go to Valle Halle. It is modeled after the Acropolis in Greece. It is huge, marble, and cool!!! The view from the top was beautiful and Matthew and I were so excited about how much we are going to tease Davin about it when we get back to the states!!! ( Davin, we loves you!!! ;) )
We spent about 30 mins there, dropped Judith back off home so she could keep studying for her examinations, and went home for dinner.
For dinner tonight we had Schweinebraten and Knödel. Basically pig steak and huge potato dumplings, as well as salad and beer. For dessert, Gabbi had made us a strawberry cake. It was delicious and we loved it!!!!
After dinner, Matthew, Michael, and I sampled a few different types of liquor that Michael's father let us try. They were quite potent, and I only tried 3.
We then proceeded to watch some of the Russia vs. Greece soccer game for the Euro cup. Russia won. 1 to 0.
It was fun to watch, Matthew and I both really like Soccer!
Then, Matthew and I showed Michael redonkulous videos on Youtube. For the end of the night, Michael and Matthew played a Resident Evil Game on Michael's Wii and I blogged for quite some time, for over an hour.
Tomorrow, we plan to see a few churches and meet up with Judith at a running Sushi bar in town before we have to get on the train back to Mayen around 2-ish.
We hope that you are all doing well and taking care.
I will try to post pictures as soon as I get back tomorrow, if not, then sorry. I will try to get them up real soon!
Much love, Biss Dann!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Pics from Würzburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Köln
PICTURES UPDATE!!!!!
Würzburg!!!
A statue in front of the Würzburg Residenz
The inner part of the huge building that is the Würzburg Residenz!
Side chapel of the Residenz!
Matty in the Residenz gardens in Würzburg
A pretty front of a church in Würzburg!
Emily with a River underneath her and you can see a section of Würzburg in the background!
Matthew with all of Würzburg beneath him!
A part of the Marien Festung
One of the entrances to the Marien Festung
Würzburg Altebrücke (the old bridge)
Marienburg Festung
The Dom in Würzburg
Rothenburg Marktplatz with the Rathaus on the left and the tourist info on the right.
Matt in the Stocks at the Kriminal Museum
A close-up of his suffering!
Many, many weapons inside the Criminal Museum
Rothenburg Jewels
Matty on the Marktplatz.
More of the Marktplatz.
Emily and Matty with the Night Watchman!
Back side of a tower and main street in Rothenburg
Medevil Crime and Punishment Museum
The Restaraunt: ZUM HÖLL
The Devil metal sign in front of the Restaraunt ZUM HÖLL
The Valley section of Rothenburg. Basically Rothenburg would never be attacked from this angle!
Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Store!
Rothenburg Rathaus
Matthew on the Stairs of the Rothenburg City Wall!
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom from the front
A fountain type thing that details how lazy Cologne people are and how Magical elves had to do all their work for them!
The Magical Elves
Archeological Dig of the Jewish Synagoge
Rathaus and farther back the two towers of the Kölner Dom!
Window in the Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom main room and Querorgel Organ!
Mosaic tile floor in the Kölner Dom!
A Bell in an upper loft of the Kölner Dom
A Church as viewed from the top of the Kölner Dom
City view and a part of the Kölner Dom from on top of the Dom
Matty on top of the Dom
Matty and Emmy on top of the Dom
A mid-evening shot of the Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom Main Entrance
Roman built Archway. We ate on a bench just behind the arch.
A statue in front of the Würzburg Residenz
The inner part of the huge building that is the Würzburg Residenz!
Side chapel of the Residenz!
Matty in the Residenz gardens in Würzburg
A pretty front of a church in Würzburg!
Emily with a River underneath her and you can see a section of Würzburg in the background!
Matthew with all of Würzburg beneath him!
A part of the Marien Festung
One of the entrances to the Marien Festung
Würzburg Altebrücke (the old bridge)
Marienburg Festung
The Dom in Würzburg Rothenburg ob der Tauber!!!
Rothenburg Marktplatz with the Rathaus on the left and the tourist info on the right.
Matt in the Stocks at the Kriminal Museum
A close-up of his suffering!
Many, many weapons inside the Criminal Museum
Rothenburg Jewels
Matty on the Marktplatz.
More of the Marktplatz.
Emily and Matty with the Night Watchman!
Back side of a tower and main street in Rothenburg
Medevil Crime and Punishment Museum
The Restaraunt: ZUM HÖLL
The Devil metal sign in front of the Restaraunt ZUM HÖLL
The Valley section of Rothenburg. Basically Rothenburg would never be attacked from this angle!
Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Store!
Rothenburg Rathaus
Matthew on the Stairs of the Rothenburg City Wall!Cologne!
Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom from the front
A fountain type thing that details how lazy Cologne people are and how Magical elves had to do all their work for them!
The Magical Elves
Archeological Dig of the Jewish Synagoge
Rathaus and farther back the two towers of the Kölner Dom!
Window in the Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom main room and Querorgel Organ!
Mosaic tile floor in the Kölner Dom!
A Bell in an upper loft of the Kölner Dom
A Church as viewed from the top of the Kölner Dom
City view and a part of the Kölner Dom from on top of the Dom
Matty on top of the Dom
Matty and Emmy on top of the Dom
A mid-evening shot of the Kölner Dom
Kölner Dom Main EntranceRoman built Archway. We ate on a bench just behind the arch.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Bonn und Köln!
Hello lovely people one and all!
Well, as I said yesterday, I will update the blog on all things that have been lacking from it henceforth. Except for videos, they take so long to upload and to be honest, who has that kind of time in GERMANY!!!
So... 6-10-08
This morning, we met our group at the bus station next to the Neues Rathaus at 10 am! We got on our little blue bus and road out to Bonn!!!
To be very truthful, the only buildings in Bonn that we saw, were the ones we saw from the bus rides in and out of town. The whole time we were in Bonn, we were at a Museum. This museum was like "Eine Geschichte von Deutschland" or something to that effect, basically meaning, "A History of Germany."
The Museum was really interesting. It basically started off with WWI\II and went forward. The first level of the Museum was a bit sobering. Many pictures of fallen Jews, Germans, people alike were shown. It was hard to see, then there were videos of Germany after the war. It showed what the cities had looked like before hand, and then afterward. I almost feel that Dusseldorf was the worst of the ones I saw on the video. Everything was bascially gone.
It almost makes me feel a little badly that America had to go in and bomb all those places. However, then I saw images of American Troops liberating people from Nazi camps and I didn't feel sorry anymore. We had a reason to do what we did in WWI\II and I for one am not ashamed for that.
The museum moved on into the USSR period. It was intersting, this museum was all in German, may on or two English lines here or there, but very few and far in between. It really made us use our German. However, like I was saying, the Museum had all different types of Artifacts, pictures, radio broadcasts, documentary type things, T.V show broadcasts, tangible objects, pieces of the Berlin Wall, the center of an Airplane that was used to bring food to the Germans in the U.S Sector of Berlin during oen of the more desperate times of the Berlin Wall. It was a fantastic Museum.
