More Hessen

So less and less of my exploring has been within Hessen the longer I'm here, but last week we headed out and took in more of the area. We devoted the better part of a day trekking up to the Niederwalddenkmal in Rüdesheim. There's a path going from town all the way up. This thing is planted way up above the vineyards and overlooks a great deal of the Rhein, Rüdesheim, and Bingen. The view is just magnificent, especially now that the weather is getting warmer. Unfortunately it's not warm enough to get them to open up the restaurants and winery (now there's something I never use in English yet find myself using all the time here in German). That would've been refreshing after the long hike, but it was worth the view.

The monument itself is imposing. I can understand, given Germany's history, why everyone downplays or utterly lacks any patriotic sentiment, yet seeing this monument made me think it's kind of a shame no one seems to show that kind of exuberance or enthusiasm for the country anymore. Sure, it's nationalistic and exaggerated, but it's discouraging how soberly and almost diffidently people talk about Germany here.

The next day we headed into Wiesbaden and took a little trip on this super touristy train that goes through the city and gives information on all the sights. Then it ends a few miles away at a Russian Capella that overlooks all of Wiesbaden and a few suburbs. The little train is silly, but I suppose I learned more about the city and they at least tried to make it funny. The capella is beautiful with gold onion domes on top. Then there's a trail leading up until you reach a memorial overlooking the city. Behind it is a nice cafe build inside some ruins.
I still can't believe how many people take their dogs with them to restaurants. I counted 4 dogs sitting around while we sat there. As we stood looking out over the view, a group of 5 or 6 people stood close by and had brought their own champagne and flute glasses. They toasted and enjoyed the view. I wish we didn't stigmatize alcohol so much in the US and instead just taught people how to live with it responsibility. Preaching total rejection of alcohol seems to be not only unrealistic, but ineffective. A bottle a champagne on a trip to a beautiful place or beer with your meal a few times a week can be pleasant and isn't going to hurt anyone. Why act like it's the end of the world?


The next day we headed into Frankfurt. I'd been there a few times before, but only to the airport, train station, opera house, and book fair. So I hadn't actually had the chance to see the city at all. As it turns out, it's fantastic for business but not so fantastic for entertainment. The buildings are all impressive, but they house banks and other companies and are flanked by any number of restaurants and cafes. The streets are full of people, several of them wearing suits and hurrying off somewhere. But occasionally you'll run into the odd pair of Mormons wearing their own sharp suits with added name tags.

Clocks, Cudgels, and Cathedrals

Well the Rheingau is returning to the picturesque sunny getaway I saw when I first came here. The vineyards of course are still stripped bare and won't be green again until the summer, but the beautiful view and people taking walks with their dogs make everything seem alive again. It's surreal to hear about all the snow back home. I've been pleased with my first snowless winter. It did snow at some point, but I only remember it being around for a week or so and never reaching more than an inch or so.

So I've hit the 5 1/2 month mark here. It's weird to think I've hit the halfway point. I got information on applying to extend the grant for another 10 months (same September to June period) and will probably submit it. If I get offered it I'll have to think about it. On the one hand I'm still enjoying myself here and would be sad to go home and pretty much never hear German again. On the other hand it would be nice to be somewhere where I feel more like I belong for a while. Maybe the summer in between the grant period would be enough time back in the US before heading back to Deutschland to sort of recharge. Of course it isn't very easy to get grant extensions, but I'd hoping for it.

I continue to be perplexed by people's priorities here. The have a separate knife for everything imaginable (cheese knife, fish knife, steak knife, vegetable knife, etc etc), but then no dryers for their clothes. Also my favorite quotes from different people here so far are:

"Punctuality is a virtue" said with complete conviction. Also "the Soviet Onion was a powerful force on Germany" during a book report (yes, he meant soviet union, but I love the image of a onion dressed up in uniform barking commands at all the other vegetables).

So something I wanted to mention in the Prague post was the astronomical clock there. I took a few pictures:


The only reason we noticed it was because of the massive crowd of hundreds of people gathered in front of it. We wandered over to see what the attraction was and saw hundreds of people staring up at an unusually complicated looking clock on a tower. We stood and stared with them until the clock struck the hour. Just as it did, a chicken popped out. Then two more side doors sprang open above the clock face and a cycle of wooden representations of the 12 disciples paraded around. Everyone cheered, and then wandered off in different directions. It really is an unusual clock, though. Here's the wiki on it.

Long story short, it keeps the time, gives information on seasons, the position of the sun and moon, and has a zodiacal ring. Somehow someone was able to cram all of this information into one clock and synchronize it so it can keep track of and display all that information simultaneous. Oh, and it was made in 1410. Check out this animation of a sped up representation of the clock in action. It really is incredible:

Astronomical Clock Flash

Another things I found amusing was when we went to the Prague Castle. The entrance is a large gate with two guards stationed in front. I love the statues perched on the top. What on earth is happening here...



Oh, and I forgot there's one more picture of me standing in front of the huge cathedral on the grounds of the castle. If you click on it to make it big and zoom in a bunch, you'll see I'm the figure in the black coat standing in the center of the picture. Really, I just wanted to give an idea of the proportion of this massive cathedral.