The Charming City of Lüneburg

 

David likes to describe Lüneburg as one roller coaster rideaway from Busch Gardens. He kind of has a point. No matter where you look, there is an old building that will take your breath away. Being over 1000 years old, based on the first entry of Lüneburg in the records, Lüneburg has lost its castle originally built on a smallish kind of hill (the only one os its kind, as the whole region is pretty flat) and attached abbey or cloister. Apparently, the citizens of Lüneburg got upset at the aristocrat living in the castle and tore it down. Why I don't know, since at the point when the tour guide was giving that explanation, I was fleeing from a fellow tour participant whose cigarette fumes were tickling my still recovering sinuses and lungs, and the guide's words got lost in my futile flight, since another tour participant, in whose direction I was fleeing, just lit up one of those pesky little cigs himself.

To get back to my original point about Lüneburg, it is very pretty and very old and fantastic if, like me, you like to be able to walk and bycicle everywhere. The ability to walk everywhere came in very hand as David and I were trying to get re-connected to the world via internet and phone, but that is a story for another time.

Let me take to a typical stroll through Lüneburg with some of its most striking corners. I know I will be adding more detail to these in the months and years to come. Also, David and I did not accomplish to view all these things in a day, not even in two. Despite Lüneburg being a rather smallish town, its old town (almost all of which is a pedestrian zone) is pretty large and surprisngly well-preserved.

 

 



 

Pic. 1: My mom (right) and I (left, with the orange handbag, Go O's!) strolling down Grapengießerstraße. When I go to the city, I almost always take this road. The pedestrian zone begins here. Byciclists are only allowed to ride their bikes between 6 PM and 10 AM.

 

 

Pic. 2: A typical facade of old Lüneburg

 

 

 

 

Pic. 3: The Grapengießerstraße ends in the plaza-like street called Am Sande (translated loosely as "At the sand"), known for its beautiful gables on each house that are so typical for cities in the North of Germany, especially cities that, like Lüneburg, belonged to the old trade organization called "Hanse" (the Hanseatic League). In the background looms the tower of St. Johannis or St. John's church, built in the 14th century, the oldest protestant church in Lüneburg. It is one of the most well-known churches built in the northgerman brick gothic style (norddeutsche Backsteingothik).

 

 

 

Pic. 4: A gorgeous shot of St. John's church tower

 

 

 

Pic.5: Brodstraße leading to the town hall and its big square.

 







Apartment Living German Style: Salzbrückerstr. 11-12

Our new apartment is all we could have hoped for. Its superb location, high ceilings typical for buildings if its time period, and general "Altbau" (old building) charm has made it a super comfortable home for David, Juliet, and myself. My mother Mariana and her partner Karl had already assembled an IKEA bed for us and, most importantly, got a litter box for Juliet, by the time we arrived. Our new place is a typical "2-Zimmer-Wohnung" (2 bedroom apartment), with a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, which by the way is humungous!

The house we are living is in an eight-party apartment house. One of the apartments is mostly empty as my landlady and her husband use it when they visit the city. The rest of the apartments are inhabited by students, with the exception of my next-door neighbor, who lives by herself and spends the weekend with her boyfriend in Hamburg.

The house itself is a little atypical for Lüneburg's "Altstadt" (old town) as it was built about 160 years ago, during the "Gründerzeit" (Founder's Era), mid- to late 19th century, marked by economic prosperity. The architecture of the time reflects that as the buildings of that time tend to have multiple stories, high ceilings, and often elaborate facades.

Here are my mother Mariana and I leaving the house; the window on the left is one of our living room windows.

Most old houses in Lüneburg look more like this:

Here are some more pictures from the apartment. I'll post some more later that actually give a better idea of how it looks now:

Me (with Karl) at the dining-room table in the living room. At this point,

it was the only piece of furniture, apart from the bed, that was

in the appartment.

 

  

 The new red sofa with David and Juliet relaxing

 

Juliet has claimed her spot

 

 If you haven't figured out yet who really rules this household,

this picture says it all (Juliet claiming her spot in the bedroom)

 

 

 

Juliet über den Wolken: How to travel with a cat on a plane

After many weeks of preparation, Thursday, September 13, marked the day of our official departure from the U.S., on route via Frankfurt and Hamburg to Lüneburg, my new home for the (at least) next two years. In addition to the two of us, six boxes carefully weighed at max. 50 pounds (with clothes, books, and other essentials for my new life in Germany), one carry-on suitcase, and two personal bags, the probably most precious cargo we were transporting, Juliet, our 11 or 12 year old cat, was being packed up into her new carrier. Resting slightly sedated with Bach's Rescue Remedy (tranquilizers and other chemicals are not recommended for pets traveling on the plane) in the especially for this trip purchased Sherpa Pet Carrier, Juliet was admired by the very friendly check-in staff at BWI. David and were sufficiently equipped with all the knowledge, and some, about how to travel with a cat. Seriously, google "travel with at on airplane" or whatever combination thereof, and I promise you that you can waste away your life!

Anyways, David and I had followed all the suggestions about pet travel. We even took Juliet in her new pet cab to the Mall the weekend prior to our departure, so that she could get used to the motion. In one of our personal items, we had a collapsible water bowl, some food in a Ziploc bag, a portable litter box, litter in a Ziploc bag, and the leash that came with our harness. Honestly, I always thought that putting your cat on a leach is probably one of the more ridiculous things in this world. Well, I stand corrected. We are able to take Juliet out of her pet carrier at BWI and Frankfurt, so that she would not have to be trapped in her carrier the entire duration of our travel, which ended up being a total of about 18 hours door-to-door.

 

Juliet and David relaxing at the BWI Internationl

Terminal

 

 

Cat on a leash!

 

 

 

 

Juliet and her mobile home