Everyone wished that we had had more time there, we were only allowed two hours, which for this museum, just wasn't enough!
There were some really cool exhibits, like a senate type room, with chairs for people to sit and vote in. A group of very rowdy German Teenagers came through and they pretended to hold a very, very, very, noisy session of the Bundesland senate (I am not quite sure hwo to classify the system). It could be heard throught the entire buidling. The Guard on duty for that section jsut let them go at it and I think he actually personally really enjoyed the spectacle. However, when they moved onto a new section and were goofing around, the Female guard there got up in their faces and told them to have some respect that this was a Museum and not a bar! lol!
There were several exhibits that I really enjoyed. Therewas one, where the different sections were set out for you such as British, American, French, and Soviet union sections of Germany. You could then press on a section and listen to the radio broadcasts from those areas. Each one was quite different from another I can tell you that.
There was a t.v. exhibit, where you sat in a small half circle around 4 tv's and they were branched off into those kind of sections like before and you could watch German television through the ages. We saw the Kennedy speech where he exclaimed " Ich bin ein Berliner" Which actually means I am a doughnut or like a Bismark Doughnut. But I think that the Germans got what he was trying to say. He wanted to saw I am a Berliner, a person from Berlin liek you, working for you, etc. We also saw old time German like cartoons, except they use marionnetts it was cool!!!
There was a era with juke box music, lol, Elvis and that whole music era bit. There was also like music from the 60's and 70's from the States and of course Britian (The Beetles).
Matthew's favorite part of the Museum was the post war posters that were anti US and anti Communist. There were posters with like little boys on them saying "Ami, Go Home!" Another one said "Todays Germany's Military tomorrow the Soviet Republic's."
It was way fun, not a drag at all, and even though I didn't read too terribly much, I understood what things meant, etc.
After the Museum, we got back on our little blue bus (p.s. you know how when you are on a chartered bus, that the bus usually picks you up at a specific point that is most convinent for the travelers. Not here, we had to walk like 15 mins, to our bus in bonn and in Köln ( Cologne)) and we left for Köln!
When we arrived in Köln, we had to walk like 15-20 mins to the Kölner Dom from a random drop-off point. We walked and when we reached the Dom, we had 1 hour in which to do some shopping and eat lunch. Matthew got a huge order of fries from a Doner Kebab stand and I got a Doner Kebab. We went and sat next to the Kölner Dom next to an old Roman archway.
Lunch was quick, but at the same time, hilarious. 1. Beucase this must be the mating time for pidgeons, so all the males were fluffing out their necks and chasing the girls and the girls weren't having it. lol. it was hilarious. 2. Because there was a group of 4 British teenage girls, who every time a pidgeon swooped past them, they would scream! (Actually, that was more annoying than funny). Moving on...
So after lunch at 2 pm we had a city tour of Cologne. We saw little bits and pieces of buildings, the Rathaus, and we saw an archeological dig, where they had found a Jewish Synagoge from way back in the day under the current level of brick. It was super cool.
Our guide also told us about how they were at one time renovating and cleaning the Kölner Dom structure. Because the stone that was once basically was now black! So they were renovating it and the sandblaster was too much for the Kölner Dom exterior and it started to break off chunks of this delicately but very strongly built Cathedral! So they stopped soing it, and I jsut goign to leave it the way it is, and I think everyone is just fine with that. It has been this way for so long, that a while Kölner Dom would just be awkward.
After our tour, everyone (Except Erin who has a huge fear of heights) climbed the like..... way, way tall kölner Dom stairs. Yes mommy, Thats right! Emily has done it again. Remember how bad it was last time. Remember how we wanted to die and you almost gave up.... Yea, that was me this time. I did make it to the top, but being in such a small space, for such a long time, was not good for my tummy. I got way stressed out. It is just a small spiral staircase that goes up forever. (Margaret, you would have had a panic attack, I had a very small one).
After the walk to the top, we decided to chill in the Cathedral to get our bearings again. After this, Matthew and I went to a ridiculously cheap stores where I bought a pair of cute black flats for €3 and a German flower lay for Soccor Fever for €1. It was nice. Then a bunch of us went to eat at the Chicago Steakhouse.
Matthew had a Kolsch (beer made in Cologne) and the steak plate with a baked potato. I had the mixed vegetable plate with 3 small steak pieces (one of which I am certain was still mooing!) and a Kolsch. We had a good time eating and chatting with our friends.
After Dinner, it was time for the Orgel Konzert (Organ Concert). There were 5 pieces played with two encours. Two of which were Bach pieces the first Bach piece was "Sei Gegrüsset, Jesu Gutig" with 11 variations. There were also 3 pieces by french composers, one was from the 1900's and the other two were from .... I have the program in my room, I will have to check back and report.
However, what is really cool about the Kölner Dom is the fact that they have two organs, which are really one Organ, but they can play separately from each other and then together. The one has a deeper reedy qulaity to it and the other has more of a pan flute quality I want to say. It is called the Querorgel. It was so fantastic and Matthew and I just reveled in the fact that we were in Germany listening to an Organ Concert like those in the times of Bach and Buxtehude. We were totally geeking out!!! It was amazing.
After the concert, we headed back to our bus. The bus ride was long (and again we had to trek it out to the bus!!!), people were really loud, rowdy, and some had bought beer and brought it onto the bus with them, proceeded to consume and spill the beer on the bus, Matthew and I were ready to murder someone by the time we reached Mayen. Thank God we got off the bus. lol.
The day was fantastic. Matthew remarked several times that the Kölner Dom is probably the most impressive building he has yet to see and it is by far his favorite site yet!
I am going to upload pictures now, but I thought I would post the blog first so you could read while you wait. lol.
Much love to you all. Matthew and I leave tomorrow right after class for the trainstation. We are going to Regensburg in Bavaria to visit our good friend who was at Luther for a year: Michael M.
We are very excited to see him!!! I am not sure what my access options to the internet this weekend will be, but if I am allowed the opportunity I will update the blog!
We hope that you are all doing well and we wish you well!!! I suppose. hehe! :3
Much love and laughter, Biss Dann! :D
Well, as I said yesterday, I will update the blog on all things that have been lacking from it henceforth. Except for videos, they take so long to upload and to be honest, who has that kind of time in GERMANY!!!
So... 6-10-08
This morning, we met our group at the bus station next to the Neues Rathaus at 10 am! We got on our little blue bus and road out to Bonn!!!
To be very truthful, the only buildings in Bonn that we saw, were the ones we saw from the bus rides in and out of town. The whole time we were in Bonn, we were at a Museum. This museum was like "Eine Geschichte von Deutschland" or something to that effect, basically meaning, "A History of Germany."
The Museum was really interesting. It basically started off with WWI\II and went forward. The first level of the Museum was a bit sobering. Many pictures of fallen Jews, Germans, people alike were shown. It was hard to see, then there were videos of Germany after the war. It showed what the cities had looked like before hand, and then afterward. I almost feel that Dusseldorf was the worst of the ones I saw on the video. Everything was bascially gone.
