Being a Karlsruher

Ahh Karlsruhe. I think I am in love... with a city. Possibly the whole country. Or for that matter, maybe all of Europe. I think I am still a little starstruck at the fact that I am getting to go places I have only dreamed about. I am so blessed by this opportunity. But don't worry America, you are still my favorite.

Since I have only been here three weeks, I have yet to travel beyond Karlsruhe just yet. I know I will soon be going other places, so I am not worried. And anyways, there is just so much to explore within Karlsruhe city limits. Now, I have a gone to a good couple places (as you can see in my photos on Facebook, Picasa Web Albums, and Flickr) and I don't feel the need to go on about them all in this post. Some of them will be highlighted in a new post sometime this week. But I thought I would give you some of the observations I notice daily when I am out and about.

The first of these observations is the weather. Yes, a mundane topic, but it is an important one! Growing up in Southern California has made me, and all my fellow Southern Californians, absolute whimps when it comes to weather. The instant it starts to sprinkle, we throw on our raincoats and rain boots and walk around with umbrellas complaining how terribly cold and wet it is. When it's slightly too hot and humid we moan and groan about how darn hot it is and how terrible it is to sweat and be outside. We like our weather to not be weather at all. Karlsruhe (and all of Germany) in that respect is a Southern Californian's worst nightmare. It actually has weather. Like real rain, real snow, freezing cold temperatures, and it's known for not getting very hot at all. I'm naturally a very warm person, so the idea of being cold is nice. But when it actually happens it's not so nice. Like last Friday night, I froze my butt off (not literally haha) while walking around the city in the fog. With cold comes layers. And with layers comes a very toasty Ashley who has to strip off all her layers every time she enters a room, or she will turn into a pile of sweat. Ew. I don't want to even ponder what Winter is going to do to me. I have such a hate love hate relationship with snow. For now, the weather has been quite lovely though. It has been a proper Fall. Crisp air, mix of brilliant blue skies and cloudy, rainy days; perfect weather to wear cute clothes and an appropriate amount of layers. Today is another blue sky kind of day, I can't wait to get outside and frolick about on my bike.

This is weather from last week, so pretty. 

The second of these observations is the history. The makings of Karlsruhe began way back in 1094 when Gottesaue Monastary (which is now a music college) was created and the settlement of Durlach (which is now a suburb of Karlsruhe) bought a charter. The seat of Margrave of Baden was moved from Pforzheim to Durlach in 1565. Lots of things happened in between that I won't bore you with (wars, politics, etc) and in 1715 Margrave Karl Wilhelm started the building of a stone palace (Karlsruher Schloss) and the foundations of a city not far from Durlach. Once it was finished he transferred his seat from Durlach to Karlsruhe in 1717. Another load of things happened (such as the creation of the modern bicycle and car; no big deal). 1940 saw the end of the historically peaceful relations between Christians and Jews in Karlsruhe. Why? Because 945 Jews were deported to Gurs in the South of France. At the end of WWII in 1945, more than 35% of the city was in ruins. In 1952, the state of Baden and the state of Württemberg were combined into the new state of Baden-Württemberg. This meant that Karlsruhe was no longer a capital city. By 1967 the city has almost completely rebuilt itself from the damages that had WWII caused. And then of course a lot more history has happened since then. But those are the main key points that I wanted you to know because they really have shaped the life of this city.

Me in front of Karlsruher Schloss.

The third observation is of the city layout and the architecture. Karl Wilhelm put the Karlsruher Schloss in the middle of a big circle and city streets are like the spokes of a wheel basically. That's really for the heart of the city though, because Karlsruhe has obviously grown since 1715 and doesn't quite follow the spoke pattern. It's a really neat concept though, and actually it is one of the cities that Washington D.C. was based on. Pretty cool right? The architecture is a strange mix of old and new because of all the damage that was done to the city during WWII. I think it gives the whole city a lot of character. One moment you are looking at buildings that are several hundred years old, and then you are looking at ones that were built less than sixty years ago. The mix of old and new is a beautiful pairing and you see it in most big cities; even if they weren't destroyed by war. I am fond of the layout and architecture because it all reminds me of three cities that I love dearly: New York City, Washington D.C. and San Francisco. It's a weird mixture, I know, but it makes absolute sense to me and only makes me love the city more.

