A short weekend trip to Aachen was on the calendar recently.
Friend P and I hadn’t been there before even though it’s only 5km across the border from Vaals, the most southern part of the NL.
We left bright and early and arrived before most of the shops were even open. Any excuse to sit in a backerei with a fresh bretzel and coffee.
Stuff to see in Aachen: the cathedral, old city hall and healing waters. There are also remains of Roman buildings, and statues everywhere. The statues were not just of old guys on horses, there was one of the big dude (Charlemagne, or Charles the Great) just standing in a fountain and holding a globe and sword, without a horse in sight. Then there was one of a horse without a rider. We never found out whose horse this was, but either way, it was a refreshing change.
The best statue by far, is the one of a young woman reading.
Aachen is a small and compact town that you can easily cover in a day, if you don’t let yourself get distracted by shops or the plenty picturesque squares and parks. P and I easily get distracted though, so we were happy to have two days to wander around and discover.
Stuff we discovered:
- an English language section in a bookshop which cost us dearly
- pineapples you can drink from
- a new variety of one of my favorite beers available and on sale
- booze and books are an excellent combination (this was more an affirmation than a discovery, but still)
We didn’t just do (drunk) touristy stuff, but also did some solid shopping: products sold at the drugstore are much cheaper in Germany than they are in the NL. Here, these products are taxed as luxury goods, which leads to an almost 50% price difference. So, anytime I’m in in Germany I make sure to stock up on make-up, shampoo, soap, vitamins, toothpaste.
We also went to the supermarket (I love going to a supermarket abroad) to stock up on alcohol, because yes, that’s also much cheaper there than it is here.
We ended up with a car full of shopping bags, empty wallets, and memories of a great time; the sure signs of a great trip.
Bookworm in the City 