It almost makes me feel a little badly that America had to go in and bomb all those places. However, then I saw images of American Troops liberating people from Nazi camps and I didn't feel sorry anymore. We had a reason to do what we did in WWI\II and I for one am not ashamed for that.
The museum moved on into the USSR period. It was intersting, this museum was all in German, may on or two English lines here or there, but very few and far in between. It really made us use our German. However, like I was saying, the Museum had all different types of Artifacts, pictures, radio broadcasts, documentary type things, T.V show broadcasts, tangible objects, pieces of the Berlin Wall, the center of an Airplane that was used to bring food to the Germans in the U.S Sector of Berlin during oen of the more desperate times of the Berlin Wall. It was a fantastic Museum.
Everyone wished that we had had more time there, we were only allowed two hours, which for this museum, just wasn't enough!
There were some really cool exhibits, like a senate type room, with chairs for people to sit and vote in. A group of very rowdy German Teenagers came through and they pretended to hold a very, very, very, noisy session of the Bundesland senate (I am not quite sure hwo to classify the system). It could be heard throught the entire buidling. The Guard on duty for that section jsut let them go at it and I think he actually personally really enjoyed the spectacle. However, when they moved onto a new section and were goofing around, the Female guard there got up in their faces and told them to have some respect that this was a Museum and not a bar! lol!
There were several exhibits that I really enjoyed. Therewas one, where the different sections were set out for you such as British, American, French, and Soviet union sections of Germany. You could then press on a section and listen to the radio broadcasts from those areas. Each one was quite different from another I can tell you that.
There was a t.v. exhibit, where you sat in a small half circle around 4 tv's and they were branched off into those kind of sections like before and you could watch German television through the ages. We saw the Kennedy speech where he exclaimed " Ich bin ein Berliner" Which actually means I am a doughnut or like a Bismark Doughnut. But I think that the Germans got what he was trying to say. He wanted to saw I am a Berliner, a person from Berlin liek you, working for you, etc. We also saw old time German like cartoons, except they use marionnetts it was cool!!!
There was a era with juke box music, lol, Elvis and that whole music era bit. There was also like music from the 60's and 70's from the States and of course Britian (The Beetles).
Matthew's favorite part of the Museum was the post war posters that were anti US and anti Communist. There were posters with like little boys on them saying "Ami, Go Home!" Another one said "Todays Germany's Military tomorrow the Soviet Republic's."
It was way fun, not a drag at all, and even though I didn't read too terribly much, I understood what things meant, etc.
After the Museum, we got back on our little blue bus (p.s. you know how when you are on a chartered bus, that the bus usually picks you up at a specific point that is most convinent for the travelers. Not here, we had to walk like 15 mins, to our bus in bonn and in Köln ( Cologne)) and we left for Köln!
When we arrived in Köln, we had to walk like 15-20 mins to the Kölner Dom from a random drop-off point. We walked and when we reached the Dom, we had 1 hour in which to do some shopping and eat lunch. Matthew got a huge order of fries from a Doner Kebab stand and I got a Doner Kebab. We went and sat next to the Kölner Dom next to an old Roman archway.
Lunch was quick, but at the same time, hilarious. 1. Beucase this must be the mating time for pidgeons, so all the males were fluffing out their necks and chasing the girls and the girls weren't having it. lol. it was hilarious. 2. Because there was a group of 4 British teenage girls, who every time a pidgeon swooped past them, they would scream! (Actually, that was more annoying than funny). Moving on...
So after lunch at 2 pm we had a city tour of Cologne. We saw little bits and pieces of buildings, the Rathaus, and we saw an archeological dig, where they had found a Jewish Synagoge from way back in the day under the current level of brick. It was super cool.
Our guide also told us about how they were at one time renovating and cleaning the Kölner Dom structure. Because the stone that was once basically was now black! So they were renovating it and the sandblaster was too much for the Kölner Dom exterior and it started to break off chunks of this delicately but very strongly built Cathedral! So they stopped soing it, and I jsut goign to leave it the way it is, and I think everyone is just fine with that. It has been this way for so long, that a while Kölner Dom would just be awkward.
After our tour, everyone (Except Erin who has a huge fear of heights) climbed the like..... way, way tall kölner Dom stairs. Yes mommy, Thats right! Emily has done it again. Remember how bad it was last time. Remember how we wanted to die and you almost gave up.... Yea, that was me this time. I did make it to the top, but being in such a small space, for such a long time, was not good for my tummy. I got way stressed out. It is just a small spiral staircase that goes up forever. (Margaret, you would have had a panic attack, I had a very small one).
After the walk to the top, we decided to chill in the Cathedral to get our bearings again. After this, Matthew and I went to a ridiculously cheap stores where I bought a pair of cute black flats for €3 and a German flower lay for Soccor Fever for €1. It was nice. Then a bunch of us went to eat at the Chicago Steakhouse.
Matthew had a Kolsch (beer made in Cologne) and the steak plate with a baked potato. I had the mixed vegetable plate with 3 small steak pieces (one of which I am certain was still mooing!) and a Kolsch. We had a good time eating and chatting with our friends.
After Dinner, it was time for the Orgel Konzert (Organ Concert). There were 5 pieces played with two encours. Two of which were Bach pieces the first Bach piece was "Sei Gegrüsset, Jesu Gutig" with 11 variations. There were also 3 pieces by french composers, one was from the 1900's and the other two were from .... I have the program in my room, I will have to check back and report.
However, what is really cool about the Kölner Dom is the fact that they have two organs, which are really one Organ, but they can play separately from each other and then together. The one has a deeper reedy qulaity to it and the other has more of a pan flute quality I want to say. It is called the Querorgel. It was so fantastic and Matthew and I just reveled in the fact that we were in Germany listening to an Organ Concert like those in the times of Bach and Buxtehude. We were totally geeking out!!! It was amazing.
After the concert, we headed back to our bus. The bus ride was long (and again we had to trek it out to the bus!!!), people were really loud, rowdy, and some had bought beer and brought it onto the bus with them, proceeded to consume and spill the beer on the bus, Matthew and I were ready to murder someone by the time we reached Mayen. Thank God we got off the bus. lol.
The day was fantastic. Matthew remarked several times that the Kölner Dom is probably the most impressive building he has yet to see and it is by far his favorite site yet!
I am going to upload pictures now, but I thought I would post the blog first so you could read while you wait. lol.
Much love to you all. Matthew and I leave tomorrow right after class for the trainstation. We are going to Regensburg in Bavaria to visit our good friend who was at Luther for a year: Michael M.
We are very excited to see him!!! I am not sure what my access options to the internet this weekend will be, but if I am allowed the opportunity I will update the blog!
We hope that you are all doing well and we wish you well!!! I suppose. hehe! :3
Much love and laughter, Biss Dann! :D
Very busy day!!!
Hey guys,
Just writing a quick note! Today was awesome and it is very late here now. I will write tomorrow about our lovely adventures as well as upload pictures from all the trips sp far that I have not!!!!
