Herrnhut and Zinzendorf

So my part of Germany, (and indeed it is ‘my’ part of Germany!) is situated in the east of the country in a region called Saxony. To be more specific I find myself in an area called Upper Lusatia between the Elbe and Neisse rivers, so called because of the nearby Lusatian Hills. This part of Germany is not known for its popularity with tourists as, indeed, very few tourists, if any, grace the region with their presence. The region is more popular with birdwatchers and flower-lovers or should I say ornithologists and botanists? The region is after all home to such an abundance of otters that it is thought to have Germany’s biggest otter population. And, judging by the number of people who seem to live around here, I’m pretty willing to bet the otters outnumber the people…

Herrnhut – the cradle of the Moravian Church

This is the town where I am living and working, although I personally see it being more of a village than a town. Whether it be a town or village it was established in 1722 by the unheard of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, unheard of that is until I arrived in Herrnhut. Now I can’t get through a day without him popping up somewhere even though he died in 1760! He basically used to own the whole region and allowed Moravian and Bohemian refugees to settle on his land thus creating a Christian centre of missionaries. And this is what Herrnhut is famous for, in the Christian world at least – for its extensive missionary work. It is also famous for the Herrnhut Advent Star which, although you may not know by name, I guarantee that each and every one of you have one, or at least, know someone who has.

So, Count Zinzendorf was born in 1700 into a noble family of Lutherans in Saxony. His father died when he was just 6 weeks old and he was brought up by his Grandmother as his Mother re-married and moved away. At the age of 10 he was sent to boarding school to prepare him for his work serving at the Royal Court in Dresden where he and his friends formed ‘The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed’. At the age of 16 he went to the University of Wittenberg – the birthplace of Protestantism and the centre of an effort to reform the Catholic Church. An effort which, instead of reform, led to division and the creation of the Lutheran church. By the time that Zinzendorf was 18, the Lutheran Church was experiencing an internal struggle between Pietists and Traditionalists. At the age of 21 Zinzendorf received his father’s inheritance and bought the estate of Berthelsdorf from his Grandmother not knowing that it would be this very estate that would not only make him famous but also an outlaw.

In 1722 Zinzendorf learnt of a group of Christians in Moravia – a region 200 miles south east of Saxony, who were being persecuted because of their beliefs and so were looking for a place to stay. Zinzendorf agreed to allow them to build on his land and to freely practice their religion there. He called the beginnings of the town the Moravians began to build ‘Herrnhut’ from the German for ‘Lord’s Watch’. But as more and more Christians from many different denominations came to settle in Herrnhut the town changed from a harmonious community to a shambles where it was everyman for himself. Zindendorf worked hard to change the situation around and eventually succeeded. He quit his job at the Royal Court in Dresden and moved his family to Herrnhut.

Herrnhut later became the birth place of the 24 hour prayer. Originally people drew straws as to who would pray which hour of the day. This way, there would always be someone praying for Herrnhut, and the world, no matter what time of the day or night it was. In 1730 Ludwig travelled to Denmark for the coronation of King Christian VI where he met the servant of his friend Count Laurwig. The servant’s simple story set in motion a series of events which would see people from the Herrnhut community spread all over the world. The servant’s story of how slaves in the Caribbean had never heard of Jesus led to Herrnhut sending out missionaries to live and work alongside the slaves in order to preach to them. But whilst all this was going on Zinzendorf was busy trying to fulfil his ambition to become a Lutheran Pastor, an ambition he eventually fulfilled in December 1734. However resentment among the nobility of Saxony towards Zinzendorf’s unorthodox religious ways had been growing and many just did not agree with a Count being ordained a Pastor and complaints were made to the Royal Court in Dresden who issued an edict banning Zinzendorf from his own kingdom. Zinzendorf was forced to look for somewhere else to live and eventually leased Ronneburg Castle which was already home to a group of Jews, tramps and vagabonds. Zinzendorf made it his mission to convert these people to Christianity seeing his banishing from his own kingdom as God’s way of allowing him to expand the work he’d started in Herrnhut. This new Christian community Zinzendorf named Herrnhaag which, along with Herrnhut, began to be referred to as the Moravian Church.

