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!
Showing posts with label Christmas Market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Market. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2009
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!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Chapter Twelve - the beginning of Christmas...
Week 12 (Monday 23rd - Sunday 29th November)
So, another week of school, which was just as exciting as ever, just with quite a few more teachers off sick. The flu bug is still going round my colleagues, and for this reason I had quite a bit more free time this week, about which I can't really complain!
"So, what did you do in your free time?" is the question I can tell you're all begging to have answered. (and if you're not, then you probably ended up on this page by accident...)
Well, as the title suggests, it's the beginning of the Christmas season in Germany...in the shops it's been Christmas for quite a while, but the Christmas lights and decorations have only recently been put up, and illuminated. On top of that, the Christmas Markets are starting to begin (if you can say that...and if you can't, well tough, I did!). So, a few of us assistants have been out to see the Christmas Markets nearby.
On Thursday evening I met up with one of the assistants in Saarbruecken city centre and we had a look around the Christkindlmarkt in the main street in Saarbruecken, and in the main square. It was a nice little Christmas Market full of various Christmassy things...as well as food, mulled wine, schnapps and some music too! All in all, a nice Christmas Market, despite not being particularly expansive.
Friday wasn't particularly exciting, I went to Sarreguemines and had a short wander...nothing particularly interesting undertaken there, but, a day out, nevertheless.
Saturday was slightly more interesting...albeit substantially wetter (which curiously is the German word for weather). A group of us went to Trier for the Christmas Market there, as well as a general day out. The market was quite a bit bigger than the one in Saarbruecken, and it was primarily made up of stalls selling Christmas related, err, gifts. It was a nice day out; on top of the market, we had a look at the Cathedral and a few of the other sites in Trier. As I said, it was a smidge damp...by that I mean, my trainers took a day or so to dry completely.
After our trip to the Trier Christmas Market, we organised our little trip to Germany's most famous Christmas market next weekend. It'll be a true adventure, so keep an eye out for it!
Sunday was set to be a nice day, the assistants had arranged to meet up in the morning, because this weekend in Saarbruecken there was a second Christmas Market (we're not really greedy, but when you've got space, you might as well make use of it!). This "one weekend only" market was to be found in front of the Castle (in the logically named: Schlossplatz) and was actually, in my opinion, quite disappointing because it had relatively little Christmas related stuff there, and the majority of the stallholders weren't from Saarland at all!
The afternoon, though, was right up my street (not literally...that would be silly as I live in a one-way, narrow, access-only road!). In the afternoon I headed out to Merzig to visit an Eisenbahnmuseum (preserved railway). For those of you who don't know this about me...I'm an anorak (I like trains). So, the opportunity to travel on a German preserved railway was far too strong for me to resist going...so I gave into temptation, and went!
The railway is 16km (10 miles) long and is situated on the east side of Merzig (about 20 minutes from the main DB train station). Merzig Ost station is just a platform, with a car park and a seat...there is nothing else there! I got there in plenty of time and waited for the train, which was very likely to be steam-hauled. It was steam-hauled, not only that but it was top-and-tailed (for those of you who are a bit lost: steam-hauled means pulled by a steam locomotive, and top-and-tailed means that it had a locomotive at each end!) Another good thing about the railway was the type of old carriages they used...they had an area at each end of the carriages where you could stand outside. This was, despite the persistant rain and slightly cold wind (by which I mean to replace the word slightly with bloody) , fantastic. I couldn't see very much, but you could hear and smell it...which as any anorak will tell you is half the attraction! So, all in all a fantastic afternoon out, and one which has reminded me to look out for other Railway Museums and Preserved Railways to visit during my time here.
So, what does next week's installment contain? Probably not a huge amount about school, as that's pretty standard at the moment, but it does contain a pretty impressive adventure. A few of us are going to Nuremberg early on Friday morning (i.e. about 6.40 - that's 5.40 for those of you at home in the UK), staying in a hotel just outside Nuremberg and then returning late on Saturday night (early Sunday morning is possible). Sunday's entry, can almost be predicted now...I slept...
