Coming home on the 18th December
Firstly, may I apologise for the tardiness of this entry - this is due to a number of reasons; Christmas, fatigue, having a poor memory and working long hours filling Morrisons' shelves with alcohol. But it's here now, and I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, and as we hurtle towards 2010 (already a tenth of the way through a century!), let me wish you a very Happy New Year! So, if you're sitting comfortably, I shall begin...
The journey home was to take about 10 hours from start to finish, about 5 of which would be spent on trains, and the rest loitering without intent. Was it a simple and straightforward journey....err...don't be silly - when does anything go as smoothly as I plan it?
I had planned on getting up at 5.30 in the morning, but for some reason I decided at 5 o'clock that 5 would be fine! My train didn't leave until 8, but I had to catch the bus to the train station at 7, so had to leave my house about 6.45. I still had a few odds and sods to get finished in the morning ; packing the last few things, sorting out my bedding, basically making sure the room was completely clean. Having completed all of my pre-departure jobs, and checked I still had my tickets, passport, keys, and suitcase (although I'd have to be rather muppet-like to forget this!), I left the house and walked to the bus stop. The first thing that struck me, as I stepped out of my house for the last time for a couple of weeks, was...how bloody cold it was! It was truly freezing! Whilst waiting for the bus I kept walking around to try and warm up a bit - it didn't really work, but it may have helped minutely! The bus was, as per usual, a few minutes, which was the reason I had caught the one an hour before my train; which would give me 40 minutes at the station instead of ten. Nevertheless, about five minutes later I saw the trusty 121 ambling up the hill, winding its merry way to the Hauptbahnhof (which is a word I've used so many times during this blog, that even non-Germanists will understand what it means!).
The bus arrived at the Hauptbahnhof a mere three minutes late; such is the combination of the skill of the driver, and, more importantly, the fact that only two other people got on all the way to the station. This meant that I had about 35 minutes at the station, which meant I had enough time to go and buy a coffee; somewhat necessary considering the time I got up in the morning. At the station I met up with Claire and Lucy who were both catching the 08.00 ICE from Saarbruecken to Paris, calling at Forbach (which is possibly the least important town in France to be served by a TGV station!). At Paris we were all going back by Eurostar, but we'd managed to book 3 different ones!
The journey to Paris started with a sense of foreboding tardiness...the train was to be about 10 minutes late into Saarbruecken, which wouldn't be a problem as we all had at least 45 minutes in Paris to travel to the Eurostar Terminal. On the train, I exchanged a "bonjour" with a member of the Police Aux Frontières (PAF for short; French Border Police arm of the National Police), as they walked through the train looking for anyone who looks to be both un-French, and un-European! The PAF alight at Forbach and, I presume, wait for the ICE going the other way and do the whole thing again! The journey to Paris started OK, but as we got further into France, the snow thickened, and the snowfall was increasing. Both of these combined meant that our train had to cover substantial parts of the journey at a reduced speed. (I suppose that it's difficult to clear thick snow off of the windscreen at 230km/h, and braking may be slightly impeded by the ice too!)
It was on our way to Paris that I found out that we would overtake Harriet on our journey home. Harriet had left on Thursday, and had planned to fly from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, however the snow had a much more catastrophic effect on planes and airports than on trains. As such, she didn't fly home until the Saturday; so in effect her journey took 3 days. So, whilst snow might look nice and pretty, and you might dream of a White Christmas; please spare a thought for those who are travelling and who may be stranded!
As we approached our scheduled arrival time in Paris an announcement came out over the tannoy explaining that we would be about 30 minutes late arriving into Paris. This was reassuring, because at 09.50 (the scheduled arrival time), we were still in the middle of the countryside...and I've only been to Paris a couple of times, but I remember it wasn't that green! Their prediction did prove to be relatively accurate, and the train did pull itself (for you grammar freaks; note the inappropriate use of a reflexive verb there - and then note the uncaring look on my face!) into Paris Est at about 10.20. This wasn't too much of an issue for me because my Eurostar didn't leave until 12.15. Claire had even more time, so was going to explore the French Capital a bit before she went home; so we sorted her out with maps, and a day ticket for the public transport network (not all of which was on strike surprisingly; given the proximity to Christmas!).
The journey from Paris Est to Paris Gare du Nord was a journey that, according to Google Maps, was 600m long. This meant it was walkable; indeed walking was a damn site more preferable than heaving my case down to the underground metro station, forcing my way onto a train filled with Parisians and then heaving it upstairs again about 2 minutes later. For the sake of 5-10 minutes I walked; with my hand-drawn map - which looks like I was drunk when I did it...which I wasn't!
Arriving at Gare du Nord, I had forgotten something else that is quit prevalent in Paris; beggars, who try and guilt-trip you into donating - by asking first of all - "Do you speak English?". In all honesty, it was easier to reply to them in German than English anyway - their English may have been at an equal standard to mine. Leaving them behind, I strode confidently into Paris Gare du Nord station. In the words of Jeremy Clarkson, "How hard can it be?" - I've been to train stations before, I've crossed national borders before, I've caught trains across international frontiers before, I've even caught the Eurostar before (about 6 years ago and from Waterloo to Lille)...so given that I had accomplished all four of the above criteria I imagined it wouldn't be very hard....I was wrong! My first mistake had been striding too confidently into the station - it turned out, later, I had walked right past the Eurostar ticket office. The queue for which was loooooooong and had only one cashier working it! I wasn't entirely sure this was where I wanted to be, so I waited for a bit, in a stationary position, before digging out the relevant paperwork from my bag, and reading through the whole blurb accompanying the booking reference. The blurb directed me to check-in, where I would find some automatic machines for collecting my ticket. So, I left the queue, not that I'd gained any space, and headed off in search of the check-in. This, I found eventually, after walking aimlessly for a bit, in search of a Eurostar logo. The check-in procedure itself is not too time-consuming. You hand in your ticket to the person at the counter, who then waves you through to more PAF (my second lot today), who had a rather thorough look at my passport, who then wave you onto to the UKBA (or whatever they call themselves these days!), who, after a much briefer passport check, wave you onto the Douanes. Regular readers of this blog will know that I've had a couple of encounters with the Douanes already. I was about to have my third! After passing through the UK Border Agency control, you have to walk through a metal detector and put your bags through an x-ray machine, but you're not allowed to have the following things on your person: mobile phone (I had 2), MP3 Player, Cameras, Keys, Memory Stick, or coins - all of these had to be put in your bag...which, if you're like me, was pretty full already! Nevertheless I complied with these regulations and walked through the metal detector, which buzzed, so I took off my coat (metal poppers) and walked through again - I buzzed again. The Douane at the detector suddenly had an evil glint in her eye - out comes the wand (that genuinely isn't a euphemism!) and then I have it waved over me to try and pinpoint the metal - which narrows it down to my belt (which, I wasn't planning on removing). Still, not entirely satisfied, she decides that I need to be frisked, which she does while I look do my best star impression. After this search reveals nothing, I'm allowed to continue. Why didn't I put up a fuss I know you're thinking to yourself - the answer is very simple - I was in France, she was a French person in authority - you should never rise up against them...they like nothing more than to be more annoying and disruptive than is actually necessary, which they will do if you argue with them.
So, after surviving yet another encounter of the less than pleasant kind on the French frontier, I head to waiting room B, where there are no seats left. This isn't a problem - having lived in Germany for four months, the next thing I do is almost natural now. Seeing there were no seats, and that we were scheduled to embark in about 20 minutes, I went along to the door to the station and waited until it was time! After about 15 minutes an announcement comes over the PA system informing us that embarkation will be delayed by about 15 minutes because of the late arrival of the train. Ah, well, I had about two and a half hours in London to get from St. Pancras to Paddington - I wasn't too concerned. Indeed, after about 15 minutes we were allowed to get on our trains. It's worth boring you with one fact about the Eurostar - the whole train is about 1/4 mile in length - which is fine, unless, like me, you're in coach 3 - which felt like it was pretty much in Lille anyway! Still, having eventually got on the train, and found my seat, I got into my book and waited for departure. We left about 15 minutes late (at least Eurostar are consistent), and were told that we would probably have another 20-25 minutes added onto our journey because of speed restrictions that had been imposed because of the bad weather.
