For spring break (I know, ever so long ago, but let's just pretend it was, say, last month), we traveled north to Lübeck on the Baltic Sea.
On the map, we started out in red-circled Göttingen and ended up in gold-circled Lübeck, past both Hannover and Hamburg.
Lübeck was the capital of the Hanseatic League, the trading alliance of Northern European cities that lasted from the 13th to the 17th centuries, and as such is called "The Queen of the Hanseatic." Katharina invited us up to visit her family and we had a great time. There was only one downside to the whole trip and that was that having seen the beauty of this compact town, we returned to Göttingen, and no longer felt it was as beautiful as we'd once thought. It's ok, we've since rekindled our affection for Göttingen, but truly Lübeck is a visual feast.
Though I took a lot of pictures, they don't seem to do it justice. We had gorgeous weather, sunny and warm, and if we weren't walking the small facade-lined lanes with glimpses of cathedral spires (think red brick with accents of pale turquoise - a favorite color theme we saw over and over), then we were out at the coast with sparkling water and colorful fishing buoys.
I usually make a distinction between being a tourist and a visitor - by my definition, a tourist visits a place where they have no personal connection. In spite of my constant use of the camera (very tourist-like), we were lucky to be visitors, given a great tour and shown a great time by Katharina and her mom.
Here are some more of my "touristy-visitor" photos:
Among our other discoveries:
1. Lübeck has some sort of prohibition against zombies
but that didn't keep them from making an appearance.
2. Horses are awesome
and maybe a little strange.
3. When your culture and livelihood are dependent on the elements (in this case, the sea), they're bound to show up in your religious icons.
4. And, after a day of playing...
...everyone tends to fall asleep on the person in the middle.
On the map, we started out in red-circled Göttingen and ended up in gold-circled Lübeck, past both Hannover and Hamburg.
Lübeck was the capital of the Hanseatic League, the trading alliance of Northern European cities that lasted from the 13th to the 17th centuries, and as such is called "The Queen of the Hanseatic." Katharina invited us up to visit her family and we had a great time. There was only one downside to the whole trip and that was that having seen the beauty of this compact town, we returned to Göttingen, and no longer felt it was as beautiful as we'd once thought. It's ok, we've since rekindled our affection for Göttingen, but truly Lübeck is a visual feast.
Though I took a lot of pictures, they don't seem to do it justice. We had gorgeous weather, sunny and warm, and if we weren't walking the small facade-lined lanes with glimpses of cathedral spires (think red brick with accents of pale turquoise - a favorite color theme we saw over and over), then we were out at the coast with sparkling water and colorful fishing buoys.
 |
| The old city is an island |
 | |||
| yes, that's a dragon |
I usually make a distinction between being a tourist and a visitor - by my definition, a tourist visits a place where they have no personal connection. In spite of my constant use of the camera (very tourist-like), we were lucky to be visitors, given a great tour and shown a great time by Katharina and her mom.
Here are some more of my "touristy-visitor" photos:
 |
| Merlin took this one |
Among our other discoveries:
1. Lübeck has some sort of prohibition against zombies
but that didn't keep them from making an appearance.
2. Horses are awesome
and maybe a little strange.
3. When your culture and livelihood are dependent on the elements (in this case, the sea), they're bound to show up in your religious icons.
 |
| yes, that's a sea monster, in the church |
4. And, after a day of playing...
...everyone tends to fall asleep on the person in the middle.
:)
