Issue 149

Front Abroad

20th November 2006

The fridge is gone! At long last! I was (pleasantly) astounded when the Hausmeister surfaced to remove it, just days after writing my last instalment. The kitchen declined to let it go quietly though.

My friend was nearly crushed by one of the huge windows in the kitchen when he tried to open it, without realising that it had already come away from the top hinge! The window then proceeded to loudly crash and bang its way to the floor. The Hausmeister's face was priceless when he saw it; his expression was the equivalent of "how the hell did you manage that!" It was just lucky that the window fell into the kitchen, rather than out of it, on to some poor soul's unsuspecting head. What concerns me more is that rather than replacing the window, or at least fitting a new hinge, the caretaker only removed the handle and somehow managed to 'stick' it to the frame, (without glue, naturally, he just 'plonked' it back on).

I have had another busy month visiting different places that are easily reached from Mannheim. After discovering that I could travel by train to the French border at Wissembourg for free on my semester ticket, a trip to Strasbourg was too good an opportunity to miss. The entire return journey cost a mere 22 Euros, leaving me more money to spend on dinner! Strasbourg is a beautiful city, steeped in history. It is a place where canals weave through the city, before joining the river Rhine, and where the 'Petite France' area is home to quaint half timbered houses and popular restaurants.

The Cathedral de Notre Dame is what I saw first. Standing at 142 metres, it is the oldest medieval building in Europe, and impossible to miss! I found it hard to believe that it was standing at all because building work began in the eleventh century. My favourite part of the day was a river cruise on an open top boat, which took us all around the city. We passed the European Parliament, part of the university, and the national theatre, amongst many other sights. The boat then went into a lock to enter Petite France. Water flooded in and raised the boat three metres in height within minutes. The cruise only cost three euros for students, and headphones were attached to every seat which gave a commentary on the sights in various languages.

Not content with being in two different countries in the same month, I went for a third and a fourth, returning to Bristol and Swansea for the week! I was too excited to worry about flying by myself, but I was still surprised at how easy it all was. I took the high-speed ICE train to Frankfurt airport, where a free shuttle bus was waiting to take people to the other terminal. There was no queue at checkin either, so it only took 50 minutes to get there, and check-in, which I found amazing, considering Frankfurt is the third biggest airport in Europe.

I was not man-handled by scary looking security staff either! I was the only person, of about fifteen who went before me, that did not set off the metal detector. The only grievance I have about the entire journey was the walk to the gate; it must have been at least a mile! I made it eventually though, and boarded the plane, well, the pencil! It was tiny, with no more than seventy seats, stretching three across and a tiny aisle. Still, we took off, and it began to feel more like a private jet! (I wish).

Britain greeted me by being freezing cold and giving me an ear infection, nice!

The antibiotics I was prescribed gave me chest pains and made me sick late Monday evening, so my boyfriend had a lovely time speaking to the out of hours doctors service and looking after me. After two days of this I had had enough, so stopped taking them, and my ear sorted itself out.

It was wonderful to be back and see my boyfriend, family and friends. I spent an hour gawping at the amazing food in Tesco's, and buying the most calorie-loaded food I could find; cheesecake, chocolate, ice cream, cakes, sausages… everything I missed. The week passed by in a flash, and before long it was time to leave for Mannheim. My experience at Bristol airport was not as pleasant as at Frankfurt. The x-ray machine man tried to tell me that my £100 Italian leather hand-luggage bag was too heavy and had to be checked in. Well, I don't think so! It came with me on the plane, but not before I had been frisked, had my new, still-sealed water bottle and my £5 lip butter from the Body Shop confiscated, which I only had to buy because the b*g*ers at Heathrow took my other one!

Caroline Sutch