We left Paris in a northerly direction and were soon heading out towards St. Pancras International racing through the gloriously white French countryside. All was well, or so I thought! All of a sudden the train started braking quite sharply - not at an emergency stop level, but still quite sharply; the train had developped a fault, which the driver would attempt to fix. After about 20 minutes of lights flickering and being passed by TGVs in the opposite direction we set off again - with the total delay now running at about 35 minutes. Still, we managed to make it to Lille, then on to Calais, Sangatte and into the Channel Tunnel. Now you will almost certainly have heard about the horrendous problems that Eurostar were experiencing on this Friday in the Channel Tunnel - something to do with ice getting in the air vents or something - which caused the trains to break down in the tunnel; where it's dark and not a huge amount of fun to be stuck for hours. Luckily, I managed to avoid these delays. We made it through the Chunnel (as it's affectionately known among anoraks) in a pretty average 28 minutes, before heading off towards St. Pancras International. We'd been told we'd be in London about 40 minutes, which, whilst eating into my transfer time, left it in a pretty healthy condition. This was until we had to make an unscheduled stop in Ashford International - because they had to pick a member of the train crew up! Quite why they couldn't catch a conventional train to London is beyond me - I don't flag down Morrisons lorries on my way to work if I'm running a bit late...
Anyway, we arrived into St. Pancras International about 50 minutes late in the end - leaving me 1 hour and 40 minutes to travel across London to Paddington Station. Now I've not been to London a huge number of times, and I've used the tube twice before this journey (both on the same day!) - but as in Paris, I thought, I've caught trains before, I've used public transport before - I had the added advantage that whilst I don't quite have the London dialect down to a T I can make myself understood by using my mother tongue (and maybe not too many Rs)! As it happens it was a very easy journey to make - the underground trip was very easy - even with a suitcase. There were very few people on the carriage, and I was only on it for about 10 minutes.
On arrival at Paddington I realised what Esther meant when she talked about the steps....there were lots of them, and no real organised system to go up/down them - perhaps I expected too much! I had some time to kill in Paddington, so I sat down, topped up my UK phone, read a book, and waited until they announced which platform my train would leave from. At about 15.53 they told us the platform, from which the 16.00 was leaving. This train left on time, and was not held up by any snow; and there was some until about Didcot where it just became wet! The train pulled into Chippenham at 17.08 - running a couple of minutes early, where I was met by my parents in the car and whisked away!
As you can tell, a lot happened on this journey, but I was very lucky, and I'm very grateful for that. Whilst I had some minor inconveniences they were nothing compared to those of Harriet and Jack who were stuck in Paris, and the Channel Tunnel respectively for very long periods of time. So, whilst I may seem like I'm complaining - I'm really not! I actually enjoyed it - it was an adventure, and whilst I'll miss being at home, I'm looking froward to the journey back - simply because it's an adventure - and yes, I'm a child at heart!
The next instalment will be done after I get back, hopefully a little more promptly than this one was! As I said at the beginning, have a fantastic 2010, whatever you're doing! Thanks, also, to the people who have left kind words on my blog, and my Dad, who has left sarcastic ones!
See you in 2010!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Chapter 15 - Reverse Cultural Differences
Challenges facing a returning Brit after four months away!
So, there was a lot of stuff explained to us before we came out here by the the Lecturers at Bath about cultural awareness, and how life in Germany may be different from life in the UK. Now, it's my turn to return the gesture, and explain the challenges that are facing me, and my fellow assistants on our return to our home country!
The first, and certainly most dangerous, cultural difference between Germany and the UK, is that when you cross a road in Germany you look left first...I'll give you a couple more minutes to think it through before nodding to yourself in agreement......whereas, because in the UK we drive on the left, you look right before you cross. Now, when you're at home you don't give it a second thought, but for about the first two weeks over here, you have to force yourself to think "Look Left, you muppet"...based on this cultural difference alone, I would like to apologise if there are no further blog entries on this blog - it will have been because I will have been killed by the UK being different to the majority of mainland Europe!
Secondly, and this is only applicable if you live outside of London in the UK. All buses over here have a door at the front (as do they at home I know, I'm not dense), but over here that door serves as an entrance only, with a door in the middle of the bus as an exit. Now, it's only a matter of time before I get on a bus at home, press the buzzer, get out of my seat and walk back towards the middle of the bus, before attempting to make it look planned and not like I was being a bit dim. This cultural difference isn't dangerous, but seriously runs the risk of damaging your pride!
During my time over here, you may have noticed that I socialise quite regularly with other English assistants. During these meetings, it's true that we speak 99% of the time in English. This does not however mean that our German suffers, in fact if we didn't speak in English, our English standard would diminish substantially over the time we were out here. Indeed, presently, my English is at a lower standard than when I left...I quite often find my saying English sentences using German word order, which is nowhere near similar for you non-Germanists! Not only has my English proficiency decreased, we, as assistants, have developped our own take on English. We, invariably, interject English sentences with random German words - not out of any attempt at humour...it just seemed to develop out of nowhere. One example of this is that I would find it difficult to say: "We'll meet at the train station"...instead, you're more likely to hear "We'll meet at the [Haupt]Bahnhof" cross my lips - now over hear with other fellow Germanists that's not a problem - we all understand each other, but at home...this could be a problem...I could end up looking a twit!
On the subject of language, I would like to comment on a similar issue. When we, as assistants, do go out together, we find it very easy to pick up on each others' mistakes in English - but we all make similarly stupid mistakes. It is not uncommon for me not to now the English word for common everyday items anymore, but to be able to tell you what it is in German without too much hesitation! This means, that despite English being my Mother Tongue, I may appear as a bit of a foreigner, or just a moron, on my return - if I do, please bear with me...I will get there...it might take a minute or two though!
Another, quite obvious, point is that in Germany the currency is the Euro (€). Now this, in itself, is not too big a problem, you get used to that. But the biggest difference between the Euro and Sterling is the coinage - why, oh why, is Sterling coinage ridiculous shapes? What's wrong with having round coins? I am now at the stage, where I'm recognising the coins by their size in my pocket without having to look. So what I hear you ask? Well, during the holidays I'll be working in a supermarket; and if I'm put on the tills, I'm going to spend the first few minutes just looking at the coins in puzzlement! So, if you see me at the till, and you're paying cash - choose another till!
The final cultural difference, which springs to mind, on this my final evening in Germany before Christmas, is one which I'm entirely guilty of! (I know that's not proper English, but I don't care!) When you wait for a bus at home, you turn up at the bus stop a few minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive at the bus stop, you wait patiently until the bus turns up; which when I was at home could be anything up to 25-30 minutes. You did this in a British way, i.e. without complaining and just accepting that this is the way life is sometimes...and that there's nothing that you can do about it - indeed you, deep down, expected it to happen like that! Now, in Germany, where, generally (although there have been a few exceptions), public transport runs punctually, it is not uncommon to arrive at the bus stop about 2-5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to turn up, and then it starts. The discrete watch checking - until the scheduled bus time passes, then it's acceptable to do it visibly and also sigh in a complaining manner, and after about 2 minutes, it's acceptable to doubt the bus' arrival at all. After 3-4 minutes, you start complaining to other passenger about it. If the bus does turn up with a delay, say about 5-6 minutes, it's as if it's completely ruined your whole schedule for the day! Now, I'm not sure it would be a good idea for me to use public transport in the UK - I'm not quite patient enough anymore!
So, as you can see, whilst it's difficult setting up life in another country, where life is quite different - coming home poses just as many challenges, although they are somewhat more frustrating because 4 months ago, I would have had no problems with any of the challenges listed above!
I'll sign off now from Germany. My next entry will be written from my room in Wiltshire, and be about the trip back. During the holidays I'll be taking up my old job in Morrisons! Check back on the 10th January for the first entry of my time back in Germany!
Auf Wiedersehen, Froehe Weihnachtszeit und ich wuensche Ihnen alles Gut fuer's neue Jahr!
So, there was a lot of stuff explained to us before we came out here by the the Lecturers at Bath about cultural awareness, and how life in Germany may be different from life in the UK. Now, it's my turn to return the gesture, and explain the challenges that are facing me, and my fellow assistants on our return to our home country!
