My week: April 2 ed.

During the beginning of the week, I was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a beautiful town at the foot of the Zugspitze Mountain, among others. I was actually there for work. It was so "difficult" to work in such an enviornment. Or maybe not ;) Plus I was able to work with some colleagues for whom I regularly provide support but very rarely see. I really enjoy that aspect because sometimes it feels a bit stiff and cold to conduct everything by email or phone call, especially when it's a support issue that's so much faster when addressed in person.

On the train ride home, I finished watching Heimat. It's a tv series that follows the lives of a family in the Hunsrück region of the Rheinland, which is somewhat northwest of Kaiserslautern. The first series covers the years 1919 until 1982. For those curious about how life in Germany was during this time, this series covers it reasonably well, at least from what I can tell from my studies in history. For example, one can see why National Socialism would have been attractive to some Germans at the time because of the promises it made during shaky economic times. The series is slightly twee and nostalgic but it gives a decent rundown of German history for this time period.

When I got back to Kaiserslautern, I met my tandem partner and we practiced more for the German telc test that I would take in April. Can I just say that test preparation sucks the joy out of learning German for me? Okay, maybe it's not so dramatic as that, but reading a controversial editorial or findings of a research study and expressing my opinion about it gets old. In the next German class, C1, it's going to be even more intense because that is the level that is required to get into German-speaking unversity programs.

During the weekend, I met some friends at the palace in Schwetzingen. I've been wanting to visit for years but the palace itself had been closed for renovations. It was finally open again and even better yet, the cherry blossoms were still around.

Spring showers bring...cherry blossom flowers, and cherry blossom flowers bring...cosplayers! I bet that you didn't see that one coming, huh? (hehe) Our group, including my friend and her partner (who's also my friend), their child, and my other friend A. gathered under the trees for a picnic and some great people watching. Ladies wearing steampunk-inspired gowns primped and posed under the trees. The majority of people showed the peace hand symbol (can that just stop please? Seriously?).

We shared quite a laugh because J thought that a security guard was cosplaying. Heck, I laughed really hard because initially I thought that she wasn't really a security guard, either, just someone in a costume. However, her body language was very police-like and I later saw her in the security office.

A. and I bought tickets for a tour of the castle. It lasted about an hour and traveled through one set of apartments. The guide asked everyone not to touch the fabric or furnishings in the rooms and even showed us a sampling of the fabrics and those we were allowed to touch. Of course people still touched the fabric in the rooms. Gah.

Later we toured the grounds and ran into literal forests of Bärlauch, or in English, ramsons. They are a cousin of chives and have a mild oniony and garlicky taste. I had been looking for them in other places and so badly wanted to find some. It was definitely a tease to find so many of them at the castle; I didn't dare pick any of them, whether or not there was a cosplaying (or not) guard around. Below is a picture of the Bärlauch at a farmers market and some of it on the castle grounds. They are a major symbol of spring around here and people go nuts for them. You can even find them for sale at times at the grocery stores; my friends saw them at Lidl. Local restaurants cook soups and other dishes with them.

Passing wistfully by the Bärlauch, we visited the back part of the palace grounds and came upon the mosque. It was built in the Turkish style during the late eighteenth century. A examined it and pronounced, "I hope you do not think that this is how mosques really look. This is not accurate."

That cracked me up as I saw this building, while beautiful, as a European vision of a mosque with its mysterious, lovely, undulating designs and Arabic. It was probably not meant to be accurate as it was constructed for a Christian ruler who wanted an exotic building on the grounds. A. squinted at the Arabic on the ceiling. She is an Urdu native speaker and can sometimes read Arabic. This script was too difficult because of its stylized nature.

After leaving the non-authentic mosque, we continued to visit the lake and ran across what I call a "turducken thingie" and of course had to explain my excitement and the backstory.

I found the castle worth a visit, especially during cherry blossom time. It's beautiful and definitely has some interesting flora and fauna.

My week: September 4 ed.

Man, was I tired at the beginning of this week. Even though I wasn't sick from allergies, which have been mostly held at bay thanks to an aggressive daily routine of allergy pills and maintenance breathing steroids, my immune system still freaks about goldenrod and other allergens. I kept wondering why I was so tired but when I saw the goldenrod, I figured that must be the reason. I haven't been sleeping well because of congestion and also since my bedroom gets too hot. If I leave the rolladen up for air flow, then there's too much light coming into my room. If I leave them down, then the room gets stuffy. I turn on the fan and then I'm too cold. The whole thing is a bit ridiculous.

I met with my tandem partner and for the second time, followed her recommendation where we'd each speak our target language the whole time. I managed to work my way through a complex sentence, complete with relative clauses and multiple ideas, and I did it right. Yay! It's easy to get lost in German sentences, especially when using subordinating conjunctions and relative clauses. After watching out for verb order and keeping an eye out for splittable verbs, by the end it feels as if one has come up for air.

Another night, I invited my friend Ay. and her sister over for dinner. Ay. is from Pakistan and wanted to try to macaroni and cheese because "it's what single dads always make for their kids in American movies." She is always cracking me up and I tumbled into a heap of giggles over this reasoning. I bought Kraft Mac n' Cheese because she wanted the typical kind. Both gals liked it. Heck, I like it, as low-brow as it is, but mostly avoid it because the wheat in it gives me a headache.

During the weekend, I took a trip to the Stuttgart region. My friends C+K, who had previously lived in Neustadt, moved there. While I'm sad that they're no longer an easy 30-minute train ride away, I'm still glad to be in contact with them and the Stuttgart area does have some interesting activities.

