Mittelaltlicher Markt und Orgelkonzert

Now that I am almost two weeks into my German adventure, I am starting to get settled into life here. My week days basically consists of language courses Monday thru Friday 8:45 to 12:30 and then again on Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 3:30pm. During the other afternoons, we have our German Culture and History Course. Evenings usually involve some combination of homework, emailing/chatting online, hanging out at the student bar, or watching going out to dinner in the city with friends. It's quite the nice, little routine I have over here!

On Saturday I went to the Mittelaltlicher Markt (or Middle Ages Market) in Marburg. The Market was located on top of the hill on the grounds of Marburg's castle. Complete with musicians, crafts, delicious food, Meth (which is the old German word for Mead...don't worry Mom!), a man balancing fire on his face, sing-a-longs, costumed people, and animals, it was, in my imagination, exactly what it would have been like to live in the Middle Ages. And to make it even more real, it was in a location that actual saw the Middle Ages. Living history :) Below are some pictures from the Mittelaltlicher Markt!

Not very comfortable...at all.

A group of Fulbrighters after the fair, in the Oberstadt close to the Rathaus (the town hall). Bottom Row: Keith, Shane, Marty Top Row: David, Ashlan Elisa, Chri, me and Marco.

On Sunday, I went to a Orgelkonzert (organ concert) at the Elisabethkirche with a couple of other Fulbrighters. We had the opportunity to see the outside of the Elisabethkirche when we went on our tour of the city--the inside was just as breathtaking.
This is the organ on which we heard some AMAZING organ playing. It made me wish that I had kept up with my piano a little more.

Above is a picture of the front of the church. Simply beautfiul.

After the concert, we went out to dinner and I had a regional Hessen specialty--auflauf. Basically a good ol' Lutheran caserole, it consists of noodles or potatos covered in cheese and cream sauce with your choice of meat and/or vegetables. It was fabulous. After dinner, we went on a Pub Crawl with the rest of the Fulbrighters throughout Marburg. On the way to the meeting spot, we went through the Botantical Gardens and I took this picture below. Through the trees, you can see the two towers of the Elisabethkirche.

The pub crawl took us to four different bars in Marburg. One of the favorite things about Germany, so far, is the amount of grafitti in bathroom stalls. Actually, it is not so much the amount of grafiti, but rather the content. Instead of lame things like "Jackie Loves Tom," the grafitti in German is very political, angsty, and usually quite deep. My favorite so far is this saying that I found on a bathroom wall in a pub: "When your world breaks apart, dance on the pieces." Who knew you could find such good advice on a bathroom wall!

Burgwald-Christenberg

Welcome to post number zwei of my blog. Germany is still treating me well and I'm starting to get to know some of the other Fulbright students well, which is wonderful. We had our first "exucrsion" this weekend with a trip on Sunday to Burgwald-Christenberg. Our group departed from the center of Marburg on this classy Mercedes-Benz bus...only in Deutschland :) When we arrived on the 387 meter high Christenberg in the Burgwald, we were treated to a lovely German bbg complete with sausage and "pig sticks" which were essentially sticks of bacon and essentially delicious. With full bellies, we were then taken on a tour of the Christenberg. The picture below is of the view from the top of the hill which overlooks the village of Munchhausen and the Kellerwald. The word Christen comes from the Latin word for castle, and apparently there used to be a castle on the hill starting around 200 BC or so. The remains from the guard walls can still be seen.
Now on the Christenberg is the Martinskirche, which was built around 1000 in the Roman architecture style. The legend is that St. Boniface ordered the building of the church and left a footprint (which can still be seen) in the rocks to mark the place. However, some say the footprint was left by the Devil who was angry that the pagan people of the area had been Christenized. Either way, it was an incredibly beautiful old church which the villagers of Munchhausen still use for worship services.
So, the trip to Christenberg was pretty fabulous. The idea of these excursions are great because these are probably areas that we would not know about/be able to get to easily if they were not planned out for us. Plus, it gives us something to do on Sundays when everything else in town, literally, is closed. That's all for now, auf wiedersehen from Deutschland!

Marburg!

Hello Everyone! I arrived safe and sound in Marburg on Tuesday, August 12. It's been pretty much a whirlwind since I have arrived--meeting new people, starting my language course, trying to navigate the winding streets of Marburg, and, of course, stumbling through conversations with Germans in the city.





The city of Marburg is approximately 80,000 people, 20,000 of which are students, so it is pretty much a college town. But it also has a lot of history. We were taken on a walking history tour of Marburg yesterday and I was able to get some pictures of the castle, the Elisabethkirche, and some fantasic views of the city. I'm posting some pictures and some tidbits of information, so if that does not interest you, stop reading now. You have been fairly warned :)




The picture to the left is of the Elisabethkirche, or the church of St. Elisabeth. It was built in the 13th century and became an important place of pilgrimage in Europe because it is built on the tomb of St Elisabeth. Today it is a protestant church.








The picture on the right is taken in the Obenstadt section of Marburg (which you can take an elevator up to!) and it is one of the oldest houses in Marburg. I think the tour guide said it was built in the 13th century, but I could be making that up. The style of the house is called a Timber house because it was made of timber and then the middle sections were filled in with mud and other things.
This, along with the picture of me at the beginning, is a view of the city of Marburg from the Castle. See those white buildings on the left side of the mountain in the distance. Those are the Studentendorf, which is where I live. Yes, on a mountain. It's approximately a 45 minute walk to and from class every day and the way back is uphill...the whole way. No wonder Europeans are so fit!

Finally, this is a picture of Marburg's castle, the Landgrafenschloss, which was built around 1000 years ago. I'm not going to bore you with any more history on the castle, but how cool is it that this city has a castle?

That's all for now. More to come in the future. For now, tschus!