Walking the Red Line

In the heart of Hannover there is a red line path visitors can follow. It takes you past many of the historical parts of the city. Today, Yusuke and I decided to check it out. Yusuke lives on the same floor as me and is from Osaka, Japan. He is doing research relating to engineering at the university.

Our trip took us past the Niki Nanas again (you saw these in an earlier post), many museums, and some very cool old buildings. On our way to the Red Line, we past the University Castle (which you have also seen in earlier posts!)My favorite parts include walking around the neu Rathause, or new Town Hall. Here we actually rode an elevator up into the top dome. The ride up was cool as the elevator had a glass floor and ceiling, and it literally went straight up, then tilted with the dome, so you were standing at an angle! Apparently it is the only elevator like this in the world. At the top of the dome we could see over most of the city. It was cool to look down on the busy Kröpcke and Alte Stadt (old city). At this point we also saw a festival going on, and after chatting with some locals, we found out it was the last day of Hannover Oktoberfest! So of course, we took a detour from the red line and explored this scene. Here is a video from the top of the Rahause. I'm not sure if it will work, so let me know! :) It is acctually one of the tallest buildings in Hannover, not oldest...I got stage fright and misspoke ;)

The Oktoberfest is supposedly the second largest in the country. It was fun to compare it to carnivals I have been to in America. What may have surprised me most was how open the rides were. In many pictures you will see limited fences around the lines. Naturally, with it being Oktoberfest, Yusuke and I had to sample a beer. Mine was pretty good, especially since it had orange flavoring! We also sample some bratwurst. It too was tasty and we ate it standing at the booth. They served it as the actual link and a role. After a ride on the Riesenrad (giant wheel, or ferris wheel) we headed back to the red line.

Oktoberfest Pics:
http://www.pikiwiki.com/ews/editor.jsp?20BAeXPIdi-F-mUHUMkM0mg

Another cool place was the Old Town. It was fun to walk down the winding roads and get pictures of the original architecture. The Market Church also was breathtaking with its German Gothic Architecture. This was the central market of Hannover in the 14th century. So much history, so cool! I also found a quaint little antique shop on Kramerstrasse. It was closed on Sundays, so I’ll have to head back another day to explore.

Overall, today has been a lot of fun, very productive and very tiring. Although we didn’t go into the museums, it was still good to locate them and see the other historical parts of the city. And know each museum needs to be explored!

Here are more pictures from today!
Walking the Red Line:

http://www.pikiwiki.com/ews/editor.jsp?20BAeXPIdi-GDe89V-gx4vQ

Walking the Red Line II:

http://www.pikiwiki.com/ews/editor.jsp?20BAeXPIdi-GpeNKKgi26vg

Have a wonderful week!
Tschüs!
Dustin