“I’m feeling ill, I think I might get sick”. Not the words you would like to hear from your colleague sitting next to you on the plane with a long flight/s still ahead. It was Matt’s turn to feel under the weather as I had my turn on our trip last month to the Philippines(view Blog post here). I felt sorry for him as he tossed and squirmed in his seat the entire trip. Having no leg room at all couldn’t have helped. It was probably the most cramped we have been on our journeys. Not sure why Turkish Airlines assumed that everyone traveling on this plane would be tiny. We have gone on the exact same model plane with other airlines, even on the return trip it was better, and the seats weren’t as cramped. The joys of travel.
This trip was a lot less stressful than any of our other trips as we seemed to have spare time to either explore or in Matt’s case recover and get well. As you can imagine in Germany everything works like clockwork and everyone obeys the rules so coming from South Africa it seemed quite bland. We loved the old buildings, the parks and gardens, the shops etc but something seemed to be missing. I think it was the unpredictable lifestyle and excitement of living in South Africa that was missing. It seems strange but it was noticeable. Even the sunrises and sunsets seemed tame but that may have been due to the time of the year and season. We are lucky to be able to experience these places and compare them to our own country as we often assume that everything is better elsewhere. Hannover is a beautiful city and worth exploring and I really enjoyed seeing all the old European style buildings with very few modern high rise buildings to litter the skyline. It actually did not feel like a modern, loud, hustle and bustle kind of city which was quite refreshing.
Here are some pics of Hanover, the capital city of the German state of Lower Saxony, and some comments of our experiences in the city.
The view from the New Town Hall in Hannover. We were lucky to get an opportunity to go up in the lift just before the opening ceremony for Routes Europe and take in this magnificent view.
I woke up early the first morning and went exploring whilst poor Matt slept in, obviously not well if he wasn’t joining me, and found a couple of amazing photo opportunities. The Leineschloss (English: Leine Palace), situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is the former residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors and kings. Currently it is the seat of the Landtag of Lower Saxony.
The beautiful Maschpark behind the New Town Hall is an ideal place to take a stroll or just relax and enjoy the views especially with the trees in blossom.
The Old Town of Hannover with it’s interesting buildings and abundance of restaurants.
A more modern building reflecting the sunrise.
The walks around the Maschpark are a real treat and they help you unwind and take in some natural beauty.
A lonely bicycle awaits its owner.
Bicycles are extremely popular in Europe and here in Hannover they are used by students, pensioners, postmen, delivery people and a lot more. They have nice, wide bicycle lanes on the pavements as well.
A stunning old church in Old Town Hannover.
Our favourite shop, a grocery store as seen from our apartment window. They had everything that you could need in this store even though it was tiny compared to our big supermarkets here in South Africa.
A pedestrian walking off into the sunset in Old Town Hannover.
A night scene of Old Town Hannover.
This was quite an odd looking building in Hannover and looked bit out of place amongst the more traditional and older buildings.
Some locals enjoying a game of boule in the gardens alongside the Herrenhauser Garden. I love playing this game and should have asked if I could join in, opportunity lost.
The stunning gardens of the Maschpark.
One of my favourite shots as I loved all the red rooftops surrounding the old church.
A view of the New Town Hall from across the Maschsee.
I am not sure but someone said that this is a one of a kind lift as it goes up in a crooked line. One minute we were standing upright the next we were falling over. It was quite bizarre. I did struggle with my claustrophobic tendencies but the glass bottom and top helped to distract me enough.
It was so cool to see a cygnet along with it’s parents on our stroll around the Maschsee.
The beautiful avenue of trees around the Maschsee. It must be quite stunning in summer when all the leaves are on the trees. It was quite odd seeing almost every tree whether it was in a park or on the sidewalks all pruned. It looked like it anyway but maybe it was just because those types of trees looked like that in winter.
I am not sure if there was no space inside the house for this child’s bicycle or if they just wanted to be like the adults and chain the bike outside to the pole.
The Leine river flowing over a weir just before sunrise with the New Town Hall in the background.
Read here about conference that we were in Hannover to capture.
