Last day in Banská Bystrica

I walked around and took more camera shots of the Old City. However, as with every town, there are contemporary parts that have the modern look, and areas that are less well maintained. One or two pictures should be included to give a more accurate impression.

Banská Štiavnica: Calvary

Banská Štiavnica: Town centre

Banská Štiavnica: Svätý Anton

A day at Banská Štiavnica

For a few more days in Banská Bystrica, we visited with relatives, and I got to see a few of the classic sites. Love the castles and palaces! The churches are numerous and spectacular, too. Every town and village seems to have its monuments, or at least old structures that date back to medieval times or earlier. I read up a bit on the history of this region so I could put what I saw in context.
There also is a beautiful countryside all around Slovakia. The trees and other vegetation are lush, thanks to a warm and humid climate. The Slovak government also is doing much to preserve the forests, bolster small-scale agriculture, and maintain parks.
There are numerous spas in the country based on thermal springs.
We went for an afternoon hike with a cousin and her husband, up from the picturesque village of Lopej. For the first time, I had someone happy to take a photo of me, for a change.

Banská Bystrica region

Beginning with the Middle Ages, Banská Bystrica rose to prominence in the region and eventually became its capital. Interestingly, it got a large boost during the 15th c. with the importation by the current local ruler of German engineers and miners. It is now an Autonomous Region, incorporating twelve different towns and areas. Banská Štiavnica and Kremnica are among these. We visited Banská Štiavnica, which has an even more pervasive historical flavour and has been designated by the UN as a world heritage site.
The top image is a map of Slovakia and its location in Europe. Click on the image to get an enlarged view. Banská Bystrica is roughly in the centre. The capital, Bratislava, is on the southwestern edge and just across the border with Austria, close to Vienna.
After that, there are scenes of BB from our hotel room. Other than a large, ugly roof right below our balcony, the view is quite spectacular. One of them is of a well-known museum and memorial dedicated to the National uprising of 1944.

Into Slovakia: Banská Bystrica

During our stay in Frankfurt and, mainly, Kassel, we needed the time to adapt. As a result, we slept a great deal, and much of that time during the day. Of course, things got much better by the time we left. The weather was pretty nice, with high temperatures around the low to mid-20s, and very little rain during the day.
On August 11, we boarded a very early train to Frankfurt Airport, hung out for a few hours waiting for our flight to Vienna, and then spent about 3 and a half hours on the plane. After that, it got hectic. We "fortunately" were able to get on a bus to Bratislava within half an hour, and then again had about 20 minutes to board another bus to Banská Bystrica in Central Slovakia. I used quotations marks because, although it meant timely connections, it also became a major rush, piling one leg of the trip on top of another. Bathroom and meal opportunities were highly limited. By the time we arrived at our hotel, it was evening, and we were tired, hungry, and grouchy. In hindsight, we agreed to split up the journey next time. A relaxing night in Vienna would have been much better, although we had already booked the hotel in BB and would have had to make a change.
The transition was also hard in other other ways. First, the urban landscape changed, as Slovakia is not quite yet in the position to have everything new, sparkling, or restored the way it seems to be in Germany. Thus, dust, decay, gray colours, and graffiti were a bit more evident as we moved in and out of Bratislava, and then into Banská Bystrica. Secondly, our roles in the cultural and lingusitic arena were now completely reversed: I know about ten words in Slovak, and within a day became almost completely dependent on Stefan, who proceded to move along at a fast pace while I struggled with my overpacked luggage (another urgent lesson to learn, AGAIN: pack light!). We ended up sleeping away our tiredness and glum moods for another day. Then things brightened up again. Note: Sleep definitely helps.
Banská Bystrica is quite pretty--actually beautiful in places--with lots of history seeping out all over the town and the region. We came here because Stefan was born here and has extended family.
The town itself was designated as such in the thirteenth century, with economy built mainly (and literally) on mining. The principal ore had been copper, but there was also silver and some gold. These two other ores were more prominent in the two "sister" towns of Banská (that means "mining") Štiavnica (silver) and Kremnica (gold). Most of the mining activity took place from the 13th to 18th centuries.
Early on, I took some nighttime shots of the main, market square, the Námestie Slovenkého Národného Postvania. (Now you see what I mean about the language.) It means Square of Slovak National Uprising. And what did they rise up against? The Nazi Germans, or fascists, in 1944! Talk about another side of history, and the views deriving thereof. Not that other nations hadn't invaded Slovakia before (e.g., Hungarians) and after (Russians), but of course this chapter, still in some living memory and displayed in museums and memorials, stands out somewhat. There didn't seem to have been as much resistance to other conquests. In fact, prior to 1944, there was little agitation against the Germans, either.

