I’m writing this only a little over a week after my last
blog post, but I feel like so much has happened in the past ten days that I’m
not sure how I’m going to cover it all. I feel like I have to try though, so
here goes nothing!
Starting with the Monday after my last post, the class went
on an excursion to the Koblenz theatre and the Castle that was just over the
river to look at the acoustics of both. When I heard we were visiting a
centuries old theatre, I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I was
genuinely surprised when I saw the inside of the Theatre Koblenz. It was a lot
smaller than I pictured, but also really beautiful, with the most surprising
detail by far being the painted-on curtains and crown molding. Instead of
fabric hanging around the edges of the balcony and the boxes, there were
detailed paintings of curtains shaded to look almost, but not quite, real. It
was cool, but strange, especially when juxtaposed with the couple of real
curtains hanging from a few special places.
More impressive I think though, was the backstage. We got to
see all the inner workings of the theatre, from the rotating stage to the
orchestra pit and the artist workshops that made props and wigs and costumes
for all the plays that took place there. It was really incredible to see the
amount of passionate work that went into every production, with everyone giving
their all to making a full play come together in only seven weeks. In
particular, several artists mentioned their favorite plays being the ones they put
on for the holidays, because they can get really creative with the design
elements and know that all the children who come watch the shows will
appreciate the magical experience. After hearing that, I’d honestly love to see
one of these Christmas shows myself.
One of the most interesting things I learned was in the
costume department, where our guide show showed us some hoofed boots that had
been used in plays. One was far more worn than the other, because whenever the
devil is portrayed on stage, he wears just one hoof to signify who he is to the
audience. I feel like most of the time I
see the devil portrayed in the U.S., he always has two hooves, but I guess in
German folklore, just one hoof is enough to tip people off!
At the castle, the whispering room we ended up trying to
visit was closed. However, we still had a beautiful view from the top, where we
could see the Rhine merging with another river far below, and teeny tiny people
milling about the huge statue where the two rivers merged. I doubt photos can do the view justice, it
was absolutely breathtaking.
The rest of the week continued to be nearly as eventful. The
lectures in History of Medicine and The Neurophysiology of Music have continued
to be incredibly fascinating. I was so excited for these classes when I first
signed up for the program, and so far they’ve been just as great as I was
hoping. Somehow, between these lectures, German classes, and Tai Chi (I think
I’m starting to get better!) we still found time for another excursion, this time
to Cologne. We had a wonderful guided tour of the city with literally the best
tour guide ever; she was so informative and also hilarious on top of it. After
the welcome barbeque and another full day and a half of classroom time, it
seemed like we’d already had a packed week, but I was about to get more packed.
After class let out on Friday, me, Michael, Maria and Ysabella took our bags
and headed to the HBF to hop on a train to Paris!
This train, of course, was 40 minutes delayed.
After some brief worrying, we rolled with it. Our 20 minute
connection was toast, but thanks to the help of the DB assistance desk in
Mannheim, we were easily able to make another train and arrive at our hostel
only a bit later than expected.
On Saturday, we got up early and immediately set off to
experience as much of Paris as we could. We saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, the
Shakespeare book shop, ate maybe the best pastries I have ever had in my entire
life, walked around the catacombs, and took pictures by the Eiffel tower. Finally,
in true big tourist city fashion we got absolutely hustled getting train
tickets to Versailles.
We’d been so careful for the rest of the trip and avoided
all the potential pitfalls. Then, in the train station we had an interaction
that went something like this:
We’re buying round trip tickets at the machine, we’d already
bought day passes for the inside of the city, and just needed tickets to get us
all the way out to Versailles. I’m hanging back feeling very sleepy because I
just had to take medicine to stop the beginnings of a migraine and I forgot to
take it with caffeine. A man approaches. He is very big. He speaks mostly
French. He tells us very insistently, but not very clearly that we need help.
In my slightly out-of-it state, I manage to catch about half of the exchange,
but I’m not feeling great about it.
He exits out of out ticket selection and appears to reselect
the same four tickets, using the French menu. Michael goes to pay, but no, the
man says, the machine doesn’t take Visa.
He’ll buy the tickets and we’ll pay him in cash. We’d already paid for
different tickets using Visa the same day, but there’s nobody else near the
ticket machines, and we all silently decide that we don’t want trouble.
He pays and the machine dispenses four tickets. Somewhere, in my migraine addled brain I
think “oh, so two round trips” but the others and the man are already talking
again and the man is quickly walking away from the machine and telling us to
follow him and the thought slips away. We take our four tickets we pay him for
four round trip tickets, just wishing for the interaction to be over as quickly
as possible.
Afterwards, we ponder what the heck that was all about. Had
we just been hustled? But when we get to Versailles without a hitch we all
relax a little. Maybe, we rationalize, it had something to do with the train
strikes going on. Or maybe the man was just trying to use his all access pass
to get tickets and make some quick cash off it. Either way, we’d made it there
alright. I finally get some coffee and the drowsiness from the Rizitriptan
finally starts to fade, and we put the incident out of our minds.
This is relatively easy, because the concert at Versailles
is incredible. We get to walk past the golden palace gates and see the
beautiful gardens. We successfully defend our spot in the world’s longest food
truck line from some jerks trying to cut in last minutes and make friends with
the people behind us in line through the mutual struggle. We dance to the
music. In short, it’s amazing. Then, at eleven twenty something, we head out to
the station to make the 11:55 train back to Paris. By the time we walk over
there, we’re cutting it rather close, and there’s a crowd of other concertgoers
doing the same thing surging around us as we enter the station. I approach the
turnstile, people crowding in close behind me, I feed my ticket into the
machine. It’s spit back out with a little red
X on the screen. The turnstile doesn’t open.
The other shoe drops. The man bought only two round trip tickets, with two tickets
per round trip. Four tickets total. We’d definitely been hustled.
I don’t have much time to process this. I try to turn around
and slip out of the turnstile so the person behind me can go through, and I can
regroup with my friends so we can quickly buy new tickets before the train
comes. Before I can do that though, the guy behind me puts his ticket in, the
turnstile opens, and he shoves me roughly through in front of him. I narrowly
avoid falling on my face, and almost stumble directly into a French cop as the
people behind me rush around. I’m still
trying to process exactly what happens.
French cop tells me that I have to go back out of the
turnstiles, pay for a new ticket and come back in. I quickly nod, just wanting
to get back together with my friends, and I start heading towards the exit
turnstile, but people are trying to enter through it, and I’m not sure how on
earth I’m going to actually get back out of the train terminal. French cop
seems to realize this, because before I get to far, he sighs. Just get on the
train, he says. I can’t exactly argue as I’m rushed with the flow of the crowd
along the platform towards the waiting train, its doors already open. I don’t
see my friends anywhere. Reluctantly, I get on the train, and immediately start
shakily drafting a text on my AIB phone as quickly as possible with the tiny
multitap keypad. My phone that could possibly access the internet is back at
the hostel, I can’t remember what stop I have to get off at. After what seems
like ages, I get a reply. My friends made the train. We reunite at the platform
several stops later, but it still takes a little while for my breathing to
return to normal.
So, I think we really got the full Paris experience.
Thankfully the next morning we just spent in the Louvre
where zero (0) scams took place. I’m still kicking myself for not trusting my
instincts and speaking up when the man was buying the tickets, but in the end,
we all turned out okay, and because of the dude who so rudely chucked me
through a turnstile and the nice French cop, I didn’t even lose any money. If
anything, this was a good warning to really keep my head on a swivel in all of
the big cities, but needless to say, I’m very happy to be back in Germany and
heading towards Nordeney.
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