On Saturday, we spent some time at their new apartment then started our journey to Tübingen, a university city about half an hour away. On the way, we stopped at C's parents' house to drop off some things. We were just in time as his mother, R, had just put a pizza in the oven. I've stayed there last year with C+K during C's annual garden party, so it was a nice reunion. My German has improved so much even since then so it was nice to talk more with C's father, who doesn't speak as much English.

After that, we drove to Tübingen and wandered around the city. More will follow about this trip, as a separate blog entry, but below is a picture of how pretty it is. I'm a sucker for cities with bodies of water.

The next day, while C did some work around the house, K and I visited the Keltenmuseum Hocdorf/Enz in Eberdingen. It's a museum dedicated to the Celts who lived in the area and includes artifacts from the grave site there. Entry was 5 euros and we spent about an hour there, looking over the exhibits. Most parts are in both English and German but the last third of the museum was only in German.

What's up, Celtic statue!

As we were leaving, I saw a sign for a free museum in the neighboring town of Markgröningen and we decided to visit. The Wimpelinhof Museum is sparse but offers some information about the local sheep herding traditions. K and I were very sad to learn that by a week, we had missed the annual herders' festival, where women wear Tracht and run races with water buckets on their heads, among other things. I would have been keen to view the former as I enjoy strange traditions.

Wimpelinhof Museum

After we wandered around the city a bit more, ate ice cream, and got rained on, we cut our visit to Markgröningen short. It's a shame because the town is quite lovely, full of historical fachwerk buildings. However, we didn't bring umbrellas and didn't feel like standing around in rain so we went back to their house. For dinner, I cooked raja masala, which they enjoyed, and then I drove home, content after catching up with some good friends.

My week: August 21 ed.

I met with my tandem partner to practice German. I've been wanting to practice pronunciation so we worked on words like Eichhörnchen (squirrel), hören (to hear), and some other umlauted words. I don't think I'm ever going to get ö, ü, and r correct in German. I've given up on ever saying that it's humid outside because an umlaut makes all the difference and can dramatically change what you're trying to say (German speakers know what I mean on this one).

It's been about the two year mark since tandem partner A. and I've started meeting. She's helped me immensely with German and any errors are mine, despite her excellent tutoring. A. is pleased with her progress in English and I'm impressed. She uses many idioms and employs a wide understanding of English. I highly recommend that those learning a new language practice conversation regularly with a native speaker because it enforces what one learns in the classroom.

I took off Friday and headed to Darmstadt for a seminar in the evening. I was feeling as if I could use a mini vacation so I decided to explore the city and meet some locals. 

I ate lunch at Djadoo, a Persian restaurant that offers a buffet lunch for about 10 euros. I won't lie; this lunch was part of the reason for taking the day off. The other more pressing reason was that I was feeling a little burned out so a day off seemed a good way to refresh myself. Anyway, I was able to snag a table inside at this handsome restaurant. I think it would've been even nicer to sit on the terrace under the umbrellas. If you'd like to do that, make a reservation. The buffet was tasty with various rice and sauce dishes, plenty of them vegetarian. There were sauteed vegetables, salad with dressings, and a few desserts. My favorite was the eggplant dish. I tried the ghormeh sabsi, which I also eat at home (from a tin), and it was good but a bit more citrusy than I usually enjoy.

After lunch, I took a short walk to Waldspirale, a housing development designed by an Austrian, Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It undulates over a whole block, and is mostly apartments with some businesses scattered throughout. For those interested in art and architecture, it might be worth stopping by to view the building.

I wasn't done with viewing architecture; my next stop was Mathildenhöhe, an Art Nouveau artists' colony, reached by a pleasant 20 minute walk across town. I am enraptured by Art Nouveau and enjoyed my time very much. I visited the museum, which is somewhat small, for 5 euros, and admired works from the artists who were in residence in the early part of the 20th century. I also stopped by the lovely Orthodox church on-site and basked in its opulence.

Afterward, I stopped by the bustling downtown area to look around before the seminar that had brought me to Darmstadt. It's a typical German downtown with chain stores but does also have a palace, a theater, and other amenities, and was very busy.

The next item on my itinerary was the seminar, held in a suburb. It covered optimal body alignment for both everyday living and for sport and performance. I was chosen as someone to work on at one point and I unintentionally turned my session into a stand-up comedy routine, with full support from the teacher. He's from Ohio originally so we joked about Ohio-Michigan rivalry. I made sure to tease him about "The" Ohio State University. Yes, really, that's how the university refers to itself -- always with "The" in front of the name (I find this practice silly and pretentious.) 

The other participants had been shy and demure; I am neither, so we definitely had a lively session. One of the ground rules of using this method is that one has a head and a body. The teacher started to ask if I had a head. I told him that I definitely had a mouth. At first the other students were a bit shocked by our bantering (they were mostly Europeans and seemed rather serious) but they really seemed to get into it and clapped loudly at the end. I hadn't set out to be so raucous but since the teacher encouraged it, why not?

That night, I stayed with an architect. Man, the theme really was architecture on this trip! We had a nice chat and the next morning he made a lovely German breakfast.

I then met another Darmstadter for a hike at the Freizeitpark am Oberwaldhaus, which cracks me up a little bit at its name. It's a "free time park." Heaven forbid that one goes there when one should be doing something else! I enjoyed a nice chat with the woman who showed me around and I even navigated us successfully back to the parking lot after she missed a turn (I'm usually quite good with navigating, even in new places).

I really enjoyed Darmstadt, which I hadn't expected to enjoy to that extent. I'd recommend it to those who enjoy architecture. Oh yes, and I'd also recommend it to those who enjoy Persian food, too, as there seem to be several Persian restaurants in town!

The next day, my coworker hosted a potluck for my friends. We all had a great time and she was happy to meet some new people. She enjoyed it so much that she offered to host again! How sweet is that? I love to introduce the people in my life.

