After finishing my Arabic course (nailed it, A, baby!) I said goodbye to Beirut and made my way up north to the family village in Fih to spend some quality time with the family. The lifestyle in the village is much more relaxed then in Beirut; it was a welcomed retreat to enjoy the quiet of the mountains as well as the more comfortable weather.
After relaxing for a few days I traveled to Germany to visit with a newly married cousin and her husband. A cousin from Lebanon joined me for the trip and we met up with my mom, my younger sister and her boyfriend to explore Hamburg and Berlin.
After taking in the charming city center of Hamburg upon our arrival, we made our way to Rappenberg street for the evening. While famous for its pubs and 'adult' stores and clubs...Rappenberg street is also home to the month-long carnival that takes place in Hamburg during August. Carnivals are always fun, but this carnival had all the fun rides and games complemented with a wonderful selection of beer :) Germans drink beer like most people drink water. I was surprised to learn that most beers are also offered in non-alcoholic selections as well..that's A LOT of love of beer.
We spent the next day exploring my cousin's farm in Bremen, 45 minutes outside of Hamburg. We visited their wheat fields and I even got to see their chicken growing facility...amazing stuff! They take chickens from 3 days old and nurture them in hematically sealed buildings until they are old off to be sent to the slaughter house. It's not the most pleasant of thoughts....but where do you think all the chicken we eat comes from...somebody has to farm them. There were 30,000 of the little chicks there when we visited.
We said goodbye to the farm but kept the nature theme going by visiting the wild animal park outside of Hamburg. It was an amazing facility housing most species of wild animals in a natural environment of open habitat spaces that we were able to visit within the safety of a closed bus.
We boarded a train the next morning and made our way to Berlin. We jumped on a 3 hour afternoon boat cruise that allowed us to see the entire city while enjoying the comfort of cold, refreshing German beer. The next day we explored more of the city by foot, visiting the remains of The Wall, east side gallery, check point Charlie, the holocaust memorial and more.
As we made our way through the city, following the cobble stone path denoting the line of the original wall, we wandered into a little gallery that had this wonderfully eclectic woman who greeted us upon entry. She asked if we were interested to learn the history of the spot we were walking on and of course we said "yes!". She then told us of the war and how the gallery fell in East Germany so they built the wall right outside their building when it was being put up. She then showed us pictures taken during the war of soldiers and tanks passing by the very window we were looking out of in present day. Amazing stuff!
Upon arriving back to Lebanon we've spent the last week visiting the sights and showing my sister's boyfriend what this country has to offer. Our biggest accomplishment was Saturday morning when we hiked up a mountain at 6 am to visit the monastery of saint Peter and Paul that is home to 20 monks. The hiking was daunting, but it was worth it when we made it to the top...the sunrise was beautiful. About a two-thirds of the way up the path you begin to notice signs that ask you to respect the silence of the Church. Ummm...I don't think the signs are necessary....the hike is daunting enough, you would be crazy to throw speaking into the mix. I only know one person who would still be talking on that hike and his name is Joel Neulight (love you Joelle!).
I am off to Greece tomorrow for the rest of the week. I will be visiting Athens, Santorini and Mykonos. I will send another update soon. Just a few more weeks until I will be home and stateside again :)
Love, Nadia
Nothing says welcome to our carnival like a wonderful beer stand in Hamburg.
We couldn't resist the photo opp at the carnival welcome sign in Hamburg.
I found myself up against the path of The Wall in Berlin
The Jewish memorial in Berlin was just beautiful and moving.
Check point Charlie in Berlin...the last check point separating the 2 sides during the war.
Enjoying a cold beer in Berlin.
No comments:
Post a Comment