The first, and certainly most dangerous, cultural difference between Germany and the UK, is that when you cross a road in Germany you look left first...I'll give you a couple more minutes to think it through before nodding to yourself in agreement......whereas, because in the UK we drive on the left, you look right before you cross. Now, when you're at home you don't give it a second thought, but for about the first two weeks over here, you have to force yourself to think "Look Left, you muppet"...based on this cultural difference alone, I would like to apologise if there are no further blog entries on this blog - it will have been because I will have been killed by the UK being different to the majority of mainland Europe!
Secondly, and this is only applicable if you live outside of London in the UK. All buses over here have a door at the front (as do they at home I know, I'm not dense), but over here that door serves as an entrance only, with a door in the middle of the bus as an exit. Now, it's only a matter of time before I get on a bus at home, press the buzzer, get out of my seat and walk back towards the middle of the bus, before attempting to make it look planned and not like I was being a bit dim. This cultural difference isn't dangerous, but seriously runs the risk of damaging your pride!
During my time over here, you may have noticed that I socialise quite regularly with other English assistants. During these meetings, it's true that we speak 99% of the time in English. This does not however mean that our German suffers, in fact if we didn't speak in English, our English standard would diminish substantially over the time we were out here. Indeed, presently, my English is at a lower standard than when I left...I quite often find my saying English sentences using German word order, which is nowhere near similar for you non-Germanists! Not only has my English proficiency decreased, we, as assistants, have developped our own take on English. We, invariably, interject English sentences with random German words - not out of any attempt at humour...it just seemed to develop out of nowhere. One example of this is that I would find it difficult to say: "We'll meet at the train station"...instead, you're more likely to hear "We'll meet at the [Haupt]Bahnhof" cross my lips - now over hear with other fellow Germanists that's not a problem - we all understand each other, but at home...this could be a problem...I could end up looking a twit!
On the subject of language, I would like to comment on a similar issue. When we, as assistants, do go out together, we find it very easy to pick up on each others' mistakes in English - but we all make similarly stupid mistakes. It is not uncommon for me not to now the English word for common everyday items anymore, but to be able to tell you what it is in German without too much hesitation! This means, that despite English being my Mother Tongue, I may appear as a bit of a foreigner, or just a moron, on my return - if I do, please bear with me...I will get there...it might take a minute or two though!
Another, quite obvious, point is that in Germany the currency is the Euro (€). Now this, in itself, is not too big a problem, you get used to that. But the biggest difference between the Euro and Sterling is the coinage - why, oh why, is Sterling coinage ridiculous shapes? What's wrong with having round coins? I am now at the stage, where I'm recognising the coins by their size in my pocket without having to look. So what I hear you ask? Well, during the holidays I'll be working in a supermarket; and if I'm put on the tills, I'm going to spend the first few minutes just looking at the coins in puzzlement! So, if you see me at the till, and you're paying cash - choose another till!
The final cultural difference, which springs to mind, on this my final evening in Germany before Christmas, is one which I'm entirely guilty of! (I know that's not proper English, but I don't care!) When you wait for a bus at home, you turn up at the bus stop a few minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive at the bus stop, you wait patiently until the bus turns up; which when I was at home could be anything up to 25-30 minutes. You did this in a British way, i.e. without complaining and just accepting that this is the way life is sometimes...and that there's nothing that you can do about it - indeed you, deep down, expected it to happen like that! Now, in Germany, where, generally (although there have been a few exceptions), public transport runs punctually, it is not uncommon to arrive at the bus stop about 2-5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to turn up, and then it starts. The discrete watch checking - until the scheduled bus time passes, then it's acceptable to do it visibly and also sigh in a complaining manner, and after about 2 minutes, it's acceptable to doubt the bus' arrival at all. After 3-4 minutes, you start complaining to other passenger about it. If the bus does turn up with a delay, say about 5-6 minutes, it's as if it's completely ruined your whole schedule for the day! Now, I'm not sure it would be a good idea for me to use public transport in the UK - I'm not quite patient enough anymore!
So, as you can see, whilst it's difficult setting up life in another country, where life is quite different - coming home poses just as many challenges, although they are somewhat more frustrating because 4 months ago, I would have had no problems with any of the challenges listed above!
I'll sign off now from Germany. My next entry will be written from my room in Wiltshire, and be about the trip back. During the holidays I'll be taking up my old job in Morrisons! Check back on the 10th January for the first entry of my time back in Germany!
Auf Wiedersehen, Froehe Weihnachtszeit und ich wuensche Ihnen alles Gut fuer's neue Jahr!
Chapter 14 - The End is Nigh! (well, Christmas holidays, at least!)
The Last Two Weeks in Saarbruecken
(Monday 7th - Friday 18th December)
So, because I've had a lot to do during the last couple of weeks, I may have decided that the blog wasn't my highest priority - or I may simply have forgotten to update it!
Quite a lot has happened over here during the last couple of weeks, which I shall now attempt to chronicle!
The week following our Nuremberg adventure was slightly more interesting than normal. On the Thursday, I had been summoned (well, invited really, but summoned sounds more important) by the Ministry for Women, Families, and Education to record some instructions for the German equivalent of A-Level listening exams this year. Naturally I could disclose in a public forum what the topics to be covered are...but that would render me somewhat (to coin a French phrase) dans la merde. So, as such, I shall refrain from detailing the topics and types of activities to be covered here; lest somehow it got into the wrong hands. (I know it's not National Secrets, but it wouldn't be fair for some kids to know the topics and others not to!). What I can say though is it took me about half an hour, and involved me speaking slower than I would normally speak, whilst simultaneously (nice word there!) trying to make it sound natural - this was not the easiest thing in the world. However, the Ministry decided that it wasn't challenging, and I would have to work a bit harder to earn my money - so they wrote it in English, which we, or I at least, simply wouldn't use - but my job was simply to read the script - and like anyone with a good GCSE Drama result - I know how important it is to forget about whatever crap it is you're actually saying and concentrate on how you actually say it! Needless to say, I managed to get through the 30 minutes and earned myself a little bit more money.
On Friday, it was the turn of some of the other assistants to go and do some recording for the Ministry. They were, however, being paid twice as much as me, and subsequently I hoped they had to work for it - which I'm reliably informed they did - they actually had to think about what they wanted to say...I'm not cut out for thinking - especially not in English! After the others had finished at the Ministry (some five hours later) we decided we'd head into Sarreguemines. The reason for this is two-fold; we hadn't been there for a little while, and certainly not in the run up to Christmas, and secondly because they had a Christmas market and I was curious to see what a town like Sarreguemines would produce under the banner of a Christmas market! I was neither surprised nor overwhelmed! As you will now from my previous blog entries (which, obviously you've all read), Sarreguemines is a distinctly small, but pleasant French town (probably about the size of Corsham, for those of you who are from my neck of the woods). Their Christmas Market consisted of about 13 stalls, which were all located in front of the train station and the Courts. Throughout the town there was also Christmas music being played through loudspeakers! After a brief wander, the obligatory cafe visit, and a look at the Market, we headed back to Saarbruecken on the tram and prepared ourselves for our adventure to Strasbourg the following day!
