Plettenberg

Last weekend I visited my friend Jil.  The universities are on a much different schedule than I am used to; while they do have a Christmas break, it is short and full of studying because the final examinations are not until January.  Once completed, the students have nearly two months free.  This, of course, effects their summer break as well, which is in August and September.  Jil is a student at the University of Heidelberg so she went home last month and she invited me to stay with her for a weekend.  It was wonderful!  I arrived on Saturday midday and departed early Monday morning.  We went on three adventures.  First, we traveled to Attendorn to see Atta-Hoehle (Atta-Cave) which is a public attraction in the area.  The cave contains nearly a kilometer of various stalactites.  I never knew there were so many varieties.  There were those that looked like luxurious curtains, bacon, wedding cakes, and icicles.  There were also small areas of crystal rocks.  My favorite was the underground sea, a small pond which was absolutely crystal clear with small crystal growths at the bottom.  I was not allowed to take pictures but they have a wonderful website with plenty, http://www.atta-hoehle.de/.  Second, we visited Altena, home of the castle Burg Altena.  The castle was originally constructed in the 12th century.  It was much smaller then and as the centuries past, the castle expended to the size it remains today.  The interior of the castle is filled with artifacts that remained or that were found on the grounds.  It was incredible to be reminded of how old the human race is.  We were busy studying various objects when we were told that the castle would close in 15 minutes and it was possible to be trapped within.  We quickly made our exit.  We enjoyed take-out Chinese food for dinner and a movie.  A note on the Chinese food in Germany, it is the same as in America.  Our third adventure was to the Cologne Zoo.  It is only an hour to Cologne from Plettenberg so we left in the morning and arrived midday.  It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny.  We spent several hours wondering the zoo looking at animals that I have never even seen before.  My favorite was the "Amerikanischer Waschbaer" (American raccoon.  I've seen plenty of American raccoons huddled in the compost eating their midnight snack but I have never seen one on display at the zoo.  Quite amusing!  We also spent some time in the aquarium which is always a treat.  There are so many fish that I have never seen.  Jil seems to be an expert and she was able to tell me details about each fish.  Speaking of fish, we cooked fish for dinner with baked potatoes.  It was a perfect weekend!