It was an excellent week, filled with architecture, friends, and new experiences.

Finding a good fare on local German Train Travel

My friends invited me on a day trip to Karlsruhe and I wanted to avoid spending a crazy amount of money on train tickets. (I definitely didn't want to drive there.)

We worked it out that I'd take the train from Kaiserslautern to Neustadt and ride with them in the car to Karlsuhe since they were driving anyway. We'd spend some time there together and then I'd take the train back because they were staying for a concert.

I wanted to find out: how could I best buy the train tickets to minimize the prices? I'll share the steps I took in hopes that it might be useful for someone. Do you have tips to share? Feel free to leave them in the comments section; maybe you know an even better way to buy tickets.

-The first thing to know is that train tickets can be rather costly and prices have recently climbed. There are ways to buy cheaper tickets, such as by linking different regions through creative ticket buying.

-If you are only traveling in one or two regions instead of taking a long distance trip, it can make more sense to buy tickets from each regional traffic association instead of buying an overall ticket from Deutsche Bahn. However, it can be a bit confusing that if buying tickets at a train station, one uses the ticket machines that are labeled DB but also sell local tickets.

-When I searched the DB website, bahn.de, I found that a default setting is "schnelle Verbindung bevorzugen," which means "prefer fast connection." This means that Inter-City Express and Regional Express trains are more likely to be chosen. You'll get there faster but there's a possibility you'd pay more. I unchecked this option so I could see both the high speed and the cheaper local trains.

-If you have a reduction card, such as the BahnCard, be sure to select that option. After all, why not save money?

-The DB website can usually give a price for distance travel (i.e. the whole trip from Karlsruhe to Kaiserslautern), but for local travel, it'll often give a message "Preisauskunft nicht möglich," which means "price information is not available" because travelers must visit the individual regional transportation websites to determine the prices. Grr! Why this isn't integrated is beyond me.

-If you want to save money, you'll want to check the regional train sites to "hack" your trip.

-I ended up buying a VRN all-day train ticket. VRN is the transportation association that covers Kaiserslautern to Mannheim, and many other cities too. That got me to Neustadt to meet my friends.

For the return trip, I bought a ticket from Karlsruhe to Bad Schönborn-Kronau, which is the end of the Karlsruhe region and only cost me 3,50 euros with my Bahncard. From there, I used my VRN day ticket to get me to Mannheim, where I transferred to another train to get me back to Kaiserslautern.

Let's compare prices.

Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket

• 40 euros for a day of travel; does not include high-speed trains

A "traditional" way of buying the ticket:

• Buy a one-way ticket from Kaiserslautern to Neustadt (7,10 euro regular price; 5,30 euros with BahnCard)
• Use Deutsche Bahn to buy a ticket from Karlsruhe to Kaiserslautern (cheapest price I saw without BahnCard was 19 euros but it went up to 33 euros depending on the time and if it was a high speed train; with BahnCard it was as low as 14,25 euros)
• I wasn't sure exactly when I'd be done in Karlsruhe and the longer one waits to buy the ticket, the more likely it is to be more expensive.
• Using this method, I would, at minimum, paid about 26 euros without the BahnCard or as low as 20 euros with it. However, depending on the time, the average prices I saw for some of the various options were about 25 euros or so in total because I was working on this last-minute.

What I actually spent:

•  17,50 for the VRN day pass
• 3,50 to get me from Karlsruhe to the beginning of the VRN's coverage area (it would've been 5,70 without the BahnCard)
• Total = 21 euros

 How I could have hacked this trip further:

• Buy a single trip ticket to Neustadt  (7,10 euro regular price; 5,30 euros with BahnCard)
•  3,50 to get me from Karlsruhe to the beginning of the VRN's coverage area (or 5,70 without the BahnCard)
• Buy a single trip ticket from Wiesloch-Walldorf, which is the beginning of the VRNetwork, to Kaiserslautern (10,20 regular price or 7,70 with BahnCard)
• Total = 22,60 euros without BahnCard or 16.50 euros with BahnCard

So, reader, are you thinking, "geez, that sounds like a lot of work and was it really worth it for ATW to spend all this time trying to figure this out?" Well, have no fear; I enjoy this type of research and it's more of a hobby for me so I'm not seeing it as a waste of my time. I also received some tips from friends to get me started (thanks, awesome friends!). Even though I've been riding the trains here for three years, I didn't know all the ins and outs as well as I could have and this helped me fill in some gaps. Of course, there's always more to learn!

A supergalactic hike among the Planentenwanderweg of Nonnweiler

Nonnweiler website with more information

Nationalpark Hunsrück-Hochwald
An der Talsperre 1
66620 Nonnweiler
 
Monday was an American holiday: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. An American friend and I planned to do something together to celebrate the holiday (and to be more honest, the day off) and she suggested that we take a hike along the Planentenwanderweg Nonnweiler. I vaguely remember reading something about this in another expat blog and agreed.

Winter has finally arrived in southwestern Germany so it made for a rather cold hike today at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I'm a glutton for winter punishment and actually celebrated the cold. It must be my Michigan roots at work. After layering up, I picked up K and drove us up to Nonnweiler. I was pleased to see some snow up there; we had hardly any in Kaiserslautern.

Yay! Snow, along the wide and hiker and bicyclist-friendly trail.

The Planentenwanderweg is a trail that circles the Stausee Nonnweiler, a reservoir in the Nationalpark Hunsrück-Hochwald. As the name suggests, this trail also offers a special feature: a scale model of the solar system. The model starts with the sun at bridge over the reservoir. From there, one makes a circuit and encounters the other planets. Since everything is scaled, wanderers on the path are technically traveling at the speed of light, at least according to the tourist bureau's website ;) I don't think that we were anywhere near that fast because our legs were stiffening with the cold.

