tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524471174570445036.post7103785586302406259..comments2023-05-16T12:26:09.102+01:00Comments on The Historical House: Not Your Oma's CologneMrs McLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524471174570445036.post-11781237044777912282016-01-21T09:46:45.500+00:002016-01-21T09:46:45.500+00:00Thank you for the native's eye view! The Karl ...Thank you for the native's eye view! The Karl May tip was for talking to old people, really. I thought about qualifying that by saying the younger generation might not have read Karl May. But the Canadian tourist industry and First Nations Peoples do make sacks of money from eager Germans coming to see the Real Thing. <br /><br />Thanks especially for the Octoberfest tip! As much as I threaten, I would really like to go back to Frankfurt again. I had a nice little visit to Cologne last summer with family (during Gay Pride Week, actually, so there was a different demographic around). It was quite different from my visit in 2006 when I was on my own. Mrs McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3524471174570445036.post-71450695983128915432016-01-20T21:46:42.928+00:002016-01-20T21:46:42.928+00:00No 12-14: So true – you seem to have grasped some ...No 12-14: So true – you seem to have grasped some of our characteristics quite well. As to no. 12, we bring this topic up eventually, no matter which nation you are (Allied or not). The trauma continues… I have to defend ourselves a little (thereby confirming your no. 13): At least some of us know that Karl May’s descriptions of Indians do not reflect reality. I enjoyed reading his books and dressing up as Winnetou as a kid, but I think I could not bear it any more now; it is such 19th century rubbish (and quite racist). I would not even think of asking American or Canadian visitors to read Karl May before coming to Germany (I would feel quite embarrassed if they did).<br /><br />I think all of your tips are relevant, not only in Germany, but in other European countries as well (as you said). I would add, go out alone at night if you want to, but use streets that are well-lit and where there are other people. If you look like an average Central European, that is; I guess it is different if you are foreign-looking. <br />I am German, and I don’t have a car, so I always travel by public transport, also at night, and mostly alone. Only yesterday I did a 6-hour train journey through Germany and Switzerland. My current train-travelling experience is that there are rather more foreign-looking people in the stations than there used to be, but I myself have never been harassed in a train station or anywhere else by anyone. On the trains, there is the exact same grumpy-looking crowd as always. Tens of thousands of normal people still use trains and walk through city centres every day. I must say that my most unpleasant experience with travelling by train and walking through a German city was being anywhere near Munich Central Station during the Oktoberfest. Avoid, avoid, avoid. 6 million visitors in three weeks, all of them passing through the Central Station, and most of them drunk. (Nobody talks about the number of assaults on women during the Oktoberfest.)<br />So at the moment I can say that I don’t feel any more insecure walking through a German city by night or travelling by train than I did a few months ago, and I hope and pray to God that this does not change. I would like to encourage anyone who wants to come here – it is not as bad as the media say! (Not yet?) Apply the usual cautions, of course, then you should be fine!Magdalenanoreply@blogger.com