Germany: back home to visit this fall (2014)
… nicht nur Fernweh, sondern auch Heimweh …
In late-fall 2001, I moved sight unseen to the university town of Heidelberg, Germany, equipped with only three phrases in German. When I departed in 2003 to the U.S., I learned some things about myself and about Deutschland; I had also left a big piece of myself behind.
When I’m away for too long, it’s more than possible I’ve a yearning to go somewhere (“Fernweh”), accompanied by the simultaneous longing for home (“Heimweh”). It’s in Germany where I miss friends throughout the relatively compact country, and I miss the little things which are always specific to the big D.
I’ve gone “home” to Germany at least once every year since 2003, and the streak continues for the 11th consecutive year this fall. With flights in and out of Flughafen Frankfurt am Main Airport, I have the following itinerary:
- 20 November : arrival in Frankfurt
- 20-24 Nov. : Köln (Cologne)
- 24-26 Nov. : Heidelberg
- 26-28 Nov. : München (Munich)
- 28-30 Nov. : Bielefeld
- 30 Nov. – 9 Dec. : Berlin, with an excellent chance of Leipzig
- 10 December : departure from Frankfurt
“Only” 8100 kilometres (5000+ miles) separates Vancouver (YVR) with Frankfurt (FRA). I’m looking forward to catching up with some very good people around the country, as well as the following ten of many things:
- Back to K-Ehrenfeld, “mein Kölner Kiez” (my Cologne `hood)
- Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmarkt) begin the week of 24 November
- Seeing my old “hometown” HD, squeezed on the Neckar between two hills
- American Thanksgiving, with some fine people in Bielefeld
- At long last in L-Stadt, for Bach, Mendelssohn, & largest train station in Europe
- Reopening of C/O Berlin, my mecca of photography in the B
- Days in Berlin nowhere enough to do all the things I’ve planned
- Number of Bratwurst, Currywurst, Döner, Kartoffelpuffer (Reibekuchen) consumed
- Number of Glühwein, Kuchen, Plunder, (Obst)Schnecke, (Quark)Tasche consumed
- Moments of anticipation, reflection, & loss on Deutsche Bahn’s InterCityExpress trains
Over these three weeks, I’m on trains crossing the country “yet again”. In between gleeful bouts of stuffing me gullet with food and drink, I’ll describe in the next post how I’m saving money with an advance purchase of a 10-day German Rail Pass.
The latter photo is from Wikipedia, used with the Creative Commons license. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-5G3.
Fotoeins Fotografie 
11 Responses to “Germany: back home to visit this fall (2014)”
Great post, Henry! And have a great time in your old stomping grounds! I’m jealous–I haven’t been back to Deutschland in a couple years.
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Hi and thanks, Ramin. Yo Alter, aren’t you presently closer to Europe than me? 🙂 Thanks for reading and for your comment!
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Sounds like a great trip Henry! I really wish we were going to be around to see you, we had such a good time hanging out with you a couple years ago. Have fun, and enjoy the Christmas markets for us! Hopefully we’ll see you another time, and you’re always welcome to come stay with us if we’re actually there!
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Sounds like a great trip Henry! I really wish we were going to be around to see you, we had such a good time hanging out with you a couple years ago. Have fun, and enjoy the Christmas markets for us! Hopefully we’ll see you another time, and you’re always welcome to come stay with us if we’re actually there!
(I apologize if this comment goes through twice. WP commenting always frustrates me b/c I never remember my password.)
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Hi and thanks, Ali. No worries about the extra comment; I’m glad you submitted your comment! I wish you guys were around too, but your plans in the sun clear through to February are very good ones, especially if they make you both very happy! Take care, and I’ll have a spot (or two, or three …) of Glühwein for you both. 😉
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Really exciting couple of weeks you have planned. I’m looking forward to all the pictures and hearing about it when you’re back. Have fun!
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Hi, Adelina. I’m looking forward to it, too. I’m also looking forward to reading about your trip to Hong Kong. 🙂 Thanks again!
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Mach weiter! Vielen Dank für das Teilen dieses Blogs.
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