Saturday came around, and today was the day we'd decided to head back to Strasbourg to savour what is supposed to be the best Christmas Market in France. We caught the train at about 10.35, which was due into Strasbourg at about the 12 o'clock mark. Now, as a commuter at home I'm used to busy trains...but I've never been on a train that was so busy that the train crew were preventing people at the stations from boarding the train. Luckily the four of us travelling there had managed to get seats; unfortunately the seats faced the toilet - but beggars can't be choosers! On arrival in Strasbourg we found a cafe - as is compulsary wherever we go - from where we looked at where we wanted to go. We decided to do the things further out of the city centre and then work our way back into the centre, where the main part of the Christmas Market was located. We got on the trams, which if I'm honest aren't quite as efficient (for efficient read fast) as the faithful Saarbahn. We first stopped off at Place de la Republique, which had a large number of official looking buildings, and according to Harriet, 14 Tricolores flying - just in case any random German soldiers walked in and were unsure as to who Strasbourg belonged to perhaps? From there we went out to look at the European Parliament and other European Institution buildings. Now, I can mind-read, the European Parliament is in Brussels I hear you say - well, yes, you're right...but basically there's one in Strasbourg too, because the French President at the time wanted the European Union (or EEC, or whatever it was called back then!) to be based in France; not an unreasonable request you might think. However, it is important here to realise something about the French psyche here...France and her people are like small children...give them a centimetre and they take a kilometer (measurements duly changed for realism!), and when you say no to them they throw their toys out of their metaphorical tram - either by threatening to refuse to take part (as in the case of the EU), or by striking (there are to many examples of French strikes to list here!). The former is exactly what happened in Strasbourg; because France threatened not to play the game any more, the EU gave in and let them have a Parliament building - it is used about once a month, or maybe even less...but it keeps the French happy, and that just makes for a quieter life for everyone! Thereafter, we had a look at a few other interesting looking parts of Strasbourg, before heading back into the centre.
In the centre of Strasbourg there were, and at the time of writing, probably still are, lots of small markets (I understand there to be about 12 in total), which alltogether make up the Strasbourg Christmas Market. We had a brief look through the market on our way to a "Tudoresque" area of Strasbourg, called La Petite France, which is very nice. From there we headed, again, back into the centre and went to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is pleasant, but not as nice as some of the ones I've visited previously. Moreover, there were so many people there, it made it more of forced procession through, rather than walking through at your own pace, and enjoying it. So, we left after about 1/3 of the way round. From here, we had a good look at the Christmas Market. I'm not going to describe the market too much, it's similar to most other Christmas Markets; full of; brightly coloured sheds selling stuff, mulled wine, people pushing their way through, and a bloody cold night too! Despite all of these things, it was a very pleasant day out; I do like Strasbourg, and I like Christmas more this year than I have done for a few years now! If you want to see my pictures from Strasbourg, then click here.
Sunday was set to be a rather uninteresting day; I'd planned to sort out my pictures and write my blog, and generally be lazy! However, something exciting happened to us here in Saarbruecken...............................it...............................SNOWED!!! Proper thick snow, that wasn't melting as soon as it hit the ground!
I woke up about 8 ish, as I usually do on Sunday, turned on the computer, and popped out to the bathroom. On the way, I looked out of the window and then I saw it...white snow all over the garden and still falling from the sky! So, I stayed in bed and did my photos and then decided I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by, so I went out with my camera and a pair of waterproof boots and walked all over the city taking photos of the snow. It was very pretty, and somehow, in an almost childlike way, exciting. After being out for a couple of hours I got a message from one of the other assistants about going to play in the snow - now as a mature 20 year old, working in a position of responsibility in a school, I jumped at the chance! We met on an almost untouched area on the bank of the river and threw a few snowballs, prior to building a snowman. The snowman, whom I should refer to by his name; Rudolf the Red Nosed Snowman. You can see my photos of the snow, and of Rudolf here.
Monday was a pretty normal day, I went to school, went shopping and then went home! Nothing interesting there!
Tuesday morning was just as usual at the school, but in the afternoon some of us assistants had organised to go Ice Skating. It didn't start well for me...admittedly it's been nearly 10 years since I did it last! But I didn't fall over for at least an hour, by which time I'd improved (not quite to Torville and Dean level, but going in the right direction!). In the end I fell over three times, without any serious injuries - apart from to my pride, luckily though, the kids who had been watching from my Gesamtschule had long since left!
After a couple of hours ice skating, it was time for me to go to the Gesamtschule Christmas Dinner. A pleasant meal in a restaurant under the town hall was had, and a good opportunity to get to know my colleagues a bit better! (i.e. learning some of their names!) Back home by 10, in bed by 11...ready for a 6am start the following day - it's a tough life!
Wednesday, again, was a normal day at the Gesamtschule - although it was my last day there of 2009! After work, I met Esther for lunch, as she's going home after work on Thursday. Again, an afternoon of genuinely intelligent conversation followed (terrorism legislation, ID Cards, Knife Crime, Theme tune from Playdays, Favourite children's TV programmes!). After lunch, I came home and tidied my room, and did the majority of the packing for my homeward trip on Friday.
So, today, Thursday 17th December, is my last full day in Germany before Christmas - and quite a lot was undertaken. I went to my Gymnasium for the second lesson, where I took part in a tutorial session with Sabine (my mentor teacher), after which we went to the Christmas Church Service, which was very good (although I declined to sing, or pray aloud for fear of looking more of a muppet than normal). I found that it was relatively easy to understand and follow. After the Church Service, all the teachers went for a meal (which was, obviously, the main reason for going into work today!) at a restaurant on the other side of the hill where I live. The restaurant overlooks a lake, which because of our cold snap (since Saturday afternoon, the temperature's not managed to rise above 0 degrees), was frozen over. During the meal, the snow started again, which just looked serene!
After lunch I headed into town and met up with Claire and Lucy, and whilst there we waved off Esther and Harriet on their ICE to Paris. The exodus has begun!
So, what of this evening; I've got a suitcase to finish packing, I've got to dust and mop my room, and then maybe think about sleeping, but not before putting my phone on charge for the morning!
Tomorrow, I take the train from Saarbruecken at 8am, and get home at 1710 GMT. I'll update you on the journey when I get home, between working shifts at Morrisons!
(Monday 7th - Friday 18th December)
So, because I've had a lot to do during the last couple of weeks, I may have decided that the blog wasn't my highest priority - or I may simply have forgotten to update it!
Quite a lot has happened over here during the last couple of weeks, which I shall now attempt to chronicle!
The week following our Nuremberg adventure was slightly more interesting than normal. On the Thursday, I had been summoned (well, invited really, but summoned sounds more important) by the Ministry for Women, Families, and Education to record some instructions for the German equivalent of A-Level listening exams this year. Naturally I could disclose in a public forum what the topics to be covered are...but that would render me somewhat (to coin a French phrase) dans la merde. So, as such, I shall refrain from detailing the topics and types of activities to be covered here; lest somehow it got into the wrong hands. (I know it's not National Secrets, but it wouldn't be fair for some kids to know the topics and others not to!). What I can say though is it took me about half an hour, and involved me speaking slower than I would normally speak, whilst simultaneously (nice word there!) trying to make it sound natural - this was not the easiest thing in the world. However, the Ministry decided that it wasn't challenging, and I would have to work a bit harder to earn my money - so they wrote it in English, which we, or I at least, simply wouldn't use - but my job was simply to read the script - and like anyone with a good GCSE Drama result - I know how important it is to forget about whatever crap it is you're actually saying and concentrate on how you actually say it! Needless to say, I managed to get through the 30 minutes and earned myself a little bit more money.
On Friday, it was the turn of some of the other assistants to go and do some recording for the Ministry. They were, however, being paid twice as much as me, and subsequently I hoped they had to work for it - which I'm reliably informed they did - they actually had to think about what they wanted to say...I'm not cut out for thinking - especially not in English! After the others had finished at the Ministry (some five hours later) we decided we'd head into Sarreguemines. The reason for this is two-fold; we hadn't been there for a little while, and certainly not in the run up to Christmas, and secondly because they had a Christmas market and I was curious to see what a town like Sarreguemines would produce under the banner of a Christmas market! I was neither surprised nor overwhelmed! As you will now from my previous blog entries (which, obviously you've all read), Sarreguemines is a distinctly small, but pleasant French town (probably about the size of Corsham, for those of you who are from my neck of the woods). Their Christmas Market consisted of about 13 stalls, which were all located in front of the train station and the Courts. Throughout the town there was also Christmas music being played through loudspeakers! After a brief wander, the obligatory cafe visit, and a look at the Market, we headed back to Saarbruecken on the tram and prepared ourselves for our adventure to Strasbourg the following day!