Take care! Biss Dann!
Just writing a quick note! Today was awesome and it is very late here now. I will write tomorrow about our lovely adventures as well as upload pictures from all the trips sp far that I have not!!!!
Take care! Biss Dann!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Kottenheim and Schwimmbad!
So today at 1:30 we got on the regional train to go to the next city over, Kottenheim. It was there that we went to visit the old folks home and learn a bit about German Health Care. It was hard to understand it all, they spoke fairly quickly and used a lot of new words, but what I did understand was intersting. We then got a quick tour of the old folks home, and then we sat around, had juice and cake, and talked with each other.
We got home around 4:20, and got ready to go to the pool. the weather was sweltering today. Extremely hot so it was a good day for the pool!!! We went there after stopping to get ice cream. At the swimming pool, we played volley ball (I played 3 games, and my team won each time), we also did a little swimming and tredding water, Matthew and I also layed out in the sun (don't worry we used tons of sunblock)( Margaret, everytime that Matthew takes out his Mary Kay sunblock Matthew always has to clarify that it is his mother's sun block. The funny thing is that the girls are all like, oooh, it shimmers, can I use some, hahaha)
We also went down their amazing water slide twice! It was so much fun, we stayed until closing time at 7:30. then Matthew and I went and we got a huge plate of Spaghetti Bolognesa with a basket of bread and a drink all for 4 euro each. Nice huh? We think its a stellar deal. Plus, it is very tasty.
I walked Matthew and Eric off at home, because of the fact that it was still quite light out, I walked myself home.
I had to interview my host mother for my homework that is due Thursday. 250 words over her life, etc. It was interesting, I hope I have enough information to cover 250 words.
Today is finished, I will be going to bed soon, its like 10:30 pm here now.
Tomorrow is a very big day for our group, we are doing our day trips to Bonn and Cologne. We will not return home until 10:30pm tomorrow.
We have a very busy scheduale, but tomorrow evening we got to go to a Organ concert with works of Bach, etc. performed. Matthew and I are totally geeking out and getting excited over it!
I will not be able to write about our adventures tomorrow as I had hoped. I will have to upload pictures of this weekend on wed. perhaps, and hopefully I will also get to write about our day trip then!
We hope you are all doing well. I will hopefully see some of my friends this week and next week, so I am excited, plus we are going to visit Michael for the weekend in Bavaria! YAY!
Take Care, Biss Dann!
We got home around 4:20, and got ready to go to the pool. the weather was sweltering today. Extremely hot so it was a good day for the pool!!! We went there after stopping to get ice cream. At the swimming pool, we played volley ball (I played 3 games, and my team won each time), we also did a little swimming and tredding water, Matthew and I also layed out in the sun (don't worry we used tons of sunblock)( Margaret, everytime that Matthew takes out his Mary Kay sunblock Matthew always has to clarify that it is his mother's sun block. The funny thing is that the girls are all like, oooh, it shimmers, can I use some, hahaha)
We also went down their amazing water slide twice! It was so much fun, we stayed until closing time at 7:30. then Matthew and I went and we got a huge plate of Spaghetti Bolognesa with a basket of bread and a drink all for 4 euro each. Nice huh? We think its a stellar deal. Plus, it is very tasty.
I walked Matthew and Eric off at home, because of the fact that it was still quite light out, I walked myself home.
I had to interview my host mother for my homework that is due Thursday. 250 words over her life, etc. It was interesting, I hope I have enough information to cover 250 words.
Today is finished, I will be going to bed soon, its like 10:30 pm here now.
Tomorrow is a very big day for our group, we are doing our day trips to Bonn and Cologne. We will not return home until 10:30pm tomorrow.
We have a very busy scheduale, but tomorrow evening we got to go to a Organ concert with works of Bach, etc. performed. Matthew and I are totally geeking out and getting excited over it!
I will not be able to write about our adventures tomorrow as I had hoped. I will have to upload pictures of this weekend on wed. perhaps, and hopefully I will also get to write about our day trip then!
We hope you are all doing well. I will hopefully see some of my friends this week and next week, so I am excited, plus we are going to visit Michael for the weekend in Bavaria! YAY!
Take Care, Biss Dann!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Würzburg and Rothenburg!!!! YAY!!!:3
Alright,
So I know you have all been just dying, waiting, anticipating my newest update (snicker) yea right!
6-6-08
lol. So anyways, this weekend was quite an adventure for Matthew and myself. On Friday, we woke up early and boarded the 7:29 train for Andernach. We were lucky to find that we only had to make one more switch from Andernach to Koblenz and it would take us straight to Würzburg. In Kobelnz, we actually found ourselves riding the same train as Frau Lucht. lol it was funny to see her outside events and the class room. She was on her was to Dresden to settle some things for our travels there in the next couple weeks. Our train was delayed by 15 mins, so she actually ended up missing her connection in Frankfurt. We felt badly for her and I hope she found another train eventually.
When we arrived in Würzburg, we headed for our hostle, which was not too far down the road. It was about 1\4 of a mile or less. When we got there, we paid, and were shown to our room. We stayed in a Mixed gender 10 person room that night in dorm bunk beds. Lets just say, we met a lot of interesting people. One Brit, one Austrilian, one chinese, one Japanese, one...still not sure, and two other Americans. One American hit it off real well with us, his name was Alex. Alex is 17 years old, but is a sophmore in College. Lets just say...he's been around the globe and because of it is extremely mature for his age (I was kinda shocked).
After we got our sheets on our bunk beds, Matthew and I struck out for the city! It was great! Crazy really, but fantastic. We headed straight for the Residenz. When we arrived there after about a 10-15 min walk, we found that the next English tour was at 3, but that there was a German tour taking off then (1 pm). So we decided to piggy back on the German tour. Our tour was comprised of some older German couples and then a group of young, and sometimes rowdy German middle schoolers. Apparently we must jsut stick out like a big thumb with a sign over our heads saying "Hi, We're American! Take a picture (smile for effect)" lol. Our guide was explaining to us the glory of the entry room of the Residenz with its huge painted ceiling with on each side a civilization. What most Americans mistake to be America when they first see it is actually Europe, then Asia, following Africa, and lastly America (as an uncivilized, exotic nation). I think oru tour guide realized right off the bat that we were Americans, and he good naturedly poked a little fun at us, without drawing any attention to us. Later in the tour, he apologized to me saying in an English accent, lol, " sorry for teasing you, but I just couldn't help it." It was at that point in time, that even though neither Matt nor myself had spoke either a word of English or German, that we must be obvious from quite some distance as Americans.
After our lovely tour of the Residenz (it really was lovely), we decided to look at the Residenz church attached to the left hand side of the Residenz, its left our right, and a quick but wonderful look at the Residenz Gardens. We then set off to look at the Dom! We found the dom with relative ease, because you can basically see it straight off. We found it and looked at it breifly. It was a bit too modern for either Matt or my tastes as to the look of Roman Catholic Churches. When we went out the front entrance, I instanly knew where I was. The älte brücke (old bridge) was was right in front of us about a 1\4 mile off and we headed for it.
