Martin um die Welt: Visit to Germany: hiking the Elbe Sandstone Mountains

Sonntag, 20. März 2016

Visit to Germany: hiking the Elbe Sandstone Mountains

After my arrival in Germany, Franzi had a surprise party for me on Friday. Many friends came over for drinks and chats :) The next morning (12.03.) we went for a hiking trip to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. We started in Königstein hiking its fortress. Unfortunately, it was really cloudy and a bit cold. That's not bad for hiking in general, but disturbed the great views. We hiked up to the fortress, walked around the fortress to enjoy the views and then found a nice path near the castle for good castle views. We then drove to Bad Schandau where we stayed at Pension Waldhäusl. As there was a private party ongoing, we went into the city center and had dinner at a cosy restaurant there. The next morning (13.03.) we drove to Beuthenfall where we started a 6h hiking trip. Oberer Affensteinweg - Idagrotte - Fremdenweg - Reitsteig - Wurzelweg - Elbleitenweg - Zeughausweg. Quite a trip with great views despite the clouds. A great place for hiking! On the way home we stopped in Pirna city center for dinner in a greece restaurant. Back in Leipzig, we continued looking for a new apartment in Leipzig and I visited my parents. On Friday (18.03.) I went to Hamburg to meet the Joachim Herz Foundation that provides me with an additional fellowship. We cooked dinner together and had some drinks. The next day we gave short talks on our research and visited the Bernhard-Notch-Institute in Hamburg city. I used the rest of the day for some sightseeing in Hamburg, but the weather was cold and misty. The next morning I flew from Hamburg to Frankfurt to continue to Boston. But my flight was overbooked. I took a train to Leipzig to see my wife again and flew the next morning (21.03.) from Frankfurt back to Boston.