Saturday came around, and today was the day we'd decided to head back to Strasbourg to savour what is supposed to be the best Christmas Market in France. We caught the train at about 10.35, which was due into Strasbourg at about the 12 o'clock mark. Now, as a commuter at home I'm used to busy trains...but I've never been on a train that was so busy that the train crew were preventing people at the stations from boarding the train. Luckily the four of us travelling there had managed to get seats; unfortunately the seats faced the toilet - but beggars can't be choosers! On arrival in Strasbourg we found a cafe - as is compulsary wherever we go - from where we looked at where we wanted to go. We decided to do the things further out of the city centre and then work our way back into the centre, where the main part of the Christmas Market was located. We got on the trams, which if I'm honest aren't quite as efficient (for efficient read fast) as the faithful Saarbahn. We first stopped off at Place de la Republique, which had a large number of official looking buildings, and according to Harriet, 14 Tricolores flying - just in case any random German soldiers walked in and were unsure as to who Strasbourg belonged to perhaps? From there we went out to look at the European Parliament and other European Institution buildings. Now, I can mind-read, the European Parliament is in Brussels I hear you say - well, yes, you're right...but basically there's one in Strasbourg too, because the French President at the time wanted the European Union (or EEC, or whatever it was called back then!) to be based in France; not an unreasonable request you might think. However, it is important here to realise something about the French psyche here...France and her people are like small children...give them a centimetre and they take a kilometer (measurements duly changed for realism!), and when you say no to them they throw their toys out of their metaphorical tram - either by threatening to refuse to take part (as in the case of the EU), or by striking (there are to many examples of French strikes to list here!). The former is exactly what happened in Strasbourg; because France threatened not to play the game any more, the EU gave in and let them have a Parliament building - it is used about once a month, or maybe even less...but it keeps the French happy, and that just makes for a quieter life for everyone! Thereafter, we had a look at a few other interesting looking parts of Strasbourg, before heading back into the centre.
In the centre of Strasbourg there were, and at the time of writing, probably still are, lots of small markets (I understand there to be about 12 in total), which alltogether make up the Strasbourg Christmas Market. We had a brief look through the market on our way to a "Tudoresque" area of Strasbourg, called La Petite France, which is very nice. From there we headed, again, back into the centre and went to the Cathedral. The Cathedral is pleasant, but not as nice as some of the ones I've visited previously. Moreover, there were so many people there, it made it more of forced procession through, rather than walking through at your own pace, and enjoying it. So, we left after about 1/3 of the way round. From here, we had a good look at the Christmas Market. I'm not going to describe the market too much, it's similar to most other Christmas Markets; full of; brightly coloured sheds selling stuff, mulled wine, people pushing their way through, and a bloody cold night too! Despite all of these things, it was a very pleasant day out; I do like Strasbourg, and I like Christmas more this year than I have done for a few years now! If you want to see my pictures from Strasbourg, then click here.
Sunday was set to be a rather uninteresting day; I'd planned to sort out my pictures and write my blog, and generally be lazy! However, something exciting happened to us here in Saarbruecken...............................it...............................SNOWED!!! Proper thick snow, that wasn't melting as soon as it hit the ground!
I woke up about 8 ish, as I usually do on Sunday, turned on the computer, and popped out to the bathroom. On the way, I looked out of the window and then I saw it...white snow all over the garden and still falling from the sky! So, I stayed in bed and did my photos and then decided I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by, so I went out with my camera and a pair of waterproof boots and walked all over the city taking photos of the snow. It was very pretty, and somehow, in an almost childlike way, exciting. After being out for a couple of hours I got a message from one of the other assistants about going to play in the snow - now as a mature 20 year old, working in a position of responsibility in a school, I jumped at the chance! We met on an almost untouched area on the bank of the river and threw a few snowballs, prior to building a snowman. The snowman, whom I should refer to by his name; Rudolf the Red Nosed Snowman. You can see my photos of the snow, and of Rudolf here.
Monday was a pretty normal day, I went to school, went shopping and then went home! Nothing interesting there!
Tuesday morning was just as usual at the school, but in the afternoon some of us assistants had organised to go Ice Skating. It didn't start well for me...admittedly it's been nearly 10 years since I did it last! But I didn't fall over for at least an hour, by which time I'd improved (not quite to Torville and Dean level, but going in the right direction!). In the end I fell over three times, without any serious injuries - apart from to my pride, luckily though, the kids who had been watching from my Gesamtschule had long since left!
After a couple of hours ice skating, it was time for me to go to the Gesamtschule Christmas Dinner. A pleasant meal in a restaurant under the town hall was had, and a good opportunity to get to know my colleagues a bit better! (i.e. learning some of their names!) Back home by 10, in bed by 11...ready for a 6am start the following day - it's a tough life!
Wednesday, again, was a normal day at the Gesamtschule - although it was my last day there of 2009! After work, I met Esther for lunch, as she's going home after work on Thursday. Again, an afternoon of genuinely intelligent conversation followed (terrorism legislation, ID Cards, Knife Crime, Theme tune from Playdays, Favourite children's TV programmes!). After lunch, I came home and tidied my room, and did the majority of the packing for my homeward trip on Friday.
So, today, Thursday 17th December, is my last full day in Germany before Christmas - and quite a lot was undertaken. I went to my Gymnasium for the second lesson, where I took part in a tutorial session with Sabine (my mentor teacher), after which we went to the Christmas Church Service, which was very good (although I declined to sing, or pray aloud for fear of looking more of a muppet than normal). I found that it was relatively easy to understand and follow. After the Church Service, all the teachers went for a meal (which was, obviously, the main reason for going into work today!) at a restaurant on the other side of the hill where I live. The restaurant overlooks a lake, which because of our cold snap (since Saturday afternoon, the temperature's not managed to rise above 0 degrees), was frozen over. During the meal, the snow started again, which just looked serene!
After lunch I headed into town and met up with Claire and Lucy, and whilst there we waved off Esther and Harriet on their ICE to Paris. The exodus has begun!
So, what of this evening; I've got a suitcase to finish packing, I've got to dust and mop my room, and then maybe think about sleeping, but not before putting my phone on charge for the morning!
Tomorrow, I take the train from Saarbruecken at 8am, and get home at 1710 GMT. I'll update you on the journey when I get home, between working shifts at Morrisons!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Chapter 13 - A Christmas Adventure
The Christmas Adventure to Nuremberg
(Week: Monday 30th November - Sunday 6th December)
So, this was the week of our adventure to Nuremberg for the Christmas Market. But, before that, let me just consider if anything as exciting happened before that....err.....not really! The week was made up of school (obviously), talking German, watching TV, going out with friends and having a few drinks...what could be better!?!
So, to the weekend then. We'd originally planned to leave about 6.50 on Friday morning on a cheap group ticket that Deutsche Bahn offer; but there was a slight hitch with this cunning plan! We hadn't realised that the tickets weren't valid until after 9am...but being resourceful and quick-thinking we managed to re-jig it so we could catch the 08.52 train. How could you do this, I hear you ask...well, if you've been reading throroughly (and I hope you have, there'll be a quiz at the end of the year!), you'll know that I signed up to the University of Saarland in order to gain free travel within our little Bundesland...so, even though Saarland is small, it's not quite possible to leave it in less than 8 minutes, so until 9 we travelled on our uni cards!
So, we all met at about 8.30 at the train station and bought the tickets, and got on our means of transport for the next few hours! The train wasn't overly busy, so we had seats for the whole journey to Frankfurt without any problems. What's more, the train was punctual, which I know you think is normal in Germany, but by the end of this blog entry, I'm sure I'll be able to persuade you that it's not too different to how it is at home!
We arrived in Frankfurt at about 11.45. We'd planned to have a bit of time wandering round Frankfurt, seeing what it had to offer. According to Wikipedia, which means it is definitely right, Frankfurt is the only city in Germany to have a significant number of Skyscrapers. It currently has 10, and has two more under construction. It is also Germany's fifth biggest city, and was not chosen as the capital of the FRG (former West Germany) because the officials feared that it would be too difficult to move it back to Berlin if they put it in such a big and important city...so Bonn got it.
