Kassel

Hey Home,

It's been a little while since I've written but I've just had so much to get done PLUS internet is kind of expensive right now because it ain't free!

My hotel in Kassel is nice, not as big as in Mühlheim but the location TOTALLY makes up for that. I'm literally on the main shopping street of downtown and I'm surrounded by many of the museums in the city, including the Brothers Grimm Museum.

I spent the first day getting adjusted. My jet lag is still taking control of my schedule. I can't fall asleep until at least 1 am and I force myself to get out of bed by no later than 9 because of all that I have to do.

Kassel is beautiful and I can definitely tell why it's the Grimm's favorite city. It's very fairytale-esque with big sprawling parks with fountains and waterfalls. I'm trying to imagine it as the Brothers would have seen it. So far I've been to two out of the three big parks and most of the museums. Karlsaue is a palace (now a Science museum) with a Renaissance garden and lots of buildings and walkways and gardens among the grounds. The Orangery is known throughout all of Hessen and much of Germany as being extremely beautiful and it is. There are a few museums in the palace and they were really amazing. My favorite museum from this entire trip is probably the science museum which has exhibits about time and astronomy and other things with relics from as far back as 400 b.c.!

I've also been to Friedrichsplatz and the museums there. One was interesting and that's really all I can say. I walked in expecting to find something like the Field museum in Chicago because that's what the pamphlet said and instead I find a one room exhibit that I'm told was put together in two weeks by local artists (I met the main one) and that it's supposed to be avante garde. It was. I'm still not sure what I was supposed to be looking at though.

I then went to the museum next door which is the Natural History Museum and this, while more child friendly, was interesting in its own way. It had many exhibits with strangely placed animals including a cave with a human skeleton on the floor and then when I looked up there was a bear waiting to maul me. It was a little freaky.

The Rathaus is literally half a block from my hotel and I pass it every day on my way for breakfast at the konditorei (backery). I've also been to the main churches of the area, Brüderkirche, Lutherkirche, and Martinskirche.

Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon at the largest mountain park in Europe, Wilhelmshöhe. It's gorgeous. There are hidden fountains and waterfalls and little pavillions everywhere. The Palace there has a long history and the main building is now a museum housing a classical collection and "old Masters" collection with a large selection of Rembrandts. Another part of the Schloss (palace) has been kept as it looked in the 18th and 19th centuries. I went on a tour of that and even though it was in German, I understood most of it! Which is good, I feel.

The two other important buildings in the Park are an old Castle (Löwenburg) which I haven't gone to see yet because I didn't have time and the Hercules Monument which was built on the very highest point of the castle. I hadn't planned on climbing the mountain but for some reason I decided I would (without any water). Not only is the mountain at a VERY steep incline but for the last third of the climb you have to walk up about 500 hundred stairs. Oh and did I mention that yesterday it reached 95 degrees? Needless to say that by the time I reached the top of the climb, I almost didn't have the energy to take pictures. But the view was so breathtaking that it was worth it.

On my way back down the mountain, (which at this point my legs are shaking from exhaustion and I'm dying of thirst) I found a waterfall underneath a very pretty bridge and it was so hot that I spelunked my way down to the bottom of the waterfall and showered off. I didn't care that I got drenched because it felt wonderful. And the water tasted like the word "beautiful" looks. I even started a trend: A couple of teens came and joined me and we played around in the water for a bit.

Unfortunately the Brother Grimm Museum is STILL under reconstruction so I'm slightly disappointed but I'm trying to rework my project to make sure that I have enough research to go on. I'm not worried.

Till another time!
Em

Busy days ahead

Dear Home,

Well, the power cord problem was fixed in a bout 30 seconds. The guy at the internet cafe took a look at my adapter and turns it the adapter was broken. Thank goodness, because I didn't know WHERE I was going to find a new power cord. My visit to Frankfurt was just the pep I needed though. It really is a beautiful city with the perfect blend of historic and modern sights. I sat outside of a cafe for two hours just enjoying the view and the people walking by. Then I walked around and found the Ziel which is like Michigan Mile in Chicago.

