Exchanges reunited.

When I was in year 10 at school I took part in the German exchange. A 15 year old Lucy headed over to Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich, for a week. A couple of weeks later my exchange partner, Sarah, came to visit me for a week. The experience completely changed how I viewed learning German; without it I would not be where I am now.

Lucy and Sarah

Sarah and I continued visiting each other for a couple of years but then life got in the way: I hit A-levels and moved to uni whilst Sarah went to the USA for a year and then did Abitur. There was never enough time. So when I realised I'd be living in Germany for a year I was determined to see Sarah again.

On Thursday, after four years of not seeing each other, I was reunited with Sarah. So much has happened in four years but it felt like nothing had changed. There was something strangely familiar about walking along in the sunshine together. Over the course of the weekend we did all the 'Lucy and Sarah traditions': making Eierlikörkuchen, playing yahtzee and laughing at me trying to ride a bike that is so big I can't touch the ground. There is something worrying about cycling around a city knowing that the only way to stop is to fall off.

Friday was spent in Nuremberg/Nürnberg, which is only about 20 minutes by train from Erlangen. To go all British on you, the weather was absolutely gorgeous: sunny and warm and lovely. It was a momentous occasion as I actually went out for the day without a coat... now when did that last happen?! The first thing that struck me about Nürnberg was how tall the buildings are. Not the skyscraper sort of tall, but normal, tall buildings with steeply pitched roofs and dozens of windows. The city has retained a medieval feel, despite the majority of the buildings being reconstructed following World War II.

We had a nice wander round the city, to the Frauenkirche [a church], Mauthalle [toll house], Hauptmarkt and Schöner Brunnen [main market and beautiful well]... you get the idea. It was a standard 'Lucy exploring a city on foot': see as much as possible. Visiting the Kaiserburg [imperial castle] is a must so off we went. It is a steep climb into the castle, but it unsurprisingly offers lovely views of Nürnberg. And even better there was a tower to climb! But before climbing the tower we saw the Deep Well. I can confirm that it was very deep. Apparently this is a famous feature of the castle...

It was a hazy day, but the view from the top of the tower still impressive. Underneath each window there were photos of what the view had looked like before World War II and then immediately after the war. I had no idea how badly hit Nürnberg was - second only to Dresden in terms of extent of damage and civilian deaths. Being able to compare the 'before' and 'after' made the view even more interesting.

Rathaus // Nürnberg // Schöner Brunnen // Frauenkirche

After lunch Sarah and I set off on the trail of more recent history. Nürnberg has the dubious honour of being a favourite city of the Nazi Party, with numerous conferences and rallies being held there. There is now a museum on the former rally grounds, the Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände [Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds]. Henceforth referred to as the Dokuzetrum because there is no way I'm typing that again. The Dokuzentrum is a museum housed in the unfinished Nazi Congress Hall (which was designed to hold 50 000 people- that's twice the size of the colosseum!). It was a fascinating museum, detailing everything from Hitler's rise to power through to the Nuremberg Trials and executions. There was almost too much information but it was so interesting. At the end of the museum tour you walked out into the centre of the hall, which felt absolutely colossal. The Nazi architectural aim of making the individual feel insignificant certainly worked here.

The rostrum

Suffering slightly from the information overload, Sarah and I walked to the Zeppelinfeld. This was the part of the rally grounds I recognised: a huge grandstand with steps down to the 'Führer's rostrum'. Nowadays the grandstand is slowly falling apart but you are still allowed to climb it. Up the stairs and along the back of the stand to the metal double doors, then down the central stairs on to the balcony. This was where Hitler stood in front of his people. He stood where I was standing. Knowing who stood there before you and what he did is a feeling unlike any other. The rally ground still has a certain atmosphere. The stands may be crumbling and there may be a football pitch and lorries in the middle of the field but there is still a presence to it. The scale of it all is hard to convey. Zeppelinfeld is bigger than 12 football pitches. The rally grounds covered 11 square kilometres. Eleven.

The next day was Erlangen day. With Sarah as my tour guide we had a relaxed day wandering round, visiting the assorted churches, squares and the Schlossgarten. Erlangen is the perfect size place: it has everything you need but is still easy to get around.

Erlangen

All in all I had a fantastic weekend with Sarah. It was a bit of a relief that we still got along so well, and I loved being back in Bavaria. I can't wait to spend the Summer here (spoiler alert!).