In Frankfurt, we walked down to the river, surprisingly called the Main (given that the full name for Frankfurt, is Frankfurt am Main), which was very nice and quite picturesque. Frankfurt, is definitely a financial town, and it is in the financial district (or in German, the Bankenviertel) where you'll find the majority of the skyscrapers. Now, being as I'm a rural country bumpkin from the Westcoun'ry, I've not seen many skyscrapers in my life...so, they were pretty impressive, and it really brings home the scale of devastation that was inflicted on New York City on that fateful Tuesday 8 years ago. We also had a look in the Cathedral in Frankfurt, which had, almost certainly, been rebuilt after the War. The Cathedral was smaller than I imagined it would be, but was pleasant and quite pretty inside.
There was, of course, a Christmas Market in Frankfurt, but we decided to largely ignore it because we were travelling on to the home of the biggest Christmas Market in Germany, so it would have been a little bit of a disappointment. On a more pragmatic note, the stuff we bought, we would have had to carry for the next two days, this seemed a little silly; our bags were quite heavy enough as it was!
So, we headed back to the Hauptbahnhof for our train at 13.30. A brief note about the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt, it's pretty big, as we found out on Saturday (more about that later, if you've not got too bored and gone to read e-mails or watch TV). It's huge, with over 20 platforms, all of which are covered over by a massive arched roof. (Think Paddington, or Temple Meads...and then enlarge it!)
We got on our train, which went direct to Nuremberg, and would get in about 17.20, so just under 4 hours later. But I found out some of the timetables I'd printed prior to departure, and realised if we changed this train at Wuerzburg, we could catch another train and get there about 50 minutes earlier! So, obviously, this is what we did. The train from Wuerzburg left about 10 minutes later, but went a different way, so we arrived at the town where our hotel was about 16.20.
Fuerth is a lot bigger than it appeared on GoogleMaps; it's more like a town than a suburb (which is what we originally thought it was!) - it's got it's own Registration Plate code - so it must be a town! We checked into the hotel, which was very impressive, the rooms were more than just rooms! They had a sitting room area, including a sofa, which, if we'd realised, someone could have slept on and saved us the cost of a room! Nevertheless, it was a very nice place to stay. We decided that, it would be worth going into Nuremberg in the evening, so that we could go the Tourist Information and get a map, and have a look at the Christmas Market. So, we trotted off to the Bahnhof in Fuerth, and caught a train to Nuremberg - a journey of a whole 6 minutes!
When we arrived in Nuremberg, the first challenge, which wouldn't have seemed out of place in the Krypton Factor, or the Crystal Maze, was trying to get out of the station. It seemed to me a maze of passageways and shopping areas, with so many different signs. To give you some sort of idea of size of Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof; it has 25 platforms, two underground stations, trams from outside it, as long as buses too! It's truly impressive, and makes Saarbruecken look more like Chippenham!
But, we did eventually manage to get out of the station, and emerged into a random street in Nuremberg, just in the old town, which, by pure fluke, was right opposite the Tourist Information Centre. Now, seeing as it was only about 5ish, the office was still open, so we went in there and got a free map of the city, and headed on down to the Christmas Market.
"WOW!" is the only word that I feel can accurately sum up the Christmas Market in Nuremberg. As you walk down the main street into the old town, everything looks so Christmassy (for the benefit of my sister, Christmassy is a word....because I said so), but not plastic and garishly Christmassy like it is usually in the UK, but more plain, yet classy than at home. To borrow the advert of a well-known retailer, "This isn't just Christmas, this is a German Christmas" (My apologies if this isn't the advert anymore...it damned well was in August, and they've got no right changing it!). There are very few coloured Christmas lights, and even fewer illuminated pictures; everything is just plain white lights, some flashing, but not normally, and it just sort of works...it is, for me, pretty much exactly how I imagine Christmas should be done! You can see some photos of it on the link at the end of the entry. (Don't scroll there now...read through the rest of this first, otherwise the pictures won't mean as much to you!)
We walked round the Christmas Market, which was much nicer than the others I've visited; I'm not entirely sure I can explain why, but it just was! We learnt, eventually, the reason there were some queues at some stalls...these stalls were sellign Gluehwein (Mulled Wine), or food (most commonly sausages - we are in Germany, after all!). So, we spent a couple of hours wandering round the stalls, deciding what we wanted to buy. We didn't buy much on Friday, for much the same reason as we didn't buy anything in Frankfurt, we would have to carry it for the whole day on Saturday! After going round the main Christmas Market, we had a look at the stalls selling stuff from Nuremberg's Twin Towns and Sister Cities (I've just noticed how much unintentional alliteration and assonance was used in that sentence!)...now when we consider that Nuremberg's British sister city is Glasgow; what do we think they were selling...whisky (obviously), hot toddies, shortbread along with lots and lots of tartan!
After that part of the market, we headed over to the Children's Christmas Market, as, let's face it, we're pretty much all children at heart! We had a look around the things there; mainly serving food, and offering the chance to get your photo taken with a slightly annoyed looking Santa Clause. Oh, and on top of that, you could ride on a carousel too...which we did...it was a slight squeeze...I'm not sure the cup we were in was designed for three 20 year olds!
After the slightly tight ride, we headed back towards Nuremberg station, and then tried to find our platform. Once we'd managed that little challenge, we went back to our hotel, and set about planning what we wanted to see in Nuremberg on Saturday. Once we'd sorted out a plan, we all retired to bed and prepared is for the long, but exciting day to come!
So, after meeting at 8, we checked out of our hotel and headed off to the station to go back to Nuremberg for our day of sightseeing. Once we got to Nuremberg, I resumed my function as Mapman and handled the navigation side of things, and we started our walking tour of Bavaria's second city. The first thing we came across was the Opera House, situated in Richard Wagner Place. From there we headed back towards the Old Town area in Nuremberg, including looking at the Holy Spirit Hospital (Heilig Geist Spital), which was all but destroyed, along with a large number of other buildings in the city, by the allies during World War Two. We walked on, up the hill, to the Imperial Castle, from where the view across the skyline of Nuremberg was very nice. We then walked down towards the centre of the city, coming across Albrecht Durer's House. At the time, none of us had absolutely any idea who this bloke was; since returning though, it turns out he was a medieval philospher, artist, and general thinker.
After a short detour, we found ourselves coming back towards St. Sebaldus Church, inside which there was a display about the effect that the War had on the church; and how it was rebuilt and renovated since 1945. From there, we went in search of heat, in the form of a hot drink. In a rather untypically English manner, I have failed to mention the weather in Nuremberg on Saturday. It was very cold, and there was a bitter wind too, which didn't help, but it didn't rain, so I was thankful for that! After our hot drinks, we headed over to Frauenkirche (The Church of Our Lady), which finds itself in the centre of the Old City, at the head of the Market Square. This church was less impressive, and was being used by the organist for her practice, which I would say she needs quite a bit more of, using my rather (i.e. very) limited knowledge of playing the organ. On the way back to the Bahnhof to do the other places we wanted to visit, we went into Lorenzkirche, which was an unusual combination of a church that was originally built as a Catholic church, and then after the Lutherian period, became a Protestant church, and the inside of the church has this unusual combination throughout.
Now, you may think that I've forgotten about Nuremberg's slightly darker history...quite the contrary, the Third Reich period in German history genuinely fascinates me, and has done for about the last 10 years! We were all agreed, that it would be a complete waste of a trip, if we didn't go out to the Nazi Party Rally Area, which, luckily, was available using the normal railway (and as such free!). We walked out to the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall), which was started but never finished, because the Nazi's stopped holding rallies in 1938. In fact, they were due to hold a Party Rally in Nuremberg on the 2nd September 1939, the day after the invasion of Poland, and before Britain declared war. This Rally was, ironically, to be called the Congress for Peace.
The first thing that struck me about the Congress Hall, was, simply, it's size...it's huge and very imposing (there are quite a few pictures of it on the link at the end of the entry). There's an exhibition in the Documentation Centre (€2,50 for students...bargain) explaining the rise and fall of the Nazis, and the role Nuremberg played in it. It was done in a very honest, and frank manner, not shying away from any areas of the Third Reich or what went on under that regime. When we left, our mood had changed slightly, we were much more reflective for a while, we had a discussion about the Nazis, and how they were able to come to power, and get away with the things they did.
