Category Archives: Mucke
Day 6 – Mücke, Marburg
Leaving Mücke
After a short night sleeping on the floor, the whole gang woke up early in the morning to carry on with our travels. My new German friends sang a song on the balcony, and I happily listened while sipping on some hot tea. We packed up our things, hopped in a van (which must have been owned by Günni’s family)and said goodbye to the small village of Mücke. I was excited to start covering some real ground with just Dirk and I. As much fun as it was hanging out with his friends, I really wanted to just get to know Germany and get to know Dirk. We took the van to Gießen, (a larger city close to Mucke) where Dirk and I separated from our friends and caught our train.
Dirk’s Apartment
The train ride didn’t take all that long, and before we knew it, we were in Marburg. We passed a Döner shop as we walked to Dirk’s new apartment. I really liked the feel of Marburg: people living in close proximity with little yards, and cool houses. The red tile roofs is what really made me like it. Dirk’s apartment was pretty much bare. We were the first to sleep the night there. There were some unpacked boxes from his roommates but no real furniture except a floor-type futon. The thing to remember about German apartments is that when the former tenants move out, they take everything with them. Even the kitchen sink. We had bare light bulbs, and nothing but bare pipes in the kitchen. Luckily the bathroom had a toilet and sink (they usually leave that kind of stuff). I didn’t realize how portable kitchens were. Dirk said he and his roommates had a kitchen set-up arranged to come in about a month when everyone moved in.
Settling In
Dirk had some business to take care of so we made a trip to the bank, and then decided to get something to eat. Obviously, we stopped at the Döner shop and got a very tasty lunch. We brought it home, ate it on our boxes and then rested a little bit. Luckily the phone lines were working at the apartment, so we were able to check email and dirk was able to take care of some more apartment/college related stuff. We rested a bit and then made a trip to Aldi. We picked up some things for the next couple of days: grey bread, beer in plastic bottles, sliced meat, and liverwurst (something I learned dirk loved to eat no matter what time of day) and some yogurt. As we walked home, the overcast skies began to spit at us. We chilled out some more and then ate a modest dinner of some of the things we purchased.
Exploring Marburg
After dinner, we decided to go into downtown Marburg. This was my first time seeing what I would call “traditional” German buildings. The large painted timbers crisscrossed white stucco walls. The windowsills were overflowing with colorful flowers and the cobblestone roads were narrow and winding. City centers like this truly make me wish we had more historical areas like this in America. As the sun went down behind the hills, we made our way up towards Marburg castle. The road leading up to the castle was cool enough, but when I saw the castle itself, I was pretty giddy. The view from the castle wall was amazing. It overlooked the entire city. I could see cars flowing by on the highway and city shops turning off lights for the night. Dirk and I threw back a couple of plastic beers we packed in a backpack and then made our way back the to the apartment.
Turning In
When we returned home, I uploaded some travel pictures to flickr, made a quick blog post and then prepared for bed. Dirk and I unrolled the futon, hopped in our sleeping bags, prayed, and then went to sleep.
Google Earth Placemarks for Day 6: 
Open this map
Day 5 – Guben to Mücke
Travel Day
We were going to be riding the train for a long time. We had to travel from Guben to Mücke where Dirk’s friend Darius (Günni) lives. Mücke is a little south of Marburg, the city where Dirk was going to be living while at the university. This was my first time on a German train, but it wasn’t going to be the last. I had heard that the train system in Europe, and especially Germany, was very efficient and dependable. I had to activate my rail pass which would serve me for the month I was traveling. Dirk’s father drove us to the Guben train station and helped us figure out what we needed to do. Dirk translated to the woman at the ticket booth, and with only a few minutes to spare, I got my pass stamped and hopped on the train.
