New Blog, New location

Hello loyal blog readers. I have switched my blog to a different address. I now have a Mobile Me account with Apple, and I am using iWeb and Mobile Me to publish a much nicer blog. I will soon have the Berlin update up. Please visit the new blog from now on. I have included all past entries, as well as added some pictures to the top page of each blog. Feel free to look back through it! Also, you can still add comments. I love comments! Please let me know if you have any trouble viewing the new blog site. Send me an email if something is not working out. Thanks!

http://web.me.com/ludvira/Wanderlust_in_Germany/Blog/Blog.html

The December, Holiday 2009, Winter Update! Part I

It has been almost exactly a month since I last updated. Wow. I really need to get back on track! I have been writing this blog entry in pieces in a Word doc when I have had time. Warning: This is quite a long entry, as it contains an entire month´s worth of travel and holidays! I know only those who really love me will read it all the way through. I have put a lot of time into this one, and I am not even up to speed to January yet!

After Lissi visited me in Aachen, the past month has been extremely busy. The first week of December, I kept myself busy with different social events and celebrations. I visited INCAS for a Christmas party, and met some really cool people from all over the world. The next evening, I went to a Salsa class with a student from Indonesia, whom I had met the previous night at INCAS. I LOVED salsa! I can´t wait to go back after the holidays. I was there for about 4 hours and learned so much! Salsa is really fun, especially when you have a parter who knows what he is doing. It also burns a lot of calories, and at the end I felt like I had participated in a fitness class. The next evening I celebrated a Mexican holiday with the Mexican international student organization. I had met some Mexican students previously at other INCAS events. This was complete with homemade Mexican food, pinatas, sparklers, and music! Most Germans are not familiar with pinatas. These were made in the traditional star shape with 7 points, representing the north star. I was only familiar with the kind that we buy in the store for children´s birthday parties. That week I also visited a house bible study. I had met an American, Tim, on the bus that Sunday, and he invited me to his birthday party. He is a part of the bible study, and they had a birthday party for him that evening. I ended up meeting 3 Americans that week- that was 3/4 of all Americans I have met in Aachen. The bible study is led by a couple, Amy and Stefan. Amy is from the US, and lives in Aachen with her German husband and 18 month old. I had a really nice time meeting everyone and connecting with a few Americans! The next evening, I met with Tim and talked for a long time about our experiences in Germany from an American perspective over coffee. I cannot describe how nice it was to relate to someone from your own country. Though our country is HUGE, Tim and I shared a lot of similar experiences and opinions regarding the US and Germany.

That week really was a lot of fun. Every evening I was with a completely different group of people, and experienced something new each day. I am looking forward to reconnecting with everyone after the holidays. Now this brings me to...

My parents visit! As most of you know, my parents visited me for 10 days. I had made it clear this summer that I did not want to come home for Christmas, so we made a joint vacation/Christmas out of our time spent together. I picked them up at the train station in Aachen on Friday, Dec. 11. We took the taxi to their hotel. Dad travels a lot for business, so he enjoyed staying at the Holiday Inn with his points. They stayed 5 nights in Aachen. That afternoon, we had "Christmas" in the hotel. My parents brought several gifts over for me, including my original stocking that I have had ever since I can remember! Mom even ordered special wrapping paper that said Merry Christmas in German! (Fröhe Weihnachten). Mom had brought her homemade fudge, pecans and peanut brittle all the way from Atlanta. I also got a cool digital picture frame to display all the wonderful pictures I am accumulating over here, and to remind me of all the wonderful people back home.

Aachen Christmas market, My stocking with the special paper, and our first of many Glühweins!

That evening, we went to Willi´s house (He is my research professor here). Willi spent time in Boston for about a year in 1990. Ever since they returned to Germany, they brought the Thanksgiving tradition back with them. Each year they have a turkey and invite friends over. Our entire lab group was there, and I brought my parents along. This was a blend of American and German traditions. We had the BEST turkey I have ever had, complete with stuffing that really made the turkey moist. That was the prettiest, biggest turkey I have seen. It was Publix Thanksgiving commercial quality. Now for the German part: We had Rotkohl (red cabbage), Knödel (like a dumpling, sort of), and instead of cranberries, we had Preisenberries. Oh, and lots of wine and champagne. Willi calls it Truthahn bei Willi, or Turkey at Willi´s. After about 8, Mom and Dad were about to fall in their plates. Willi´s son Phillip drove us back.

