Ramblings on Oldness

The central theme of this post is going to be oldness. Everywhere I go, everything is so old. In America the only comparable building is Chaco Canyon. I live in a town founded 1000 years ago in a Univsersity that is 300 years old. The innenstadt has a canal and cobblestone streets. Most buildings are hundres of years old and have beautiful trim, paint, balconies, and tiled roofs.

About 30 minutes from Goettingen is the 600 year old Einbecker Brewery. They have been making their Bock for that long and also make a Helles (light) and Dunkel (dark). The hour and a half all-you-can-drink social time after the tour was dangerous. On a side note, Germans get very upset when you say all there beet tastes the same. It certainly does not all taste the same, but every beer I have had is a Pilsner. Secondary side note: Budweiser is a good beer brewed in the Czech Republic. Budweiser in the states is named after it and generally a sad point on that is what people know about American beer.

Prague is so beautiful. Walking to the castle was great because I would just walk to the coolest oldest building I could see, then the next one, then I was at the castle with views of the whole city (see photo). Partying with Miles and Mo was good too.

Three of us from my language course went on a 3 day bicycle tour to the Harz Mountains and back. We almost never cycled on roads with cars, stopped in towns every 20 minutes for map, food, water, etc. And had beautiful pastoral Germany in between each little town. We talked to a Rancher, someone speaking a wierd German dialect and tons of walkers offering help with directions. Really a great trip and I couldnt be happier to have met Ezgi and Tibo.