Matthew and I walked the old bridge with its huge lovely statues at every 15 or so feet. The Marienfestung could be seen on the hill slightly to our left and we decided to visit it. When going to the Marienburg Fortress, there are two ways in which to appraoch it. There is a 40 min walk up that it very scenic and quit comfortably done, and then there is the heart pounding 20 min climb to the top. Guess which one we did, yup, 20 mins to the top. lol.
The climb was for sure heart pounding, I think maybe even Matthew was winded for a short second, hehe, but not really.
When we reached the top, we set out for the Mairen Festung Frankische Museum, this museum is huge. With tons of paintings, carvings (a good amount from Tilman Riemanschneider), plates, silverware, finery, huge wadrobes and desks (each and everyone of which Matthew had basically made up his mind to take with him. hahaha), weaponry, amory, etc. It was an interesting museum, and though I have now visited it twice, though this time quicker, I was happy to have Matthew see all these things. After the Museum, we proceeded to check out the rest of the castle open to the public, which isn't much.
We found that there was some sort of event going on there, there were teenagers, and then some who were in their 30's, 40's, and possibly 50's. They were doing archy, and pretend jousting. Lol. they seemed to be having a blast. Matthew and I watched for a while as the adults rode a wooden stake pony (you know, like the ones you played with a kids, when there is like a wooded broom handel and then a stuffed fleece head with yarn for hair. lol. it was a riot. Matt and I could hardly contain ourselves as we laughed at how dorky the scene below us was. hehe. Silly Germans, how we love them!
After the Marien Festung, we decided to find a place to eat. I was set on finding a restaraunt\winery that my mother and I had found last summer. It is called "Burger Spital Weinstub," And boy oh boy is the wine and food there fantastic!
Matthew and I found it with pretty relative ease. We first went into their winery store, where I proceeded to buy two bottles of wine (they have really good wine) one for my mother and another for myself! We also joke around with the man who was running the register. He was quite a jolly old fellow and I must admit, a sweetheart. He made a little joke saying I should buy a bottle for myself, my mother, and then for the two of us to share. Matt and I laughed, but then he asked if Matthew was my boyfriend and when I said yes he said, oh no, he's stronger built, taller, and younger than I am and the laughs were begun anew because of how funny he was!
For dinner, we did decide to eat there. Matthew had a pork stake with french fries, and a side salad. I had some meat tatar thing with roasted onions on the top! It was amazing! Matthew and I were both terribly pleased with our meals! We even spilt a bottle of their wine between us for a very decent price!
After dinner we were about spent, but we decided to check out a local concert held at the univeristy church of neubach for the performance of "Carmina Burana". We bought tickets, a glass of bubbly, and settled in for a lovely performace. Though I must say, I am sure Nordic choir did it much better. Not to say that the choir was lacking, by no means. I just think that Nordic can produce a more fulfilling sound. The soloists however were fantastic. Matthew did and did not like the Baritone, I thought he had a lovely voice, the soprano was enchanting, and the tenor I am pretty sure was actually a counter-tenor. I'm sorry but normal tenors of that age do not sing that high for that long a period of time. He was a counter-tenor for sure!
It was a fun time, and afterwards we got ice cream and headed back to our hostel! When we got there we stayed up quite some time talking with Alex, exchanging stories and finally, it was bed time!
6-7-08
Today was also an adventure. We got up, checked our emails, went into town with Alex to get soem breakfast, and separated ways. Alex has to update all the places on his list for the touring book company he works for, and Matthew and I had already been to all the places on his list.
So Matthew and I decided to go to a builiding which looked quite impressive from the outside, but I must admit, I wasn't too terribly impressed with the inside; again it was too modern for Matthew or my tastes of Roman Catholic Churches.
After that, we wandered a bit, got an ice cream cone, and then eventually headed back to the train station after Matthew had spent some time in a German Nato shop looking at army wear. He didn't buy anything, but only because the coat he tried on was too small. Poor Matty.
So we road the train from Würzburg to Steinach and then from Steinach to Rothenburg ob der Tauber! YAY!!!! I know Rothenburg is completely touristy, but I must be honest. I love it!
When we got there, we were immediately attacked (not really) by a German man trying to get us to stay in his hotel. We told him several times that we already had booked accomodations. Finally in the end he gave us a freee mapp, with the way to his hotel highlighted and told us to check it out if we wanted to. We did not, but it was nice to get the map.
We walked to our hostel after taking one wrong turn by me. It looked like we were suppoed to take a right, but really, we were jsut supposd to curve with the road.... oh well.
When we got there we waited around for a while and then realized that the reception was open from 9am-1pm and then 2pm-10pm. Guess what time we got there. Thats right, the one hour in which they had a break. lol. So we decided to go back into town and knock a few things off our list. with all our luggage. Now granted, we each only had one backpack. But think of a backpack streched to its limits, bulding over and extremely heaving because it held towels, bed sheets, clothing, numerous books, an umbrella, various other knick knacks, and two very heavy bottles of Würzburg Franken Wine!!! Lets just say, I was dying. lol!
Eventually, my back and shoulders couldn't take it anymore and I had to resort to putting my backpack on my front. Lets just say, I got many intersting looks from people.
We went to the Marktplatz and took a couple pictures. Afterwards, we headed off to the Käthe Wölfahrt Store (again, bascially Christmas town!!! yay!!!).
Matthew and I did each buy at least one thing from the Christmas extravaganza store. It was fun looking around in there. It was here that I switched my backpack to my front. lol. I probably think it was better this way, beacuse at least I could keep my huge load in check with all of those expense breakables in front of me. If my backpack had stayed on my back, I could have seen myself turning a corner and taking out a whole self with me. Thank god that did not happen!
After Käthe Wölfahrt, we went to the Analise Friese Store. They were nice, but maybe not as nice as I remeber them in the past. I told them about Rick Steve (the guide book, where fi you mention his book, then you get a free map of Rothenburg that is very pretty). They told me I could leave my bag there and go about my business for the day and come back for it when I wanted to, but I said no thank you.
We then moved onto an amoury store that Matthew had seen on our way back into town. The girl who worked there was extremely nice, let me take my bag off while we were there, she even let me use her internet to make sure that the Hostel really did open back up again at 2. Which it did. The store was really neat, all kinds of weapons lay at our finger tips. Cool katanas, fake royal style pistols,suits of armour, chain mail body pieces, etc. Matthew loved looking at it all, but good for him, he did not buy anything. Boy certainly do love toys. There were even a few things I found appealing. Like a daggar that I thought might go very nicely with my renniasance costume, but it was also a bit above my league in the price category.
We went back to the Hostel, had a few surprises there, and were shown to our rooms. This time Matthew and I were separated into boys and girls wings. Matthew ended up getting a 6 person room all to himself, no one else showed up. I had a 6 person room with two other girls, one from Spain the other from Japan.
When we were settled and after Matthew had showered, it was about 3:30 pm. So we had to get started because shops only stay open in Germany usually until 5-6pm.
