Rhine cruise (Apr 30, 2006)

After the seminar in Bonn, we took a cruise on the Rhine river, from Bonn to Lintz, hin und zurück. Nice small cities, old ruins of castles, and churches are found in the river banks...

Stade

Hari ini kita jadi juga jalan-jalan. Tujuan jalan-jalannya ga jauh-jauh: Stade. A small city just near Hamburg. So near that our semester ticket is still valid there. Yang ikut berdelapan: Aku, Fujie, Mba Almy, Pipit, Henny, Indra, Fair, dan Jibran. Berangkat dari Harburg jam 14:28. Siang banget ya, abis acara nya sebenernya dadakan sih :)

Tapi kadang2 acara dadakan itu deh yang malah jadi rame…

Perjalanan dari Harburg Bahnhof ke Stade itu sekitar setengah jam pake RB. Setelah banyak tragedi, mulai dari Fujie dan Indra yang kelewatan dan terpaksa turun di stasiun berikutnya, Indra yang ketinggalan tas di kereta, dsb - (hmm… demi nama baik dua orang tersebut, cerita cacat mereka ga bakal dipublikasikan di sini :D Tapi, kalo penasaran pengen tau, just ask me, and I’ll be happy to tell you… hahaha…) - akhirnya kita bisa mulai jalan2 di Stade.

Sebenernya Stade kota kecil banget sih. Sepi gitu deh. Gue pernah denger nama kota ini gara-gara Mba Aida dulu praktikum dan thesis di sini, di Dow. Mungkin, ini salah satu kota yang hidup karena di sana ada perusahaan, seperti juga Erlangen (Siemens), atau Coburg (Brose). Jalan-jalan liat Altstadtnya, bagus juga, so Europe. Banyak rumah-rumah bertingkat yang pendek-pendek. Toko-tokonya kecil-kecil di sepanjang jalan, mengingatkan ama Harburg Arcaden :) Di pinggir jalan banyak banget kafe-kafe dan restoran-restoran kecil, dan banyak diantaranya yang menawarkan menu aneka ikan. Mungkin karena Stade ini juga terletak di pinggir sungai Elbe. Dan malah posisinya lebih dekat ke laut dibandingkan Hamburg, yang terletak lebih ke sebelah Timur.

Kerjaan kita selama di sana jalan mengitari pusat kotanya aja sih, dan tentunya foto-foto. (Uh, aku lupa beli kartu pos nih, sebbell!) Sekitar jam 5 sore, kita pun memutuskan nongkrong di Alex. Hihi, iya sama ama Alex yang di pinggir Alster. Wah, mulai deh pola hidup hedon dimulai :D Pertama, pesen es krim… Abis makan yang manis2, pengen yang asin2, jadi pesen pizza. Abis pizza, terus masih brutal, pengen wings and chips, terus nachos… ck ck ck… Si Mas nya aja ampe bingung lhoh liat kita… Katanya: „Habt ihr noch Hunger??“ kekekeke… :“>

Kita nongkrong di sana 2 jam lebih, heheh… Indra (ditemenin Fair) sempet balik ke Stade Bahnhof buat ambil tas nya (Alhamdulillah, tas nya masih ada dan bisa balik ke Indra). Cela2an dan ketawa2… seneng juga… kayaknya semua nya pada melepas beban sehabis ngerjain ICTI kali ya… huehehehehe…

Dari Alex, kita sempet foto2 bentar di luar, dengan latar belakang Stade malam hari… Wuih, kotanya udah sepi bangett. Trus balik deh ke Bahnhof, dan ambil kereta RE pulang balik ke Harburg. Sampe Neugraben, kita ganti kereta dan naek S3. Di perjalanan pulang ini, bener-bener deh, Fujie dan Indra dalam pengawasan ketat. Pokoknya kalo mau ngerokok ga boleh jauh-jauh :D dan terutama buat Indra: AWASSSSS!!! TAS GA BOLEH KETINGGALAN LAGIIII!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

P.S. All pics showed here were taken by Fujie.

Alster in winter time

I looked at my watch. Hmm… still about half an hour before the German class would start. I decided to take a quick walk in Alster, the lake which lies in the centre of Hamburg. I got off at Jungfernstieg S-Bahn station, and tried to enjoy the Alster's atmosphere for some time.

I remember doing the same thing about four months ago, in August. The same reason, having a course in Colon made me become more familiar with this area. It was summer. And it was different. At that time the sun shone, and the streets are full with people with tank tops and shorts eating ice creams while having their skin tanned. Ice cream stalls with long queues were seen almost everywhere. The benches along the roads were always occupied. I could hardly find a place to sit. Laughter and smiles were so common.

Today, just like before, I stroll along the Alster’s side. It was quite cold and foggy today. Yes, things are different; The Alex coffee shop closed its outdoor section. The ice cream stalls are missing; No more strolling down the road and enjoying the sun; instead everybody walks as fast as possible with cold-longing-for-warmth expressions. And, guess what, not even a single person had the idea of taking a seat on the benches there…. Hehe… no one, except me! :D

I take a look at the trees far on the left… They’re naked… no leaves at all… (I tried to take a picture with my Handy, as shown here… It was a total failure… :( It is blur and you can not even see that the trees are without leaves… hahaha :D) Oh! So bleak and foggy today! And also, so silent… Nevertheless, in some ways, it is so beautiful…Alster is and will always be beautiful… no matter in which season you come and have a visit…