In November 1738 Zinzendorf himself became a missionary in the face of much criticism from those who accused him of sending others across the world as missionaries when he knew there was little chance they would come back alive. When he arrived in the Caribbean he found the missionaries already there were in prison but that the community of slaves had become Christian. He immediately set about trying to free the imprisoned missionaries which he did with success. After putting into place many of the same procedures that were in place at Herrnhut – such as the 24 hour praying, Zinzendorf made his way back to Germany. A few years later Zinzendorf went travelling again setting up Christian communities across the world.

In 1743 he felt it was time to go back to Germany as he had heard disturbing reports of unrest amongst the Christian communities there. As the unrest was sorted out the King of Saxony made a visit to Herrnhut, he was so impressed with what he found there that he began to question why Zinzendorf had ever been banished from the area. He quickly reversed this decision allowing Zinzendorf to return to Herrnhut.

In June 1756 Zinzendorf’s wife died and a year later it was suggested that he remarry as, since his first wife’s death, he had become unsociable spending much of his time alone. It was suggested that he marry a friend with whom he had worked closely over the years. The problem was Zinzendorf was a Count and his possible second wife nothing more than a peasant. In 1757 Zinzendorf passed on all his titles and privileges to his nephew and married Anna Nitchmann, keeping it a secret to avoid bringing shame on the Zinzendorf family. A year later they announced their marriage explaining why they had chosen to keep it secret but shortly after Anna fell ill, closely followed by Zinzendorf himself.

Seventeen days before his sixtieth birthday on May 9th 1760 Count Ludwig Zinzendorf died. His second wife soon followed him on May 22nd 1760. But the work that Zinzendorf had started continued. At the time of his death 226 missionaries had been sent out and over 3000 people had been converted. The Moravian church continued to send out missionaries, indeed their work is still going on today.

Contentedly Exhausted

Above - the Church in Liberec.

Above - Liberec's main square.

Above - Another church in Liberec.

On Thursday it was time to leave the lovely hostel by the river and the beautiful city that is Prague. I was going back to Germany. I left the hostel and took the tram and metro to Černý Most where I caught a bus to Liberec which is still in the Czech Republic. I had a walk around. It was a small town, nothing amazing, not after Prague anyway. Heidi then came to pick me up and take me back to Herrnhut in Germany. We arrived back at about 16h30 and as it was Thursday afternoon the weekly ritual that is cake and coffee was going on so I went to that. I knew I was back in Germany – cake and coffee everywhere! Afterwards I unpacked and did my washing.

More Prague

Above - The tower leading onto the St Charles Bridge by night.

Above - The view from the St Charles Bridge complete with the moon.

Above - Looking towards the Castle by night from the St Charles Bridge.

Above - Me on the St Charles Bridge.

Above - Sue on the St Charles Bridge.

After breakfast with a hot chocolate I made my way on the tram to the centre of Prague. I wanted to go to the Museum of Communism which was located on Prague’s equivalent of Oxford Street. The museum focused on Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia as of 1993) and Prague in particular. It was very interesting. I watched a compilation video of video footage from the 1980’s in the lead up to the destruction of the wall in Germany and the end of Communism in the Czech Republic with the Velvet Revolution and the election of Václav Havel as President. After the Museum of Communism I walked along Na Příkopě – Prague’s main shopping street, to St Wenceslas Square. It was awful to think of the scenes of violence I’d seen on the video at the museum from as recently as 1989 had happened on this street. After St Wenceslas Square I went shopping for some speciality Czech biscuits – Tradični Lázeňské. I had a mid afternoon icecream and coffee in the Old Town Square and watched the Astronomical clock strike 16h – on each hour there are little figures of people that appear out of doors on the clock – a little bit like a cuckoo clock. I filmed it. There were lots of people there to watch, take photos and film the striking of the clock and the appearance of the figures and as the clock began to chime everyone went very quiet and then at the end everyone clapped – it was really strange. I headed after to the Jewish Quarter for a walk around. I would have liked to have paid and gone and looked at everything properly but I decided it wasn’t worth it as there wasn’t a lot of the day left. After the Jewish Quarter I went back to the centre. I’d been umming and arring about buying a ‘Prague’ bag but decided it’d look silly. But then I saw a girl with an ‘Amsterdam’ one and she didn’t look silly so I decided to buy one. I also bought a pin badge of the Czech flag. I then went back to the hostel and later on me and Sue went back to the centre to see the Charles Bridge by night. It was a lovely end to a lovely holiday.