The whole crew

The next morning, we took the train (2 hrs) to Wuppertal, but not before I introduced my parents to the wonders of the German bakery and breakfast! They learned to eat a lot of meat, bread, and cheese for breakfast!

Christmas time in the bakery

Wuppertal is the town where my grandmother grew up. She left at age 10, and lives in Atlanta now. This is where I got my interest to learn German. We visited Wuppertal to meet the family that still lives there. My grandma´s cousin, Rolf, has lived there his entire life. We met his wife, Lora, and her son Jürgen and his wife Eva. Jürgen and Rolf showed us around town. We rode on the Schwebebahn. This is a suspension train that was built when my grandma was a child. We saw the building where Opa, my great grandfather, had his factory. We saw the place where their apartment building used to stand (before if was bombed), and we saw the Grund Schule (elementary school) where everyone in town went to school, including my grandma, Rolf, and even my Oma (great grandmother). We went back to Rolf´s house and had such a wonderful day. Lora had made a pea soup for lunch, which hit the spot after a cold, damp walk through the town. We saw old pictures from the family. At the end of the day, just before we were ready to take the train back to Aachen, Rolf took us upstairs and showed us quite a surprise. He has built an entire toy railroad that consumes a room in their house. This has been his labor of love the past 40 years. I really cannot do it justice, except for the pictures I can show you.

Model Trains Lora, Me, Mom, Dad, Eva, Rolf

Schwebebahn The School

The next day, Sunday, we met the Sinkens, my other family! Mom brought some Christmas presents for the family and we hung out at their house for a while before driving to Andenne, Belgium. We ate at a wonderful restaurant with a French name of which I cannot remember now. However, everyone could speak German with us, as it is so close to Germany. We had quite the 4 course meal. Afterwards, we drove back into Germany through Holland and arrived at Monschau. This is a beautiful city in the Eifel region. It was covered in snow, and had an old city charm to it. Post card charm, I must say. The city is located in a valley with wonderful mountains around it. We went inside immediately to warm up with hot chocolate. We had quite a time getting there, as everyone else seemed to have the same idea to spend their Sunday in Monschau. They were running shuttle buses from parking areas down into the city. We managed to find a space somewhere along the mountainside. That evening we enjoyed the Monschau Christmas Market, complete with Glüh Wein, of course! We also bought a special mustard made with Riesling. Yum! Hope you guys enjoy that at home this year, Mom and Dad.

At the Monshau market, At dinner in Belgium, and at the Sinken´s House

The next day, Monday, we spent the day in Aachen. We took an audio guide tour through the Rathaus, or city hall, where over 30 kings were corrornated. This was Charlegmagne´s chosen city to call home due to the hot mineral springs during the days of the Roman Empire, and he had the Rathaus and Dom built. We also toured the Dom, where supposedly the relics of the birth cloth of Jesus resides, as well as few other relics. We also saw the Schatzkammer, or treasury, where hundreds of years of relics, statues, paintings, etc is housed under the cathedral. That evening, we bought a fair amount of chocolate at the Lindt factory. Aachen produces Lindt chocolate in a factory near my apartment, and you can buy all kinds of chocolate for reduced prices. Mom loaded up for friends and family back home. That evening we trekked back to my apartment and had Abendbrot.

Tuesday we took the train to Cologne. We toured the Dom, and Dad and I walked up the spire- more than 500 steps! What a workout. What a magnificent view of the city. About halfway up we saw the 9 bells of the tower. In the Dom, the relics of the three wise man supposedly lie in three golden shrines. Many pilgrims come here and walk under the shrine. The church is definitely something to see. It took about 800 years to build. It is in the Neo-Gothic Style.

Pictures of the Dom, need I say more?