As you walk down the streets, you can tell that it is a business man's city. Every 3rd person is a smartly dressed office man, clearly with things to do and places to go because he's walking about 10 mph. I also happened upon the Kaiser Dom of Frankfurt which was beautiful and even though I'm not catholic, it had a certain mysterious quality that was appealing.

I didn't have enough time to find the Liebfrauenkirche but as I'm coming back to Frankfurt for 3 days at the very end of my trip, I plan on finding it then.

Tomorrow I leave for Kassel, which means tonight I pack my bags. I'm very excited to go to Kassel. Not that Hanau wasn't interesting, but I know that there are a lot more Grimm details in the Märchen capital (Kassel). Plus, I really want to go to Marburg which is very close and Göttingen.

Today was a writing day. I took my notepad and began outlining my final project, making note of the holes in my research that I needed to fill in in Kassel.

I also started outlining a possible alternative Richter 2. I mentioned a few posts ago that I was planning on studying Catholicism in central Europe. However, I realized that, this project will be my Senior Thesis and its not really a primary interest of mine. Most people who've asked me about my majors know that I don't necessarily want to use my majors for my career. If I had my way, I would work at Second City or Saturday Night Live as a writer. BUT I had to be somewhat practical in my major choice so I picked another job that makes no money. (Bravo, Emily, Bravo.)

So I started thinking about what I KNOW that I'm passionate about: Comedy. My brother can tell you that I follow AT LEAST 50 different comedians and can tell you their style and probably some of their best known jokes. It's what I love. I think it would be interesting to try and discover/prove that American culture can be identified at our own sense of humor. In my brief outline, I planned on visiting comedy clubs in North, South, East and West United States cities. (So I think we are talking about New York, Chicago, Dallas/Forth Worth, and Los Angeles, which is kind of perfect because I can stay with family in Chicago and Dallas/Forth Worth.) I would hopefully be able to get a ticket to see SNL, Daily Show, and of course Second City and the Laugh Factory, among other comedy clubs.

It's just a thought but if I had to choose project 1 over project 2...I would choose project 2, even though project 1 is probably "More academic". Whatever that means.

Anyway,
Time to pack.
Next time write it will be from Kassel!
Bye
Em

stuck in a little german village with no powercord

dear home,

as the title might suggest, im stranded in my little german village with no internet and only german tv to soothe me. right now im in Frankfurt at an internet cafe and paying by the minute so i wont give my usual book-long post. (im also using a german keyboard which is completely blowing my mind.)

yesterday was sunday and thus most places in hanau and muehlheim were closed except of course for family love park. it was sooooo much fun. within in 15 minutes of getting there i was soaked from head to toe in sillystring and bier. i only stayed for about 5 hours even though it was an all day event. however in my music festival frenzy, i forgot to get food and so yesterday, all i had to eat was two nectarines, quark (something like yogurt) and the last bier in my fridge.

this morning i was hungry

last night i also watched flubber, 13 going on 30 and star trek: the next generation in german. somehow captain picard with a german voice doesn't have the same charm.

right now im in Frankfurt, a city much more my style as i said earlier as it is an international mini-chicago. (well not that mini, at least a million, i think).
i'm going to scour the city for a power cord or an adaptor...so that i can have the use of my own computer back.

ill post again in more detail as soon as i can.

kassel on wednesday!
tschuessi!
emily

Schloss Phillipsrühe, Schneewittchen, and Football

Dear Home,

Today was a much more productive day than yesterday. Feeling much better and well-rested, I took the train out to Hanau at about 11 a.m. (I realized that because people are out drinking here until like 3 am the day doesn't even start until 10 a.m. so not bad for me.

After the train and the bus to the Schloss Phillipsrühe, walked through the gates and found a beautiful Baroque style palace. It was SO pretty, with fountains and rose gardens all around the outside. There were, I kid you not, at least 6 different wedding parties so I slipped past them into the Palace to check out the museum. I was the ONLY person in the entire museum who wasn't working for it.

