To get here, I faced a 7 hour flight to Frankfurt, waited around for 5 hours, met up with half the group, traveled to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station), hopped on a train to Marburg, then took a taxi to my dorm. It was a long day. I unpacked and relaxed a little bit - checked out the floor I live on (one bathroom, one shower... probably 10 girls) and the kitchen area. It's a decent place, but it's so far away... I live (along with one other girl in the program) in Wehrda, which is the northernmost section of Marburg. On weekdays, we face a 40 minute bus ride to get to school... not ideal. But it's a nice area and the bus rides never feel as long as they are.
Here is my lovely dorm room... the bed is hard, but i haven't had too much of a problem since I've been exhausted each night and just want somewhere to lay down.
The view from the opposite side of the room. I live in a residential area so there are a lot of regular houses around the dorm buildings.
Here are the views from outside my window (first one) and outside the window of the kitchen area (second one).
After I unpacked, we headed back into the city to grab some dinner. We went to a restaurant called Ratsschänke in Marktplatz (the main center of the Oberstadt). Marburg is an interesting city... it started with the Schloss (castle) on top of the hill and they built around it. That part is the older part of the city (built around 11th and 12th centuries) and is called the Oberstadt (literally "over city") because it is the part that is high up on the hills. They eventually started building more modern buildings, but those are not on the hill. Walking to the Oberstadt can be a total pain... but Marburgers knew that and installed a few elevators whose sole purpose is to bring you up a hill. Sounds lame, but you're thankful for them on hot, sunny, exhausting days.
Since I was jetlagged, I went back to my dorm after dinner and Eis (ice cream). Went to bed too late and had to wake up to be at Speak + Write by 10 to take our placement exams. I ultimately ended up in Untere Mittelstufe (lower intermediate) but a lot of people are unsure of their class assignments... I still don't know if I'm happy with mine).
After our placement exam, we took a walking tour of the city and learned about some of it's history. Highlights are below!
This is the Rathaus (city hall) in Marktplatz, right next to the restaurant we ate at on the first night.
This is a street coming off of the Marktplatz. Lots of traditional German timberwood framing :)
A part of the Oberstadt.
I'm running out of time and battery, so this will have to be in for now! I'll hopefully be able to post again soon!
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