Prague

Above - the Old Town centre with the 'Tyn' Church in the background.

Above - The astronomical clock.

Above - Inside the Cathedral by the Castle.

Above - Prague's mini Eiffel Tower.

Above - The view from the top of one of the many towers that you can climb in Prague. Here you can see the St Charles Bridge.

Above - The Old Town.

Tuesday morning, 7h45, the alarm clock sounds. I had breakfast after getting dressed – cereal, orange juice, tea, cheese on toast and yoghurt, whilst watching Sky News in English in an attempt to catch up on what’s been happening in the world recently. I left the hostel just after 9h15 and walked in the sun to the tram stop where I caught the tram to the centre. After a little careful map reading I stumbled across yet another Old Town! I went in the Kostel matky boží prěd Týnem (Notre Dame Church) which is actually a gothic cathedral built in 1365. I walked around the Old Square – Staroměstská Náměsti. I sat and had an expensive but delicious hot chocolate opposite the Astronomical Clock and the Town Hall - Staroměstská radnice which dates from the early15th century, and watched as grey clouds rolled in to replace the blue sky. I thought rain was imminent. After the Old Square I headed over the river and towards the castle where I queued to go in to the Cathedral – Chrám sv. Víta, which was beautiful, the insides were so impressive with huge stained glass windows. I walked around and saw so much of the city. I was impressed by it all. Towards 14h, after wandering around since 9h30, I stopped at a restaurant near Loreta (yet another church) and had a three course meal. I had bohemian onion and cheese soup with croutons and a glass of orange juice followed by a mushroom, cheese and tomato omelette and then for desert I had apple strudel, chocolate sauce, cream and what can only be described as crème anglaise and a coffee. The quality of the food was high, it was a good restaurant and relatively cheap. The bill came to 425kč which, just because it’s such a high number is quite horrifying. The thought of paying 425 of anything for anything is scary. Until you remember that it’s the equivalent of about €17 or £12 – not bad, eh?! After lunch I continued walking. I made my way to Petřín where the Czech equivalent of the Eiffel Tower can be found. It was built for the Jubilee Exhibition in 1891 by F Prášil. It’s 60m high and has 299 steps leading to the top. It’s strange, so many cities not only have such an originally named Old Town but so many also have an Eiffel Tower replica – Lyon and now Prague! And all built to receive radio signals! I walked up to the top but didn’t climb it; I saw the cable car but didn’t take it. I chose instead to walk back down like I’d walked up. I made my way to Karlův Most – St Charles Bridge, and crossed the River Vltava. The St Charles Bridge was built to replace the Judith Bridge which was damaged by floods in 1342. It was named after Charles IV and construction was completed in 1402. Between 1683 and 1928 30 sculptures and statues of Saints were set on the bridge, many of them have stories attached. For example there is one statue marking the spot where someone was thrown off the bridge many centuries ago. If you touch the dog on the statue and make a wish, it’s said it will come true. You can see on the statue where so many people have touched the dog – he’s become shiny. The bridge is 515m long and 9,5m wide. It was severly damaged in the 1890 floods but the largest flood in the last 500 years in 2002 did not damage it. Across the bridge I came to the Old Square where I’d been in the morning. On the bridge itself were market stalls and musicians. Prague has so much culture, there’s so much to this city. I was nothing short of impressed. I bought postcards and two fridge magnets from one of the many souvenir shops. It’s true that there are a lot of tourists in Prague but really, there are so many souvenir shops, all selling exactly the same, is it really necessary?! Glass would appear to be the speciality around here. They sell it everywhere. I caught the tram back to the hostel at about 19h. I’d been walking walking walking for the best part of 10 hours. I was, I think it’s fair to say, exhausted. I took and shower and then met two new people in our dormitory. They are from Marseille!! Small world.