As we were looking through handy Rick Steve´s to decide where we wanted to eat, a man came up to us and asked if we needed help. He recommended the Früh restaurant, a well known brewery that brews a special type of Kölner beer. Excellent German food, as well. During this trip I came to really like Rotkohl, or red cabbage. Before we went inside, he paused in front of a statue depicting an old Kölner fairy tale, and explained the story to us. We also learned that he was a retired engineer for Ford, and had spent time in the US on business. He was so helpful, and I helped translate everything into German for my parents.

Drinking the Früh Beee, In front of the statue with the nice man, sadly we did not get his name, and the Shrine of the Magi.

That afternoon we went to the chocolate museum, which looks like a ship on the outside and sits directly on the Rhine River. Didn´t know there was so much to learn about chocolate. From how the cacao bean is processed to how chocolate is made in the factory, it was quite an education about chocolate.

Now, I am waiting on dad to send me pictures from the rest of the trip. From here on down I do not have pictures, but will for sure add them when I receive them:

Wednesday morning we finally left home base and took the train to Rothenburg ob der Trauber. This is an old medieval city, complete with a wall around the entire city. This is quite a quaint little city. It was unbearably cold, and snowed the two days we were there. We stayed in Hotel Spitzweg, an old house built in the 1500s, now owned by a jolly old man that sits down at breakfast with you and gives you whiskey when you arrive to warm you up. The breakfast was amazing. He made a large platter of cheese, meats, fruit, and fresh eggs, coffee, muesli, and bread. I really love the german breakfast here. This was by far the best accommodations we had. No internet, not much modern in this city. That evening, we went on the Watchman´s Tour. This is a tour through the town by a man dressed up like an old medieval watchman who guards the city, and tells you what it was like to live back then in the city.

We also went to the Kathe Wohlfarht, the world famous christmas store. Overpriced, but mom bought many little trinkets for friends and family back home. The Christmas market was tiny, and closed at 7. Well, it seemed the whole town shut down after 7. This was okay, because we were quite exhausted after being out in the cold all day. The next day we walked around the wall, encircling the perimeter of the city. Covered in snow, Rothenburg was unbelievably beautiful. We also ate really good German food here. Several Guest houses also have a small, quaint restaurant that offers refuge from the cold and a nice German meal.

Thursday morning we headed to Nürnberg, also located in Bayern. I definitely picked up on the Bayern accent, and I am glad I do not live in Bayern. It was difficult to understand, and does not sound pleasing to the ears! Anyhow, we arrived in Nürnberg after it had snowed overnight, and it continued to snow throughout our stay there. While in Nürnberg, Germany experienced the coldest temperatures it had had in 60 years. Yeah, believe me, we didn´t need to hear the weather report to know it was cold. We are talking snow on top of snow, 6F , or -15C. And we were out in it all day sightseeing. My feet have never hurt so bad. I ended up buying another pair of boots. This time with GoreTex to keep out the water, lined with fur, and with extra special soles made of lamb fur. My feet are finally happy now, 130 Euros later. I know you guys in the South cannot imagine this. In addition, every day I had to wear about 3 layers on top, 2 pairs of gloves, a coat, hat, scarf, and 2 layers on my legs. Since my parents arrived in mid-December, this has been my daily outfit and has continued to be absolutely necessary in Berlin and as we head into January. After it had snowed so much, the streets were filled with black slush, which manages to find its way into every store. Puddles of black slush in every restaurant and store. Enough about the weather.

Nürnberg has a lot of WW2 history. We went to the DokuCenter, a museum that attempts to describe how and why the Nazi regime came to power, and how to prevent it from happening again. It is not a Holocaust or WW2 museum, however it attempts to explain how Hitler took advantage of post WWI Germany, a country torn by war and without a strong and stable government, rose to power to lead a lost people. The rally grounds surround the museum. This is unreal. I have now stood in the very place Hitler stood to give speeches to his many followers. I have seen the Grosse Strasse, were soldiers marched and later allies used it as a runway. I have seen the Congress Hall which was never finished, built to seat 50,000. We walked around all the grounds in about 1.5 hr, on the coldest day through the snow. For those of you who have been to Nürnberg and Rothenburg, I would like to compare pictures from summer/spring to those we have laden with snow. After our trek through the Winter Wonderland, we found a nice, WARM place to eat. Somewhere where I could defrost my feet. It was after this day we decided I had to have new shoes! That afternoon we went to the Toy Musuem. Germany is well known for its wood work, and was formerly quite well known for its toys. This musuem has toys from the 1800s to present.