It all begins with the sun.

The gravel path is wide and easy to traverse. However, if one wishes to traverse the entire solar system, it's a rather long walk since the final planet (or downgraded whatever it is -- Pluto) is across the reservoir. We had originally thought that the path would be around 5 kilometers or about 3 miles. It seemed way longer than that and indeed, it was. We ended up taking the 11 kilometer route all the way around the reservoir! There's even the possibility to take a 17 km route. Oy vey. I definitely recommend studying the maps near the kiosk/bathrooms at the beginning of the trail to decide which route and distance to take.

There are benches and picnic huts along the trail.

As we labored around and across the reservoir, we encountered all of the planets. Most of them are at the beginning and each station includes a model of the planet on a stand with more information and pictures. As can be expected in Germany, all of the descriptions were in German. It is interesting to combine a hike while "exploring" the solar system; by the time one reaches the final planets, the immense scale is really apparent. We were wondering if we'd ever get to the end of the planets!

Model of Mercury (about the size of a BB); it struck us as funny after how big the sun was!

We were especially interested in seeing if the information about Pluto had been updated since it had been downgraded to a dwarf planet. We found that the solar system model kept mum about the change. Maybe the model maker is still in denial.

Pluto's model, with no mention of its downgrade

We enjoyed our hike around the solar system but did wish that we had studied the maps better before taking our path. We kept wondering if we had missed a turn-off somewhere. The path is not that confusing but seeing the maps first would have helped a lot more.

Tips for enjoying the Planentenwanderweg:
-Dress for the weather! It was even colder by the reservoir with the cold air blowing over the water.
-Study the maps of the trails first and decide just how far you want to walk before you start. The shortest path is probably to walk to Pluto and come back the way you came.
-If traversing the path clockwise from the beginning (by the sun), take the first bridge on the right to cross the reservoir. It takes a while to get there so don't be too surprised!
-There are bathrooms (heated, reasonably clean, and lit) at the beginning of the trail. In the warmer months, the kiosk is open too and sells snacks.
-Follow the signs for Nationalpark Hunsrück-Hochwald; to reach the reservoir, take the steep road with the sign that's just outside Nonnweiler.
-The trails are very wide and well-maintained. They're pleasant for both hikers and bicyclists.
-Dogs must be leashed at all times and swimming in the reservoir is not allowed because it supplies drinking water.

Here are the maps so you can pick your route first.

11 km route, the one we took

About 9 km path (pink one on right) that will tour all the planets

17 km path

Is the Leipzig Card worth buying?

Some cities offer special discount cards for tourists. The cards often offer transportation on the local bus, tram, and subway system, in addition to discounts and free admissions to local museums and attractions. When I visited Leipzig, I made the decision to buy the Leipzig Card because I thought it might be worth it from a cost-saving perspective. Was I right? Is it cost-effective to buy the Leipzig Card?


Let's look at my thought processes for buying it. My trip to Leipzig was from Friday-Monday. I planned to visit some museums and take public transport. I usually buy a day pass for public transport since it works out to be cheaper than buying individual tickets for most of my wanderings. For example, the day ticket was 6,90 euro, whereas individual tickets are 1,80. It would only take four trips to make it worth it for a day card. Four trips would really be two roundtrips.


The Leipzig Card is 10,90 for a one day or for 21,90 for three days and includes public transport and discounts on museums, stores, etc. It also includes free entrances to some attractions, though this is limited. Since my visit was 3 days and it averaged out to 7,30 a day, I thought that it would be worth to get the card.


However, upon tying up the trip, I had to re-evaluate that. I didn't realize how compact the main sights are within Leipzig. I stayed mostly in the center of the city, pinpointed on the map as Markt. In that vicinity are many museums, stores, restaurants, etc. My hostel was right in the area so I didn't need transportation to that either. I found several free museums that took up a lot of my time. I also could have used very little, if any, public transportation. In order to try to get my value out of the ticket, I did take some tram rides to see the city but I could've walked.


I used the card to get a discount at the fine arts museum (I think 2 euros discount) and on a bus/walking tour (4 euros). I only heavily used the travel portion on one day. My take is this: I don't think it was money totally down the drain but had I realized how easy it was to see most of the sights in a compact area, I probably wouldn't have bought the card. For those considering it, it would be wise to figure out how far everything you want to see it and if the discounts are worth it to justify buying the card. For a short visit, it might worth it just to walk and visit free museums.

The Rhein-Neckar-Pfalz Reisemarkt

ReiseMarkt Rhein-Neckar-Pfalz website

Two weekends ago, I had a case of cabin fever but not a lot of desire to plan a big trip. Instead, I decided to do something fun, local(ish), and informative: I visited the Reisemarkt Rhein-Neckar-Pfalz. The event is a travel fair where local and not-so-local tourist associations, travel vendors, and associations set up booths at the Maimarkt location in Mannheim (next to the SAP Arena).

It was an enjoyable and easy day trip. A friend and I took the train from Kaiserslautern to Mannheim, getting out at the Maimarkt stop just past the city's main station stop. We then walked 10 minutes (straight ahead) to the fair location. There is also a tram that will shuttle people back and forth but we didn't feel like waiting for it. Another option would be to drive and park in the lot across the street from the market; parking is one euro per hour after the first (free) hour.

We paid 6,50 euros a piece for the tickets and headed over to the exhibition hall. Inside, we wandered through the booths, picking up literature and dreaming of vacations to take. The majority of the booths were from tourist and travel associations, including those run by local governments. There were plenty of free informational fliers and maps. I would guess that about half of the travel destinations were within a couple of hours from Kaiserslautern. The other part included farther parts of Germany, Europe, and even some travel agencies selling trips all over the world.

