Aachen, Germany: Crossing the Invisible Border

Like all great things, the trip to Aachen, Germany, in the last weekend of September, started with a Facebook message, asking who would be interested in spending the day in the westernmost city of Deutschland.

In the end, after many of our little group declined due to other obligations, the great adventurers team ended up being Ruth, Mostafa, Marija, Samuel, and myself, a combination which in its own right ensures a good time.

Group Picture — Absent for the obvious reason of taking the picture: Sam

And what a good time it was.

Meeting at the train/bus station, we had a good breakfast of smoothies and sandwiches courtesy of the Albert Heijn (that’s a famous supermarket chain here in NL for those of you who don’t know it) while we waited for the group to be complete, then the bus.

Here’s the first discovery I made that day.

It’s much cheaper to go back and forth to Germany than to go across the city of Maastricht. Case in point, we paid 8 euros for a two-way bus ticket, while when I don’t have enough credit on my bus card, I have to pay 10 euros to go from where I live all the way to Musketruwe, where a sizeable bunch of friends live.

We quickly claimed the back seats of the bus: you know those seats that on every trip you ever took in high school or college was claimed by the people who would “get the party started.” While there wasn’t an opportunity to do that, seeing that I also don’t have a derbakeh, a staple of Lebanese road trips, with me here, it was still enjoyable being on an elevated platform and having a section of the bus all to ourselves.

Here’s a second discovery I made.

There is no formal indication, not even a single sign, that you’ve crossed the border and you’re now in the German territories. For someone who is so used to seeing a welcoming and exiting sign for the every two streets that make up Lebanese villages, not having that to separate two countries was a shocking surprise.

Random Signs — This is how I knew we were in Germany

There wasn’t an even actual border per se!

It would actually take a kilometer or so for me to realize we were in Aachen and only because the billboards’ language had changed from Dutch to German.

Once we arrived at the train station of Aachen, we quickly set out to look for a map, just so we’d have a slight indication of where we were going- though I wouldn’t have minded getting lost. At least we had a German speaker among us.

Aachen train station — Yup, looks like something out a movie

We realized though that heading to the Tourist Information Center would be much more helpful than the station, so that was obviously our next destination. Of course, on our way there, we saw this, and we just had to take a picture.

horses — Nice horse (that I couldn't get on)

Then there was the delightful gelatto shop just a few steps away from the station, and since having dessert before having lunch is always an enjoyable experience, we all got two scoops. Readers, I cannot begin to describe just how wonderful that scoop of After Eight ice cream was. Basically it’s mint and chocolate- and I got the other scoop with my favorite: raspberry, making for a very interesting but dream inducing ice cream.

Ice cream break — Well deserved delicious ice cream break

Here’s a third discovery, one that delighted this native of Beirut.

Aachen has hills. Actual hills. You actually go up and down the street instead of walking straight ahead. I could not be any happier, sometimes just skipping in the middle of the street- I’m sure the rest of the group wondered what the hell was going through my mind.

Anyway, after picking up the map and seeing just how crowded, but very beautiful the town was on that fateful Saturday, we went about exploring, mingling in with the crowd of people who seemed to be enjoying all the activities and randomness on the streets.

As we walked along, we discovered the Aachen Cathedral, a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. I’m a sucker for cultural things, and one of my ultimate life goals is to visit as much World Heritage Sites as possible, so adding this to the list of places I’ve seen was just wonderful.

Being me, I started taking pictures randomly but was quickly interrupted by one of the caretakers, who told me that I’d need to pay a Euro to be able to take as much pictures as I want. Seeing how beautiful the place is, and how people back home are always begging me to take pictures, that Euro was well spent.

We wandered around the streets for the remainder of the day, often stopping at shops or getting some food. The guys even had a frisbee on hand, passing it to each other as we made our way through the streets.

Then, came the best part of the whole trip: going to DM.

DM, as Ruth explained, is girl heaven, meaning that they have cosmetics and beauty products beyond your wildest dreams. So, we headed in, while the gentlemen waited outside. I don’t know how long we were in there, but honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have left AND I would’ve bought the entire store.

I even found blue liquid eyeliner after looking for it for almost two years across two countries! All the more reason to be happy!

As the day was coming to a close, we spent some time in the park, where the guys, of course, put their frisbee skills to the test, while we just sat there soaking up the long-missed sunshine.

But the trip to Aachen was not complete yet.

Here’s a funny thought. People who often go on such trips go back with distinct memorabilia to remind them of the place. What did we do instead? We went to Starbucks.

Yes people, you read right. Starbucks.

You see, here in Maastricht, we have a knock-off version of the coffee giant, called CoffeeLovers, but the original brand itself is nowhere to be seen. As someone who can get high on all those mocha frappucinos, it’s really sad that we have three branches of H&M and no Starbucks.

So naturally, I was thrilled.

Standing in line to get my order, I noticed that we were not the only ones who had searched endlessly for a Starbucks. They actually had a board upon which people had left napkins and notes to commemorate their visit.