Only one word can describe today: Whoops! or, we could use umm..., oops, and uhoh... Don't get all worried or anything, everything turned out fine, it was just a day of happy accidents.
First, we met up and left our hostel at 9:00 am. From there, we went to the train station and first had to find our train. We stood looking at the giant board of times and destinations before figuring out which platform we were supposed to go to. Once we figured it out, we had about 10 minutes to get there before the train would leave without us. Luckily, we caught the train, which happened to be a double-decker if you will. we were quite excited to see a two story train, so we all thought it a good idea to sit up top. So, we got on the train and climbed the steps and found a very nice car that was spacious and comfy. However, no one noticed that our tickets were for 2nd class, and we had found a car in first class. We enjoyed ourselves in our accommodations until the ticket lady came by to stamp our tickets. She looked at them and informed us that we were in the wrong car. She excused our apparent stupidity (since we are American) and allowed us to remain where we were sitting. This was the first of our happy accidents.
Once the train arrived at the station, we unloaded and entered the station. Once we were in the station Dr. Ribble went to find out about the tickets for the bus that would take us to the Marksburg Castle. By this time it was about 11:15 and we had a tour reserved at the castle for 11:00, so we were late. Anyway, the man Dr. Ribble talked to told her that we could buy the tickets for the bus from the driver of the bus, so we sent out a recon team to find the bus station, and they soon returned to tell us that it was not far away, and that the bus would be arriving very soon. we arrived at the bus station and the bus came up not long after us. Dr. Sofer got on the bus first to talk to the driver and confirm that it would take us where we needed to go. He told the driver we didn't have tickets because the other guy said we could by them from the driver. The driver had no idea what we were talking about, but let us on the bus anyway, free of charge. Happy accident number 2. We sat on the bus for about 20 minutes and then arrived in this tiny little village where we got our first look at the castle, pictured above. we started trekking through the village with a general idea of where to go and an imposing mountain in front of us. We almost got lost, but a nice lady with a big dog helped us after we asked her if we were going the right way, which we weren't. We followed her for a short way and she pointed down this tiny alley between a bunch of houses. We thanked her (we never would have found that on our own) and continued our journey. Down the alley we walked and soon encountered steps and a small path cut into the side of the mountain. we walked up this snowy path and many of us slipped and fell and were pushed into the 4 inch deep snow. After an exhilarating climb and beautiful views (I got a few pictures, one is up there) we reached a level area where the castle was looming over us. We then became confused about where to go. To the left of us was a staircase that was roped off. To the right there was a flat path that had tire tracks in it, and it appeared to go downhill, not the right way. Luckily, a worker from the castle came down the steps and informed us that we could use the steps if we wanted to injure ourselves due to the slipperyness. she then told us that we could take the right path and it would take longer to get up to the castle, but it would be safer. We chose the safe route. So, we get up to the castle and enter through a huge door and up some steps. We find a little porch-type area where the souvenir shop and restaurant is. We hang out while Dr. Sofer and Dr. Ribble try to figure out what we do next. They informed us that we were late for our tour (yeah, it was about 12:30 by then) and that we could wait in the restaurant until 2:00, when they could get another English tour for us. So, we decided lunch was a good idea and went into the restaurant to sit down, eat, and wait. We sat down and waited, and waited, and waited. Turns out that the restaurant was closed (thats not really an accident, more of an 'aw, crap' kinda moment). Luckily, they felt bad for us since we were the only ones there and we could go into this other little area (cafeteria like, but small) and they let us order some food. I got Bratwurst and French Fries. the french fries were absolutely amazing, and the bratwurst was different. It wasn't anything like the bratwurst at home, it tasted more like sausage. I still need to figure out if this is common throughout Germany, or if it was just this particular restaurant. 2:00 rolls around and our tour begins. I already new it, but it was different to experience it: castles are cold and drafty. It didn't help that half the tour was outside. The tour overall was excellent, though, considering I am fascinated by the middle ages and this was a dream come true. We got to see a torture chamber :D I got pictures from all the rooms we went to, but it would be too much to post them all here. Anyway, the castle was amazing and huge, and I'm convinced that there were many, many more rooms that we didn't see because the tour lasted for only about an hour. After the tour, we went to the souvenir shop, and I bought a postcard that had a summer time picture of the castle on it since all the pictures I had were wintery.