We went directly to the Midevil Crime and Punishment Museum. I have been there once before, but thought Matthew would enjoy it. He did! There were all sorts of torture devices, weaponry, shame masks, documents, illustrations, etc. It was a good time for us, and we went through it all in about an hour. When my mother and I were there last year, I swear we were there for 3 hours.
After this, Matthew and I were a bit hungry, so we went to look for the place that had been reccomended to us by my mother. When we got there, the woman said the kitchen did not open until 6 pm. It was...4:30 or so by this time and we were quite hungry having had only a roll for breakfast and no lunch.
So we went in search of other places. Turns out, this seemed to be the theme everywhere we went. Finally, we found a restraunt on the Marktplatz right next to the Analise Frise store. Matthew and I each had one beer and I had a bottle of water as well. Matthew had Spaghetti Bolognesa with french fries and I had the Käse spatzel with a side salad. (Don't judge me, I know I have been eating käse spatzel on this trip none stop, but it is just so tasty, I can't help myself!)
By this time, huge clouds had rolled in with thunder and lighting (but thankfully, no rain) it passed us over, and it had become quite cool. So Matthew and I went back to the Hostel, changed into our warmer clothing, and walked a bit of the Stadtmauer (city wall). The unique thing about Rothenburg is the fact that the stadtmauer is bascially totally complete. It envelopes the old city, which actually our youth hostel was inside the city walls. yay!!! Liek I said, is envelopes the old city and is can be quite tall in the areas where more protection was needed, and there are areas such as the valley area, where the walls were shorter because no one would ever be insane enough to try to reach Rothenburg for an attack by that steep valley wall!
After this, we just sat down on the Marktplatz and waited for the "Nightwatchman's Tour" to begin at 8 pm. We saw him right away, because a local pointed him out to us. He was poking his head out of one of the side buildings, from quite far up and was drinking a glass of wine, seeing how many people he had attracted from that nights "show" lol. One moment he was up there and then the next thing Mattew and I knew, he was down in the square. We never even saw him leave the window. It was intense!
He came down to us, all dressed up like a midevil watchman with a candel lanter, warning horn, hat, and cape. Now this man really plays up this tour. He is fantastic, funny, sarcastic, pauses in all the right places. Music majorsfrom Luther might think of him as a modern day cult figure like how Paganini used to play up his violin acts with capes, etc. like this, except this isn't for music, this is for history. hehe.
The tour winded on through the city for about an hour, and I think Matthew really enjoyed it!! We learned a lot of fantastic Rothenburg history while still being entertained.
After the tour was over, we went to a restaraunt called "Zum Hölle" Which means "to Hell".
It even has a little gold sign outside with the shape of the devil on it. The building itself is from the 15oo's, however, the basement Keller is from the 900's. We got to eat and drink in the Keller. It was so cool. I kinda felt like Hell, but in a fun cool way, not a ....scary way.
Matthew and I each ordered some wine and enjoyed ourselves at our huge barrel like table. This was eventually shared with a couple who was originally from Romania, but who now had lived in the states for about 14 years. They had two children a nine year old and a four year old. We chatted with them the whole time. They were extremely nice and our conversation was quite relaxed, but with some serious topics at hand, like communism for example. ( Just a word to the parents, they brought it up, we did not, Matthew and I have been careful about speaking to the effect of policital topics.) But the two seemed very open to talk about it and by the end of it, Matthew and I were sorry to part ways with them.
By this time it was around 11 pm and we decided to retire back to our rooms for the night. I took a much needed shower after two days of traveling (I again forgot to bring shampoo and conditioner, sad panda).
After the shower Matt and I talked a bit about the days adventures and then we went to sleep.
6-8-08
Today was started earlier, with breakfast at 9. After breakfast, matthew and I checked out. Went and took some more pictures around town and finally headed back off to the train station because our train was scheduled to leave at 11:09 am. We got there in plenty of time, and spent the entire day on the train. This day had many train switches, in which we ended up missing one of our trains but found anotehr seconds later just leaving for Koblenz. After that, we reached Andernach where chaos ensued. Two trains were at a stand still in Andernach for at least 45 mins I would say. No one had any idea what was going on, and when our train finally showed up, the two trains were still there. Poor people and poor German railway workers (neither had a clue what was going on, it was like all communication had been lost).
We arrived back in Mayen at about... I believe it was around 3-4 pm. Matthew went home to shower, eat, and nap. I stayed here to shower, finish my book, cook käse spatzel for dinner (not a word!) , chat with Marianna about this weekends adventures, and watch the cooking channel with Marianna (apparently she hates to cook, but loves to watch cookign shows, I love oto do both, so it worked out well).
Later on Matthew came over and we spent the time updating things online and watching some stuff online.
Afterwhich, we made our travel plans for Regensburg this weekend, we are goign to leave thursday after class and go and stay with Michael for the weekend. yay. A true Bavarian and a very good friend of Matthew and mine. Matt left at like 12:30 and I proceeded to fall asleep almost instantly.
6-9-08
Today. Well woke up at ) 9:30, ate breakfast, and have been updating the blog since then.
Today, we are not having class becasue we were invited by one of the rotary members to come and see stuff in Kottenheim!!! Yay, I love excursions where we can use our German!!!!
So we are all meeting at the Mayen train stations and taking off for Kottenheim! I might update later tonight with how that went.
P.S. I let Matthew take most of the pictures when we were in Würzburg and Rothenburg this time, and Matthew takes far less pictures than I do.
But we will update pictures, hopefully tomorrow from our travels this weekend!
Much love to you all, and I hoep you are all doing well!
Biss Dann! ^^
So I know you have all been just dying, waiting, anticipating my newest update (snicker) yea right!
6-6-08
lol. So anyways, this weekend was quite an adventure for Matthew and myself. On Friday, we woke up early and boarded the 7:29 train for Andernach. We were lucky to find that we only had to make one more switch from Andernach to Koblenz and it would take us straight to Würzburg. In Kobelnz, we actually found ourselves riding the same train as Frau Lucht. lol it was funny to see her outside events and the class room. She was on her was to Dresden to settle some things for our travels there in the next couple weeks. Our train was delayed by 15 mins, so she actually ended up missing her connection in Frankfurt. We felt badly for her and I hope she found another train eventually.
When we arrived in Würzburg, we headed for our hostle, which was not too far down the road. It was about 1\4 of a mile or less. When we got there, we paid, and were shown to our room. We stayed in a Mixed gender 10 person room that night in dorm bunk beds. Lets just say, we met a lot of interesting people. One Brit, one Austrilian, one chinese, one Japanese, one...still not sure, and two other Americans. One American hit it off real well with us, his name was Alex. Alex is 17 years old, but is a sophmore in College. Lets just say...he's been around the globe and because of it is extremely mature for his age (I was kinda shocked).
