Germany - Day 1
30 October 2008 12:59![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kmusserFirst things first, pictures are all at http://pics.livejournal.com/kmusser/gallery/00040f1s I'm going to try to fix the ones that came out too dark to see.
Anyway, our journey begins Monday morning with a drive out to Philadelphia and then a flight to O'Hare. I get a surprise visit with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zammis in the airport, who finds me during my layover while she's waiting for her flight to Seattle. Yay for Zammis time. Anyway, soon it is time for the very long trip over the pond. I think Lufthansa has the smallest seats I've ever encounted. I did not get much sleep and arrived in Düsseldorf a very sleepy camper.
Tuesday I arrive before dawn, retrieve my luggage, the kind information lady is able to direct me to the train station, I get my Eurorail pass stamped, and I'm on my way to Essen. The train heads out and then proceeds to sit on the tracks for 20 minutes for no apparent reason and I'm thinking to myself this is just like home. That thing about German trains running on time - total myth. It's still dark out so I don't get to see much - I do finally arrive in Essen though. Lovely gray and drizzly day in an industrial city. The rest of the Games Club of Maryland crew that I'm staying with are still sightseeing elsewhere in Germany and won't be arriving in Essen until Wed. night so I'm the first to arrive at the apartment we're renting and will have 2 days to myself. I'm able to follow my trusty Google maps printout to the apartment and the landlord is home to greet me and give me keys. I unpack and take a much need nap.
After napping I still have half a day left, I figure I can spend some time being tourist. Essen's biggest tourist attraction is a factory and coal mine so that's where I go - Zollverein was Germany's largest coal mine and was combined with a massive coke factory. Rarely is a coal mine known for its architecture, but this one is, with the winding tower on top of the main shaft being a symbol of German industry. The site is easy to find and is huge, taking up several acres, I only end up visiting the main factory. I join one of the guided tours, the tour is in German so I don't understand what the guide is saying, but joining one is the only way to see inside the factory and was definitely worth it (fortunately I know the basics of coke processing from geology classes so had a general idea of what I was looking it). The entire place inside is very steampunkish looking and I was thinking the whole time what an awesome movie set it would make. Also on the tour was a very cool 3D map of all the mine shafts which underlay a good chunk of the city.
After the tour I head back home and turn in early. Tomorrow it'll be off to Köln and down the Rhine to wine country.
Anyway, our journey begins Monday morning with a drive out to Philadelphia and then a flight to O'Hare. I get a surprise visit with
zammis in the airport, who finds me during my layover while she's waiting for her flight to Seattle. Yay for Zammis time. Anyway, soon it is time for the very long trip over the pond. I think Lufthansa has the smallest seats I've ever encounted. I did not get much sleep and arrived in Düsseldorf a very sleepy camper. Tuesday I arrive before dawn, retrieve my luggage, the kind information lady is able to direct me to the train station, I get my Eurorail pass stamped, and I'm on my way to Essen. The train heads out and then proceeds to sit on the tracks for 20 minutes for no apparent reason and I'm thinking to myself this is just like home. That thing about German trains running on time - total myth. It's still dark out so I don't get to see much - I do finally arrive in Essen though. Lovely gray and drizzly day in an industrial city. The rest of the Games Club of Maryland crew that I'm staying with are still sightseeing elsewhere in Germany and won't be arriving in Essen until Wed. night so I'm the first to arrive at the apartment we're renting and will have 2 days to myself. I'm able to follow my trusty Google maps printout to the apartment and the landlord is home to greet me and give me keys. I unpack and take a much need nap.
After napping I still have half a day left, I figure I can spend some time being tourist. Essen's biggest tourist attraction is a factory and coal mine so that's where I go - Zollverein was Germany's largest coal mine and was combined with a massive coke factory. Rarely is a coal mine known for its architecture, but this one is, with the winding tower on top of the main shaft being a symbol of German industry. The site is easy to find and is huge, taking up several acres, I only end up visiting the main factory. I join one of the guided tours, the tour is in German so I don't understand what the guide is saying, but joining one is the only way to see inside the factory and was definitely worth it (fortunately I know the basics of coke processing from geology classes so had a general idea of what I was looking it). The entire place inside is very steampunkish looking and I was thinking the whole time what an awesome movie set it would make. Also on the tour was a very cool 3D map of all the mine shafts which underlay a good chunk of the city.
After the tour I head back home and turn in early. Tomorrow it'll be off to Köln and down the Rhine to wine country.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 30 Oct 2008 17:07 (UTC)Yay stories... claps hands
Date: 30 Oct 2008 17:19 (UTC)