First, we met up and left our hostel at 9:00 am. From there, we went to the train station and first had to find our train. We stood looking at the giant board of times and destinations before figuring out which platform we were supposed to go to. Once we figured it out, we had about 10 minutes to get there before the train would leave without us. Luckily, we caught the train, which happened to be a double-decker if you will. we were quite excited to see a two story train, so we all thought it a good idea to sit up top. So, we got on the train and climbed the steps and found a very nice car that was spacious and comfy. However, no one noticed that our tickets were for 2nd class, and we had found a car in first class. We enjoyed ourselves in our accommodations until the ticket lady came by to stamp our tickets. She looked at them and informed us that we were in the wrong car. She excused our apparent stupidity (since we are American) and allowed us to remain where we were sitting. This was the first of our happy accidents.
Once the train arrived at the station, we unloaded and entered the station. Once we were in the station Dr. Ribble went to find out about the tickets for the bus that would take us to the Marksburg Castle. By this time it was about 11:15 and we had a tour reserved at the castle for 11:00, so we were late. Anyway, the man Dr. Ribble talked to told her that we could buy the tickets for the bus from the driver of the bus, so we sent out a recon team to find the bus station, and they soon returned to tell us that it was not far away, and that the bus would be arriving very soon. we arrived at the bus station and the bus came up not long after us. Dr. Sofer got on the bus first to talk to the driver and confirm that it would take us where we needed to go. He told the driver we didn't have tickets because the other guy said we could by them from the driver. The driver had no idea what we were talking about, but let us on the bus anyway, free of charge. Happy accident number 2. We sat on the bus for about 20 minutes and then arrived in this tiny little village where we got our first look at the castle, pictured above. we started trekking through the village with a general idea of where to go and an imposing mountain in front of us. We almost got lost, but a nice lady with a big dog helped us after we asked her if we were going the right way, which we weren't. We followed her for a short way and she pointed down this tiny alley between a bunch of houses. We thanked her (we never would have found that on our own) and continued our journey. Down the alley we walked and soon encountered steps and a small path cut into the side of the mountain. we walked up this snowy path and many of us slipped and fell and were pushed into the 4 inch deep snow. After an exhilarating climb and beautiful views (I got a few pictures, one is up there) we reached a level area where the castle was looming over us. We then became confused about where to go. To the left of us was a staircase that was roped off. To the right there was a flat path that had tire tracks in it, and it appeared to go downhill, not the right way. Luckily, a worker from the castle came down the steps and informed us that we could use the steps if we wanted to injure ourselves due to the slipperyness. she then told us that we could take the right path and it would take longer to get up to the castle, but it would be safer. We chose the safe route. So, we get up to the castle and enter through a huge door and up some steps. We find a little porch-type area where the souvenir shop and restaurant is. We hang out while Dr. Sofer and Dr. Ribble try to figure out what we do next. They informed us that we were late for our tour (yeah, it was about 12:30 by then) and that we could wait in the restaurant until 2:00, when they could get another English tour for us. So, we decided lunch was a good idea and went into the restaurant to sit down, eat, and wait. We sat down and waited, and waited, and waited. Turns out that the restaurant was closed (thats not really an accident, more of an 'aw, crap' kinda moment). Luckily, they felt bad for us since we were the only ones there and we could go into this other little area (cafeteria like, but small) and they let us order some food. I got Bratwurst and French Fries. the french fries were absolutely amazing, and the bratwurst was different. It wasn't anything like the bratwurst at home, it tasted more like sausage. I still need to figure out if this is common throughout Germany, or if it was just this particular restaurant. 2:00 rolls around and our tour begins. I already new it, but it was different to experience it: castles are cold and drafty. It didn't help that half the tour was outside. The tour overall was excellent, though, considering I am fascinated by the middle ages and this was a dream come true. We got to see a torture chamber :D I got pictures from all the rooms we went to, but it would be too much to post them all here. Anyway, the castle was amazing and huge, and I'm convinced that there were many, many more rooms that we didn't see because the tour lasted for only about an hour. After the tour, we went to the souvenir shop, and I bought a postcard that had a summer time picture of the castle on it since all the pictures I had were wintery.
