Eastern Adventures...

So far this year I have been North, South and West, but not East. Until now. This weekend we headed over to Leipzig and Weimar – two iconic German cities situated in the former German Democratic Republic.

First it was off to Leipzig. A quick bite at Pizza Hut (you can’t go wrong with two slices of pizza and a drink for 4.50 EUR), a night spent in a somewhat basic, but nonetheless cheery hostel, and it was off for a day of sightseeing. Our first stop was the Völkerschlachtdenkmal – the tallest monument in Europe, (apparently!) commemorating the victory over Napoleon. I’ve never come across a monument like it before- it’s a very impressive structure to say the least, though the bloody huge crane plonked right in front of it did spoil its aura somewhat!

See what I mean about the crane?!

Enjoying the view in the sunshine.

Back in the city centre, we visited other famous sights such as the Nikolaikirche and the Thomaskirche, (where I was plagued by a very unfortunate attack of the hiccups. Hiccupping inside a church is not the done thing, it seems!) in between stopping for food breaks, of course! Being a former GDR city, I expected Leipzig to be very grey and bleak, but in actual fact it was easily the most beautiful city I’ve been to so far. The town centre is both cultural and cosmopolitan at the same time, and its beauty was aided by the sunshine, which shone happily on us all day long.

A pub dedicated to Goethe's Faust

Thomaskirche in the sunshine.

Ok, so it's diet coke, not bier, but the glass was still cool!

Once the sun went in for the day, it was time for us to hop back on the train and head to Weimar – the centre point of all German culture. Surprisingly enough, however, I was slightly underwhelmed by the city, at least when we first arrived. Anyone who is anyone in German history – Schiller, Herder, my good friend Goethe, you name it – has either lived or worked in Weimar. Germany’s first attempt at democracy was even named after this city, so I was expecting a real showstopper of a place. Sadly, however, it felt a little dreary and definitely had a much bigger GDR-feel about it in comparison to the beautiful Leipzig. This may be an unfair judgement, however, as the weather we had in Weimar could not have been a starker contrast to that of the previous day – pouring rain and about 5 degrees in comparison to blazing sunshine less than 24 hours before.

After visiting the horrors of Dachau shortly before Christmas, I didn’t think that much else could shock me. That, however, was before we visited Buchenwald, the infamous concentration camp just outside Weimar. It is a truly eerie place – located up in the hills surrounding the town, a mere stone’s throw away from where normal people went about their normal lives whilst unimaginable things were going on right under their noses. 56,000 people were systematically murdered at Buchenwald – a number that I can’t even begin to get my head around. Buildings like the torture cells and the inmates’ cantine are still intact, and I must admit that reading about and seeing some of the objects used to inflict unspeakable things on countless innocent people made me feel physically sick. Similarly to Dachau, there are also photos of some of the camp’s inmates on display, which again makes it a very personal experience. It’s very hard not to shed a tear when you see them.  It sounds odd to say it, but I would recommend that everyone visit a concentration camp in their lifetime. There are no words that will do justice to the bleakness of that place - the eerie silence that surrounds it, reminding you that all life was exterminated from here long ago or the fact that nothing grows there, leaving a miserable expanse of land. I don’t think you can start to appreciate it until you visit one for yourself, and I don’t think we should ever forget what went on in these places.

After our trip to Buchenwald, I felt emotionally and physically drained. It was also absolutely freezing up there, so we headed back down into the city centre in search of some warmth and an energy boost. We passed the houses that Goethe and Schiller lived in, and enjoyed some unbelievably tasty waffles before heading back to our hostel. It was a shame that the weather was so abysmal. I’m sure had I been in a better frame of mind that I could have looked past the rain and enjoyed the city a little more, but as it was I was too cold to even take my camera out of my bag to take any photos. Note to self – pack more weather-appropriate clothes next time!

Get. In. My. Bellyyyy

Luckily on Sunday however, the sun managed to just about peep through the clouds, so we were able to enjoy the city a little more. The camera made a much more regular appearance! The longer we stayed there, the more Weimar grew on me. There are references to famous German writers and philosophers all over the place, making it seem as though German culture is there, whichever way you turn.    

Let me introduce you to my two new pals...

Weimar is the city in which the Weimare Republik (German's first democratic Republic) was founded.

The town hall

So there we have it. Another brilliant weekend away. I must admit though, I think I’m all German-cultured-out for this week.

Time for a cuppa!

Emily 

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...

Ok, so I wrote a post about a month ago, about how spring had sprung.