After we got our sheets on our bunk beds, Matthew and I struck out for the city! It was great! Crazy really, but fantastic. We headed straight for the Residenz. When we arrived there after about a 10-15 min walk, we found that the next English tour was at 3, but that there was a German tour taking off then (1 pm). So we decided to piggy back on the German tour. Our tour was comprised of some older German couples and then a group of young, and sometimes rowdy German middle schoolers. Apparently we must jsut stick out like a big thumb with a sign over our heads saying "Hi, We're American! Take a picture (smile for effect)" lol. Our guide was explaining to us the glory of the entry room of the Residenz with its huge painted ceiling with on each side a civilization. What most Americans mistake to be America when they first see it is actually Europe, then Asia, following Africa, and lastly America (as an uncivilized, exotic nation). I think oru tour guide realized right off the bat that we were Americans, and he good naturedly poked a little fun at us, without drawing any attention to us. Later in the tour, he apologized to me saying in an English accent, lol, " sorry for teasing you, but I just couldn't help it." It was at that point in time, that even though neither Matt nor myself had spoke either a word of English or German, that we must be obvious from quite some distance as Americans.
After our lovely tour of the Residenz (it really was lovely), we decided to look at the Residenz church attached to the left hand side of the Residenz, its left our right, and a quick but wonderful look at the Residenz Gardens. We then set off to look at the Dom! We found the dom with relative ease, because you can basically see it straight off. We found it and looked at it breifly. It was a bit too modern for either Matt or my tastes as to the look of Roman Catholic Churches. When we went out the front entrance, I instanly knew where I was. The älte brücke (old bridge) was was right in front of us about a 1\4 mile off and we headed for it.
Matthew and I walked the old bridge with its huge lovely statues at every 15 or so feet. The Marienfestung could be seen on the hill slightly to our left and we decided to visit it. When going to the Marienburg Fortress, there are two ways in which to appraoch it. There is a 40 min walk up that it very scenic and quit comfortably done, and then there is the heart pounding 20 min climb to the top. Guess which one we did, yup, 20 mins to the top. lol.
The climb was for sure heart pounding, I think maybe even Matthew was winded for a short second, hehe, but not really.
When we reached the top, we set out for the Mairen Festung Frankische Museum, this museum is huge. With tons of paintings, carvings (a good amount from Tilman Riemanschneider), plates, silverware, finery, huge wadrobes and desks (each and everyone of which Matthew had basically made up his mind to take with him. hahaha), weaponry, amory, etc. It was an interesting museum, and though I have now visited it twice, though this time quicker, I was happy to have Matthew see all these things. After the Museum, we proceeded to check out the rest of the castle open to the public, which isn't much.
We found that there was some sort of event going on there, there were teenagers, and then some who were in their 30's, 40's, and possibly 50's. They were doing archy, and pretend jousting. Lol. they seemed to be having a blast. Matthew and I watched for a while as the adults rode a wooden stake pony (you know, like the ones you played with a kids, when there is like a wooded broom handel and then a stuffed fleece head with yarn for hair. lol. it was a riot. Matt and I could hardly contain ourselves as we laughed at how dorky the scene below us was. hehe. Silly Germans, how we love them!
After the Marien Festung, we decided to find a place to eat. I was set on finding a restaraunt\winery that my mother and I had found last summer. It is called "Burger Spital Weinstub," And boy oh boy is the wine and food there fantastic!
Matthew and I found it with pretty relative ease. We first went into their winery store, where I proceeded to buy two bottles of wine (they have really good wine) one for my mother and another for myself! We also joke around with the man who was running the register. He was quite a jolly old fellow and I must admit, a sweetheart. He made a little joke saying I should buy a bottle for myself, my mother, and then for the two of us to share. Matt and I laughed, but then he asked if Matthew was my boyfriend and when I said yes he said, oh no, he's stronger built, taller, and younger than I am and the laughs were begun anew because of how funny he was!
For dinner, we did decide to eat there. Matthew had a pork stake with french fries, and a side salad. I had some meat tatar thing with roasted onions on the top! It was amazing! Matthew and I were both terribly pleased with our meals! We even spilt a bottle of their wine between us for a very decent price!
After dinner we were about spent, but we decided to check out a local concert held at the univeristy church of neubach for the performance of "Carmina Burana". We bought tickets, a glass of bubbly, and settled in for a lovely performace. Though I must say, I am sure Nordic choir did it much better. Not to say that the choir was lacking, by no means. I just think that Nordic can produce a more fulfilling sound. The soloists however were fantastic. Matthew did and did not like the Baritone, I thought he had a lovely voice, the soprano was enchanting, and the tenor I am pretty sure was actually a counter-tenor. I'm sorry but normal tenors of that age do not sing that high for that long a period of time. He was a counter-tenor for sure!
It was a fun time, and afterwards we got ice cream and headed back to our hostel! When we got there we stayed up quite some time talking with Alex, exchanging stories and finally, it was bed time!
6-7-08
Today was also an adventure. We got up, checked our emails, went into town with Alex to get soem breakfast, and separated ways. Alex has to update all the places on his list for the touring book company he works for, and Matthew and I had already been to all the places on his list.
So Matthew and I decided to go to a builiding which looked quite impressive from the outside, but I must admit, I wasn't too terribly impressed with the inside; again it was too modern for Matthew or my tastes of Roman Catholic Churches.
After that, we wandered a bit, got an ice cream cone, and then eventually headed back to the train station after Matthew had spent some time in a German Nato shop looking at army wear. He didn't buy anything, but only because the coat he tried on was too small. Poor Matty.
So we road the train from Würzburg to Steinach and then from Steinach to Rothenburg ob der Tauber! YAY!!!! I know Rothenburg is completely touristy, but I must be honest. I love it!
When we got there, we were immediately attacked (not really) by a German man trying to get us to stay in his hotel. We told him several times that we already had booked accomodations. Finally in the end he gave us a freee mapp, with the way to his hotel highlighted and told us to check it out if we wanted to. We did not, but it was nice to get the map.
We walked to our hostel after taking one wrong turn by me. It looked like we were suppoed to take a right, but really, we were jsut supposd to curve with the road.... oh well.
When we got there we waited around for a while and then realized that the reception was open from 9am-1pm and then 2pm-10pm. Guess what time we got there. Thats right, the one hour in which they had a break. lol. So we decided to go back into town and knock a few things off our list. with all our luggage. Now granted, we each only had one backpack. But think of a backpack streched to its limits, bulding over and extremely heaving because it held towels, bed sheets, clothing, numerous books, an umbrella, various other knick knacks, and two very heavy bottles of Würzburg Franken Wine!!! Lets just say, I was dying. lol!
Eventually, my back and shoulders couldn't take it anymore and I had to resort to putting my backpack on my front. Lets just say, I got many intersting looks from people.
We went to the Marktplatz and took a couple pictures. Afterwards, we headed off to the Käthe Wölfahrt Store (again, bascially Christmas town!!! yay!!!).
Matthew and I did each buy at least one thing from the Christmas extravaganza store. It was fun looking around in there. It was here that I switched my backpack to my front. lol. I probably think it was better this way, beacuse at least I could keep my huge load in check with all of those expense breakables in front of me. If my backpack had stayed on my back, I could have seen myself turning a corner and taking out a whole self with me. Thank god that did not happen!