The first day we got there we walked through the city and did our own self guided tour. Thanks again, Rick Steves! We ended at the Market place, where the Christkindlmarkt takes place. After all the Christmas markets I saw, Nürnberg by far has the best. We enjoyed listening to choirs singing Christmas songs on a stage, tried Lebkuchen, or Gingerbread, and bought a few Christmas ornaments.

At the end of our stay in Nürnberg, we ended up in Wiesbaden, which is about 30 min by train outside of Frankfurt. Dad had a free night at a Crown Plaza anywhere in the world, and wanted to stay outside of Frankfurt before their departure. Dr. Harris also happened to be in Wiesbaden for the holidays visiting his wife who works for the US military there. We had a wonderful time there, enjoyed a nice dinner with them, and I really enjoyed seeing an Auburn connection. Renee served us eggnog in her beautiful home, built sometime in the 1800s. The home is absolutely beautiful, and has been in her family for a while. Looks like a Victorian house at the turn of the century with vaulted ceilings and filled with many antiques and artwork that she made. Wiesbaden was missed in WW2, and therefore has many old buildings that many cities, like Frankfurt, completely lost in the war. Wiesbaden, as shown in the name, is known for its famous mineral bads (baths). There is a world famous resort here based on these healthy, healing waters. There are fountains throughout the city running with this hot, salty, mineral rich water. It is recommended to drink daily, but only up to 1 L due to the large mineral content. I am hoping to come back in the summer and visit with Renee and her family.

The next morning, and I mean EARLY morning, we took a taxi at 6 am to the train station. After dragging our luggage from the trainstation to our hotels all week in the snow, we were ready for a ride. We rode to the airport train station, where we parted ways to Aachen and Atlanta. I took the train back from Frankfurt to Aachen, and saw snow the entire way to Aachen. After hearing that it only rains in Aachen but seldom snows, I was surprised to see about 4 inches of snow on the ground. Apparently Aachen, or maybe the whole country, got the same cold wave that Nürnberg had.

The next two days, I attempted to get turned around and ready to go to Berlin. The highlight of these two days was my first English lesson. I walked down the road about 20 minutes to the family´s house that was interested in me teaching English to their 9 year old. I had just planned on meeting the family, and not actually teaching the first meeting. It turned into an hour of fun, English teaching! Kimberly is so sweet, and is really interested in learning the language, but is bored in school and her parents are really dissatisfied with how English is taught. We started with the basics- how to say the ABC´s after I realized she had been learning vocabulary, but did not know how to pronounce letters or words, or build sentences. We learned the whole alphabet, and at the end I agreed with the parents that I would come twice a week. It was really a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it.

The next morning, Doris picked me and my luggage up and brought me to her house. Since I was spending Christmas in Berlin, I wanted to say hello before the holidays. We had coffee and Spekulatius (special German cookie that my grandmother always has, and we refer to them as Windmill cookies), and she was so kind to give me a Christmas present: A beautiful necklace handmade in Würseln, a decorative candle, and a motivational book. I am always so amazed at her (and her family´s) hospitality towards me. I actually really missed being with them over Christmas. She took me to the train, and of course, if was delayed, like every other ICE train I have traveled with in December. This is mostly due to the winter weather. Thank God I was not traveling on the EuroStar. I can deal with a 30 min delay or cancel, but not an overnight in the Chunnel! The train ride was quite stressful from Aachen to Koln with the Thalys, another fast train. I did not get past the door, as there were so many people on board. I stood up the whole way and ran across the platform to catch the train to Berlin in Köln. Though I had a reservation, it seemed many didn´t, as the train was SRO. I climbed and crawled through several cars, over people and luggage until I finally reached my reserved seat at the end of the train. I sat in peace for the next 5 hours until I arrived in Berlin.

To be continued...