Ich fahre nach Berlin - Part Two

If you read my blog regularly, you'll see that I've already posted about part of my trip to the Deutsch capital, Berlin (see 16/12). This post covers the second and final half of my trip.

You may have noticed from my first post that one of the most famous elements of Berlin - the Berlin Wall - was conspicuously absent in our whistlestop tour of all the sights. That's because we made sure to cover that on Saturday, my second day in Berlin, braving absolutely freezing wind and fog to do so (woe is me!)

We started off my taking the U-Bahn over to the site of the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is a 1.3 km stretch of the Berlin Wall, which runs along the River Spree and which has been covered in graffiti art by various artists - apparently there are 105 paintings [or at least there were originally - a lot of the graffiti has itself been graffitied], all painted in 1990, the year after the wall finally fell, on its east side.

It's interesting to go and see - despite the fact that what's left of this part of the wall is covered in colourful and meaningful pieces of artwork, and is full of gaps through which you can see the river and everything on the other side, I still found the wall to be very imposing.

We all walk past walls every day and barely bat an eyelid at them or what is in the other side of them. But somehow, I think that the Berlin Wall seems a whole lot more solid than your everyday wall.

I suppose that part of that is knowing what it once represented; what it meant to the people of Berlin. But some of it, I think, is it's height and length, even considering it is much reduced from what it was. It was built to be imposing, after all, and to cause unease to the human psyche, and cause unease it does, by both it's physical presence and, now, also by it's reputation.

From the wall, we headed back into Central Berlin to see Checkpoint Charlie, which was the only official entry point between East and West, marking the entry into the American Sector.

It took us a good half an hour or so to get from the East Side Gallery to Checkpoint Charlie, which really started to give you an idea of the scale of the disruption caused by the wall. But what really put everything into perspective for me was going to see the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer - the Berlin Wall memorial.

This is a 60-metre (200 ft) section of the former border, including an old watch tower, and information about how there used to be a row of houses there, from which people tried to escape in the early days, before being forced to evacuate. The houses were later blown up. 

It was seeing this part of the wall - which felt a lot more real again than the section of the East Side Gallery - and reading about the effects of these evacuations and escape attempts, which really made me think about the wall. It only fell a few years before I was born, so not all that long ago really, and it's something I feel like I should make an effort to know a little more about, especially now having seen it for myself. 

After we'd finished at the memorial we called a halt to our strangely Cold War themed day and stopped off at the department store Ka De We (which reminded me very much of Harrods, and was exceptionally festive inside). We grabbed some dinner and then attempted to go the Christmas market at Alexanderplatz (I say attempted because it was actually closing when we rocked up, but there we go!).

The Christmas Section in Ka De We

Then on Sunday, we went for a meander around the flea market in Mauer Park before going back to Immy's flat to 'festify' it before some of her Erasmus friends came over, which lead to a lovely afternoon/evening of Christmas music, good food, conversation, and glühwein!

And with the end of my Berlin trip, that's basically my limit for cool year abroad stuff for 2013. We're already mid way through December. This week we've had a mini Christmas Dinner at our apartment with some friends, and in the next few days I am going HOME!! It feels like absolutely ages since I was there at the end of October for my 21st, so I absolutely cannot wait to see my family and to get in some Christmas traditions. 

On which note, this will be my last blog post for 2013. I'm pretty pleased with how things are going so far with my year abroad (and with my blog) and I hope to keep it up for 2014! 

So, I would like to wish everybody a Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année. I'll see you all again when I start posting again in the New Year!

A bientôt, Bis später!

Vicky xx

P.S. I feel the need to mention my flatmate, Parisa, here, because as I am writing this, she has just read Part One of my Berlin Blog and announced that she's very disappointed to see that she hasn't been mentioned, and did I not miss her at all? Yes, Parisa, I did :) I even instagrammed all my photos in your honour because I know how much it annoys you when I don't edit them! x

À Strasbourg: le Christkindelsmärik

Hooray! A proper Erasmus post! This is going to be very long and very photo heavy - I've been on an instagramming spree! I mentioned in my last November post that I had some really exciting and Christmassy things coming up. Well, now it's December and I'm allowed to feel festive (according to my little brother who has apparently decided he is the authority on such things) - and this is the first of those Christmassy things!

Ever since I decided to come to France on my year abroad, ever since I found out that I'd be spending this year in Paris, ever since the beginning, I have wanted to go to Strasbourg for the Christmas markets - there are several - or as they say in Alsatian,, the Christkindelsmärik. 

Strasbourg, for those who don't know, is a city in the east of France, practically sat right on top of the border with Germany (and it has actually been German at certain points in its history). For that reason, it's quite different to a lot of French towns. It is France's little piece of Germany - the architecture is quite German, and scattered throughout the city there are little hints of each culture, such as the French/Alsatian road signs [Alsatian being a German dialect of sorts] It's an interesting blend!

The Dual-Language Road Signs found all over Strasbourg

Anyway - a couple of weeks ago I finally acted on this plan and booked my ticket. Then, yesterday morning, I hopped on the metro over to Paris Est and thanks to the TGV, I was in Strasbourg nice and early to spend the day there :)

Now, it would be a shame to go all the way to Strasbourg to do the Christmas Market and not to look at anything else in the city, so I was actually armed with a list of places to visit, and a route of sorts to take in my meanderings. I only had 7 hours or so, and I meant to make the most of them! 