It was really cool though. Lots of old paintings and Baroque architecture and an exhibit on Paper Theater puppets, my homedogs (the Brothers Grimm), and Russian fairy tales which was interesting. The Museum curator came up to me at one point and said that he was surprised anyone was here today and then asked if I was from Hessen. I told him no but from the USA and explained why I was here. Once again I was told with a surprised expression that I spoke German very well. At this point (after about 20 different people telling me that) I'm beginning to think of it as a statement of surprise rather than a compliment. Everyone is shocked to learn that I'm from the U.S. after I've spoken with them for a little bit. I only hope that I'm changing their ideas of what an American is.

So after the museum I took a romp through the park and gardens behind the museum and meandered to the amphitheater where I had seen that a performance of Snow White the musical was playing in the afternoon. (Don't get your hopes up, this was NOT the Disney version and at times it even strayed from the Grimm version.) It was interesting though. Again my seatmates, who were from Bavaria, were surprised that I could understand what was going on. The musical was somewhat like a modern rock power ballad thing. The dwarves were hilarious. Probably the best part of the show. Also throughout the whole show, all of the adult Germans were whispering the score of the Football game against Argentina. During intermission people were crowded around mini-TV screens. It was hilarious.

The worst part was that it was about 90 degrees outside with a humidity of 95%. It was horribly humid and thank goodness we were outside otherwise the arena would have been RANK! After the show, I went up to the tech booth to ask if I could pose some questions to the Director or an actor. I was pointed to a man in a Black shirt but by the time I reached where he had been, he disappeared and it had started to sprinkle. So I decided that I would come back on Tuesday (Monday it is closed and tomorrow is FAMILY LOVE PARK).

ON my way to the bus stop, the skies unleashed hell upon Hanau. It thunderstormed like nobody's business and of course everybody was out in the rain because Germany had just won...It was a sight to behold. I grabbed the bus and took it to the main square where at least 1500 Germans were in the street dancing and drinking and waving the German flag...Great fun...I grabbed a beer from a stand and started dancing too. Before I knew it, it was already 9 p.m. and I needed to get home because let's face it, I was starting to get a little tired and a shower was needed.

I took the train home and then realized that I only had half a sausage left in my fridge...well and some beer. So that was my dinner. Tomorrow I desperately need to go shopping first thing in the morning. And then in the afternoon FAMILY LOVE PARK!!!!

That's all for now!
Tschüssi!

Emily

Just my luck...

Dear Home,

Well, the plan WAS to go to Fulda today. The plan WAS to take pictures of the Altstadt and visit the palace there and the famous church. The plan WAS to go to a Biergarten. That WAS the plan. I liked the plan.

What actually happened was like hell warmed up. I woke up this morning at about 4 am here feeling like Death in a Barbeque and I thought it might have been because I went to a Kneipe (pub) last night for dinner with some friends that I made on my walk on the Main earlier that night. But A.) I didn't drink that much and B.) I'm pretty sure hangovers don't last the ENTIRE day.

Frau Heiduschka came to check on me bringing carbonated water and crackers saying that there was a 24 hour thing going around the town and that I probably got that.

Wonderful! Awesome! This would happen to me on the 2ND DAY HERE! I'm okay though...Starting to feel a little better but we won't know for a couple of hours...Tomorrow I still plan on going to Hanau for the day. And on Sunday (the 4th) is FAMILY LOVE PARK!!! Can't wait.

At least while I was ill, I got the chance to work on my project so not a completely wasted day.
And I did learn some things.
1. Anything can happen. Be prepared.
2. German friends are hilarious when they are drunk.

That's all for now.
Tschüss!

Emily

Hanau and Shrek: Interesting Combination

Dear Home,

Today the research began. After a late wake-up (jetlag recovery time finally hit), I gathered my gear and headed to the train station for the trip to Hanau. The public transport system is interesting. Technically Mühlheim and Hanau are suburbs of Frankfurt and so it's kind of like how the Metra system works for Chicago. Except that I have yet to see a Ticket checker. Theoretically, someone could ride the S-bahn from Mühlheim to Hanau without a ticket (not that I'm going to test the theory.) On the Metra, you can only go two or three stops MAX before they come and ask for a ticket.

