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Germany Part 6: Exploring Aachen with some Hivians (Fotos + Video)

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@lizanomadsoul
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As I told you already one week ago, two days ago I for the first time since Corona traveled a bit further in train to visit some Hivians and join the Meetup in Aachen organized by @detlev.

So I woke up early on Thursday, packed my things and ran to the train station to buy some breakfast and onboard the ICE.

The ICE train was pretty empty luckily, so we all had enough space for ourselves and felt safe. At the same time it was very weird to wear the mask for the whole time and have people sitting around doing the same for about 6 hours.

At first it felt like being in some kind of weird movie, but with the time I got used to it and decided to eat something and then work preparing posts and doing my job as communication manager of @hivebuzz.

I just had to switch my train once in Frankfurt and then a few hours later I already arrived at Aachen Central station, where I finally could get rid of my mask!

From there it was only a 10minutes walk to @aixvox headquarters. @detlev and @aurorum were already waiting for me. A little bit after @louis88 and @wehmoen joined the party and it was time for us to discover the city!

Of course I wouldn't visit @deltev without getting a little walk through the city.

We learned that Aachen is an independent city in the North Rhine-Westphalian administrative district of Cologne with about 250 000 inhabitants. Since the city exceeded the population of 100,000 for the first time in 1890 it has been the westernmost German city. Aachen directly borders the Netherlands and Belgium.

With the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen has one of the largest and most traditional technical universities in Europe, as well as other universities. About 50 000 inhabitants are students!

Due to the border location "in the heart of Europe" there are numerous cultural, especially architectural influences from the neighboring regions, the Belgian-Dutch area.

Aachen is a state-approved spa for the spa areas Monheimsallee and Burtscheid with their rich thermal springs.

So passing the central station we were first headed to the city hall went from there towards the Aachener Dom.

On our way we saw the Puppenbrunnen! The fountain represents various things that make Aachen special, like: Horse show, trade, church, textile industry, teaching, culture and carnival.

The city's landmark, the Aachen Cathedral, goes back to the Palatinate Chapel, which is considered a masterpiece of Carolingian architecture. Together with the cathedral treasure, the cathedral was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978 as the first German and the second cultural monument worldwide.

The dome was completed around 800 and was the largest free-floating dome north of the Alps for around 400 years. The marble throne of Charlemagne still stands on the upper floor of the Aachen octagon, and 30 German kings were crowned there between 936 and 1531.

From there we walked a bit further to reach the Domkeller, a little bar with many seats outside, perfect to enjoy a ice cold beer on a warm day like this.

After a few hours we became hungry and decided to walk towards the Pont Strasse to find something eatable.

On our way we passed the theater and Elisenbrunnen, where you can see, touch and smell thermal water.

The classicist building was completed in 1827 and, along with the town hall and cathedral, is one of the city's landmarks. Completely destroyed in World War II on July 14, 1943, it was rebuilt true to the original in 1953.

The Elisenbrunnen consists of an open convertible hall with a porch and a pavilion on the left and right with several rooms. The warm, sulphurous thermal water of the Kaiserquelle flows from two drinking fountains (52°C).

Reaching the Pontstrasse we were looking for food! We past a variety of pubs, restaurants and cafes located right over Aachen's cobblestones.

The first section of Pontstrasse is a meeting place for younger and young-at-heart audiences and the upper section also offers restaurants and bars for those who like it a little quieter.

As it was very late most of the restaurants were closed already though, so we ended up eating Kebab bevor driving home and have a good night sleep to be ready for the famous Aachen Meetup the next day!

But more about that soon!

Until then enjoy watching the little video of the day:

Thanks to @louis88 for providing some of the pictures :)

Cheers, Liz