The Train Ride
The train took us back through Berlin and then headed on the long journey to Mücke. Dirk and I watched some of the videos from my video blog that I had put on a dvd for him. The German scenery was very nice. I was surprised how a country that is so small compared to the U.S. could have so much farmland. They must do a good job at preventing urban sprawl. I also noticed that the farms in Germany are not your normal American-style farms of giant square fields. These farms followed the shape of the land more. Their borders were not straight lines, it was much more aesthetically pleasing to watch pass by at such a high speed. We were riding the ICE (inter city express) which traveled much faster than any train that I have ever been on before. An American traveling to Switzerland to visit his daughter. I talked to him about my trip, about videoblogging, and the differences we noticed between our cultures. 
After a few hours of travel, we made a few transfers and then ended up on our final train. I listened to my brothers iPod as the final train clicked down the track towards Mücke.
The Arrival
We arrived at the small station and were immediately greeted by Dirk’s friends from the Dunenhoff. It was like a little reunion after a month of separation. His friends all came together to see each other again in Mücke and to meet me. Two of them would be living in the apartment where we were going to stay in Marburg. A mixture of English and German flew through the air as we walked to the grocery store with our backpacks in a shopping cart. We walked through the isles of the store while we talked and laughed. 
I still managed to be surprised by interesting German food products and followed Dirk’s friends as they looked for whatever it was they needed to buy. But this was no ordinary grocery store; this store had two floors. I had never seen a two-story grocery store, but the other people acted like it was a normal thing, so I just followed along. The upstairs had some clothes, plants, gifts, and Halloween decorations. Immediately Günni and Dirk ran to one corner of the second floor. They dove into a small pool of plastic balls. I looked around nervously expecting to be chided by someone in German, but no one came, so I too jumped in. It must have been a common practice for store patrons. After a while of swimming in the balls, we left the store and started walking to Günni’s house. The town was pretty nice, It felt more rural and peaceful. I was excited to spend the night there.
Settling In
All the friends kind of settled in and went their separate ways. We all stayed on the top floor of what I guess was Günni’s families apartment building (I think the family that lived in the apartment we stayed were out of town or something). I got an opportunity to check my email and talk to some people on instant messenger while Dirk and Günni Spoke in German behind me. They went off talking, so I went upstairs to hang out with Michi and Jacob. We sat down to dinner and talked about school and how to figure out our futures. Both of them spoke English very well and were kind enough to have an extended conversation with me over dinner. Dirk and Gunni came back, so I let all the German-folk hang out and talk in their native tongue while I talked to people online, updated my blog and tried to get used to the messed up keyboard. When I returned back upstairs, they were all watching some German comedy show on dirk’s computer. I felt a little left out since I couldn’t understand what was being said, but I figured that Dirk and I would have plenty of time to chat in English later in our trip. After a couple of hours, we all decided to go to bed, since we had to be up early in the morning to catch our train. We slipped into our sleeping bags, prayed, and went to sleep.
Google Earth Placemarks for Day 5: Open this map
Cold Weather, Great Public Transportation
Can I just say that I wish I was in Michigan right now…but only because I hear it is very warm. it is like…aw heck stupid celcius…probably in the 50′s and cloudy. It feels like Michigan in the fall. I am eagerly waiting the moment when I can walk around in a t-shirt and not have goosebumps.
I spent all day on a train today. The ICE is amayzing…and just my luck the only other passenger in our compartment was American, so I gave my friend a break from speaking the foreign tongue and talked to that guy a little bit. I told him about video blogging and even showed him a few on the train. His daughter lives in Switzerland…I am very impressed that all the trains are timed so well and that my rail pass allows me to travel across the country for one nice flat rate.
the rest of the night is spent here in the town of Mucke (where having a grocery store with 2 floors is AMAZING!) farms, cows, beautiful scenery, beautiful houses, nice roads, village-atmosphere…I Don’t think these people realize what they have here!
I will be in Marburg tomorrow, then a few days later in Cuxhaven then maybe even try to hook up with Bre and Jennifer in Amsterdam if money, time, and coolness works in our favor!
that’s all for now, g’night!
Lesson Learned since last time: Germans like Suasages, I like sausages, and not all places in the worold move as quickly or loudly as the majority of America