On Saturday May 11, I took a train from Berlin to Bamberg and moved into the building with short-term rental apartments where I have stayed before.
During the month I finished work on my draft translation of the Dome of the Rock book by my Palestinian colleague Mohammad Ghosheh and I worked on the report of my survey project in Bhimunipatnam last February and March. I also spent some time at the end of May translating the descriptions of the course offerings of the Religion Department of the University of Eichstätt. Sabine, the wife of Klaus Bieberstein, my Bamberg colleague, is on the faculty there, and they want to have basic information about the university available in English, even though students need to know German to take the courses.
When I made the booking for my apartment some months ago, all the apartments in the building had already been booked for the Pentecost weekend, so I needed to move out on Saturday May 18 and move back in on Tuesday May 21. For those days I decided to go to the nearby city of Würzburg, where I had not been since my year in Bamberg in 2007.
In Würzburg the leading attraction is the historic Residenz from the 18th century, and I walked around the gardens of the palatial Residenz and took the tour of the building.
I also went to the Marienberg castle with the Mainfränkisches and Fürstenbau Museums. While walking around in Wüzburg I also came across the building where Wilhelm Röntgen had discovered x-rays in 1895.
One evening in Würzburg I went to a performance of Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck. I had not seen the opera performed before, although I remember well the original play by Georg Büchner from an undergraduate German literature course. On Sunday May 19, it turned out that the hotel where I was staying was at the finish line for the annual marathon, half marathon and 10 km races.
On Tuesday May 21, I moved back into my apartment in Bamberg.
The weather had been beautiful on Saturday and for the Marathon race on Sunday, but it turned cloudy and rainy that Sunday afternoon, the start of a two-week period of almost unbroken cloudy and rainy days. About the only time the weather was nice was on the morning of Thursday May 30 Fronleichnam (Corpus Christi) Day, at the time of the annual Catholic procession.
Sunday May 12 was Museum Day and I went to the Natural History Museum, where I had my office in 2007. I attended a lecture about the spectacular fossil finds from the Jurassic Period that the Museum has been uncovering at a nearby quarry at Wattendorf, and I took a tour of the museum storerooms in some underground vaults that run beneath the office of my colleague Klaus.
On Tuesday May 14 I went to the University of Erlangen to attend a lecture about the Eschatological Meaning of the Templum Domini in Jerusalem by Michelina Di Cesare. I joined the group of international research fellows for dinner afterwards.
During the month I finished work on my draft translation of the Dome of the Rock book by my Palestinian colleague Mohammad Ghosheh and I worked on the report of my survey project in Bhimunipatnam last February and March. I also spent some time at the end of May translating the descriptions of the course offerings of the Religion Department of the University of Eichstätt. Sabine, the wife of Klaus Bieberstein, my Bamberg colleague, is on the faculty there, and they want to have basic information about the university available in English, even though students need to know German to take the courses.
When I made the booking for my apartment some months ago, all the apartments in the building had already been booked for the Pentecost weekend, so I needed to move out on Saturday May 18 and move back in on Tuesday May 21. For those days I decided to go to the nearby city of Würzburg, where I had not been since my year in Bamberg in 2007.
In Würzburg the leading attraction is the historic Residenz from the 18th century, and I walked around the gardens of the palatial Residenz and took the tour of the building.
The Residenz
I also went to the Marienberg castle with the Mainfränkisches and Fürstenbau Museums. While walking around in Wüzburg I also came across the building where Wilhelm Röntgen had discovered x-rays in 1895.
The Röntgen building in Würzburg
One evening in Würzburg I went to a performance of Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck. I had not seen the opera performed before, although I remember well the original play by Georg Büchner from an undergraduate German literature course. On Sunday May 19, it turned out that the hotel where I was staying was at the finish line for the annual marathon, half marathon and 10 km races.
The start of the 10 km race from my hotel window. The finish line is at the upper right corner.
On Tuesday May 21, I moved back into my apartment in Bamberg.
The weather had been beautiful on Saturday and for the Marathon race on Sunday, but it turned cloudy and rainy that Sunday afternoon, the start of a two-week period of almost unbroken cloudy and rainy days. About the only time the weather was nice was on the morning of Thursday May 30 Fronleichnam (Corpus Christi) Day, at the time of the annual Catholic procession.
Low clearance for the Fronleichnam procession in Bamberg.
Sunday May 12 was Museum Day and I went to the Natural History Museum, where I had my office in 2007. I attended a lecture about the spectacular fossil finds from the Jurassic Period that the Museum has been uncovering at a nearby quarry at Wattendorf, and I took a tour of the museum storerooms in some underground vaults that run beneath the office of my colleague Klaus.
On Tuesday May 14 I went to the University of Erlangen to attend a lecture about the Eschatological Meaning of the Templum Domini in Jerusalem by Michelina Di Cesare. I joined the group of international research fellows for dinner afterwards.
The dinner group in Erlangen (Michelina is hidden behind the raised beer glass)
