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Liebe Leute!!
So, Aachen. That's where we went last Saturday after Bonn. You have to excuse my tardiness in writing about my trip, but after doing Bad Kreuznach on Thursday, Bonn on Friday, and then Aachen on Saturday, I was quite exhausted. Now that I've made my excuses, let's move on to the most exciting of my adventures here in Germany.
We had to arise VERY (And let me stress this point here please...VERY VERY) early. This was because we had purchased the Schönes Wochenende ticket from the Hbf, and it was going to take about 4 hours to get all the way from Mainz to Aachen. This in an of itself was not the issue, the issue was that we weren't going to be staying overnight like I had done when I went to Trier, so we were going to have to go there and back in one day, ergo we had to get up early. Now, when I say early, I mean I was up at 4:45 AM getting myself ready to meet Jessica at the Friedrich von Pfeiffer Weg bus stop (FVPW for short). This would have given us plenty of time to walk down to the Hbf since there we no buses. However, who didn't make it on time? It wasn't me, so therefore by deduction it MUST have been Jessica. Therefore, we were forced to run, more or less just walking rather quickly, from my stop all the way to the Hbf....a 20 minute walk. This we did with about 2 minutes to spare after we met Mark and Isaac and boarded the train. Once on the train, none of us wanted to sleep, even though the other people on the train seemed to want to, so we talked, much to the others' annoyance. The beginning of the train ride was pretty uneventful, and it stayed that way more or less until we arrived at Aachen around 10:47.
Upon our arrival in Aachen, Jessica headed straight for the bathroom while Mark and I looked around the book store to see if we could find a guidebook for the city. We did, and after i paid/Mark asked the woman for directions, we headed towards the Innenstadt. It didn't take long to walk from the Hbf to the Dom, and what a Dom it is! It's not set up in the traditional crucifix form, mainly I think because of the previous Cathedral of Charlemagne which was Octagon in shape, therefore pretty much discouraging the crucifix form. Instead, this cathedral is more like a straight line going through different buildings which are all designed differently and all look different on the exterior. There is the Choir which is built like one would suppose that most of the Gothic choirs would be built, but it is just attached onto the Octagon cathedral of Charlemagne, thereby giving it an odd feel. There are also other chapels which have been added onto the first Cathedral, and they too are all different shapes. This seriously was one of the biggest eclectic Cathedrals I think I've ever seen (And lemme tell you, since being in Germany, I've seen A LOT). In any event, we still went in, and once you're inside, it doesn't matter that all of the buildings are attached oddly or that they all don't have a uniform shape....it all goes together perfectly on the inside. Once you walk in you are met by a man who informs you that if you intend to take fotos with a flash on you will have to buy a little sticker that costs 2 euro. I tried to just avoid him, but then as I was taking pictures, there cam around this other man and talked to this guy standing beside me and told him that if he didn't buy one of the stickers for him camera he was going to be escorted out of the church. Well, I couldn't let that happen, for Charlemagne, aside from being one of the GREATEST German kings ever, is also my hero in some respects--though I honestly don't plan on going out and conquering Europe any time soon. So, once I had my sticker, I proceeded to take photos at will......lots and lots of fotos! After doing this for about 20 minutes, we looked around to see if we could find Charlemagne's throne, which we couldn't because you had to go on the tour of the Cathedral to see the throne. We went and got the tour, and found out that the one we wanted didn't begin until 2. Because of this, we went and had lunch instead, and then made our way back around two.
When we finally got back to the Dom, there were these men from Russia standing outside playing their instruments. Well anyways, they began to play, "Canon in D" by Johann Pachabel, and so I recorded most of it on my camera b/c it was so cool. We then went back into the treasury and met our tour group to begin going around the cathedral. One of the things that we first found out was that we had to keep our tickets out b/c they would ask to see them before we went into any of the areas that were designated only for the tour groups, so that was cool, but then we went into the Cathedral and saw just HOW many people had arrived there between the time that we went to lunch and the time we went back for the tour....it was INSANE! But we got to go in and see Charlemagne's throne, up close and personal. IT WAS AWESOME!! Like it's really old, and made out of Marble. However, he didn't just go out and pick marble to make this throne out of, no he was sent marble by the Pope to have his throne made from. So the throne is like extra special. Also, there's these markings on the side of the throne from when soldiers would etch a game into the marble floor when they were keeping watch, so the pieces of marble sent from the Vatican were obviously from a floor, and it still has the etchings from the soldier's game on it. And further, ever Emperor since Charlemagne's successor (about 168 yrs. later) Otto I, every emperor of Germany until about 1600 has sat on this throne to be confirmed by the sainted Emperor Charlemagne. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!
After climbing down from the second story of the Cathedral, which is where Charlemagne's throne was, we went into the choir, and into another part of the church which was reserved only to tour groups. Here, we got to be close up to Charlemagne's sarcophagus....like I could touch it if it wasn't behind glass!! The tour guide continued to relate some historical facts about the Cathedral and stuff, which I am not going to relate here, but it was interesting, and then we were allowed to go. Well, before I went, I made Jessica take a photo of me with Charlemagne's Sarcophagus....yes, I looked like a tard, but you know what, it was completely worth it, and I don't regret doing it. After leaving the Dom, we decided that we would go over towards the Rathaus and go in there since the Rathaus was a medieval fortress and had some cool things in it. When we got there, we realized that we had to pay like a euro a piece to go in, so we did, and it was AMAZING!! We saw the portrait of Charlemagne painted by Albrecht Dürer--probably the most famous portrait of Charlemagne even though it was painted about 700 years after his death--- and Charlemagne's crown and scepter, which is held in a case in the upper level of the Rathaus. We also had a good view of the Cathedral from the Rathaus, which is the photo which is on this blog. Afterwards, we headed down to the Weihnachtsmarkt to grab some Glühwein before heading back to the Hbf to go home.
The ride back was less than uneventful, but it really wasn't anything major. Our train was late arriving in Cologne, which in turn made us late all across the board. Quite irritating if you ask me. In any case, we got back to Mainz safe and sound, and Jessica, Mark ,and I all decided to go out and have a few drinks before retiring back to our rooms. All in all, I'd have to say that Aachen was a great trip filled with interesting experiences....like realizing that Peperoni here--even though it's on the menu--doesn't mean Peperoni, rather little jalepeno peppers....I'll never forget that now.....
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