The final observation is of the city sounds. It is rarely ever quiet in a city. The wailing of ambulances and police sirens can be heard for miles. And I must say they are not at all fierce sounding like the ones back at home. Which usually makes me laugh. But I shouldn't laugh at people getting hurt or arrested... yeah, um. Moving on. The church bells are my favorite sound. Constantly ringing on the hour, reminding me what time it is. Which is great because I hardly ever know what time it is these days. The sound of a procession of cars honking, signals that there has been a wedding and you know the bride, groom, and their family and friends are on their way to the reception. Trains can be heard sliding down the tracks usually from any where in the city. I can ever hear one from my bedroom. Bike bells ringing, cars horns honking, pigeons cooing; but the most constant sound you hear is talking. Everywhere I go I hear German. I am so used to it now that I often scare myself when I talk aloud in English because the sound has become foreign to me. The city is alive with sounds. I love to just sit and listen to it all.

I have come to love Karlsruhe. I can't wait to spend a whole year living here. But I also can't wait to get outside her city limits!

Four Stories Up

When I think of apartments, several mental images come to mind. The first being flashes of nasty, grimy apartments that I have been to in my lifetime, and that can be found in many corners of the globe. The second being the ritzy apartments that can be found in major cities (like NYC) that I have only seen in movies and TV. The third being the apartments my friends are slowly beginning to migrate into after leaving home. The last image is a newer, less familiar mental image. It is of the apartment that I live in, and of all the many interesting apartment buildings in Karlsruhe.

The word "apartment" brings a lot to my mind. Some thoughts negative and others positive.

Apartments hold a particular intrigue to me. As a child I grew up knowing that to live in a house was an amazing blessing, and only people on their way to the top had to live in apartments (unless you lived in said ritzy apartments). I always wanted to live in an apartment though. They were just so different from what I was used to.

I currently am living in an apartment for the first time in my life. And I love it! Of course I live in a beautiful apartment, so that makes it hard not to like. It's not the Ritz. But I think it is just perfect.

I will describe it to you!

To get to my apartment you must walk up "four flights" of stairs (more like eight in my opinion... there isn't an elevator since the building is like 200 years old) and then you will arrive at the fourth floor landing. Here you have the option to open two doors. The door directly in front of you takes you into the main apartment. The door to your left takes you to the mini apartment (my room).

The main apartment is where Johannes, Christiane, Martha, and Frieda live. It is very open, big, airy, and sunshiny. The walls and ceilings are all white and the whole apartment has light colored hardwood floors. There is a modern flair to everything, with a touch of traditional here and there.

My room is big, white, and full of light. The floors are a light hardwood, and the walls and ceilings are white. It is a very odd shape because it goes along with the shape of the roof (we are on the top floor), but it is roomy and big all the same. I have my own bathroom which also has white walls, and the floor has really pretty jade tiles. All of the furniture and accessories in both my room and bathroom are from Ikea; which gives it a modern feel. I think the coolest looking thing is the big, white flower light that hangs in the middle of the room. I am not quite finished decorating my room; it is a work in process. But I like how it is shaping up.

My flower lamp! Isn't it the coolest?!

So that is my home here in Karlsruhe! I love it so very much. Whether I spend time in my room, or hang out in the main apartment, I feel very at ease. The sense of "home" hasn't quite happened yet, but I don't think it will be too long before that feeling occurs.

From now on when I think of apartments I think this home will be the first thing that comes to my mind. And that doesn't bother me one bit.