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Gottingen

On the weekend we went to Gottingen, a small city near Kassel. Is really a lovely place, truly German. And the best part? We got there for free! Being a student at Uni Kassel has its advantages, free bus/tram/regional trains travels in the whole state is one of them.

And why, you may ask, is Gottingen so pretty and Kassel, well, not so much? Because this city was lucky enough not to be bombed during the 2nd World War, unlike Kassel.

More Kassel for your entretainment

Just a couple more photos I took when I was walking around in the city. Note: don't go out to take pictures at 4 in the afternoon, because here is almost nightfall at that time.

The City Hall, one of the few buildings that survived the bombing of the Great War.

 

After an entire semester doing a work about the Grimm's brothers Snow White I really at to put this here!

Martini Kasseler, the weizen beer of the town. Pretty good actually.

 

Natural History Museum, as you could probably figure out by the statue of the dinosaur outside.

The Orangerie, one of the many parks that Kassel has. This one is right in the centre of the city.

The Hercules

The Hercules is a pretty important monument here in Kassel. It's in the middle of a big park - Wilhelmshöhe.
It's on the top of a mount, and to get to the top you have to climb millions (yes, i'm exaggerating) of stairs, so it's not a easy way up. Oh, but it's totally worth it, the view from the top is amazing, you can see the all city.

 The long way up to Hercules.

 The Hercules (if you look carefully you can see a statue on the top, that's why it's called Hercules).
Once a day (I guess) they turn on the waterfall, and the water come all the way down, it's pretty amazing.

 Some of the people from the German language course, spanish most of them.

 And the view of the city.

Universität Kassel

The main campus of Kassel University is really beautiful. It was an old factory (I guess, I can't read german well enough to confirm it), so it all in red bricks. It was many trees, somewhat of a garden and a mini river with ducks. Oh, it is also my house, since I live inside the campus in a tiny tiny T0.
The sad part is... this is not the campus where I will have classes.

(Yes, I know... This last photo is completely out of focus... If I have the patience one of theses days I'll take some better ones.)

First impressions of Kassel

After a long way from Frankfurt Hahn, of changing between buses and trains and cabs and god knows what else, I finally arrived at Kassel.
It's a city full of contradictions, not big but not small also, not historical but not completely modern.
And the weather... well, pretty cold for me that am used to the comparatively warm portuguese winter, somewhat rainy. But on the rare sunny days is quite nice.

Nearly my first stop at Kassel, a small italian restaurant near the youth hostel.

The Studentenwerk building, the kind souls who provided me with a cheap residence.

 (small) Panoramic view of Königzplatz -  the center of the town.