On Friday, our Sprachkurs class make a trip to the town of Hechingen to see Burg Hohenzollern, a 19th century neo-gothic monstrosity. The castle is typical 19th century, when princes with too much money and an overactive imagination would build massive neo-gothic creations that have no defensive function. Castle Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, the castle that the Disney castle is modelled after, is the best example of such castles.

We took a bus to get the 20km or so to the town. From there, we began the long trek up to the castle. The castle is built on a small mountain, part of the Swabische Alb, a lightly mountainous region of Germany not far from Tuebingen. The trek through the woods was nothing short of strenuous–there weren’t many switchbacks and so we ended up walking almost straight up the mountain. Arriving at the top drenched in sweat, we rested for a bit and then proceeded to head into the castle.

The tour was completely in German, but the tour guide was actually quite easy to understand. We were shown the lavish interiors and admired the gold leaf and fairytale like design of the castle. Interestingly, there was a small group of Americans in the tour that didn’t speak any German. Whenever we heard a particularly interesting bit of information, we’d lean over and tell them what was going on. After the somewhat short tour, we were allowed to climb one of the towers to get a better view of the countryside. When the weather is nice, you can see the Swiss alps from there, but it was a bit hazy, putting a stop to those plans.

All in all, a fun day trip, but I don’t think I’ll be back. The parts of the castle that are open for viewing are really quite small, and given its lack of history and extremely difficult walk to the top, one day trip is really all that’s needed.

Today, there was no afternoon class, so everyone from the Sprachkurs went to get lunch at the student cafeteria in the Altstadt, and then we all went our seperate ways, everyone having something else they needed to be doing. I had to go to a hotel to make reservations for when my parents come in December, and after confirming with my broken german that the reservations were indeed what we wanted, I proceeded to head to the castle–since it is only 50 meters from the hotel anyways.

When there the last time, I had seen several walking paths and parts of the castle that I couldn’t figure out how to get to, and I now wanted to find those and get a better view. I headed into the castle, and quickly found several parts that are not immediately obvious, but are extremely beautiful.

There are many small courtyards and gardens on the backside of the castle. I didn’t get many pictures of them as everything was so spectacular that I couldn’t capture what I wanted to on my little point and shoot camera that I had with me, but I plan to return soon with my good camera and attempt to show them. However, imagine this: courtyards, with grass in the middle, medieval stone castle walls covered in ivy rising all around you, and battlements with excellent views to the city and countryside below. And I only saw a couple other people there–guess where I’m going to be doing my reading and studying from now on? To those from Chapel Hill, I think it beats the Undergrad library.

After finding everything that is open to the public, I walked down one of the many paths jutting into the woods along one side of the castle. There was a paved walking trail, and several unpaved trails following along the castle walls. I explored both of these, and was rewarded with excellent views of both the castle and the surrounding town.

Suffice it to say, it was a good day, and I will be returning to the Schloss Hohentübingen many a time.

This weekend, several of us from the Sprachkurs are planning to go to Stuttgart for a wine fest. Baden Württemburg, the state that Tübingen is in, is a very large wine producing region (think Riesling), and the harvest is starting to come in, so many of the local producers are showing off this year’s vintage in Stuttgart. Should be a great time.

It’s been a busy couple of days. Things are starting to pick up a lot, and we’re all starting to get the swing of things here.

Last night, my Sprachkurs class took out one of the numerous Stocherkahne, the gondola like boats that pole themselves up and down the Neckar river. Owned by the Tuebingen version of fraternities, these boats can be rented and are frequently seen lazily making their way up and down the river as their occupants enjoy the day, and often their food–many bring grills along, placing it on a seat like another member of the boat.

We did the same, minus the grill, and calmly pushed ourselves up and down the river, laughing as one after the other of us couldn’t quite get the hang of making the boat go in a straight line, rather than crashing into one side of the shore followed by the other. Everything is quite beautiful from the river, and served to further reinforce something I noticed as soon as I landed in Stuttgart–Germany is very green.

Afterwards, we all went to the beer garden for a few beers. Wanting to try something else off the menu, I got adventurous and ordered the only beer I hadn’t yet tried–a Radler. I was pleasantly surprised. Radler isn’t just beer, you see. It’s beer, with lemonade. I know that sounds disgusting, and is why I had been rather reluctant to try it–but it’s really very good. It’s extremely refreshing and just the right combination of flavors. I’ll definitely be drinking it more often, though I may have to work up the courage to try the next strange beer combination: beer with Coke.

I’m really quite thankful for the Sprachkurs I’m taking here, which is essentially a language crashcourse/orientation to the University and town of Tuebingen. Five days a week, for 4 or 5 hours, we meet and go over things–grammar, vocabulary, or just the various differences between the world we are used to and Germany. They are very patient with our rather bad German, and are quite nice in showing us around the town. It’s a very well though out program, and one that has been infinitely helpful, and this is only after two meetings. Furthermore, it has given us all the chance to meet other people going through the same things we are, something that wonderfully decreases the sudden gaping feeling of emptiness one gets when he realizes he is all alone in a foreign country, doesn’t know anyone, and barely speaks the language. And despite essentially being in German class for 5 hours a day, one doesn’t get quite so burned out on it as you wold back in class in the States–here it is for real, and doesn’t feel like you are dragging yourself along the coals for nothing.

