i live in aachen, germany. it's referred to as a historical spa city. hence, it's a small touristic city, located at the western border with belgium and netherland. this location is somehow special since aachen forms a triangle between germany - netherlands - belgium. for example, it takes me by bus only 10 min from where i live to the nearest dutch town (Vaals), and about 30 min to the nearest belgian one! (and it's all for free too
)
aachen is known for some famous things:
RWTH aachen, one of the most prestigious universities in germany (currently ranked top), and one of the leading technology unis in europe.
Klinikum Aachen, the biggest single-building hospital in europe. it is part of the RWTH Aachen and contains its whole medical faculty as well.
Aachen Cathedral, a roman catholic church. it's the oldest cathedral in northern europe, and it was one of the first 12 items (second, as i was told by a city-tour guide) to make the entry into the UNESCO list of world heritage sites, as the first German and one of the first three European historical ensembles.
Weather, one of the worst you could ever witness! very unstable and changeable. Aachen is known as the "Regenloch" (Raining Hole)
As to the social life, well, as in all small cities, the germans are not that sociable with foreigners (the arabs at most)! but to some extent of course, specially that aachen is a touristic and a "students" city.
and this gets on my nerves sometimes since till now i always get a repelling first impression just because i'm lebanese. (the lebanese do have one do the worst reputations around btw, and i can wonder why!!)
briefly, aachen is a lovely and calm (to some extent) city, deserves a touristic visit and perfect for (academic studies) students. but when it comes to the social life, it could get a little bid boring!
as for me, i'm moving to berlin in few months. somehow, i'm fed up with aachen. it's time for a new start! a lot of great memories though; it was a special experience after all.
as to the pics, the ones i have are too large to post (> 3 MPixels). i got some resized though, and the rest collected from the net.
Aachen Location
Aachen cathedral
Cathedral
Klinikum
Klinikum
Uni's main building (old image)
German - Dutch - Belgian boder
center of the city
street
Carolus Thermen (a waterfall)
Aachen City Hall (Rathaus) - rear view
Aachen Hauptbahnhof (Main Railstation)
Aachen Theater
Kasino Aachen
Elisenbrunnen - natural hot water spring right in the middle of the hall in the pic , it's very healthy but smells as hell
Main shopping street
Weichnachtsmarkt - Christmas Market, attracts yearly visitors and shoppers from around all the nearby regions in germany, netherlands and belgium
Karneval Aachen - it's an annual event, whereas everyone gets disguised and hits the streets while a parade of differently uniformed people and decorated vehicles and throw huge amounts of candies and similar things towards the crowd (my cell phone camera)
Karneval
during World Cup
Westpark (my camera)
from my window
my old faithful bicycle (Zarife)
maybe i'll add some interesting pics later on.
2nd April 2008
