Hamburg

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Hamburg

Almost as quickly as it began, my time in Europe was coming to an end. My time in France was done and I had only a few days left in Germany. I did however have one weekend left and I had booked in a to visit a good friend whom I had met in Paris who now lived in Hamburg. Other than a recent trip to Berlin, I had not spent much time in the North of Germany. Moreover, there is not much (German) cultural overlap between Berlin and Hamburg, but I had heard many good things about the city. It often appears on list of "liveable" cities, basically meaning that they are excellent destinations for highly-paid expats usually at the cost of the local population, but that would not stop me from going and visiting my friend the expat and having a great time.

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Swabia: Augsburg and Neuschwanstein

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Swabia: Augsburg and Neuschwanstein

One of the most visited attractions in Germany and by extension, Europe, is the fairy tale-esque castle of Neuschwanstein. It is nestled in the Bavarian Alps in the south of Germany and sees scores of tourists flocking to the area to visit the thoroughly modern castle. The castle was built in the mid-19th century when castles had essentially lost their military value but were symbols of wealth and power. Ludwig II, the then king of Bavaria, commissioned the construction of the castle as his personal residence and was inspired (in part) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of le Château de Pierrefonds. In any case, with my time in Germany coming to an end, this was one big-ticket item that I was keen to see. It would turn out to be quite a mission for just a weekend trip, but ultimately a worthwhile mission.

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Berlin

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Berlin

Integrating the time that I had spent in Germany, it was somewhat of a black spot on my record that I had not been to Berlin. I would say that it is not all that surprising, given my interests are in the outdoors and not generally in cities, but Berlin is cool. So cool in fact, that all the Bohemian people that I knew - and going to a fancy private school meant I knew plenty of them with much disposable income - had lived there at one point or another and said how it was the "most ah-mazing place". Floating my boat is more the city's importance as the a capital, especially during the Kingdom of Prussia. But perhaps the most persuasive element was that leaving Germany without ever having visited the capital, especially as most other people that visit Germany make Berlin stop number one, would be setting myself up for many fruitless conversations in the future. So with no expectations, I would head north for the weekend and hang out with the cool kids.

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Nordrhein-Westfalen: Aachen, Düsseldorf and Köln

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Nordrhein-Westfalen: Aachen, Düsseldorf and Köln

I had some friends I wanted to visit in Köln, but as I had been there previously, I wanted to profit from being in the area and see something new. The nearby town of Aachen had always held great interest for me, so I formulated a plan to spend the Saturday there and then make my way to Köln on Sunday.

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Le Midi

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Le Midi

My final weekend in France and my last chance to see the remaining item on my list of "must-see destinations": Carcassonne. Famed for its citadel and as the home of cassoulet, the town is an icon of France. It is also in a poorly serviced area with respect to public transport, so I broke my trip into stages, also stopping in Narbonne and Toulouse. Narbonne was unexpectedly beautiful, even if I did not get access to my accommodation until well after midnight as someone had stolen the after-hours entry keys - for which I got a free breakfast. Carcassonne was as magical as I had hoped, but having cassoulet when it is above 30 degrees was a tough ask. I only had a few hours in la ville de rose, but from what I saw it is a gorgeous city thriving with culture.

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