How about being transported to another country in the movie-showing geodesic dome?

In addition, some booths were run by hotels and other businesses. Other businesses were selling goods, including a bicycle store, a winter clothing store, and some others. A motor home dealer parked one of his vehicles inside but it looked miniature in comparison to the luxury travel coach on the other side of the building!

There was an area for kids, with comfy seating, a slack line to try, and a table to make wooden houses for bugs (for a fee). Those who worked up a hunger could eat at a Schwarzwald (Black Forest) themed cafe or stop by some food carts for a light snack. There were various stage presentations; during our visit, we saw karate students performing and and then a travel agency highlighting some deals on tours.

Presentation of travel deals

Ginormous Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake) - this one was just for display

It was a very enjoyable trip and was a great way to pick up travel ideas, maps, and tourist information to help plan that next trip. It is especially useful for those around Kaiserslautern as destinations within a few hours from there were plentiful.

The Seilbahn in Rüdesheim am Rhein

Seilbahn Rüdesheim
Oberstraße 37
65385 Rüdesheim am Rhein
Buy tickets and board the cable car at this address in the pedestrian area.

After enjoying the Christmas market and the mechanical instrument museum in Rüdesheim am Rhein, C and I continued our touristy fun with a ride on the Seilbahn.

To the Seilbahn!

The Seilbahn is a cable car that whisks visitors from the middle of town up to the Niederwald monument that overlooks the Rhein and town. For seven euros, we purchased round tickets and braved the blustery winter wind during the ride.

This guy zipped by. I wonder if he was on his way back to the Christmas market?

The ride affords a good view of the Rhein, the local vineyards, and the surrounding countryside.

Looking south, toward the Rhein

The ride ends at the Niederwald monument, which celebrates either the founding of Germany in 1871 and/or the French-German War of 1870-1. Both answers seem to be correct on that one. Germania is the fancy lady up top.

In addition to the monument, there is also the Niederwald temple (more like a big gazebo), a restaurant (closed for the winter), and bathrooms (which require 3 10 cent pieces or a kind prior patron leaving the door open to use).

Since it was cold and we had enjoyed enough fun at the top, we hopped back in. We enjoyed the chilly and touristy ride that gifted us with some great views.

Review: Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett, Rüdesheim am Rhein

Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett
Oberstraße 29, 65385 Rüdesheim am Rhein

Best for: those who love gadgets, musical instruments, or curiosities

As part of our visit to Rüdesheim am Rhein for the Christmas market, we also wanted to visit some local attractions. The town isn't big so there aren't many, but one was odd enough that we had to visit: Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett.

It's a mechanical instrument museum located inside the Brömserhof, a former residence of the aristocracy. For 6,50 euros, we were taken on a tour that lasted about half an hour. It is only possible to see the collection by tour; the guide explains the collection and plays a selection of its pieces. Photography and video were allowed during our visit.

When we went, the tour was only in German but I was given a description in English to use to follow along. C said that what he was saying in German was exactly the same as what was written in English, so don't worry about missing out.

The guide played such interesting things as a Hupfeld-Phonoliszt-Violina, which is a combination of a player piano and automatic violins.

We also listened to a Weber-Maesto Orchestrion, which included even more instruments.

My favorite part of the collection was the group of music boxes with tiny birds that would pop up and sing via mechanical means. These were developed beginning in the 18th century. I was completely fascinated by their beauty and intricate details. The museum shop sells replicas created in the workshop of the museum's owners and I entertained the impulsive idea of buying one if they were several hundred euros. I found out that they cost several thousand euros, so I had to shelve that idea, but they are very lovely, nonetheless.

Our short jaunt through the museum was worth it, in our book. It was a bit touristy but I love strange and beautiful contraptions from bygone days. The museum offers just that, in a building that is interesting in its own right; within the former chapel, 16th century frescoes remain. It's worth a visit for those who love curiosities.

In the courtyard of the residence with Christmas attractions. Enter the museum through the door in the middle.

Rüdesheimer Weihnachtsmarkt der Nationen

This past Saturday, C. and I drove a bit more than an hour north to Rüdesheim am Rhein, a wine-growing city on the north bank of the Rhein. Our plan was to visit the Rüdesheimer Weihnachtsmarkt der Nationen, or the Christmas Market of the Nations.

Rüdesheimer Weihnachtsmarkt der Nationen Welcome Sign

Getting There

I had been talking to my dad about the plans for the weekend and he was excited about the trip; he had visited the city in the 70s. He mentioned that he had to take a ferry across the Rhein to get there. I doubted that a ferry would still be necessary; after all, it had been forty-ish years since he had been there and wouldn't a bridge have been built?

Well, I was wrong; indeed, a ferry is still necessary. Mr. GPS directed me to Bingen. We parked in a free lot and walked onto the ferry. During the winter, it doesn't run as often, but we didn't have to wait very long. Just be sure to check for the last boarding time! The trip is about 4 euros round trip, per person.

After the short ride across the river, we followed the crowd to the town of Rüdesheim, a short walk. I was glad that I had left my car across the river in the big lot because parking on the Rüdesheim side didn't seem to be super abundant and people were walking everywhere.

The Market

The international Christmas market lines Rheinstrasse, which faces the river, and continues north along the small side streets until it reaches Oberstasse. As an international market, it has more than 120 booths with specialties from 12 countries, according to the tourist information website.

Most of the offerings were German, which makes sense. There was plenty of wurst, Glühwein, potato pancakes (reibekuchen), lebkuchen, and other typical German things to eat and drink. The international portion of the market was much smaller; it included things such as African masks (perhaps slightly dubious in authenticity), Australian hats, a jaunty British bus with cocktails and snacks, and some others.