So, another week of school, which was just as exciting as ever, just with quite a few more teachers off sick. The flu bug is still going round my colleagues, and for this reason I had quite a bit more free time this week, about which I can't really complain!
"So, what did you do in your free time?" is the question I can tell you're all begging to have answered. (and if you're not, then you probably ended up on this page by accident...)
Well, as the title suggests, it's the beginning of the Christmas season in Germany...in the shops it's been Christmas for quite a while, but the Christmas lights and decorations have only recently been put up, and illuminated. On top of that, the Christmas Markets are starting to begin (if you can say that...and if you can't, well tough, I did!). So, a few of us assistants have been out to see the Christmas Markets nearby.
On Thursday evening I met up with one of the assistants in Saarbruecken city centre and we had a look around the Christkindlmarkt in the main street in Saarbruecken, and in the main square. It was a nice little Christmas Market full of various Christmassy things...as well as food, mulled wine, schnapps and some music too! All in all, a nice Christmas Market, despite not being particularly expansive.
Friday wasn't particularly exciting, I went to Sarreguemines and had a short wander...nothing particularly interesting undertaken there, but, a day out, nevertheless.
Saturday was slightly more interesting...albeit substantially wetter (which curiously is the German word for weather). A group of us went to Trier for the Christmas Market there, as well as a general day out. The market was quite a bit bigger than the one in Saarbruecken, and it was primarily made up of stalls selling Christmas related, err, gifts. It was a nice day out; on top of the market, we had a look at the Cathedral and a few of the other sites in Trier. As I said, it was a smidge damp...by that I mean, my trainers took a day or so to dry completely.
After our trip to the Trier Christmas Market, we organised our little trip to Germany's most famous Christmas market next weekend. It'll be a true adventure, so keep an eye out for it!
Sunday was set to be a nice day, the assistants had arranged to meet up in the morning, because this weekend in Saarbruecken there was a second Christmas Market (we're not really greedy, but when you've got space, you might as well make use of it!). This "one weekend only" market was to be found in front of the Castle (in the logically named: Schlossplatz) and was actually, in my opinion, quite disappointing because it had relatively little Christmas related stuff there, and the majority of the stallholders weren't from Saarland at all!
The afternoon, though, was right up my street (not literally...that would be silly as I live in a one-way, narrow, access-only road!). In the afternoon I headed out to Merzig to visit an Eisenbahnmuseum (preserved railway). For those of you who don't know this about me...I'm an anorak (I like trains). So, the opportunity to travel on a German preserved railway was far too strong for me to resist going...so I gave into temptation, and went!
The railway is 16km (10 miles) long and is situated on the east side of Merzig (about 20 minutes from the main DB train station). Merzig Ost station is just a platform, with a car park and a seat...there is nothing else there! I got there in plenty of time and waited for the train, which was very likely to be steam-hauled. It was steam-hauled, not only that but it was top-and-tailed (for those of you who are a bit lost: steam-hauled means pulled by a steam locomotive, and top-and-tailed means that it had a locomotive at each end!) Another good thing about the railway was the type of old carriages they used...they had an area at each end of the carriages where you could stand outside. This was, despite the persistant rain and slightly cold wind (by which I mean to replace the word slightly with bloody) , fantastic. I couldn't see very much, but you could hear and smell it...which as any anorak will tell you is half the attraction! So, all in all a fantastic afternoon out, and one which has reminded me to look out for other Railway Museums and Preserved Railways to visit during my time here.
So, what does next week's installment contain? Probably not a huge amount about school, as that's pretty standard at the moment, but it does contain a pretty impressive adventure. A few of us are going to Nuremberg early on Friday morning (i.e. about 6.40 - that's 5.40 for those of you at home in the UK), staying in a hotel just outside Nuremberg and then returning late on Saturday night (early Sunday morning is possible). Sunday's entry, can almost be predicted now...I slept...
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