"Klein aber Fine"

Follow here my walking tour of my new home:



I've left die Bremerstadtmusikanten and made it to Erfurt! After a day of fighting Deutsche Bahn's what seem to be inevitable delays (cliche about German trains always being on time = NOT true grrr), I arrived here on Thursday afternoon.

Katharina, my lovely new tutor from the program, was there to fetch me from the train station and bring me to my WG (think shared apartment). I am very impressed, and very happy with my new accommodations. We live on the top floor of a building that is only a 10 minutes walk from central Erfurt. My room is a bit small although completely adequate for my needs, and the rest of the apartment is fantabulous, open, and nicely furnished. We have a large living room with comfortable couches and a big tv, a spacious-by-German standards kitchen with a nice table, and separate bathing room and bathroom. And this bather is especially giddy over the tub...I'm weird, I know, I know. That's how we Mosers roll :)

Pictures to come of mah new digs soon. I've only met my roommate briefly. He's an American guy probably in his late 20s, and he seems to be gone for work alot. Oh and I already epicly failed by speaking English with his German girlfriend...now she probably won't want to speak German with me sighhh.

Erfurt the town/city/what do you call a place with 200,000 people? screams fairy tale everywhere. What I've seen so far is absolutely lovely - unlike many German towns Erfurt was not mostly demolished in WWII so it still has all of the old buildings intact. Most German towns I've visited have one old central square, but Erfurt has many many and even the un-square buildings are medieval. The big squares are connected by cobblestone streets and almost-hidden alleys...nice to look at but not so good for mah shoes.

A local woman we met last night at Erfurt Oktoberfest (yep, what a serendipitous time to arrive!) said Erfurters describe the town as "klein aber fine." (That's Germlish for small but fine). Naturally, I love this.

Note on living in Eastern Germany: I've noticed very few differences yet, but at Oktoberfest they played very few American songs. Same was true at a disco. I've also heard that living in Eastern Germany is a bit cheaper, and the diet coke I purchased yesterday from a bakery was only 1€ (in Bremen or Cologne it was always at least 2€). No causation yet, just observations. The Germans I've met so far here seem to be very,very nice. We spent last night with a group of randomly met graduate students, and they benevolently spoke to us only in German and offered to take us on a stadt tour.

Read here an article from the NYT this week about Erfurt and reunification...sehr interessant and timely!

I'm here with two other CBYX/PPPers right now, and we explored a bunch yesterday. The central square is called Anger and it leads to the main shopping street. Turning away from Anger takes you to the Kramerbrucke, possibly Erfurt's most famous landmark. I believe it's the world's only bridge with homes built on it. Follow the cobble stones further and you find the Rathaus square and then Domplatz, home to two imposing churches that overlook the town. Above the Domplatz is a preserved fortress with wonderful views of the city below.

I'm giddy to be somewhere where it seems I can walk everywhere I want to go (except the university...that requires the strassenbahn, I believe). Already I know my way around fairly decently, and I imagine I will quite enjoy many strolls. And I have much time to stroll haha...classes at the university do not start until October 18!