A Perfect Rainy Day

Hi There,

I know that I just posted about Frankfurt, but I just had the most perfect rainy day that I wanted to share with you all.

You know how rainy days can sometime be depressing? Or how other times all you want to do is curl back under the covers and go to sleep? Well my rainy day today was nothing like this!

It started out a non rainy Sunday. I woke up at 11am and felt the need to get out and do something. So I decided a walk would be the perfect activity for the day. Behind the Studentendorf (the dorms I am living in) are a bunch of woods. There are many paths in these woods. Most of them are old logging trails and lead all over the place. Today I decided to journey through these woods to the Kaiser Wilheml Turm.

It is named for Kaiser Wilhelm I. The Kings of Germany really liked to remind people that they were king, so in every "good" German city a monument was supposed to be built to honor them. In Marburg this tower was built over the course of 14 years (well really, first one tower was constructed and then it fell down before it was finished so another tower was built again several years later) and was finally finished in 1890. That very prominent (it is highly debated whether or not it is ugly) cross like thing and heart light up at night. They were put on the tower in 2009 for the 500th anniversary of St. Elizabeth (for whom a LOT of things are named in Marburg). At night the cross is usually lit up, but when you call a special number

the heart lights up. It costs a certain amount to call, but all the proceeds from the call goes to research for either AIDS or some cancer (a good cause in other words).
 

From the tower there is the most beautiful view of Marburg.

(It was about to storm, which is why it looks so dark.)

Due to the impending storm, Rachel (my journey companion for the day) and I took cover in the lovely cafe that resides in the turm.

We ended up spending 3.5 lovely hours there. We slowly ate our way through quiche, wurst, 2 pieces of cake, 3 coffees, 2 teas, and apple wine.

We also read (I continued my attempt to read Harry Potter in German), watched adorable German children splash in the rain, talked to the lovely waitress about the roses she had bought the other day, and witnessed the most epic storm I have seen since coming to Germany. There was tons of blitz and donner (lighting and thunder). The rain was so thick that you couldn't even see the city anymore.

(This is in the same direction that I took the previous pictures)

After the storm we were greeted with the most wonderful surprise:

The city was blanketed in clouds! You could just see the castle poking out of them. It was the most beautiful sight! I could gush about this for hours, but I think the pictures can at least give you a feel for how wonderful it was. And now it is time for me to go to sleep early...the perfect end to a perfect day!

Much love to you all,

Lizzie