Haven't written anything for long. So thought I'd write a few lines, and tell you a little about our whirlwind trip around Germany covering close to 2000 kilometers in 8 days. And if you want to know what the numbers in the title mean then you have to read on till the end...
First to the 1200 year old Haendelstadt Halle (an der Saale), where the composer G.F. Handel was born. Didn't see much of Haendel or of the Saale as I was at a conference. Just remember that first evening when we went down towards the Marktplatz, where we found a booth selling hot, crisp and tasty Krepfelchen -- can't explain what they are, just take it from me they were just
the right snack for a cold and wintry
evening. On our way back we discovered a bicycle
shop called 'Fahrradies' (Fahrrad is bicycle in German and Paradies is
what you would expect); but not just that, next door was
'Fahrradieschen', selling, not surprisingly, bicyles for children! These were my Halle highlights... besides the amazing Theater Hotel where we stayed which had life-size mannequins sitting around in the lounges and at the entry to the sauna, and at every corner and landing, some of them wearing the original costumes from actors in many famous plays and musicals -- Charlie Chaplin was there as was my Fair Lady...
Next on to Dresden -- a more beautiful city is hard to imagine. I might be killed for saying this, but I found the relatively stark, bare but gigantic arches of the Kreuzkirche (Holy Cross Church) more appealing than what we saw in the Frauenkirche -- or maybe it was just a reaction to the masses of tourists streaming in and out of the Frauenkirche. In any case, it had been nicely restored and is certainly very impressive. There was a real treat waiting for me at the famous Green Vault -- in the form of 'The throne of the Great Moghul Aurangzeb'. It is one of the most exquisite works of art I have ever seen. We also went to the Semperoper -- and both Wagner and the opulence of our surroundings made that evening unforgettable. Another tip, the Pension am Grosser Garten has the most beautifully laid out breakfast buffet you can ever imagine -- a real work of art; and speaking of art, it also has an amazing collection of paintings that you would immediately recognise -- Monet, Picasso, van Gogh, Chagall -- but they were not quite the real thing. They were also not reproductions, nor were they copies, we were told that the owner of the guest house sent him copies and commissioned a Thai painter to just draw them all anew -- with a refreshing sameness woven into the difference.
Berlin was again just work [of course I made sure I did catch up with my friends there] so didn't even make it to the Brandenburger Tor. The problem was the Unweltzone, which meant that with our diesel car we could only drive till the outskirts, as a result of which I spent a huge amount of time just travelling to my appointments. The little I saw of Berlin convinced me that it must be one of the most 'happening' places in all of Germany. On our way out the next day, we discovered one of the prettiest areas around Berlin, Babelsberg, with its many lakes, forested areas and grand villas. We had no time to visit the Filmpark there but understood that there was much more to Potsdam than just Schloss Sanssouci. Well...next time...
It looked as if its huge facade was just beginning to melt. On going
closer we realised what it was -- one of the Hundertwasser's last
building projects, completed after his death only in 2005 -- called mysteriously the Green Citadel (beacuse of the green grass that is supposed to cover the roof, I found out). We spent more than an hour, happily inspecting some details -- no pillars were the same, no two windows had the same shape and there was not a single line that has been drawn with a ruler...true to Hundertwasser's style. We were planning to go to see the Dom but then told ourselves that we already had more than a huge treat and that we should drive on.
Our final stops Bremen and Hamburg -- we knew Bremen from before but Hamburg was completely new for me, but we had only a couple of hours to walk around. I had heard of the Reeperbahn but had no time to go there -- instead we went to see the magnificent Rathaus in the heart of the city where preparations were on for the Christmas markets that would be starting all over Germany soon. We then walked around the lovely Binnenalster lake with splendid rows of stately white buildings -- proof of the immense wealth of this port city in times gone by. Bremen and Hamburg have historically always been in competition with each other, they are also the two cities in Germany (besides the city of Berlin) which are states in their own right, having been independent port cities in earlier times. It did look as if Hamburg was a lot more grander (and also much larger) than Bremen, at least in terms of what we saw, but of course, Bremen along the river Weser with its absolutely unique Rathaus has its own special attraction.
Well that is it -- all in eight days! And on the day when we drove back from Bremen last week, it snowed and rained most of the way -- so we drove and drove and did not stop till we got home. Of course the house was cold too but if your days away have been so packed and so full of new images, then it is a treat just to be back home again and feel that the world is still more or less as you had left it...
Now if you still want to know what those numbers on the title of this piece refers to then respond with a guess and I promise to tell you the truth...but sometimes it is just nice to leave things unsaid and let our imagination free as did Hundertwasser in Magdeburg ...