So on leaving the Gare de Strasbourg, I didn't barrel straight for the market but headed off towards Barrage Vauban. It's a 17th century on the river Ill. That and the Ponts Couverts, where I headed next, make for some great views, and kind of act as a gateway into the city centre; a pretty entrance into La Petite France.

Barrage Vauban

The Ponts Couverts

The centre of Strasbourg itself is actually an island, the Grand Île, and in 1988 it was granted UNESCO World Heritage Status [according to Wikipedia, this was the first time it was conferred on an entire city centre]. I can totally understand why it got this status having wondered around La Petite France, where I went next.

This part of Strasbourg is so pretty. It is also known as Gerberviertel - the tanner's district - and all the buildings are very Alsatian and very medievalesque - I have no idea when they actually date from.

It was gorgeous, and after the past few stressful weeks I've had in Paris, really lovely to be able to meander around winding streets and just dip in and out of little shops and the various markets [they're literally scattered all over the city] as I felt like it.

By this point I was basically at the Cathedral, which is interesting both on its own and as the host to part of the city's Christmas Market. The Cathedral itself is something very like what I have come to expect from French cathedrals - at least, to those I have seen, which admittedly, it very few - with it's very gothic architecture, although it's kind of a rose colour, which is a little bit different.

I'm told it has a quite interesting Astronomical Clock, which puts on a performance every day around half twelve. I was in the the Place de la Cathédrale at the time, but I walked around several times and didn't actually spot it. I have a feeling that this is probably just another example of my not paying enough attention to my surroundings, for which I am sadly well-known by my friends.

Strasbourg Cathedral. 

Then, seeing a sign, in my wisdom, I paid the €2.50 to climb to the top of its spire. There's something like 322 steps to climb, which didn't seem like alllllll that many when I was stood at the bottom but seemed like a very different story half way to the top! 

The steps were very steep and in a spiral all the way to the top [unsurprisingly], and I had to stop several times up the tower huffing and puffing [only to be asked, quite embarrassingly, several times if I was okay by the 50-something year old French woman following behind, who was clearly convinced that I was about to drop dead of an asthma attack and that she had better not overtake me in case I needed resuscitation. Or something]

Although in my defence, I wikipedia'd the cathedral tonight when I was writing this blog, and I am quoting this directly from that webpage:

“At 142 metres (466 feet), it was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874 (227 years), when it was surpassed by St. Nikolai's Church, Hamburg. Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the highest still-standing structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.”

So please don't judge me too badly!

On the plus side, the view was totally worth it. On a clear day, you're supposed to be able to see all the way to the Black Forest in the East, and the Vosges Mountain Range in the West, which despite the clouds, I could definitely make out in the distance.

When I eventually got my breath back enough to go back to the bottom [I swear, I'm really not as unfit as it sounds!] I went inside. I'd try to describe it, but I'm not sure that any words I could come up with would do it justice, so I'll let you see for yourselves.

Now [finally] we come to the Christmas Market! It was founded in 1570, which makes it one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Europe, and it's a good one!

The main thing that you notice about this Christmas Market, which I have never picked up on anywhere else [and this is also on its Wikipedia page, funnily enough] is that the streets smell heavenly, of Vin Chaud and spices. It's enough to get anyone's taste buds drooling, so it's no surprise that I sampled some of the Mulled Wine. I also got my hands on some marron chauds [chestnuts] which I have been craving ever since I spotted them at the Paris Christmas market, and a gaufre au chocolat [waffle]. My family will inevitably read this and point out that yet again I am talking about food, but I don't care. I'd like to see them do any different!

Other than the copious amounts of food on offer, there was a complete range of things, from beautiful hand made wooden dolls, to Christmas decorations, hand painted candlesticks and many many candles, models, Christmas decorations and so so much more that I'd never be able to cover it all in one post. 

One thing I did notice, though, was the lack of any music whatsoever - Christmas or otherwise. To me, a Christmas Market needs carols, which granted, are quite an English thing, but there was no music at all that I noticed, not even French music. I had to walk around humming to myself to fill the gap it left, like a slightly deranged person!

Back on track: finally, I ended up at another Christmas Market on Place Kléber, which is also home to Strasbourg's MASSIVE Christmas Tree. I got photos of it both before and after the sunset, and it definitely made an impression at night, when all the lights could properly be seen.

So that's pretty much that! I was going to walk up to see a few other things in Strasbourg, like the European Parliament, and the Jardin Des Deux Rives, which is basically the last stop before you cross the border from France into Germany, but I was having such a nice time meandering around the markets that I didn't bother. As it is, I have like a trillion more photos, and a trillion more things to say, but this blog post is long enough without adding all that in! Strasbourg is a beautiful city and I see myself going back there one day, not least for the fact that my mum has her name written all over it! I'm very jealous of all you Erasmus people who get to live there :)

I've got something else really exciting coming up next weekend as well, which I will also make sure to post about afterwards and which is also likely to be pretty long and photo heavy - so please keep an eye out for that! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time...

Hope everyone is having a lovely December,

Vicky xx