There were a few days when I did not have the time and/or energy to post, but now I'm working hard on catching up. More to come.

Kassel centre: Part 3 - Brothers Grimm

jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) Grimm, who had several other siblings as well, were not only collectors and scribes of fairytales, but also academics and professors who wrote about grammar and German language in general. They believed that folk tales are of great cultural importance, and also that they can and should be used to illustrate features of language, and to engage students. This has poignant tones for me, for two reasons. One, I was entranced by the Grimms' fairytales and did indeed read voraciously. Two, my current work (and passion) is in the use of feature films in the classroom and the role of narrative overall in teaching and learning. More than plays, for example, it appears that stories are an integral part of meaning making, and of engaging people in themes and topics.
From the Web, I downloaded a photo of the Brüder Grimm house in Kassel, now a small museum, which we did visit and I found very inspiring. It was difficult to take a photo at the time because across the narrow lane there is a walking path bordered by dense bushes and trees on an incline, making it hard to step back and get the whole view. I also got two illustrations of the brothers themselves.
Finally, as we got ready to leave Kassel, I found one more, clear picture of the Hercules statue, without the shrouds that were on it during our visit, due to renovative work. In this way, I have come full circle, and will now move to our next destination.

Kassel centre: Part 2

Just before the main centre square is another one called Friedrichsplatz. These photos I took myself.
My old friend Don Halward wrote that he remembers a square with littles cafés and stores (or something like that). This one has lots of both, and they extend along most of the street.
I noted the banner on the north side announcing the Brothers Grimm festival. This is significant to me because of the brothers' huge influence, not only the systematic presentation and dissemination of German fairytales, but on German language teaching, literature, and literacy itself. Much of their work was done in Kassel, and other parts of Hessen.

A look at Kassel centre, part 1

Kassel is a modern, sprawling city with diverse vistas, much like any other. I have stuck to some of the more historical, picturesque, and personally meaningful parts.
These photos are of the city centre, or "Stadtmitte." By tram or bus, which gave frequent and timely service, we could be at any of our areas of interest within about 15 minutes. It took only 5 from our hotel to the main centre square (Platz), called Königsplatz. The main street, appropriately, is called Obere Königsstrasse (upper king street). Again, I ran out of time to take more pics, but this area is so well known, culturally, that I was able to download some from the Web. Not far from the Königsplatz, there are routes to other features such as museums, monuments, and opera house.

Kirchditmold: Part 2

The street where we lived in Kirchditmold was called Riedwiesen Strasse. The lush vegetation and overall green look noticeable in the "Land" of Hessen (originally its own jusrisdiction, and now what we think of as a province) again is evident here, and our (rented) house was a bit nicer than where we lived before. That little place, reminiscient of a cottage and which still sported a coal stove for heating, was torn down long ago. You can see the modern house now in its place. Nevertheless, the property brings back memories. Below the shrubbery shown in one photo is a very small brook that runs above or below ground through much of the street. I loved playing there--it was a miniature ecological paradise for a child. You can also see the street corner, and on top the view from here up the street. The picket fence might still be the original--it certainly looks familiar.