Moving on: from Dresden to Prague

Above - the tram stop for the hostel - see what I mean about it having more grafitti than the whole of Marseille?!
Above - the Youth Hostel.

Above - the view from the Youth Hostel.

Above - Sue in our bedroom.

Above - the corridor in the Youth Hostel with the office on the left and our room just a little further along also on the left.

This morning I woke up to a sunny Dresden. A Dresden whose sky drop of greyness had been replaced by one of blueness. Typical. Just as it’s time to leave the sun comes out! I went downstairs for breakfast – cereals (muesli) with hot bread rolls, cheese, meat if you wanted it, tea, coffee, after breakfast I went back to the dormitory to pack. Even thought I didn’t have to be at the train station until 13h10 I left not long after 10h. I wanted to walk through Dresden in the sun and see the Old Town with a backdrop of blue rather than of the grey I’d come to associate with the city. I even considered going around and taking all of my pictures again but that, I decided, would be a little on the extreme side. As I was walking over the bridge in the general direction of the train station I saw two ladies sitting in the sun eating ice cream – I decided to stop. So at 10h30 on a Monday morning I was sat in a sunny Dresden eating Schokoladen Becher and drinking Orangensaft. Afterwards I carried on in the direction of the train station. I wanted to change my euros to koruna and buy some stamps so I could post my Dresden postcards whilst still in Germany. I fully expected the former of these two tasks to be somewhat harder than that latter but oh no. I arrived at the train station shortly before midday and was easily able to change my euros. Not a problem. My German’s coming along well – I bought my train ticket for the 13h10 train to Prague or Praha as it appears to be called. I had a whole hour to buy stamps and post my postcards. I’d walked pretty much from one side of the city to the other from the hostel to the train station and had not seen a single post office so I went in the newsagents in the train station and asked ‘Haben Sie Briefmarken?’ – She didn’t, she did however do some pointing and quick German talking to tell me where would sell them. All I understood was ‘rechte’ which I (correctly) took to mean ‘right’. I found the shop selling stamps and bought 5. I then needed a postbox… I didn’t think they’d be one inside the train station so I ventured outside. I couldn’t find one so out came the phrasebook again and I asked the sightseeing tour lady who’d given me a map when I’d arrived on Saturday where there was a postbox. She pointed me around the corner of the station where I came across the postbox and was able to post my postcards. I then made my way to platform number 3 and got on a train that was heading all the way to Budapest! I however was to get off 2 hours and ten minutes later in Prague. The train journey went really quickly and when I got off in Prague I consulted my directions to the hostel. I needed tram number 3 to Černý kuň. I asked at the information dest (they spoke English thank goodness!) and he said to take the metro one stop from Nádraži Holešovice (where I was) to Vltavská which I did. I bought a ticket from the machine, which, thankfully, was in English as well as in Czech. My ticket, a single, cost me 18kč (now €1 is roughly 25kč so 100kč is about €4, this means my ticket cost me 72 centimes). After taking the metro I hopped on a tram. I had my map of the metro and tram network and could see it was quite a way to the stop I wanted. I made sure I was getting on the tram going in the right direction and then began wondering how I would know when to get off. There were no announcements let alone computer screens displaying the up and coming stops like there had been on the German tramway. Oh no, it seems the Czechs are no where near as organised as the Germans – they didn’t even appear to have names the tram stops with signs! So looking out of the window wasn’t of much use either! I did eventually, at one tram stop, see a very small sign with a name on. I counted how many stops there were between there and the stop I wanted and then got off accordingly. The hostel was signposted from there. I have to say my first impressions were not good. The tram stop alone possessed more graffiti than the whole of Marseille. Or maybe I’d just become used to Germany’s ridiculously high levels of neatness, tidiness and cleanliness. As I approached the hostel I still remained unimpressed. It was a wooden building on stilts by the river with some unstable-looking steps leading up to a door. I pressed the bell and was buzzed in. I am extremely pleased to say that the inside was far more impressive than the outside! The door opened into a corridor which I walked down to find the office on the left. The lady there was very friendly. She spoke English and explained where the showers and toilets were, that breakfast was served between 8h and 11h30 and that dinner (including vegetarian) could be ordered for 130kč. I was told I could buy stamps and tram tickets from the office and that there was even an on site postbox. I was given a ‘welcome gift’ of postcards and a pen. What with that and the oh-so-easy availability of stamps and an on site postbox it makes me question whether the Czech postal system is in crisis! So my negative first impressions where quickly wiped out and replaced by positive second ones. I was shown to my room and told there was internet access for 1kč a minute and if I wished to use it I could. The amount I would pay would be determined on how long I used it for which would be timed using a stop watch! Ooh, the Czechs are high-tech! But as nice as the receptionist was all I could think of whilst she was explaining all this to me was that someone should really point out to her that ‘information’ is a non countable noun hence we can’t say ‘some informations’. I went into my room – room number 7, where there were 4 beds. I met Sue – a girl from Malaysia who’s a student in Hong Kong but had been studying at York University as part of her studies and had spend a few days in London, then Paris and now Prague before going back to Hong Kong. The room is big, bright, comfortable, spacious and clean. The bathrooms are amazing – no baths filled with soil and cacti I’m glad to report! Although it appears Poland and the Czech Republic share the same brown toilet paper – not the most luxurious in the world but never mind. I unpacked and sat and talked to Sue before taking a shower. I’m glad to say that looks can definitely be deceiving and if I’ve learnt one thing today then it’s that you should never judge a book a by its cover. I think I’m going to like Prague.