There was one booth quite unlike the others: the Hanf-Beckerey, or Hemp Bakery! It was an old-fashioned looking booth filled with cheery workers cooking up sandwiches with hemp seeds. On offer were chicken or vegetarian sandwiches, served on grilled bread. The workers were quite silly; if one ordered a vegetarian sandwich, he had to sing a song! The booth cracked me up because it all looked so traditional, including the cooks wear chef hats. However, the hemp stenciled on their hats and their flag broke that illusion.

Though some of the "international" offerings seemed a bit forced, we were enchanted by the Scandinavian (sub) market located in a courtyard in Drosselgasse, a small passage that's worth visiting on its own. We passed beautiful fachwerk buildings as well as the beautiful stained glass windows on the Rüdesheimer Schloss. Once in the market, we touched the soft elk skins and I very purposefully avoided touching the multitude of wool offerings as I'm allergic. Grilled elk and salmon were available from food vendors.

Entrance to the Drosselgasse; it's even prettier at night!

There is certainly enough within the market itself to make for a pleasant visit in its own right. In addition, the town has some other offerings of interest that make a visit definitely worth it. More information will follow, including details about our trip to the mechanical musical instrument museum and the ride on the cable car.

Published in GermanyJa! again

My article about enjoying Germany like the Germans do was published in GermanyJa!, a website geared for expats, especially of interest to military-affiliated American expats (though it's certainly helpful for everyone).

The anger & frustration of the suburban trains to Amsterdam

[Here's a website with some good information about the issue I'm writing about below. I had done some quick research into public transport before my trip, but apparently not enough and I wish I had read this first! Keep in mind that this article is about using the trains outside of Amsterdam. At the Centraal Station in Amsterdam, we had no problems buying tickets for transport within the city at kiosks where we could use our credit cards or pay with bills.]

During our trip to Amsterdam, there was one absolutely aggravating issue: using the suburban trains to get into the city center. We stayed in Weesp, a suburb that was a short 17 minute train ride to the center. The town itself was adorable and our accommodations pretty much perfect. However, getting to Amsterdam put us into a rage.

Why is that? I've traveled plenty of other places and have never had such an issue. I've even been to Amsterdam before, in 2008 and had no problems then. This time, though, it was a frustrating experience (I'm getting grumpy all over again, just writing about it!).

It was awful because of the system for buying tickets. Imagine this: we've finally arrived to Weesp and have to pick up a friend at the Centraal station in Amsterdam. We are equipped with cash in the form of bills as well as our giro chip credit cards that work in Germany (but are from an American bank - with the chip, that's all that matters, at least in Germany). It's 11 p.m. but this shouldn't be a problem because of our cards and the cash, right?

Oh no, my friend, it was a major problem. Here's why: the train ticket machines would not accept bills! There were no change machines around. Okay, so then we tried our credit cards with the chip. We were denied; the machine only took Dutch PIN/Maestro/V-Pay. Cruuuuuud! It was also 11 at night and it's a suburb. What would be open to get change? Well, we lucked out: there was a small bike kiosk and the guy was kind enough to give us change. If it weren't open, we would have been hosed.

So, we get the change and try to buy a ticket. The whole thing was confusing; it appeared that we had to buy some sort of card for 7,50 euros. Ah, that seemed reasonable! My friend chose that option, thinking it was a travel card for the duration. It then told her that she had to put in 20 more euros. What the heck!? At that point, we were going to run late so she just put in the total amount, in change only. She wasn't happy about having to shove almost 30 euros' worth of coins into the machine, and I don't blame her at all.

We later found out how this worked (and it's still crummy, in my opinion): the card she got is called the OV-chipkaart. It's possible to either have an anonymous one (like what my friend bought) or one can buy a personal one with the owner's photo and lost card protection. The latter option is more likely for Dutch residents. The card itself is a non-refundable 7,50 euros and there must be an additional 20 euros of credit on it. If my friend wanted to turn in the card and get the remaining credit (less than 30 euros) off it, she would have been charged 2,50 euros for the "privilege." Oh, and if you don't have a Dutch bank card, you better as heck have a boat load of change to buy the dang card at the machine.

The other option we later found was the single-use cards, which were more reasonable. For 3,20 euros, I bought a one-way ticket from Weesp to Amsterdam Centraal. At the time, I had a printed ticket. I later found out that a few days after our trip ended, the system was changing over to single-use OV chip cards (enmalige chipkaart) and that there would be a 1 euro surcharge on each single-use card purchased.

The whole thing was entirely frustrating and the system is not at all friendly to people who are not going to be using transport very often (i.e. the hordes of visitors to Amsterdam). I think that the worst thing is the payment situation; the machines won't take most credit or debit cards and there are no change machines. If the train office or stores aren't open, how is one to get change to buy tickets? Many of the stores around the trains aren't always amenable to giving change, either; on our second day, we went to the convenience store in the train station in Weesp and they refused to give us our change from our purchase back all in coins. I understand that they need the change too, so it's extremely frustrating to have to scramble for coins to pay for train tickets.

The Netherlands are otherwise pretty cool, but buying train tickets outside of Amsterdam is an exercise in frustration.

Hamburg Day 2: Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland (website)
Kehrwieder 4, 20457 Hamburg

At the end of day 2 in Hamburg, we were to make the visit that I was most excited about for the trip: Miniatur Wunderland! According to their website, it's "the largest model railway in the world, and one of the most successful permanent exhibitions in Northern Germany."

I have read many other bloggers' posts about this place. At first, I was not moved to action. I'm not really into model trains or anything like that. However, the response to M.W. was so positive in the blogs that I found myself getting excited about visiting it! In fact, wanting to see it was one of the main reasons I chose Hamburg for our mini vacation.

