The Well Rounded Square

In honor of waking up to a fully sunbathed for the first time in a quite a while, I 'm going to share some photos and such from the Fall that I just never got around to. It's also kind of fitting for me to write it on Valentine's Day, as you will find out.

I figured it was about time to make a trip to Burg Gleiberg, the castle ruins you can see from almost any place in Giessen. The closest I had to been to Gleiberg was when I took the bus in the wrong direct the first time I was in Giessen and ended up somewhere near by.

Firstly, it is a steeper hike than I had anticipated. But the weather was good and it was nice to have company. Not to mention the view made it worth it.

I've grown quite fond of castle ruins. It really puts things into perspective. These huge castles were built without modern technology, survived wars and centuries of decay, and still some of it stands. The hunks of stone are nothing short of impressive and to think that poor serfs had to lug these up the hill with which we struggled, even before there was a road there. I can't imagine how anything got done. I feel like I should applaud the people who built these. You go, peasants.

Practicing her Golem impression

We also tried to figure out what each room had been, based on size, how many windows, did it have a chimney, etc.

As we were coming to the end of our tour, we noticed a girl wearing a white button-up shirt, a vest and holding a bouquet of flowers. All signs that something interesting was about to happen. So we did what most people would - slowed down our pace, pretended to spend a lot of time intently examining the stones, and waited.

Sure enough, a group of three people around the same age showed up (teenagers or early 20s if I'm guessing correctly), greeted her, and then hid behind a wall. We passed the time admiring - or at least commenting on - the large collection of pigeons (I'm not a huge pigeon fan...flying rats....that is all) that had started to roost on what may have been a part of the roof at some point. A fourth person arrived, finally. We then realized we were going to witness her proposing to her girlfriend - it was actually quite sweet, but I would consider it a rookie mistake to place someone you're about to ask an important question to on the wall of an old castle...But maybe that's just me. We took that as our cue to stealthily make our way back home.

Prime pigeon hangout

Svenja and I made a side trip to Wetzlar to walk around the Altstadt (old city) and to get some yarn so she could start on a Christmas present. It must have been a trend that week, because we stumbled upon some form of formal photo shoot. We couldn't tell if it was for a wedding, a dance, etc. No idea. Any guesses?

Wedding? Dance? Modeling?

If you only pass through Wetzlar or take the train to go to Forum (the shopping center) you may have the opinion that Wetzlar is not a pretty city. The view one gets from the train station is not the true image of the city. At the train station all you can see are Forum, the arena, a home improvement store and signs of industry. But if you walk a few minutes into the city, you notice a change. The buildings are older, there is still cobblestone, there is a distinct character in the buildings. The old city is exactly what I expect from the quintessential German pedestrian area. There a pictures, fear not! Wetzlar will get its own post.

Yay first post of the New Year! Time for the a report on Christmasy things! Or "3 weeks living out of a suitcase".

I spent the week around Christmas with Astrid and her family in Siegen. It was nice to be in a family setting for Christmas and actually be able to Skype with my parents for the first since I got here. I enjoyed the full three days of the German celebrating tradition. Only after the third Christmas day was over, did it finally snow.

Be prepared for stereotypical food and wintery photos.

Breakfast. Or better known as Wurstception. Wurst with wurst. Cheese with Wurst. Wurst with Cheese.

On the 24th, we had to eat our dinner like good boys and girls and listen closely for the bell saying that St. Niklaus had stopped by to bring out presents.

Many rounds of cards were played.

The next day we went for a walk around Biggesee to work a little bit of the extra Christmas weight.

And the next morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. Easiest way to turn three college-aged adults into small children? Snow. And ice skating. I couldn't find those photos but those may appear in a later post.

Even though Siegen tends to get made fun of, it's quite beautiful when snow covered.

I can't resist: Astrid wanted to build a snowman

Sugar overdose due to Naschwerk

The next morning, Svenja arrived to drive us to the very southern part of Baden Wurttemburg. Since everything was still snow covered, we made a short sightseeing tour of the area and a short sledding excursion. Being so close to France and Switzerland, I spend a good amount of time trying to figure out which border we had just crossed.

Apparently Weil am Rhein is known for chairs and they are everywhere

On the French border

In order to continue on my trip, I had to purchase my train ticket and it would be easier to leave from the Swiss station. Cue adventures in Basil.

The train ride to Rome was uneventful. It's oddly peaceful to be listening to "Pines of Rome: the Appian Way" while traveling through the Alps, Rome-ward with snow gently falling. I noticed when the train changed Cantons when the announcements were given in Italian first. I fell asleep in the snowy Alps and woke up to see the snow behind me and the sunny Dolomites before me. It was a much better ride than my last trip to Rome. It also gave me time to spend on my graduate school applications. It's amazing how much editing one can get done with 8 hours in trains.

This time I was going to enjoy:

1. Not being sick/voiceless

2.No rushing around to see all of the "Must Sees"

3. Having sunshine almost every day

I spent New Years (Silvestern) on the rooftop of a community center with my cousins, Marco and Maria Cristina. Seeing as it was much colder than expected, not many people were out and about. I still think it's because the natives thought the end was neigh and were preparing for Armageddon. It was still extremely enjoyable, albeit it noisy and slightly terrifying. The Italians love their fireworks. The city erupted into the new year on all sides. It was a beautiful, clear night and I was astounded by how many stars I could see, even with all of the lights. It was truly breath taking.

We just had a lazy 1st of the year. Roamed around a bit. Yes, I see the pun, and it's going to stay there.

On Saturday, we made the trek down to Naples. I didn't realize how assimilated I have become into the German culture until we got into the chaos that is Naples. I needed traffic rules. Order. Something to make sense. I can't call Rome chaotic anymore, at least it's organized in its chaotic ways. Naples made no sense. My theory is when you live near an active volcano, you begin to truly embody the "You Only Live Once" (YOLO) lifestyle. But it was beautiful, the food was good, and I got to experience the Christmas custom of the Presepe. FYI I'm now in love with buffalo mozzarella, I think I should just make a cheese tasting tour through Europe. Any takers?

It was too cloudy to see Vesuvius

These street musicians were really good

Pizza Margherita with buffalo mozzarella

We lucked out because the state owned museums are free on the first Sunday of the month. So we waited in line to get into Castel St. Angelo. It was definitely worth standing in line for. Please we got the free entertainment of police chasing down street vendors. The view from the top are incredible and it's so huge that even though there are another 300 people in there at the same time, you don't even notice.