Jammin

Two weeks ago my friend finished her Master's degree and celebrated her birthday, so because she has always been the one to visit me it was my turn to get on a bus and meet the faces to the names she is always talking about. It was a bit nerve-wracking getting there, because a) I am overanxious when travelling and plan for 5000 things to go wrong and b) I don't sleep well before heading somewhere because I think I'll oversleep and tragically miss everything. Hah. I had arranged two lifts to get there, but the one cancelled and back-up plan 47 (taking the bus) kicked in.

In SA the bus was late, took forever and somehow reeked of mankind at its worst : the smells of the old, the very young and the sleep-deprived fuse into a potent smell that makes you want to get off the bus as soon as possible. Here, the bus was super on time and had Wi-Fi but still smelled like to many people were cooped up in the same small space. 

On my way there it had been raining raining raining (as I have learned it does, all the freaking time) when for a short while the sun burst through these magnificent clouds and everything was bathed in light that reminded me of a Free State afternoon. Tremendous. 

Göttingen itself is very precious, with every building seeming wreaked with history. My friend tried to explain some of the history to me, but besides standing at the point where you could see all four churches I don't remember too much of it. The excursions into the woods and to a castle nearby were very cool because they felt authentic. In the city there are always shops and people and things you could spend money on, but in the woods the most fun is trying to be photobombed by a white deer. Totally more fun than throwing money at things.

A church for every foot.

 

Needs must. Simple as that.

View from a nearby castle

At the birthday party I was shocked at how much beer Germans consume. Even now, it still astounds me how much they can drink. Beer to me feels like drinking a loaf of bread and my friendship with bread in any case is like one of those Facebook friend requests you send after having met someone once and then you realise you don't really like each other and it was all a friendship made for the FB servers in California and not the annals of history. Luckily on occasion there is still cider to be loyal to and there are always still real friends to visit.