Well, with hindsight, that was wishful thinking.

It appears Mother Nature wasn't quite ready to unleash spring on us way back in March. But now it seems she is ready to play ball, has thawed the big freeze that has covered most of western Europe for the last month and has finally graced us with appropriate weather. Life just seems so much more manageable when the sun is shining. People walk around, quite literally, with a spring in their step!

Anyway, back to reality. The last couple of weeks have been fairly calm, as is generally the case after the holidays. People need a little time to ease themselves back into the routine of walking up at the crack of dawn every day. One exciting change this time, however, was that I had my lovely friend Katie to fly back with me at the end of the holidays. Not only was I excited to show her Bensheim (she's doing her year abroad next year, so it was a little taster of what's to come for her,) it was also really nice not to have to do the journey back to Germany all on my lonesome. We had a lovely few days, visiting the sights that Hessen has to offer, and of course no visit would be complete without a visit to my beloved Heidelberg!

I think I've seen Heidelberg in pretty much all the seasons now. I do love that place!

We gorged our way through a Schneeball - basically a ball of biscuit with whatever filling or coating you choose. We were sold!

Then off to a slightly chillier Frankfurt and Wiesbaden to get the most out of our Hessen ticket. 

The Natural History Museum in Frankfurt

Cathedral in Wiesbaden. Pretty impressive, non?

Where the Hessen parliament sits

And then it was back to Bensheim for a cocktail oder zwei...

I even got to show her how the Germans party, when we headed up into the hills surrounding Heppenheim (the town nextdoor) for Steffen's birthday party. An evening of great food, great music and great company. All in all a terrific way to round off a lovely visit from my lovely friend! 

Why do I always feel the need to be the weird one?!

Until next time

Emily

Maggie

This post has nothing to do with Germany. It does, however, have everything to do with Britain. One of the most iconic figures in British history has died to day, and I thought it fitting to write a little something about her. 

Source: www.richardgraham.me

Thatcher. The Iron Lady. For some, predominantly people in the north of England, the mere mention of her name will send chills running down the spine and cause fists to clench in rage. Her death will be met with mixed reactions - some will mourn her as a national heroine, calling her the greatest leader to ever have set foot inside No. 10 Downing Street. Others, possibly avid, faithful readers of the Guardian, will be all ready to dance on her grave. Whichever one of those categories we fall into, I am fairly sure that 8th April 2013 will be one of those ' I remember where I was' days. 

As a source of political inspiration, I'm fairly indifferent to Margaret Thatcher. Perhaps because I wasn't alive during her time in office, and thus was not there to enjoy the woman in all of her matriarchal glory. I also do not know enough about her personally or the political climate of her era to make an informed judgement on her policies. But, love her or loathe her, she was an incredibly significant force to be reckoned with in British politics; one who's only serious rival is perhaps Mr Churchill himself. 

As a political figure, however, regardless of one's own political convictions, you cannot deny that Thatcher was incredibly gifted at what she did. She invoked outbursts of fury or outpourings of support from the people she led; something that politicians these days hopelessly fail to do. She caused consensus politics to give way to adversarial politics; sending Labour ricocheting off to the depths of the Left and rupturing the broad agreement that had existed between political parties in Britain since 1945. I wish, in a way, that modern British politics were more like that, instead of parties squabbling over the centre ground. There was a whole load of superlatives used to describe Margaret Thatcher - both positive and negative, whereas the most opinionated remark I've heard about Cameron is that "he's a bit too posh." She was the poster girl for the most exciting and tense era in British politics, and for that, if nothing else, she deserves to be commended.   

As a woman, she was one of the most important in our age; the first true symbol of Girl Power. She did not succeed because of her beauty, a generous bosom, or an ability to sing, dance and shake it all about. She succeeded because of intelligence, strength and sheer willpower. She became Britain's first female Prime Minister, won three consecutive general elections and will arguably go down as one of the most iconic women in the history of Britain. She should be an example to people the world over that with enough grit and determination, success can be yours.

She made some unpopular decisions, yes. I will not pretend to agree with her euro-scepticism, nor her authoritarian attitude towards law and order. We do not see eye to eye on the poll tax or the role of the state within society. I imagine she will remain the the cause of a deep mistrust of the Conservative party in the north of England and Scotland for many, many years to come. She did, however, play a fundamental role in the breakdown of Communism, and is thus responsible for shaping the world as we know it today. Without her, the country I am currently calling home may still have been divided. Doesn't life come full circle?!

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Maggie, you were one hell of a woman. May you rest in peace. 

Emily