die Reise

We just got back yesterday from our six day Weimar-Nürnberg trip, which functioned like a vacation, although the whole trip is kind of a vacation too. A vacation within a vacation. It was cool. See below. Before we left, David and I went to the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, which has art. While there, some girl saw that David was wearing a Carleton shirt, and stopped us. Turns out her brother is a member of the class of 2011. It was very unlikely. I facebook-messaged the guy, which was successfully not creepy.

Also successful was the Hertha BSC (Berlin): Energie Cottbus soccer game on Saturday the 6th. The game was a dudder of a soccer game (0:0, with some absolutely thrilling turnovers and mis-passes), but it was still very exciting to be at a European soccer game, where the fans cheer nonstop and wave flags and have their own drumline. That was in the rowdy section, which is separated by physical plastic barriers from everyone else, for everyone else's safety. Even Cottbus had a strong contingent of hooligans. The game was almost exciting, because there was a PK in the 90th minute for Hertha, but the player shot the ball off the crossbar, fittingly. On the way there and back we were treated to some nice drunk serenades by soccer hooligans in the Ubahn.

The next day we left for Weimar. Weimar has only 60,000 people but a ton of famous former residents, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, and either Beethoven or Bach (I had famous person overload), among others, including Hitler for a little while. The whole city is straight from a fairytale, with all cobblestone streets, and a pretty park, and some horses for tourists, and pretty buildings. We toured the former residences of Goethe and Schiller (Schiller is kind of a big deal at Carleton). What's kind of funny in a sick way is that right outside this fairytale city is Buchenwald, a former concentration camp. We toured it. It was tragically awful in a way that makes non-crying people cry. The gate where prisoners entered says "Jedem das Seine". That means "to each his own". That perversion is what sickened me the most. That, or the people ovens or the punishment wagon that prisoners had to pull or the solitary confinement building or the punishment pole from which people hung until they passed out or the pictures of dead piles of humans or the pictures of live skeletons of humans, which were all truly terrible.

I'm very glad I saw it.

We left Weimar to go to Nürnberg. Nürnberg is over 900 years old, and has an altstadt (old city) surrounded by an old city wall, in addition to lots of traditional German architecture, like Fachwerkhäuser and the like. Phenomenally large and pretty churches as well, like many cities here. Albrecht Dürer lived here around 1500, so we toured his former house. They have yummy bratwurst too, the best I've yet had. Also, the best museum I've seen yet, the Germanishes Nationalmuseum, which had cool exhibits of old weaponry, musical instruments, and scientific instruments, among many other things. One could spend days there. There were a ton of things I could have done in Nürnberg, like an aquarium, Pigeon museum, and even a "Bible Experience House" (actually, several kids from our group went there, presumably in jest, and were actually turned away, because there was a group of 60 people already in there. Jesus wouldn't turn people away, unless things become uncomfortably crowded, or maybe violate fire code, apparently). Anyways, I went to the Toy museum (worthwhile) and the Hat museum (incredibly worthwhile). The hat museum was a museum connected to a hat store, and the guy leading the group of five on the tour was a 4th generation owner. He had a ton of passion for hats. We got to see how hats are made, and got to try on anything we wanted, which we gladly did. I got my head measured (it's big) and at the end, bought a classy hat. In fact, six people from our group bought hats from that guy. He deserved it. Also in Nürnberg, I sleepwalked not only for the first, but then also the second time in Germany the next night, both times waking up my room partner David, because both times I was convinced he was someone dangerous and either ran away from him trying to leave the room (unsuccessfully, because I tried to unlock an unlocked door, thereby locking it, and then woke up), or tried to fend off his attacks by grabbing him (apparently he attacks by sleeping, maybe?). Poor David. Those were two of the stranger sleepwalks I've taken in my years, seeing as both occured in a state of fright that scary David was someone bad. Usually, I just wake up and do something totally irrational or say something comically incomprehensible to my roommate, and then go back to bed. Anyway, I thought it couldn't get prettier than Nürnberg. I was wrong.

The next day we went to Hersbruck, a very small town outside Nürnberg, in the rolling hills of Bavaria. Hersbruck is over 1000 years old. It was really sunny (every day of the trip, actually), and from the top of the hills, you could see four individual little villages nestled in the hills. More Fachwerkhäuser, and little cobblestone streets, and a uniquely tasty local beer. It's the kind of place to which every sane person would want to retire. Absolutely beautiful. Then, we hiked to another little town, had a snack, and hiked back. Sigi, our professor, grew up in Hersbruck. We saw her former kindergarten. It was great.

Then, we took the train back to Nürnberg. The next day, we went back to Berlin. Tonight, we see "Minna von Barnhelm", since last time we tried to see it, the main character was sick. Next week, back to work, and maybe finally the Berlin Zoo.