Don't the Sun Look Good Going Down Over The Sea?
Hannover, Germany
I traveled to Hannover to see a friend from grad school and to have ex-pat Thanksgiving, which was great. Turkey, cranberry sauce, delicious veggies, and only a small amount of beets.
I stayed with a friend of a friend who showed me around Hannover on Sunday before my train back to Köln. We walked by a very sharpSeriously, it is awesome looking natural gas processing plant, over a bridge with terrifying aquatic animals and inviting mermaids, saw the Nanas, the Opera House, and the Rathaus.
The Rathaus is open to the public and the main, vaulted room houses models of Hannover at different eras—1639, 1939, immediately post-war, and today. It sits a short walk from the end of the Maschsee, a huge artificial lake built as a public works project during the Nazi era.
Hannover’s Weihnachtsmarkt is different from the others I have seen—there is a part that is more Renaissance Fair than others: a temporary forest of evergreens, rope-making demonstrations, axe throwing. I shot crossbow bolts for a few Euro with decent accuracy—only to notice that there were fletched bolts available.
The Weihnachtsmarkt is very close to the Hannover HauptbahnhofCentral Station, abbreviated Hbf , a bustling station with many open-on-Sunday shops and quick bites to eat. The train back to Köln was very crowded—I stood for an hour of the three-hour journey. But the ride was relatively smooth and I listened to Heavyweight.
Back in Köln, I walked from the Hbf, which is right at the cathedral, through the Christmas markets at the cathedral, in Neumarkt, and Rudolfplatz.