Anyways, things are definitely much more different than I had expected. It’s all the little things that get you–Germany is after all a Western nation, so many of the big things are similar. Take for instance the keyboard that I am (ever so slowly) typing this on–it’s some sort of halfbreed between the standard American QWERTY keyboard, but some of the keys are in totally random places. Also, it’s interesting to see the laid back approach to cars and parking they take here. Earlier, we walked by the Schiebenparkplatz, the “pushing parking lot”, so named because if there was no room to park, people would bring a jack and literally push your car over to the side to make room–and no one really gets agitated over it. In the States, if someone did that, it would likely be grounds for arrest.

Anyways, it’s time to be off. I’ve got a few stops to make before the Sprachkurs class meets back tonight to go on a punt trip down the Neckar–I’m looking forward to it.

Since the last post, I had the first meeting of my Sprachkurs, the language crash course that will make us ready for German classes. Most of the students in it have been hanging out, enjoying and exploring the town. It’s been good to meet some more people, and have people to go out with. Last night, we sat in a beer garden by the Neckar river, talk, ate, drank, and sat under the trees in the warm night. And the beer–I don’t typically like German style beer, light and somewhat sweet, but this beer is incredible. It goes down so unbelievably smoothly. And it’s affordable, too. We were paying 2 euro for .4 liters–in the States, you’d pay that for a 12 oz of Bud Light.

The weather so far has been very untypically German. After the incessant rains and floods of the past month, it’s been sunny and warm every day we’ve been here, and quite humid as well. Add to that the German dislike for air conditioning, and things can get a bit warm. Everyone is sweaty all the time, but no one really seems to mind. It normally would rain more than it has, but after the floods of the previous weeks, I think they’re happy to have it like this–and I can’t complain about it not raining.

And how is my German coming along? It hasn’t changed much… I can still understand a good bit and make myself understood, but I have a long way to go. Luckily, everywhere that I’ve really needed it (opening a bank account, setting up my cell phone), people have spoken English, but there have definitely been many times that no one around spoke a lick of English. I do find myself remembering words more easily now than before. I’m guessing this stems from “really” using the words, rather than just having to study them out of a book. I was hoping to get some practice in in the dorms, but so far it has been rather empty as class doesn’t actually start for another month. I did meet two other kids from the States living nearby though, so I have something to out there.

Anyways, I’m off for now–gotta get some food for tomorrow before everything shuts down for Sunday.

A beautiful town. I got here around 11AM local time, about 5AM EST. Making it to Tuebingen wasn’t much of a problem–there was a bus right outside of the Stuttgart airport that dropped me off right here. From there, I had to figure out the bus system (took two tries, ended up god-knows-where the first time), and then off to fight through the infamous German bureaucracy to get my room. As for my room, I’d like it if it weren’t so far away. Because all of the busses going there have to go back through the main bus station to get you anywhere of use, it takes me 30-45 minutes to get anyhere from there. And it doesn’t have internet, which could make things interesting. But that’s all OK, I just won’t spend much time there.

So, off for now. I don’t know what the weekend holds, but I’m tempted to go somewhere for a day of it.

And this is it. In two and a half hours, I leave for the airport, gone from the States for an entire year.

My feelings at this point are weird. A bit of melancholy at having to leave so much behind, but at the same time very excited. I wasn’t able to sleep last night because I kept thinking of things I didn’t want to forget, but nervousness hasn’t really been much of a problem.

Anyways, I’m hoping to be able to sleep well on the plane. I’ve got my travel pillow and I’m plenty tired, so hopefully I’ll pass right out and the flight will go fast.

Next post: Germany.

These things rock. Huge and strong, I put lots of clothes in them, zip them most of the way up, then suck the air out with a vacuum cleaner, to make my clothes take up half the room they would otherwise. This, along with good folding and creatively packing the sealed bags has let me fit more into my bag than I thought possible.

One trick though: they don’t hold the vacuum forever. I’m guessing they just leak air from the zipper. No big deal; vacuum pack all your stuff and throw it in your bag real fast, closing it all up before they have a chance to expand.

This probably wouldn’t work so well if you’re travelling through hotels and won’t have access to a vacuum cleaner to pack the bags back on leaving, but it’s still a great trick.

Less than 48 hours left in the States. I just got this website setup, and while I have grandiose plans for it, I don’t have time to get them all running before I leave, so I’ll have to get them done once I get there. Here’s hoping I have internet access in my room.

As for the plans for the site, I’m going to make this a sort of travelogue. I’ll document my travels, both written and through photography, and document that here. I’m looking forward to it all, and think it will be a good way to share my travels with others and serve as a history for me to be able to look back on in the future.

Back to packing!