Unfortunately, I woke up very early again and was a little out of sorts today–partly since the weather, which hasn’t been fantastic the last few days, although never quite raining, got grayer and cooler and wasn’t really conducive to exploring the city of Hannover. We set out anyway, after a breakfast around 8 with Dorothee, and took the subway to a very nice botanical garden, the Berggarten, which is part of a much larger park complex plus palace that we knew we didn’t have enough time for. We saw some very pretty orchids and a prairie landscape full of North American plants that Mark recognized. Then we walked through another park down a very very straight tree-lined avenue toward the city center, and with a bit more subway travel, got to the train station just in time to meet up with Imke and Kai, who came to join us for the rest of our Hannover day. We made our way to the town hall, a 19th century building with a huge cupola and a massive staircase, because its main hall features four models of Hannover–one from 1689, one in the 1930s, one after the city was 70% demolished by air raids between 1943 and 1945, and one that reflects the city as it is today. The destruction was really vast and center of Hannover has very few remaining older buildings, but the town hall is one of them. We then went to a church that was destroyed by the bombs and left standing as it was, without a roof, but its tower still intact. It serves as a monument to the war dead and against all wars and violence, featuring some art displays and a bell given to Hannover by its partner city Hiroshima. We then took a walk around the lake near the town hall and waited for Dorothee in the restaurant that is part of the town hall and overlooks the lake. We had a very nice meal there, and then decided just to walk back home to Dorothee’s apartment, picking up coffee and pieces of cake on the way. It was just not nice enough to spend a lot more time exploring Hannover, and since it was a Monday, none of the museums were open. We had a lovely time, even though we were all a bit tired, and Mark, Imke and Dorothee looked at his most recent crop of photos while I napped a bit on the sofa! We took the train home at about 5, and while it was crowded for the first few stations, it was almost completely empty by 6 pm, partly because most people use this for short after-work commutes, and partly because most of the German population was glued to their TV screens at home or at huge “public viewings” in bars and restaurants to watch Germany’s first World Cup game (against Portugal). I have to say that between the empty train and a direct regional connection from Hannover to Osnabrueck that takes less than 2 hours, it was a very pleasant trip. Kai intermittently entertained us with information about the assassins of various US presidents, but even that was bearable given that we made such good progress. 🙂 We had a simple dinner at home and went for a little walk to stretch our legs before we went to bed.Â
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