We left the castle and headed back down the treacherous (not really that bad, but a good descriptor ;) ) path to the town below us. Once we got to the town, we found our way to a bus station in the town and waited. The kiosk there was closed, as was everything else in the vicinity. Uncertainty began to creep among us and the idea that we had missed the last bus became a truth to us all. Shannon, the only fluent German speaker among us, read the signs posted at the station and informed us that the last bus came by at 3:28. It was 3:40 at that moment. Well... needless to say we were all kind of... depressed? upset? distraught? But, suddenly, a bus came out of the snowy distance and headed for our stop! Rejoice sprang among the crowd! We were saved! The bus pulled up and let off passengers and Dr. Sofer and Shannon entered the bus to talk to the driver. They talked for a minute or two while the rest of us waited with anticipation. Would this bus take us back home? Would we be stranded here no longer? They exited the bus, and as they did, the doors closed and the bus pulled away. No! Our salvation was lost! We would be stranded here in a tiny town that none of us knew the name of without a place to sleep! It was about that time that we were informed there was another paper that no one had seen that told us the proper bus would be along shortly. Again, we were saved! So, we wait around for a few minutes when another bus come up to our stop and opens its doors to let off passengers. After the passengers get off, the driver closes the doors and turns off the bus. He picks up a small container and walks to the back of the bus, opens it and pulls out a sandwich. Gah! We couldn't catch a break, it seemed. The man ate his sandwich and then returned to the front of the bus and opened the door. Shannon entered the bus and talked to the driver. She poked her head out and informed us it was the right bus! We got on the bus and took our seats. The bus took us back to the train station (not free of charge this time). We got into the station and looked at the big board to figure out which train we had to take to get back to Cologne. We found a train that said Koln on it (the German name for Cologne) so we headed for that one, and only had 5 minutes to spare. These trains are lethal, by the way, they will leave you if you aren't on them. Anyway, we get on the train and find seats (in the right class this time) and we wait for the train to depart. Only one problem: The train is facing south, and we need to go north O.O the train starts heading south and now we are getting confused. Dr. Sofer has a compass on his iPhone and it showed us going south and that was bad. But, after about 5 minutes of train travel, the compass started turning to the north. We were going the right way! The train slowly (I mean slowly, this train was slower and had more stops than the one earlier) took us back to Cologne. (scary almost accident number 3)
We made our way back to the hostel through the biting wind and had our evening debriefing. We then broke apart to find dinner, shower, whatever. I went to eat dinner with Dr. Sofer, Dr. Ribble, Adelle, Karen, and Patrick. We went to a place called Doner Kabob. The best way I can explain it is like a fast food gyro shop. Except they are gyros made with beef instead of lamb. It was quite delicious. I also got a drink that is from Turkey. Some kind of soft drink that was delicious and I really hope I get more before I leave. Maybe I'll see if I cant bring some back. I would like to make an observation here: when Germans get something to drink with dinner, it is a considerably smaller portion than what we Americans drink. And I don't just mean alcohol, all the drinks I have seen are tiny. Like, we get half a liter coke, and that's normal. Here, you get only about .2 liters. I have no idea why this is since it seems that the food portions are bigger or of equal size compared to ours. Ah, well, I can't figure it out. I am going to head off now and see if I go to sleep or not. I have to get up early tomorrow for a Beethoven museum which sounds ok, but after that I am heading to a science museum, which I hope will be more interesting. Goodnight all!
Houston Miller - J-term Participant
Houston Miller - J-term Participant