Rain, rain and more rain

Above - the bath filled with soil and planted with cacti.

Above - the view of Dresden from the bridge.

Above - the Zwinger.

What an excellent day for sightseeing in Dresden. It did nothing but rain – from the moment I opened my eyes in the morning to the moment I closed them at night. So all my photos of Dresden are dreary, and complete with a grey backdrop of clouds and streaks of rain. I spent the morning and the first part of the afternoon paddling around Dresden. It’s not a big city. According to my guide book it has a population of just under 500 000. It’s a beautiful city with a Baroque centre, so originally called The Old Town, but there are also examples of Renaissance and Neo-Classical architecture. Much of Dresden was destroyed during the Second World War but it is slowly being rebuilt. Some of it has already been rebuilt – the Frauenkirche, for example, was destroyed during the 1945 bombing of the city but some pieces were collected and kept in storage and later put back together. The Residenzschloss Palace is also being rebuilt but, unlike the Frauenkirche, is yet to be finished. It was originally built between the 12th and 19th centuries and exhibits architecture from the Renaissance, Neo-Classical, Baroque and Romantic eras. It is also home to the famous crown jewels which are among some of Europe’s finest. One of the things that has impressed me most in Dresden was the street long mural of the procession of Dukes showing all of the Saxon rulers from 1123 to 1904. It’s made up of 24 000 ceramic tiles and is 102m long and 7m high. I also saw the world famous (apparently, although to be honest I’d never heard of it before) Semper Opera House and also the Zwinger which houses the art gallery of Old Masters which is home to Rafael’s ‘Sistine Madonna’. I also saw the Kunsthof Passage which is quite near to the hostel and is made up of four yards – light, metamorphosis, fable animals and the elements and is home to some interestingly painted buildings as well as individual boutiques. I walked the length of the Alaunstraße which gets its name from the craft of boiling Alaun – a salt used in dye works. I also walked the length of the Hauptstraße which led to the bridge over the River Elbe. I saw the guilded statue of August the Strong dating from 1736 and also, at the Albertplatz, two huge fountains and the ‘Noodle Tower’ representing how GDR city planners wanted the city to look but, fortunately, political change came round before the old houses could be pulled down. After paddling around the city with the rain showing no signs of stopping I decided to buy my lunch and head back to the hostel where I stayed for the rest of the day. So, Dresden is an ‘ornate’ city with some amazing architecture. Even though most of it was destroyed in the 1945 air raids it still manages to impress as most of it has been restored. Other areas however, have been redeveloped rather than restored – the Prager Straße, for example, retains none of its original beauty even though it remains one of the city’s main shopping streets. The once gigantic statue of Lenin was however removed after German reunification. Other parts of the city are still under construction but, despite the violent history and reconstruction works, Dresden remains home to a truly impressive collection of architecture. Well worth a visit.