First to the 1200 year old Haendelstadt Halle (an der Saale), where the composer G.F. Handel was born. Didn't see much of Haendel or of the Saale as I was at a conference. Just remember that first evening when we went down towards the Marktplatz, where we found a booth selling hot, crisp and tasty Krepfelchen -- can't explain what they are, just take it from me they were just
the right snack for a cold and wintry
evening. On our way back we discovered a bicycle
shop called 'Fahrradies' (Fahrrad is bicycle in German and Paradies is
what you would expect); but not just that, next door was
'Fahrradieschen', selling, not surprisingly, bicyles for children! These were my Halle highlights... besides the amazing Theater Hotel where we stayed which had life-size mannequins sitting around in the lounges and at the entry to the sauna, and at every corner and landing, some of them wearing the original costumes from actors in many famous plays and musicals -- Charlie Chaplin was there as was my Fair Lady...Next on to Dresden -- a more beautiful city is hard to imagine. I might be killed for saying this, but I found the relatively stark, bare but gigantic arches of the Kreuzkirche (Holy Cross Church) more appealing than what we saw in the Frauenkirche -- or maybe it was just a reaction to the masses of tourists streaming in and out of the Frauenkirche. In any case, it had been nicely restored and is certainly very impressive. There was a real treat waiting for me at the famous Green Vault -- in the form of 'The throne of the Great Moghul Aurangzeb'. It is one of the most exquisite works of art I have ever seen. We also went to the Semperoper -- and both Wagner and the opulence of our surroundings made that evening unforgettable. Another tip, the Pension am Grosser Garten has the most beautifully laid out breakfast buffet you can ever imagine -- a real work of art; and speaking of art, it also has an amazing collection of paintings that you would immediately recognise -- Monet, Picasso, van Gogh, Chagall -- but they were not quite the real thing. They were also not reproductions, nor were they copies, we were told that the owner of the guest house sent him copies and commissioned a Thai painter to just draw them all anew -- with a refreshing sameness woven into the difference.
Berlin was again just work [of course I made sure I did catch up with my friends there] so didn't even make it to the Brandenburger Tor. The problem was the Unweltzone, which meant that with our diesel car we could only drive till the outskirts, as a result of which I spent a huge amount of time just travelling to my appointments. The little I saw of Berlin convinced me that it must be one of the most 'happening' places in all of Germany. On our way out the next day, we discovered one of the prettiest areas around Berlin, Babelsberg, with its many lakes, forested areas and grand villas. We had no time to visit the Filmpark there but understood that there was much more to Potsdam than just Schloss Sanssouci. Well...next time...
We made an unscheduled stop at Magedeburg on the way -- we had no idea
what to expect. Stephan knew that the city was the home of Otto von Guericke, who had discovered vaccum with his experiment with two large hemispheres. The approach to the city was nothing special. We decided
to leave the car and walk into the town centre. As we turned a corner,
we saw a rather irregular looking pink-coloured building;
It looked as if its huge facade was just beginning to melt. On going
closer we realised what it was -- one of the Hundertwasser's last
building projects, completed after his death only in 2005 -- called mysteriously the Green Citadel (beacuse of the green grass that is supposed to cover the roof, I found out). We spent more than an hour, happily inspecting some details -- no pillars were the same, no two windows had the same shape and there was not a single line that has been drawn with a ruler...true to Hundertwasser's style. We were planning to go to see the Dom but then told ourselves that we already had more than a huge treat and that we should drive on. Our final stops Bremen and Hamburg -- we knew Bremen from before but Hamburg was completely new for me, but we had only a couple of hours to walk around. I had heard of the Reeperbahn but had no time to go there -- instead we went to see the magnificent Rathaus in the heart of the city where preparations were on for the Christmas markets that would be starting all over Germany soon. We then walked around the lovely Binnenalster lake with splendid rows of stately white buildings -- proof of the immense wealth of this port city in times gone by. Bremen and Hamburg have historically always been in competition with each other, they are also the two cities in Germany (besides the city of Berlin) which are states in their own right, having been independent port cities in earlier times. It did look as if Hamburg was a lot more grander (and also much larger) than Bremen, at least in terms of what we saw, but of course, Bremen along the river Weser with its absolutely unique Rathaus has its own special attraction.
Well that is it -- all in eight days! And on the day when we drove back from Bremen last week, it snowed and rained most of the way -- so we drove and drove and did not stop till we got home. Of course the house was cold too but if your days away have been so packed and so full of new images, then it is a treat just to be back home again and feel that the world is still more or less as you had left it...
Now if you still want to know what those numbers on the title of this piece refers to then respond with a guess and I promise to tell you the truth...but sometimes it is just nice to leave things unsaid and let our imagination free as did Hundertwasser in Magdeburg ...
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