Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Germany , Saxony-Anhalt

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Around Halle

Halle is a city of around 230000 near the Saale river. The university has part of its campus right in the middle of the city so there is lots of activity and young people around.The church in the middle of the city Marktkirche has a very famous association with Martin Luther the founder of the Lutheran church. He died in Halle so a death mask was made of his face and hands and is on display i

Wittenberg

Today we travelled to this town which was where Martin Luther was a priest and set out the reforms that created the Lutheran church.The town is set out with museums shops cafes churches and various places that were actual places in Martin Luther39s time.Martin Luther was a priest in the Catholic church and was concerned with the excesses and corruption within the church. He preached here an

From Turkey to Germany

My last day in Istanbul was spent on firstly on leisurely cruise on the Bosphorous sea. This important water way connects the Marmar Sea and the Black Sea and is open to all ships. Massive palatial homes are built right on the waters edge complete with pools and pavilions and will cost millions of Turkish Lire. People enjoy fishing and some brave souls were swimming with one area having a beac

BerlinLeipzigHalleMagdeburgHalleLeipzigHalleLeipzigDresdenLeipzigBerlin

Ok so I got offered a days worth of work and needed to pick up a visa from Berlin so I came back from Poland to work a day in Magdeburg. On passing through Berlin where I had hoped to pick up my passport with my Indian visa courtesy of Cox and Kings I was dissapointed to find that they still had not managed to process it. Cox and Kings for me really lived up to the first part of their namesake.

Quedlinburg Wooden houses galore

Quedlinburg was another suprise. A very nice little German town that having escaped major damage during World War 2 is said to be one of the best preserved medieval and renaissance towns in Europe. In any case it was a pleasure to walk around and when both my camera's battery and Gary's carked it we were both a little gutted at not being able to capture the beauty of the place as we walked around

Martin Lutherstadt Wittenberg

One of the main realisations I got on travelling to Martin Lutherstadt Wittenberg was how Martin Luther managed to spend so much time translating the bible into German. A great gift Martin Luther's life work was to the German language and carried out in an apt place where I doubt there was much to sway him from his task. It is a quaint little place full of historical importance and sightseeing a

Magdeburg Marathon

A little over a year ago I found myself learning to walk again for the third time in my life after having my knee reconstructed for the second time. While this may be dramatising things a little bit as it is not like I broke my back or something for me blowing my knee twice has been one of my most life altering experiences.It has meant I can't play rugby the sport that I love and that I could

South to Schlaitz

Sunday 12th September 2010After a long day in Berlin we decided to take a short drive today heading south and stop at the village of Schlaitz at lunch time. The site being well equipped and the boys enjoying racing the variants of go karts around the beer garden circuit whilst we relaxed and enjoyed a beer or two...

Halle bike ride

Having heard about Halle a neighbouring city of Leipzig I decided to set out with Sam a mate of mine from work to check it out. We rode the 40km or so along the river a very nice ride in about 3 hours or so . The river was flooded and we had to zig zag a bit but we got there albeit with a few side excursions. Along the way we saw a few little East German towns which was the first time I r

Der Brocken im Harz

The Brocken is the highest mountain in Germany aside from the Alps. I climbed this moutain with Cindy and in the process got to eat some delicious pea soup and admire the coal powered train trucking up and down the mountain. This moutain was closed to the public during the Cold War as the mountain was an outpost for Russian soldiers who controlled the border crossing between East and West Germany

Wittenberg

Well ever since you read South Germany Day 1 you have probably been wondering So when will he get to the Luther sites Wait no more that is practically all that the rest of this post is about. You might notice that I skipped a day that is because the entire day was spent riding on the trains to get to Wittenberg so that I could see the Luther sites Sunday morning then start back

Mountain Climbing...Chorale Style

These past two days have been filled with a large amount of exercise. I find this to be a good thing but I think I may be in the minority. Yesterday morning we began our day with a hike up the hill to the Hochschule for a lecture that Dr. Cock was giving on American Music. We were the demo choir. The lecture was actually very interesting and we had fun. We then jetted off with Prof. DeMaris

We Prayed and God sent us Angels...And they can SING

Sometimes as musicians especially musicians on tour we need reminders of why we do what we do. This weekend was one of those times. We met a man by the name of Pastor Meinhof and he changed our lives. We spent these past few days in the small towns of Juteborg Mark Zwuschen Seyda and Gentha. We arrived in Juteborg and Pastor complete with too short tie and everjolly expression was wait

The Harz Mountains Stiege Hasselfelde Wernigerode and Thale

I was lucky to be invited by a German friend to her family home for Pfingsten a religious holiday translated to Whitsun in english that marks the beginning of the hotter half of the year supposedly. Well to be fair this weekend did see better temperatures and weather and I had my first swim in Germany in my friends natural swimming pool or should I say natural swimming pond. In either case it

With bicycle from Stuttgart to the North Cape

85 kms in 4hrs 50 mins slight tailwind. First hills of the trip but only gentle. Tired early maybe hill. I did not eat much.

Day 45 in Magdeburg I refuse to believe my trip is halfway over...

Alles klar I'm finally back. Just a few interesting daytoday revalations to report so I won't divide up the entry in any specific way. I must say I'm in disbelief as to how misguided most people Americans that is are about what speaking a language actually entails. Although my German will be quite good when I leave I can't help but feel like a phony when I say I speak German. At thi

Day 27 in Magdeburg Quick FYI

I deleted some of the more sensitive information from my entries. I finally signed my contract with the government and my director said that I need to be careful about what I tell friends and family. Not that I published anything particularly sensitive but I would rather not chance it. This blog is public after all. That said I still plan on talking politics. I just can't talk about what

Day 26 in Magdeburg

Whew keeping updated is difficult. By the time I leave work around 4pm find something to do for an hour or two around town and make dinner all I want to do is take a short walk and read. Funny how something so simple i.e. this travel blog can be so exhausting. I say this frequently but where to begin I'll start with...Politik Politics What more can I say about my internship I love every

Magdeburg Day 23

Whew keeping updated is difficult. By the time I leave work around 4pm find something to do for an hour or two around town and make dinner all I want to do is take a short walk and read. Funny how something so simple i.e. this travel blog can be so exhausting. I say this frequently but where to begin I'll start with...Politik Politics What more can I say about my internship I love every

Magdeburg Day 20

So have a difficult time getting motivated to write in this journal which is likely because so much happens to me every day. In order to organize my thoughts and so as to accomodate those who might be disinterested in certain portions of my experience i.e. I won't hate you for not wanting to hear about the ancient ritual of German handshaking I'm going to divide each entry into themes. Kul