I was really surprised that my brother told me he would be coming over to Germany during my research stay, during his vacation. I mean, what are the odds that we can meet at the other half of the Earth? But it all happened between 7Apr and 9Apr, 2012.
I went to the station to pick him up, and we walked to my place. It was pretty cold but bearable. After settling down I was planning to show him around the city by bike. I did all the planning to register a phone number, which was required to register for a bike rental service. The rental service sounded very convenient: you go to a certain spot, read the number on one of the bikes there, call them and they text you the combination of the lock. But it all went down when the combination didn't work at all!! Me and my brother stood in the cold and tried everything we could, but the lock didn't open... we gave up and went to the closest coffee shop.
We also had the strangest weather on that day. We saw clear sky, which went to shower, then went to hail, followed by snow, and ended with clear sky again in the evening. We were actually glad that the bike thing didn't work out, otherwise we would have to bike in snow...
On the next day the weather was gorgeous. Some how my brother found a place called Millenium Tower which was inside a park. It was within a 30 minutes of walk so we decided to go.
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| Collage of activities with Bro on 8Apr morning and noon. |
The tower had been closed for winter until 6Apr so we were fortunate enough to see it open. But there weren't a lot of visitors. The tower looked like a drill coming out from the ground and got stuck. It was hollow inside showcasing some of the important discoveries through history. Starting with fundamental maths and Egyptian translations, to electricity and space travel, as we walked up the stairs. And once we got close to the top of the tower, we went out and walked down the spiral.
We stayed there for a quick lunch and we decided to order some German food. And so we got the Currywurst mit Brot. Food was good and the weather made it better.
In the evening I decided to take him to a landmark of the city: The Green Citadel of Magdeburg. It was designed by the architect Friedensreich Hundertwesser.
(http://www.gruene-zitadelle.de/englisch/)
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| Die Grüne Zitadelle von Magdeburg: The Green Citadel of Magdeburg |
It was a strange building, to me it looked like a cake -- colorful (all the pillars were painted in multiple colors) and puffy. What's more interesting was although it was named "Green", it's actually pink. Only the roof was green in color.
After that we tried to find a place for dinner but most places were closed. We eventually stopped by a place called The Flair. A nice little restaurant close to the central station. The waitress was kind enough to give us an English menu but we tried to order in German. The food was great. I did not expect orange and tomato would go so well with chicken and pasta.
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After spending a few years overseas all by myself I come to realize the importance of staying connected to who you truly care, and nothing, nothing beats being in the same space together. And I had this chance with my one and only brother here in Magdeburg.
It was my best Easter ever.
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