After walking over to the rally square, where the parades were held (Zeppelinfeld), we headed back into Nuremberg to buy the things we wanted from the Christmas Market. Now, when we visited the night before, it was busy, but absolutely nothing compared to how it was about 2 o'clock on a Saturday. Now, I've never been shopping in London, but to put it into some sort of context, we came to the conclusion that it was like trying to walk down Oxford Street on Christmas Eve....i.e. nigh on impossible! It was stressful, and certainly not as much fun, or as Christmassy as the night before! But, despite these challenges, we got the things we wanted to get and headed back to the nearest underground station.
We decided that we ought to deal with Nuremberg's dark history in chronological order, so after seeing the Nazi monuments and displays, we headed out to the Justizpalast (Courthouse), which is the one used during the Nuremberg Trials. The Nuremberg Trials were the trials of Nazis who were accused of various war crimes; including leading Nazis such as Hermann Goering, and Karl Doenitz, and were presided over by 4 judges, one from each of the occupying powers (USA, UK, USSR, and France - in case you were struggling!). Unfortunately up until last year the Courthouse used to provide tours about the Nuremberg Trials, and from next year there will be a museum about it...this year, though, there was nothing. So, we took some photos from outside and headed back to the main train station.
The train journey back should have been fine. The plan was to leave Nuremberg at 16.04, and have a 15 minute changeover in Wuerzburg, before heading to Frankfurt, where we had a one hour connection to make (not planned to be so long, but it would be long enough to have a nice sit-down meal, so it worked out quite well), and then we'd head back to Saarbruecken, arriving back at 23.11. That was the plan...it would appear, we were not going to be lucky. The train arrived into Wuerzburg about 5 minutes late, which wasn't a major issue because we had 10 minutes to walk across a platform to the other side...we could have hopped it in that time! As it happens though our train coming in was delayed by about 5 minutes, again not a problem, we had plenty of time in Frankfurt. As it happens, our train arrived into Wuerzburg about 15 minutes late, and left about 20 minutes late...still plenty of time. But somehow during this 1 hour and 49 minute journey, we managed to get later and later, until we arrived in Frankfurt a total of 55 minutes late! Now, if you remember, we had a one hour connection in Frankfurt, with this delay, we now had 5 minutes, yes 5 minutes. We also needed to buy some food, as we hadn't eaten since about 3, and were getting in at 11. We decided that as there was a later, although less direct, train we could catch if necessary, we would buy food there and then run for the train - there was no point in dawdling. Hmm...we did run...we got some odd looks, and nearly had a couple of collisions with innocent people. But we managed to buy sandwiches, and get to our train (which was 17 platforms away!) before it left. I'm not sure how we managed this in 5 minutes, and I would strongly advise against it...especially as the station was full of Polizei cuddling riot helmets for the arrival of some football fans! But nevertheless, we made it...and then we were on our way back. The train journey back was also running late, somehow it had accrued a 7 minute delay, thus meaning I had to run again in order to catch the bus home!
Still, it was truly an adventure, and a fantastic couple of days; we had a lot of fun, felt more Christmassy, saw a different area of Germany, which was substiantially more Germanic than my little corner of the Federal Republic, we even did some strenuous exercise in the station.
Now, as I promised: Here is the link for the photos!
(Week: Monday 30th November - Sunday 6th December)
So, this was the week of our adventure to Nuremberg for the Christmas Market. But, before that, let me just consider if anything as exciting happened before that....err.....not really! The week was made up of school (obviously), talking German, watching TV, going out with friends and having a few drinks...what could be better!?!
So, to the weekend then. We'd originally planned to leave about 6.50 on Friday morning on a cheap group ticket that Deutsche Bahn offer; but there was a slight hitch with this cunning plan! We hadn't realised that the tickets weren't valid until after 9am...but being resourceful and quick-thinking we managed to re-jig it so we could catch the 08.52 train. How could you do this, I hear you ask...well, if you've been reading throroughly (and I hope you have, there'll be a quiz at the end of the year!), you'll know that I signed up to the University of Saarland in order to gain free travel within our little Bundesland...so, even though Saarland is small, it's not quite possible to leave it in less than 8 minutes, so until 9 we travelled on our uni cards!
So, we all met at about 8.30 at the train station and bought the tickets, and got on our means of transport for the next few hours! The train wasn't overly busy, so we had seats for the whole journey to Frankfurt without any problems. What's more, the train was punctual, which I know you think is normal in Germany, but by the end of this blog entry, I'm sure I'll be able to persuade you that it's not too different to how it is at home!
We arrived in Frankfurt at about 11.45. We'd planned to have a bit of time wandering round Frankfurt, seeing what it had to offer. According to Wikipedia, which means it is definitely right, Frankfurt is the only city in Germany to have a significant number of Skyscrapers. It currently has 10, and has two more under construction. It is also Germany's fifth biggest city, and was not chosen as the capital of the FRG (former West Germany) because the officials feared that it would be too difficult to move it back to Berlin if they put it in such a big and important city...so Bonn got it.
In Frankfurt, we walked down to the river, surprisingly called the Main (given that the full name for Frankfurt, is Frankfurt am Main), which was very nice and quite picturesque. Frankfurt, is definitely a financial town, and it is in the financial district (or in German, the Bankenviertel) where you'll find the majority of the skyscrapers. Now, being as I'm a rural country bumpkin from the Westcoun'ry, I've not seen many skyscrapers in my life...so, they were pretty impressive, and it really brings home the scale of devastation that was inflicted on New York City on that fateful Tuesday 8 years ago. We also had a look in the Cathedral in Frankfurt, which had, almost certainly, been rebuilt after the War. The Cathedral was smaller than I imagined it would be, but was pleasant and quite pretty inside.
There was, of course, a Christmas Market in Frankfurt, but we decided to largely ignore it because we were travelling on to the home of the biggest Christmas Market in Germany, so it would have been a little bit of a disappointment. On a more pragmatic note, the stuff we bought, we would have had to carry for the next two days, this seemed a little silly; our bags were quite heavy enough as it was!
So, we headed back to the Hauptbahnhof for our train at 13.30. A brief note about the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt, it's pretty big, as we found out on Saturday (more about that later, if you've not got too bored and gone to read e-mails or watch TV). It's huge, with over 20 platforms, all of which are covered over by a massive arched roof. (Think Paddington, or Temple Meads...and then enlarge it!)
We got on our train, which went direct to Nuremberg, and would get in about 17.20, so just under 4 hours later. But I found out some of the timetables I'd printed prior to departure, and realised if we changed this train at Wuerzburg, we could catch another train and get there about 50 minutes earlier! So, obviously, this is what we did. The train from Wuerzburg left about 10 minutes later, but went a different way, so we arrived at the town where our hotel was about 16.20.
Fuerth is a lot bigger than it appeared on GoogleMaps; it's more like a town than a suburb (which is what we originally thought it was!) - it's got it's own Registration Plate code - so it must be a town! We checked into the hotel, which was very impressive, the rooms were more than just rooms! They had a sitting room area, including a sofa, which, if we'd realised, someone could have slept on and saved us the cost of a room! Nevertheless, it was a very nice place to stay. We decided that, it would be worth going into Nuremberg in the evening, so that we could go the Tourist Information and get a map, and have a look at the Christmas Market. So, we trotted off to the Bahnhof in Fuerth, and caught a train to Nuremberg - a journey of a whole 6 minutes!
When we arrived in Nuremberg, the first challenge, which wouldn't have seemed out of place in the Krypton Factor, or the Crystal Maze, was trying to get out of the station. It seemed to me a maze of passageways and shopping areas, with so many different signs. To give you some sort of idea of size of Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof; it has 25 platforms, two underground stations, trams from outside it, as long as buses too! It's truly impressive, and makes Saarbruecken look more like Chippenham!
But, we did eventually manage to get out of the station, and emerged into a random street in Nuremberg, just in the old town, which, by pure fluke, was right opposite the Tourist Information Centre. Now, seeing as it was only about 5ish, the office was still open, so we went in there and got a free map of the city, and headed on down to the Christmas Market.