I just found it interesting.

So I get to Hanau around three p.m. and start walking around trying to hunt down the Altstadt. And of course I happen upon a small protestant church which (from my last five weeks of Spring term German) I can tell that it is not true Romanesque style but a recreation. A church lady saw that I was taking pictures and invited me inside to explain how her quilting group had made the the quilts which decorated the walls. As with true Protestant charm, the quilts were the only decoration in the entire church. Even the altar was extremely modest.

Then the lady and her friend kindly explained where the Altstadt was and how I could find the Rathaus (City Hall) and ask for more information at the Tourist desk about the Brothers Grimm. I appreciated their help.

I made the 2 or 3 KM trek in good time and found the Marktplatz (the square) immediately. It is surrounded by little shops and cafes and markets much like Naperville but more condensed almost and with fewer cars. It surprised me to see that no one even glanced at the magnificent statue of the Brothers Grimm. Indeed I found as I watched for a good 20 minutes that I was the only person to even stop in front of it or take a picture of it except for some children who were eating ice cream. This gave me a worried feeling but at the time I didn't know why. I went into the old city hall (AltesRathaus) and asked for some maps of the city and some information about the Brothers Grimm festival that was going on. My original plan was to visit Schloss Phillipsruhe which is where all the events take place but by the time I had finished walking around and taking pictures it was almost 5 p.m. which is when the castle and museum close. Saturday there is a Snow White musical which I plan on seeing. That should be exciting.

I stopped at a cafe for some Eiskaffee (can't have those too often as it is coffee, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream). Delicious but much too rich for a hot day. And I stopped at a Book store and found a few gifts for people whom I won't mention just yet.

While I was drinking my coffee outdoors some very nice people sat next to me and we had a conversation. I told them about my research and asked them if they knew much about the Brothers Grimm. They said no. !!!!?!!!

They continued to explain that they knew that Hanau was the Brothers Grimm city and that there were events that went on but those were mostly for tourists and children. They explained that Brothers Grimm weren't really a popular topic because the stories aren't really read much anymore because of their violence.

ACH MEIN GOTT!!! I now know why I had a pit in my stomach when no one was even looking at the monument which is right in the middle of their city. On the one hand, I understand that a topic, like the Brothers Grimm and Fairytales, can after a while become boring if you are always reminded of it. On the other hand, it is disheartening to learn that the two people who, in my opinion, were the greatest influence in shaping the modern area of Hessen and indeed that of Germany as a whole, are reduced to "Touristfare" by their own people.

I can't say yet though. It's only day 1 of the research. Perhaps I will find out more when I go to the Märchen events or to the other cities. And perhaps not. We shall see.

I left Hanau around 6 p.m. and as I got off the train and headed home, I noticed a movie theater that was showing Shrek Forever After or as it is called here "Für immer Shrek" (For always Shrek, lit." It wasn't showing until 7:45 so I went to the ice cream shop that I saw yesterday for some Hazelnut ice cream. Delicious.

The movie was dubbed and I was proud of myself because I understood all the jokes, though as it is a children's movie, the jokes aren't extremely hard to get. It did put me in the Märchen mood though.

So today taught me two things.

1. If you look confident and contemplative, people will think that you know what you are doing and ask for you help. I had a minimum of ten people throughout the course of the day ask me a question regarding the train times, the bus route, the location of a some place on a map, etc... I guess I look like I know these things. Some of them I did and was able to answer them but some I just resorted to saying "Leider hab' ich keine Ahnung." (Unfortunately I have no idea.)

2. Never assume what people will or will not do and don't be offended by their actions if they surprise you. I assumed that people would be gushing over the Brothers Grimm. I also assumed that people would be unhelpful. Both were wrong. Very wrong.

Tomorrow's another day and I can't wait to see what I find.

Tschüssi!

Emily