Having read other blogs, I knew some hints for visiting Miniatur Wunderland, such as booking tickets ahead of time and going at an odd time. Our appointment was at 7 p.m. and we were there for almost three hours! I had no idea that the exhibition would draw me in so much. Three hours wasn't enough time to see everything, but it was a start and we found many hidden secrets, jokes, and naughty things in the exhibition.

Even though the place really caters to kids, adults will find plenty of interesting things to look at (and be surprised at some of the naughty surprises inside). Also, the exhibit is constantly evolving. For example, a section for Italy is in development. When we visited, we saw temporary displays with videos about the various political parties in Germany. These were just informational, not meant as propaganda, but there were certainly many jokes in the displays!

It's definitely worth a trip and I can't wait to go back and see what other little things are hidden.

One of the tamer jokes - a guy taking a break from a traffic jam.

There's even a model of Miniatur Wunderland itself!

This is a model of the Elbphilharmonie, which will be Hamburg's new opera house. I wasn't impressed by the real thing in the construction phase, but now that I can see what the final plan is, I find it very striking.

Push a button and it plays music and slowly opens.

A trip to Hamburg: Day 2

On our second day, we had a leisurely wake-up and enjoyed the breakfast buffet at our hotel/hostel. As part of the Ameropa deal, breakfast was included. Otherwise, it's 6 or or 7 euros.

After eating, we headed out to the Goldbekmarkt (UBahn stop Borgweg), a weekly market in the Winterhude district. Oh my goodness, was it ever lovely! The neighborhood is fantastic, filled with trees, a beautiful canal lined with Schrebergärten (allotment gardens for residents), and just a wonderful vibe.

The market is on the right, behind the canal. Isn't it a beautiful area?

Our next stop was St. Nikolai Church memorial. It was bombed during the war and only the spire remains, which is constantly covered in scaffolding, it seems. For 4 euros (we had the Hamburg Card discount), we took an elevator to a viewing deck on the spire. The views were impeded by scaffolding but we still got a look at the town. The documentation was interesting; it mentioned how Hamburg had been firebombed during WWII and that more people died there than those who did in Dresden.We also visited the museum, below the memorial. It was well done, a thoughtful documentation of life during and after the War.

Inside the museum.

Part of the memorial, the remains of the church.

After that somber experience, our mood was lightened by a strange sight: this car had no driver's side door! It was so strange and didn't look like a legal way to drive.

Recovering from that odd sight, we visited the Reeperbahn (which means "ropewalk," or area where ropes were made) in the St. Pauli district. Basically, it reminds me of Las Vegas and is the party area, red light district, and nightlife area all rolled into one. It wasn't really my thing.

Part of the district. Very Vegas-y.

I was a bit amused by their customized ATM sign.

We moved on to a neighborhood that I did love: the Schulterblatt ("shoulder blade"). It is a hip, creative, and crafty area that reminds me of the Friedrichshain area of Berlin or the Neustadt are in Dresden. We stopped by Herr Max for a sweet treat. I had a berry muffin with chocolate ganache topping. It was a disappointment, unfortunately; the muffin was super dense and a bit dry and the topping was just too sweet. I loved the vibe of the bakery though; it was super, super cute with a kitschy theme of Dia De Los Muertos skulls. I have a friend in the US who loves making sugar skulls so I was very fondly reminded of her during the visit.

Even the dishes on the wall on the left side have skulls painted on them!

 

We were quite tired after all of our gallivanting so we returned to the hotel for a nap before the highlight of the trip: the visit to Miniatur Wunderland. That will get its own entry as it was quite the experience! More to come...

A trip to Hamburg: Day 1

My friend C. (a different C. from the Macedonia trip) and I took a weekend trip to Hamburg. I found a deal from Deutsche Bahn for 188 euros per person for the high speed train and two overnights. Their Ameropa travel service often yields some decent enough deals, especially when one books as far in advance as possible. If not booking very far in advance, one will find that the hotels on offer are often sold out. I booked three weeks out and was able to secure a room at the A&O Hotel&Hostel.

Our train came in before 9 on Friday night. We walked to the A&O from the Hauptbahnhof; it was an easy 10 minute walk. It was jam-packed when we arrived, apparently with school groups, bachelor parties, and other travelers. What a mish-mash!

We dumped our luggage in our room and took the train to the Planten un Blomen Park. We picked our way carefully through the insufficiently lit and deliciously fragrant park to see a cheesy tourist attraction: the Wasserlichtorgel, or water light organ. It's a water fountain in the park's pond that is synchronized with light and organ music. It was sufficiently touristy and kitsch, but also very pleasant to stand among the wonderfully aromatic plants and enjoy the sight, which is free, and a good end to our first day's journey.

Mannheim Maimarkt: a must-see happening this weekend!

Do you know where you can shop 'til you drop; try food and wines from all over the world; and see so much more? All of this is possible at the Maimarkt Mannheim, which goes through the end of this weekend. Located near the SAP arena on the outskirts of Mannheim, it opens at 9 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to see as much as is possible; the Markt is huge!

The Maimarkt is almost 400 years old. Today, it's quite a sight to behold, with about 1,400 exhibitors. It is basically a trade show but is also so much more. Of course one can go shopping, visiting vendors who sell everything from kitchen gadgets to car insurance. If one is hungry, there is a huge international food court with wonderful things to eat and drink. Love horses? There is a show jumping and Dressage competition! There is even a neighborhood of houses at the edge of the fairgrounds. Does anyone live here? Nope; they're builders' model homes that are open for tours.

Adult tickets are 8,50 euros when bought at the Markt. Even better yet is to buy the ticket from a VRN ticket machine available at most train stations in the area; for only 50 cents more, one can also receive a roundtrip travel card in the VRN's service area (including Kaiserslautern) to use the train to get to the Maimarkt.