"WOW!" is the only word that I feel can accurately sum up the Christmas Market in Nuremberg. As you walk down the main street into the old town, everything looks so Christmassy (for the benefit of my sister, Christmassy is a word....because I said so), but not plastic and garishly Christmassy like it is usually in the UK, but more plain, yet classy than at home. To borrow the advert of a well-known retailer, "This isn't just Christmas, this is a German Christmas" (My apologies if this isn't the advert anymore...it damned well was in August, and they've got no right changing it!). There are very few coloured Christmas lights, and even fewer illuminated pictures; everything is just plain white lights, some flashing, but not normally, and it just sort of works...it is, for me, pretty much exactly how I imagine Christmas should be done! You can see some photos of it on the link at the end of the entry. (Don't scroll there now...read through the rest of this first, otherwise the pictures won't mean as much to you!)
We walked round the Christmas Market, which was much nicer than the others I've visited; I'm not entirely sure I can explain why, but it just was! We learnt, eventually, the reason there were some queues at some stalls...these stalls were sellign Gluehwein (Mulled Wine), or food (most commonly sausages - we are in Germany, after all!). So, we spent a couple of hours wandering round the stalls, deciding what we wanted to buy. We didn't buy much on Friday, for much the same reason as we didn't buy anything in Frankfurt, we would have to carry it for the whole day on Saturday! After going round the main Christmas Market, we had a look at the stalls selling stuff from Nuremberg's Twin Towns and Sister Cities (I've just noticed how much unintentional alliteration and assonance was used in that sentence!)...now when we consider that Nuremberg's British sister city is Glasgow; what do we think they were selling...whisky (obviously), hot toddies, shortbread along with lots and lots of tartan!
After that part of the market, we headed over to the Children's Christmas Market, as, let's face it, we're pretty much all children at heart! We had a look around the things there; mainly serving food, and offering the chance to get your photo taken with a slightly annoyed looking Santa Clause. Oh, and on top of that, you could ride on a carousel too...which we did...it was a slight squeeze...I'm not sure the cup we were in was designed for three 20 year olds!
After the slightly tight ride, we headed back towards Nuremberg station, and then tried to find our platform. Once we'd managed that little challenge, we went back to our hotel, and set about planning what we wanted to see in Nuremberg on Saturday. Once we'd sorted out a plan, we all retired to bed and prepared is for the long, but exciting day to come!
So, after meeting at 8, we checked out of our hotel and headed off to the station to go back to Nuremberg for our day of sightseeing. Once we got to Nuremberg, I resumed my function as Mapman and handled the navigation side of things, and we started our walking tour of Bavaria's second city. The first thing we came across was the Opera House, situated in Richard Wagner Place. From there we headed back towards the Old Town area in Nuremberg, including looking at the Holy Spirit Hospital (Heilig Geist Spital), which was all but destroyed, along with a large number of other buildings in the city, by the allies during World War Two. We walked on, up the hill, to the Imperial Castle, from where the view across the skyline of Nuremberg was very nice. We then walked down towards the centre of the city, coming across Albrecht Durer's House. At the time, none of us had absolutely any idea who this bloke was; since returning though, it turns out he was a medieval philospher, artist, and general thinker.
After a short detour, we found ourselves coming back towards St. Sebaldus Church, inside which there was a display about the effect that the War had on the church; and how it was rebuilt and renovated since 1945. From there, we went in search of heat, in the form of a hot drink. In a rather untypically English manner, I have failed to mention the weather in Nuremberg on Saturday. It was very cold, and there was a bitter wind too, which didn't help, but it didn't rain, so I was thankful for that! After our hot drinks, we headed over to Frauenkirche (The Church of Our Lady), which finds itself in the centre of the Old City, at the head of the Market Square. This church was less impressive, and was being used by the organist for her practice, which I would say she needs quite a bit more of, using my rather (i.e. very) limited knowledge of playing the organ. On the way back to the Bahnhof to do the other places we wanted to visit, we went into Lorenzkirche, which was an unusual combination of a church that was originally built as a Catholic church, and then after the Lutherian period, became a Protestant church, and the inside of the church has this unusual combination throughout.
Now, you may think that I've forgotten about Nuremberg's slightly darker history...quite the contrary, the Third Reich period in German history genuinely fascinates me, and has done for about the last 10 years! We were all agreed, that it would be a complete waste of a trip, if we didn't go out to the Nazi Party Rally Area, which, luckily, was available using the normal railway (and as such free!). We walked out to the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall), which was started but never finished, because the Nazi's stopped holding rallies in 1938. In fact, they were due to hold a Party Rally in Nuremberg on the 2nd September 1939, the day after the invasion of Poland, and before Britain declared war. This Rally was, ironically, to be called the Congress for Peace.
The first thing that struck me about the Congress Hall, was, simply, it's size...it's huge and very imposing (there are quite a few pictures of it on the link at the end of the entry). There's an exhibition in the Documentation Centre (€2,50 for students...bargain) explaining the rise and fall of the Nazis, and the role Nuremberg played in it. It was done in a very honest, and frank manner, not shying away from any areas of the Third Reich or what went on under that regime. When we left, our mood had changed slightly, we were much more reflective for a while, we had a discussion about the Nazis, and how they were able to come to power, and get away with the things they did.
After walking over to the rally square, where the parades were held (Zeppelinfeld), we headed back into Nuremberg to buy the things we wanted from the Christmas Market. Now, when we visited the night before, it was busy, but absolutely nothing compared to how it was about 2 o'clock on a Saturday. Now, I've never been shopping in London, but to put it into some sort of context, we came to the conclusion that it was like trying to walk down Oxford Street on Christmas Eve....i.e. nigh on impossible! It was stressful, and certainly not as much fun, or as Christmassy as the night before! But, despite these challenges, we got the things we wanted to get and headed back to the nearest underground station.
We decided that we ought to deal with Nuremberg's dark history in chronological order, so after seeing the Nazi monuments and displays, we headed out to the Justizpalast (Courthouse), which is the one used during the Nuremberg Trials. The Nuremberg Trials were the trials of Nazis who were accused of various war crimes; including leading Nazis such as Hermann Goering, and Karl Doenitz, and were presided over by 4 judges, one from each of the occupying powers (USA, UK, USSR, and France - in case you were struggling!). Unfortunately up until last year the Courthouse used to provide tours about the Nuremberg Trials, and from next year there will be a museum about it...this year, though, there was nothing. So, we took some photos from outside and headed back to the main train station.
The train journey back should have been fine. The plan was to leave Nuremberg at 16.04, and have a 15 minute changeover in Wuerzburg, before heading to Frankfurt, where we had a one hour connection to make (not planned to be so long, but it would be long enough to have a nice sit-down meal, so it worked out quite well), and then we'd head back to Saarbruecken, arriving back at 23.11. That was the plan...it would appear, we were not going to be lucky. The train arrived into Wuerzburg about 5 minutes late, which wasn't a major issue because we had 10 minutes to walk across a platform to the other side...we could have hopped it in that time! As it happens though our train coming in was delayed by about 5 minutes, again not a problem, we had plenty of time in Frankfurt. As it happens, our train arrived into Wuerzburg about 15 minutes late, and left about 20 minutes late...still plenty of time. But somehow during this 1 hour and 49 minute journey, we managed to get later and later, until we arrived in Frankfurt a total of 55 minutes late! Now, if you remember, we had a one hour connection in Frankfurt, with this delay, we now had 5 minutes, yes 5 minutes. We also needed to buy some food, as we hadn't eaten since about 3, and were getting in at 11. We decided that as there was a later, although less direct, train we could catch if necessary, we would buy food there and then run for the train - there was no point in dawdling. Hmm...we did run...we got some odd looks, and nearly had a couple of collisions with innocent people. But we managed to buy sandwiches, and get to our train (which was 17 platforms away!) before it left. I'm not sure how we managed this in 5 minutes, and I would strongly advise against it...especially as the station was full of Polizei cuddling riot helmets for the arrival of some football fans! But nevertheless, we made it...and then we were on our way back. The train journey back was also running late, somehow it had accrued a 7 minute delay, thus meaning I had to run again in order to catch the bus home!
Still, it was truly an adventure, and a fantastic couple of days; we had a lot of fun, felt more Christmassy, saw a different area of Germany, which was substiantially more Germanic than my little corner of the Federal Republic, we even did some strenuous exercise in the station.
Now, as I promised: Here is the link for the photos!
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