Germany: Rhine in Flames to the Berlin Marathon

Every year the Upper Rhine region of Germany puts on a series of festivals called the Rhine in Flames, which take place on weekends through the summer and fall. The idea is that several of the little towns along the Rhine put on wine festivals, and on Saturday night they have a huge fireworks and pyrotechnics display over the Rhine River, followed by more partying. We decided to attend the Loreley Night at St. Goar/St. Goarshausen on September 20th, which features a huge fireworks show over the famous Loreley Rock (where legend has it a beautiful maiden used to sit and lure sailors to their deaths). The way to go is to take a boat cruise, so we took a boat from Koblenz down the Rhine and viewed the 45-minute fireworks show from the middle of the river - quite an experience, especially when shared with a boat-load of Germans drinking heavily and loudly singing along to songs only German people know.

Of course we sampled the famous local Riesling through a series of "Weinprobe," and we were not too impressed. Maybe it is D.'s French influence, but I did not find any of the wines to rival the Riesling from Alsace. However, to make up for it we were introduced to Federweisser. Federweisser is extremely young wine - it is still in the process of fermenting when you drink it, so if you buy a bottle, they give it to you with no cap on, because otherwise it would explode. Only available for a few weeks in September/October, it must be drunk within a few days of production and obviously can't be transported far from the source. We found it to be delcious and highly recommended!

We also got a chance to look around at the medieval castles and cute little towns along the river. Bacharach stood out as the hands-down winner in terms of charm. Oberwesel and Koblenz were a bit more modern, and St. Goar had a great wine festival going on at the time, while St. Goarshausen was just frustrating because we couldn't find the famed statue of the Loreley maiden no matter how hard we tried, though we did get a great view of the river from atop the Loreley Rock. On the way we also stopped at Burg Eltz, an old castle situated deep in the forest (unusual, as most castles are situated on top of hills). It was quite well-preserved and had the most striking scenery of any of the castles we saw.

Last weekend we made another visit to Germany, this time to Berlin. The main purpose was for D. to run the marathon, which he finished in just under 4 and a half hours. It was quite an event, with almost 40,000 people running and at least that many spectators. It also gave us a chance to look around Berlin and to visit Potsdam (which I had never had a chance to see), a nearby town with a famous park that holds no fewer than four separate castles. D. was a good sport and paid me back for my marathon support by sitting through three hours of Rossini at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (sung in Italian with German subtitles and English summaries whispered by me during the applause) - my first trip to the opera in Germany, believe it or not. Berlin is one of my favorite cities in Europe, so I was happy to have a chance to go back again and highly recommend it as a destination.

Well, that's all the exciting news for this month. The contest is still on, so bring on your suggestions for places to go. We are headed to New Zealand in a couple weeks, so even though it was already planned before the contest opened, I'll still consider Ying and Johanna to have "won" because both suggested it.

Hope you all enjoyed your summers. It was great to see so many of you! Keep in touch!

Kim

Germany in Small Bites

(As always, you can click on each photo to enlarge it. )

It's been interesting getting to see Germany again as an adult and on my own. It's also been interesting to be there without the primary goal of being a tourist, which led me to see all sorts of places that I wouldn't have gone otherwise. Also interesting is the discussion that inevitably comes up about Germany's past - some people are uncomfortable even visiting the country, others ask what would happen if the opportunity arose for me to live there. So as I walked around, those questions were rattling around in my head, and I feel confident saying that Germany now is not Germany then -- it's a lovely country with a lot of charm, and perhaps most importantly, they seem to be doing their best not to let anything be forgotten or swept under the rug.

I don't think I've ever visited a country that tried so hard to acknowledge its shameful history. Everywhere you look there is a monument, a museum, a memorial... they are putting their past on the table, reminding Germans of what happened so that history wont repeat itself, and trying to do some good by the memories of those that died. I was moved by the effort that they are making, and although every once in a while an eerie wave of heavy history would wash over me as I walked down a street where something terrible happened, I can safely say I wouldn't hesitate to visit or even live in Germany today.

I spent a whole week in Berlin, but because I was there "on business" I didn't actually see as much as you may have come to expect from me. I saw the famous sights - the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, the KaDeWe department store. I went (how could I not) to the zoo, where baby polar bear Knut is still attracting large crowds, even though he's not quite a baby anymore and even has been labeled "overweight". I was moved by the exhibit that has been set up on the former site of the SS headquarters, which served as a prison and torture center for sensitive political prisoners during the Second World War. They did a great job of exposing what happened there and who was responsible, and they had a fairly thorough memorial to many of the victims and the people who worked in the resistance.

From Berlin I flew to Dusseldorf, which I learned is known for some quite avant garde architecture. Other than that, it's a charming little German town, but a bit cold and rainy while I was there.

The next trip took me to Munich, which is one of my favorite cities in Europe. I was sick, so I had to skip my audition, but as a result I ended up at Oktoberfest. I never thought I would be caught dead there, but it turned out to be a fun experience. First of all, everyone in Munich is dressed in dirndls and lederhosen, which is adorable on the older folks and kind of funny on the younger ones, as the girls do their best to make their dirndls as hot and sexy as possible, much as young women are doing with Halloween costumes in the US these days. There is lots of public drunkenness and lots of pretzels and sausages, and actually the Oktoberfest itself is a gigantic fairground, which during the day has cute rides for kids, haunted houses, and your usual state fair stuff. I hear if you stay after dark, it gets a little crazy, but I didn't stick around to find out.

From Munich I went to Cologne, which is home to the biggest cathedral in Germany, where you find the remains of the three magi (the ones who visited Jesus when he was born). On another visit a week later, I was able to climb up the stairs to the top of the bell tower, where you get a great view of the city and also get to see the largest working bell in the world. Cologne is also the home of the original Eau de Cologne, and they have a very happening shopping street.

For me the most interesting was the El-De House, a museum made from a former detention center for WWII prisoners who came from all over Europe. You can walk around and see the cells downstairs, and despite all odds, the incredible amounts of graffiti written by prisoners over the years is well preserved on the walls of the cells. Some of the more poignant notes, including letters to children and parents never to be seen again, have been translated for viewers to read. Upstairs is a very thorough exhibit about the rise of the Nazis (and the rise of the resistance) in Cologne, which was very nicely done.

After that I had just an afternoon in Hamburg, which is nice enough, but I had seen all the major sights last Christmas, so I took a tour of the rather exaggerated interior of the Rathaus (town hall) and then called it a day.

All in all, it's been fun getting to see more bits and pieces of Germany, and I plan to try to get back there some more. In the meantime, I had better go pack, because we are leaving for Brazil in the morning!

Hope you all are well. Keep in touch!

Kim