Dinner!

W was at his conference for almost the entire time we were in Luneburg.  He got up and was out the door before the girls awoke and he returned at least one of the nights after they were asleep.  This night, though, he got to spend some time with us so we took the girls back to our favorite restaurant.  

We even had our favorite waitress again and at the end of dinner 

she brought the girls a surprise (ice cream sundaes!) 

Our waitress offered to take our photo.  I know, it is blurry but we have so few photos with all four of us I wanted to put it up here anyway. 

Michaeliskirche

I had read that one of the best places to experience the sink of the city is at one of the three main churches 

in town, Michaeliskirche (St. Michael's Church).  So the girls and I headed across town to find the church.

On the way there we took one straight street that had a sudden hill sloping a few meters down (caused by the earth sinking!)  Then we started to notice many of the buildings had slanty parts.  Then we rounded a corner and there was the church. 

It is pretty big!  So far it looks solid...  

When we entered we were the only people there aside from one woman sitting at the information desk.  She had a hymnal open on her lap and was singing hymns and the sound of her voice reverberated through the church.  The girls stepped in through the door and just stood in awe looking at the huge columns and listening to the song floating through the air. 

There is very little written in English in Luneburg, even at the tourist sites.  I find it hard to stop and spend the time translating things when I'm on my own with two little ones.  I'm sure there were many interesting facts we missed out on here, but it was still pretty amazing to be inside this church.  I have theory that the beams stretching from the tops of the columns were placed there to combat the effects of the sink, years after the church was built.

Here's some clear evidence of the way the church is sinking. These are not small columns so it is slightly frightening to see them slanted so obviously.  See that little white-hatted head in the bottom left corner?  That's S.  She's in a strong phase of don't-take-any-photos-of-me and in Luneburg she was especially adamant about it.  

Helping the column tilt the other way. 

That's my precious child standing underneath that enormous leaning column. 

The cracks in the walls were a little disconcerting too. 

Exploring Luneburg

The town of Luneburg became prosperous in the middle ages when salt was discovered underground.  For many years the town was booming from the salt mine business and it was the trading center for the region.  Many buildings built during that time and are still standing.  

Luneburg is quite small and E and I had a goal of making sure we saw every single street in the town center. We were only in town for three days but we did it!  E loves reading maps.

The still functional Old Crane, built in medieval times to load salt onto ships.  

The market square in the center of town was hopping. 

After many years of salt mining underground, the town began to sink.  As we walked along some roads we noticed that suddenly they sloped down several meters.  The buildings in these areas show the result of the sink. Everything is slanted.  I'm not sure if it is obvious in the photo below, but the red brick house looked as though the roof was on crooked. 

After a while, everything started to look slanted.  This is a photo of St. John's church and its slanting
tower.  It appears more slanted when viewed in person.  I first noticed this when I was looking at
postcards of the skyline of Luneburg, at first I thought the postcard photos were crooked.  Then I
realized the church itself is tilting.

After all the interesting buildings we saw in Luneburg, this continued to be a spot of interest for the girls.  This shop, selling eye glasses and hearing aids, was close to our hotel so we passed it several times a day. 

Many buildings suffer some kind of age and/or sink-related changes.  A former student explained to us that the city wants to condemn many of the buildings but students like to rent them because they can be a cheap place to live in the center of town.  He said that at after a drink or two at a party it can be a little disconcerting when you can't figure out if that's the floor tilting or maybe you're just a bad dancer. 

See the bulge at the bottom of this wall? 

Our First Night in Luneburg, Germany

The trip to Luneburg was long so once we'd set all our stuff down in our hotel room we headed out to stretch our legs, explore town and find dinner.  It was dark already, but it wasn't all that late.  Luneburg is pretty far north in Germany so the days are almost as short here as they are in southern Sweden. 

The town of Luneburg is beautiful and I couldn't stop snapping photos.  I think I was still in my Stockholm-in-winter mode (which means take photos now, there won't be enough hours of light to get all the photos you want in daylight.)  So I have many night time photos from this Germany trip.  The town is very old and was untouched by the war so the center of town has a beautiful medieval feel.  

A main square in the center of town.  

Ahhh, perfection!  In one of the main squares we found a fantastic restaurant.  They served delicious food, had a kids menu and even had this little play area for the girls.  Our waitress was wonderful - she gave us a quiet spot near the play area and taught the girls a few essential German phrases (thank you, excuse me, please etc)  They of course fell in love with her.  This all was exactly what we needed after a long day of travel.  We were so happy here we came back again for dinner another night before we left town. 

The window display of one of the chocolate shops in town. 

There are sweet corners everywhere with interesting statues and pretty buildings.  

This was taken right next to the river. 

The Journey is Half the Fun

In late February we took a little trip to Luneburg, Germany.  From Lund it was a long trip with multiple train rides, but we like traveling by train.  The highlight was when one of our trains got on a ferry where we could get out and explore the boat.  

Train #1:  Lund, Sweden to Copenhangen, Denmark. 

Hmmm, working on a video over there? 

Train #2: 

Copenhagen, Denmark to Hamburg, Germany. 

Good little travelers. 

Windmills are everywhere

Maybe they are discussing the prevalence of windmills in the Danish landscape. 

We went over some pretty impressive bridges.  This one made me hold my breath a little.  It didn't feel like there was much keeping the train from plunging into the icy water below. 

E at the very back of the train. 

Now we're on a train INSIDE a ferry. 

When I traveled from Olso to Copenhagen many (many) moons ago, my train went on a ferry but we pretty much slept through the whole thing.  I didn't even get out of my overnight bunk in my train cabin.  These days they are a little more safety conscious and all passengers must get off the train for the ferry ride.  I thought it seemed like a lot of work, but then we found the playground inside the ferry and everything was just fine! 

Meanwhile the grown ups got to sit and drink coffee and look out the window. 

Maybe this is just language teacher fun, but I got a kick out of this sign.  Look how the same thing said in different languages can use such a different number of words.  "Please ask the waiter"  English - four words.  Danish - two words.  German - five words.  

There were a couple restaurants on the ferry.  This one had a delicious looking buffet.  Too bad we'd already had our lunch! 

Yep, I'm shameless.  If you've been following my blog you'll know this isn't the first time I've posted a photo of a bathroom.  But, really, what better place to get a true snapshot of local life??  This is the bathroom on the ferry with very cool sinks.  Funky Danish design isn't choosy about where it shows up.  And this bathroom was amazingly clean for a public transportation restroom. 

 Restless travelers. 

Finally, Hamburg train station!!  Only one more train to go!

E has been in love with double decker trains since we arrived in Europe but she'd never had the chance to ride in one.  When we ended up being right next to one she was excited to take her photo with it. 

But, even better, we got to RIDE in a double decker.  Of course we immediately climbed to the top floor. 

Train #3:  Hamburg to Luneburg
A happy train rider. 

Hello Hamburg

It was a long trip, but we're almost there!

And -yay!- Luneburg!  Our final destination.  

It is nice to have a sister to hold your hand when you are in a new place.