More information is available at: www.maimarkt.de

Storing luggage at Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof

For those who are visiting a city for just a day on a trip, the question might right arise: what is one to do with one's luggage? Well, if one is arriving by Deutsche Bahn, many of the train stations in Germany offer lockers in various sizes where one can store luggage for a short time.

Even my own local main train station (Hauptbahnhof) in Kaiserslautern offers lockers. When entering the train station from the main entrance that faces downtown, go down the stairs and turn left. The lockers are located there and offer various sizes and rates; the largest lockers could accommodate most suitcases. The locker pictured below is 3 euros to rent. The time limit on use is 72 hours.

The German word for luggage is "Gepäck," pronounced something like "geh-peck." The word for suitcase is "Koffer."

A Visit to the Kuseler Handels & Handwerksmesse

On Sunday I was in the Kusel area so I decided to stop by the Kuseler Handels & Handwerksmesse. What is such an event? Well, it's a trade show and craft show held in downtown Kusel. It reminds me of a small version of the Maimarkt held in Mannheim, which I attended last year but haven't even gotten around to writing about yet (oops!).

It was a nice little diversion. The trade fair was hosted in three tents and featured booths by local businesses and organizations. One tent was filled with happy attendees listening to music, drinking beer, and eating sausages.

In the other tents I saw heating and cooling companies, window companies, banks, and even the tourist bureau for the Pfalz (the region in which Kaiserslautern and Kusel are located). The latter was my favorite booth because of all the free flyers and maps of things to do in the region. I grabbed some information about biking, camping, and hiking in the area.

Even better yet than the flyers? There was a "Draisine" in the booth:

What is this glorious contraption? Well, apparently its German name is the same as the English term and it's similar to a handcar which is driven by human propulsion on rail tracks. This particular drisine is pedal-powered. Even better yet? These can be rented for sightseeing in the region! There are even electric powered ones and party-bus (party-drisine?) ones available for rent. Rentals start at 36 euros and more information is here.  And, despite what it sounds like, none of that was an ad or sponsored in any way. I just thought I'd share the info since it seems really cool! I might give it a try, myself; I envision some friends and lots of wine for an adventure with such a contraption.

After seeing the drisine, I wandered outside and came across people "hanging out" in harnesses on a utility vehicle. It was a local tree trimming service, allowing attendees to see what it was like to be suspended from the lift.

In the "handwerk" portion of the event, crafters sold their wares in the courtyard. There were many sewn items, including a lot of owl-related merchandise. I guess owl prints are "owl" the rage right now? Har har.

As I was walking around, I could smell what reminded me of burning hair. I was wondering what on earth it could be. As I turned the corner, I found out: a farrier demonstrating shaping horse shoes for a patiently waiting horse. I felt a bit silly that I didn't recognize the smell as I had been an avid equestrienne. However, in all fairness, I stopped shoeing my own horses more than a decade ago as I have found many benefits in doing so.

To clarify about the smell: it results from the process of hot shoeing. In hot shoeing, the farrier works the shoes over a forge, heating them up. As he works on them, he presses them to the horse's just-trimmed hoof to check the fit and make adjustments as necessary. Since the shoe is hot, it burns the hoof a little bit and the smell results. There is no worry about the hot shoe touching the outside wall of the horse's hoof; it's not painful as this area is similar to the part of a human's nail that is above the nailbed. The other type of shoeing is cold shoeing, in which the farrier doesn't heat up the shoes to fit them to the horse.

Seligenstadt Easter Egg Market, March 8/9 & 15/16

International Easter Egg Market of Seligenstadt

March 8/9 and March 15/16 (12-5:30 pm on Saturday, 10 am - 5:30 pm Sunday), 2014
Parking is available adjacent to the Kloster at Aschaffenburger Str. 48 for 1 euro per day
Address: Klosterhof 2‎ 63500 Seligenstadt

Benedictine Abbey (white building) and Basilica on the right, Seligenstadt

 On March 8 and 9, as well as the following weekend on March 15 and 16, a lovely Easter Egg Market is bringing some egg-celent decorative pieces to the Benediktinerabtei (the Benedictine Abbey/Monastery) in Seligenstadt.

The market is held inside the Landschaftsmuseum, in the heart of the monastery. Visitors may enter to see both the museum and the decorated Easter eggs; adults pay an admission fee of three euros and children 14 and younger receive free admission.

Almost sixty vendors set up tables throughout the museum, displaying their artwork among the museum's displays. Different vendors will exhibit their goods the following weekend so the event promises a diverse and gorgeous showing of decorated eggs, just in time for Easter display.

During the first weekend of the event, a wide variety of eggs were available, including everything from traditionally painted chicken, goose, and even ostrich eggs to wooden eggs, polished to perfection. Eggs were decorated in many different ways; most were painted but some were were decoratively wrapped in wire or covered in faux jewels. Others had patterns cut into them with tools such as a dentist's drill, creating delicate-looking, lacy decorations.


Prices vary, depending on the size, quality, and detail of the egg. Starting from 5 euros for a small egg without extensive decoration, prices could go up to several hundreds of euros for extremely detailed eggs. Most eggs are between 15-60 euros and cash is the currency of choice so be sure to stop at the ATM first! Other gifts are available too, including arrangements of artificial flowers, spring-themed greeting cards and wooden cutouts.

It's worth a trip to Seligenstadt to admire the artistry and beauty of the eggs. A warning must be issued though: it's difficult to leave without buying several of the marvelous eggs!

Some lovely eggs from the Market

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This entry is not a commercial; I just had a fun time at the market today and thought I'd write about it :)