The adventure continues: Phase II – Dresden.

Above - Frauenkirche - rebuilt after having been destroyed in 1945.

Above - The street long mural of all the Saxon Dukes.

Above - inside the Youth Hostel.

Above - the outside of the Youth Hostel.

Above - an interesting building in the Kaufen Passage.

Compared with what was originally planned (a 6h breakfast) I got up at the more reasonable hour of 8h. I needed to pack as today I was heading to Dresden. The original plan, as I have said, was to go to Leipzig. I was then going to make my way from Leipzig to Dresden in the evening and spend Sunday there. Instead I headed straight for Dresden giving me the Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday there. This plan also gave me a more leisurely, less rushed start to my weekend! As planned breakfast was at 9h up in Renée and Heidi’s kitchen. We ate American pancakes. I had three. (Don’t worry! They’re not the size of UK pancakes or French crêpes! They’re more the size of crumpets. They are however thicker than UK pancakes or French crêpes – about half the thickness of a crumpet.) Anyway, so I had 3 – one with natural yogurt and two with maple syrup and freshly squeezed orange juice. My first encounter with American pancakes, albeit in Germany, was nothing but a positive one. Delicious. I may even have to ask for the recipe so as I can take a little bit of American back to England with me! (Oats soaked in buttermilk, flour, two eggs…) After breakfast we drove to Bautzen and I caught a train to Dresden. I said goodbye to Jannik and Jenny at the train station. (They were going to spend the day in Bautzen with Heidi). They’re going back to England on Monday so won’t be in Herrnhut when I get back. It took me about an hour to get to Dresden on the train. I arrived at around midday. When I arrived in Dresden I went in the News shop. I was travelling ultra ultra light and wanted a notebook so that I could write what could later be typed up and published to my blog (what you’re reading now was actually written at the various stages of my journey). The newsagents however didn’t have something as simple and straight forward as a notebook so I ventured outside of the station into the rain. Only a light drizzle but nevertheless rain. I put my umbrella up and had a wander around the outside of the station in search of a map. I didn’t find one but I did find an elderly-ish couple who had one so, it was time to be brave – Spechen Sie Englisch? They did a little, enough to tell me, or should I say point, that the map came from the bus tour lady. I went to get one. Not the most useful map as it was specifically for the bus tour – a hop on hop off as you like at various designated sightseeing hotspots across the city kind of tour. I decided against the bus tour but did however take advantage of the map to direct myself towards the all the touristy things in the Old Town. Strange how every city has an Old Town – Marseille, Geneva, Lyon, Dresden - and all so originally named too! En route I bought a guide book and proper map – something that would actually by of use to me. I also bought some postcards. I was wandering along in the rain beginning to question whether it was actually a good idea to have brought myself to Dresden… I stopped for lunch in a café. I, with the help of my dictionary, managed to find and order Tomatencrèmesuppe mit Sahnehäubchen und geröstetem Toast and a Pott heiße Schokolade. After lunch I asked ‘Haben Sie eine toilleten?’ which they did – upstairs. Any doubts I had been having about having come to Dresden alone were soon wiped out when I fell across the Old Town. I spent the next 3 hours wandering round, completely in my element, snapping away merrily with my camera although fully aware that I hadn’t brought my laptop with me so I wouldn’t be able to download my photos from my camera. Therefore my snapping had to be kept under control – you all know how many photos I like to take of all and everything! Yesterday (gosh, was that only yesterday?! It feels like so much longer) I took 105 photos of Oybin! I was sure my memory card would be able to cope though – I’d had enough space when I went to Lyon, Grenoble and Geneva. After my wandering and snapping, with my umbrella going up and down as and when the weather dictated, after I’d walked along the banks of the River Elbe, seen Dresden’s Old Town, discovered that I can walk to the top of the Frauenkirche tomorrow and also, if I so desire (which I don’t think I do due to time restrains) take a boat up/down the River Elbe to neighbouring places. After all that, I plonked myself in a café in the square I’d first stumbled across after lunch and did such a German thing – I had Kaffee und Kuchen – Dresdner Eierschecke Kuchen to be precise. I sat reading my tour guide I’d bought earlier and looking at the photos I’d taken, and just generally watching the world go by. I began to get a little cold so decided to make my way to the Youth Hostel. I started walking back to the main train station as I had directions from there to catch tram number 7 in the direction of Weixdorf. I didn’t have to walk as far as the station as I fell across a tram stop beforehand displaying, among many other numbers, a number 7. Now all I needed was a ticket… The shop which appeared to sell tickets was closed. Time to consult the phrasebook. I located the phrase ‘Wo kann ich Fahrscheine lösen?’ and picked my victim wisely. A lady, maybe in her fifties. I pointed to the phrase and attempted to pronounce it. She pointed across the tram track and said ‘yellow box’ in English. Funny how people always automatically go to English even though she couldn’t possible have known I was English as my phrasebook is French-German as I bought it in Marseille. Anyway, I thanked her and crossed the tramway to the ‘yellow box’. Never before have I seen so many ticket choices! Thank goodness for the English translations below or I’d have been there for hours with my dictionary! I bought a ‘Einzelfahrt’ for €1,80 and crossed back over so as to get on the tram going in the right direction. I didn’t have to wait long before my bright yellow guided vehicle, aka tram, arrived. Bless the Germans for being so high tech, modern and organised – there wasn’t just a map of the tram network showing all the tram stops but also a computer screen showing the upcoming stops and displaying the next stop so I knew exactly where I was going and when to get off. I got off at ‘Bischofsweg’ – the stop I wanted, and followed my instructions to the Youth Hostel. It was very easy and only about a 5 minute walk. Right, time for the phrasebook again! But no, no need. The man at reception may as well have been bilingual – his English was excellent. I filled in a form, decided that yes, I did want bed linen and yes, I would like breakfast. I then paid and was given a key and told to go to the second floor and use said key to open the door with the white rabbit on and then I was in room 14. When I went into room 14, there were 2 people in there and 2 beds out of the 6 were taken. I’m very pleased with my bed and the hostel is nice. It’s clean, the staff are very friendly and helpful, and it’s comfortable – not too big but not tiny either. As I unpacked and settled down I felt proud: proud to have navigated my way here; proud to have had a wonderful afternoon. I felt happy: happy to be there and looking forward to the rest of my holiday. But now I’m exhausted and so to bed. But not before I tell you about my shower experience. The bathroom’s fine – there’s a shower, toilet and wash basin. It’s clean, the water’s hot. The problem wasn’t with any of that. The problem was with the bath: it’s filled with soil and has cacti planted in it… in a bathroom!! Not many things I can say freak me out, not all that much disturbs me, but, for reasons I cannot explain, a bath filled with soil and planted with cacti in a bathroom is just plain wrong! Goodnight!