After Käthe Wölfahrt, we went to the Analise Friese Store. They were nice, but maybe not as nice as I remeber them in the past. I told them about Rick Steve (the guide book, where fi you mention his book, then you get a free map of Rothenburg that is very pretty). They told me I could leave my bag there and go about my business for the day and come back for it when I wanted to, but I said no thank you.
We then moved onto an amoury store that Matthew had seen on our way back into town. The girl who worked there was extremely nice, let me take my bag off while we were there, she even let me use her internet to make sure that the Hostel really did open back up again at 2. Which it did. The store was really neat, all kinds of weapons lay at our finger tips. Cool katanas, fake royal style pistols,suits of armour, chain mail body pieces, etc. Matthew loved looking at it all, but good for him, he did not buy anything. Boy certainly do love toys. There were even a few things I found appealing. Like a daggar that I thought might go very nicely with my renniasance costume, but it was also a bit above my league in the price category.
We went back to the Hostel, had a few surprises there, and were shown to our rooms. This time Matthew and I were separated into boys and girls wings. Matthew ended up getting a 6 person room all to himself, no one else showed up. I had a 6 person room with two other girls, one from Spain the other from Japan.
When we were settled and after Matthew had showered, it was about 3:30 pm. So we had to get started because shops only stay open in Germany usually until 5-6pm.
We went directly to the Midevil Crime and Punishment Museum. I have been there once before, but thought Matthew would enjoy it. He did! There were all sorts of torture devices, weaponry, shame masks, documents, illustrations, etc. It was a good time for us, and we went through it all in about an hour. When my mother and I were there last year, I swear we were there for 3 hours.
After this, Matthew and I were a bit hungry, so we went to look for the place that had been reccomended to us by my mother. When we got there, the woman said the kitchen did not open until 6 pm. It was...4:30 or so by this time and we were quite hungry having had only a roll for breakfast and no lunch.
So we went in search of other places. Turns out, this seemed to be the theme everywhere we went. Finally, we found a restraunt on the Marktplatz right next to the Analise Frise store. Matthew and I each had one beer and I had a bottle of water as well. Matthew had Spaghetti Bolognesa with french fries and I had the Käse spatzel with a side salad. (Don't judge me, I know I have been eating käse spatzel on this trip none stop, but it is just so tasty, I can't help myself!)
By this time, huge clouds had rolled in with thunder and lighting (but thankfully, no rain) it passed us over, and it had become quite cool. So Matthew and I went back to the Hostel, changed into our warmer clothing, and walked a bit of the Stadtmauer (city wall). The unique thing about Rothenburg is the fact that the stadtmauer is bascially totally complete. It envelopes the old city, which actually our youth hostel was inside the city walls. yay!!! Liek I said, is envelopes the old city and is can be quite tall in the areas where more protection was needed, and there are areas such as the valley area, where the walls were shorter because no one would ever be insane enough to try to reach Rothenburg for an attack by that steep valley wall!
After this, we just sat down on the Marktplatz and waited for the "Nightwatchman's Tour" to begin at 8 pm. We saw him right away, because a local pointed him out to us. He was poking his head out of one of the side buildings, from quite far up and was drinking a glass of wine, seeing how many people he had attracted from that nights "show" lol. One moment he was up there and then the next thing Mattew and I knew, he was down in the square. We never even saw him leave the window. It was intense!
He came down to us, all dressed up like a midevil watchman with a candel lanter, warning horn, hat, and cape. Now this man really plays up this tour. He is fantastic, funny, sarcastic, pauses in all the right places. Music majorsfrom Luther might think of him as a modern day cult figure like how Paganini used to play up his violin acts with capes, etc. like this, except this isn't for music, this is for history. hehe.
The tour winded on through the city for about an hour, and I think Matthew really enjoyed it!! We learned a lot of fantastic Rothenburg history while still being entertained.
After the tour was over, we went to a restaraunt called "Zum Hölle" Which means "to Hell".
It even has a little gold sign outside with the shape of the devil on it. The building itself is from the 15oo's, however, the basement Keller is from the 900's. We got to eat and drink in the Keller. It was so cool. I kinda felt like Hell, but in a fun cool way, not a ....scary way.
Matthew and I each ordered some wine and enjoyed ourselves at our huge barrel like table. This was eventually shared with a couple who was originally from Romania, but who now had lived in the states for about 14 years. They had two children a nine year old and a four year old. We chatted with them the whole time. They were extremely nice and our conversation was quite relaxed, but with some serious topics at hand, like communism for example. ( Just a word to the parents, they brought it up, we did not, Matthew and I have been careful about speaking to the effect of policital topics.) But the two seemed very open to talk about it and by the end of it, Matthew and I were sorry to part ways with them.
By this time it was around 11 pm and we decided to retire back to our rooms for the night. I took a much needed shower after two days of traveling (I again forgot to bring shampoo and conditioner, sad panda).
After the shower Matt and I talked a bit about the days adventures and then we went to sleep.
6-8-08
Today was started earlier, with breakfast at 9. After breakfast, matthew and I checked out. Went and took some more pictures around town and finally headed back off to the train station because our train was scheduled to leave at 11:09 am. We got there in plenty of time, and spent the entire day on the train. This day had many train switches, in which we ended up missing one of our trains but found anotehr seconds later just leaving for Koblenz. After that, we reached Andernach where chaos ensued. Two trains were at a stand still in Andernach for at least 45 mins I would say. No one had any idea what was going on, and when our train finally showed up, the two trains were still there. Poor people and poor German railway workers (neither had a clue what was going on, it was like all communication had been lost).
We arrived back in Mayen at about... I believe it was around 3-4 pm. Matthew went home to shower, eat, and nap. I stayed here to shower, finish my book, cook käse spatzel for dinner (not a word!) , chat with Marianna about this weekends adventures, and watch the cooking channel with Marianna (apparently she hates to cook, but loves to watch cookign shows, I love oto do both, so it worked out well).
Later on Matthew came over and we spent the time updating things online and watching some stuff online.
Afterwhich, we made our travel plans for Regensburg this weekend, we are goign to leave thursday after class and go and stay with Michael for the weekend. yay. A true Bavarian and a very good friend of Matthew and mine. Matt left at like 12:30 and I proceeded to fall asleep almost instantly.
6-9-08
Today. Well woke up at ) 9:30, ate breakfast, and have been updating the blog since then.
Today, we are not having class becasue we were invited by one of the rotary members to come and see stuff in Kottenheim!!! Yay, I love excursions where we can use our German!!!!
So we are all meeting at the Mayen train stations and taking off for Kottenheim! I might update later tonight with how that went.
P.S. I let Matthew take most of the pictures when we were in Würzburg and Rothenburg this time, and Matthew takes far less pictures than I do.
But we will update pictures, hopefully tomorrow from our travels this weekend!
Much love to you all, and I hoep you are all doing well!
Biss Dann! ^^
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