As I said before, I spent the week before my departure to Besancon going to Germany and the Netherlands. My father had several business meetings in both countries, so it was going to be a week of train rides and plane rides but also new and exciting cities. We started with Stuttgart, Germany’s the sixth biggest located in the southeast.
We only spent a day and a half in Stuttgart, but it was my first time in Germany so I still felt like it was a valuable experience. The city had a long pedestrian street with lots of shops and beautiful old buildings, and I found myself exploring these streets for the most of my time there. It is also the home of Mercedes-Benz and is very proud of it, as can be seen by the giant logo atop the train station. If I had more time in Stuttgart there would have been many more things for me to see and do, so I would like to go back.
The next city we went to was the northern Hamburg, Germany, the second largest of the German cities. Hamburg is and was a major shipping port and has more bridges than London, Amsterdam and Venice combined – and it shows. Rivers, canals and lakes snake their way throughout the whole city. Combined with the German architecture, Hamburg is beautiful. We spent two days there, and although it rained most of my time in Germany, I feel like I got a good picture of its cultural and structural beauty.
Many people say northern and southern Germany are pretty different culturally, so I’m glad I got to experience both. Overall, I found Germany really welcoming. In France, the occasional sign may be in English but English speakers are generally hard to come by. This contrasts with Germany where everyone is happy to use their English – although there were no English signs in sight. The Germans were even apologizing for their cities, saying that a lot of the country’s old architecture was destroyed in World War II (you would not know it, though, many gorgeous buildings still remain).
The last leg of our trip was Amsterdam, which needs no introduction. We only spent one day in Amsterdam. Again, it rained. I visited the Anne Frank House. I had never read the Diary before so I was worried I would not get as much as I could out of the experience. In the end I found it very worthwhile. I also got to visit the newly reopened Rijksmuseum, which had countless works of art from Medieval to Modern.
The number of bikes I saw in the Netherlands definitely struck me. It was something unparalleled by any American city or place I had ever seen before. There were also streetcars zipping across the city and people walking everywhere – right along the edges of canals hidden behind every street. Sometimes cities do not look as picturesque as they seem in their photos. Amsterdam is not one of those.
This week before Besancon has been a bit of a crash course in Northern Europe. I have realized that quality is definitely before quantity when it comes to travelling – I am positive I need to visit all three wonderful cities again. However, seeing all of these places reminds me of how huge the world truly is with so many amazing things to see. And this just makes me more excited to get back to France and begin my French immersion program in Besancon!
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
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