Hey guys! This one will be just about one evening, but it was a really good evening - with lots of photos, too!
I actually made a list of the things I want to accomplish or see before I leave Germany at the end of July, a hopeful base line. Going to the Dom for a second time was one of my things that I really wanted to do, so it is exciting for me that I am already crossing things off of my list.
The Dom is a fair/carnival styled event (or at least what I would imagine they'd be like - I have never been to one other than Dom) that happens a few times a year. I went to the Sommer Dom (Summer Dom) on my birthday back in August and just now I went again with Pauline (said Pow-leen-uh), a girl from my class at school (shout out to you, if you are reading this!) to the Frühlings Dom (Spring Dom, or, when directly translated, Spring Cathedral)
We had such a great evening! I have heard this from multiple other people, and I can personally say it as well - when you go to the Hamburger Dom, a very large portion of the experience is the atmosphere that you feel while there. The circular street that makes up the main walkway for Dom is seemingly always packed with people. Normally I am not a huge fan of anything "packed with people" - particularly train/subway cars - but I also find that there are times where I really like it, or it doesn't affect me. The Dom is one of those moments. Everyone just seems so happy and excited and in the moment. Pauline and I arrived about an hour or so before sunset - which was exactly what I had hoped for. I wanted to experience the sun setting on the carnival, and all the lights from the roller coasters, other rides, as well as the never ending supply of food vending booths, getting brighter and brighter and illuminating the night.
We went on a ride that is somewhat like the Aladdin's Carpet ride in Disney World (Florida), but imagine that the seats not only rise off the ground and fly around the center-point, but also spin in place, It is spinning on top of spinning on top of going super quickly around the center-point, with really loud music blasting.
In other words, amazing.
But really, that is how I would describe the entirety of Dom - amazing.
We also went on a roller coaster, Wilde Maus Achterbahn (Wild Mouse Roller Coaster), which was exciting. The whole experience of that roller coaster was fun - even waiting in (the long, but quick) line to get on board, since the line is set up like a fun house with fairly easy obstacles to slide, roll, wiggle or be windswept through. And the ride itself was really bumpy, with lots of sharp turns and corners, followed by the ups and downs of going quickly over hills. There are tons of bars by every turn, rise and fall in the track, likely for support of the actual roller coaster. I am not that tall (... I don't think. I haven't been measured since coming to Germany, but when I left for Germany I was 5 feet 11) but every time we took a turn or rise or fall, I would somewhat worry about the location of my head in relation to the bars, as it always felt like the bars came a bit too close to my head for my liking. But nothing happened - the bars probably weren't anywhere near my head, and only felt that way since we were moving around so much and at such a speed.
I feel like I am going to forget to mention a part of what we did, but I hope I don't.
Soon, it was began to darken, and simultaneously get brighter.
We went on a swing ride, that lifts really high off of the ground, and swings around at a very quick speed, sending you coasting above the carnival, around the center-point of the ride. It was so beautiful, that I wanted to take pictures the whole time, but didn't for fear of losing my phone (not only is it my phone, but it also still has a large portion of my pictures from my time here in Germany. I should work on moving them onto my computer, but I have to do it manually, emailing them eight at a time, since my computer does not recognize that my cell phone has photos on it when I hook the two up to each other, so I haven't done it yet (there are more than 1200 pictures at the moment - and I take more and more photos everyday).
As we were heading up, my friend said "It is a good thing that I don't have a fear of heights, huh?" Then we joked around about that like "Oh no, I forgot about my fear of heights, let me out!!", while halfway to the top. But then it ended with me saying "Haha, yes, me too...." and then I thought to myself "... but it is awfully high..." I am not a person with a fear of heights, but I guess I had thought about it too much, and for half a second I was just sitting there thinking "Oh no", But luckily it was only half a second, and then I returned to my normal height fear relatively-free self, and it was so beautiful!
Afterwards, we went to the enormous Ferris Wheel, which gave us a fantastic view of the Dom! Fortunately, it was night, as that gave us a unique perspective of Dom, one that I had wanted. Unfortunately, it was night, so it was harder to make photos for the both of us. But that did not stop it from being fun!
Overall, it was a great evening, and was so much fun! Interspersed among the different rides, we also wandered and ate random carnival foods, and chatted.
I kind of want to go back to the Dom once more, since it ends on the 17th, but if it doesn't end up happening that is okay.
Sorry that this post probably doesn't flow so great, but I am tired, and so I hope you will forgive if the quality of the post is not it's best.
I think I will now do as I normally do, and let some photos talk for themselves.
Hopefully all is well with you guys! And I will talk with you soon! (I am actually quite happy with myself since it has only been five days since my last post... hopefully I can keep this up? I don't know. But I already have in mind what I want to tell you guys about/show you all in my next post)
-Jason
P.S: There are so many more photos I would love to post here from this day, but I do not want to flood this blog with too many photos.
I actually made a list of the things I want to accomplish or see before I leave Germany at the end of July, a hopeful base line. Going to the Dom for a second time was one of my things that I really wanted to do, so it is exciting for me that I am already crossing things off of my list.
The Dom is a fair/carnival styled event (or at least what I would imagine they'd be like - I have never been to one other than Dom) that happens a few times a year. I went to the Sommer Dom (Summer Dom) on my birthday back in August and just now I went again with Pauline (said Pow-leen-uh), a girl from my class at school (shout out to you, if you are reading this!) to the Frühlings Dom (Spring Dom, or, when directly translated, Spring Cathedral)
We had such a great evening! I have heard this from multiple other people, and I can personally say it as well - when you go to the Hamburger Dom, a very large portion of the experience is the atmosphere that you feel while there. The circular street that makes up the main walkway for Dom is seemingly always packed with people. Normally I am not a huge fan of anything "packed with people" - particularly train/subway cars - but I also find that there are times where I really like it, or it doesn't affect me. The Dom is one of those moments. Everyone just seems so happy and excited and in the moment. Pauline and I arrived about an hour or so before sunset - which was exactly what I had hoped for. I wanted to experience the sun setting on the carnival, and all the lights from the roller coasters, other rides, as well as the never ending supply of food vending booths, getting brighter and brighter and illuminating the night.
We went on a ride that is somewhat like the Aladdin's Carpet ride in Disney World (Florida), but imagine that the seats not only rise off the ground and fly around the center-point, but also spin in place, It is spinning on top of spinning on top of going super quickly around the center-point, with really loud music blasting.
In other words, amazing.
But really, that is how I would describe the entirety of Dom - amazing.
We also went on a roller coaster, Wilde Maus Achterbahn (Wild Mouse Roller Coaster), which was exciting. The whole experience of that roller coaster was fun - even waiting in (the long, but quick) line to get on board, since the line is set up like a fun house with fairly easy obstacles to slide, roll, wiggle or be windswept through. And the ride itself was really bumpy, with lots of sharp turns and corners, followed by the ups and downs of going quickly over hills. There are tons of bars by every turn, rise and fall in the track, likely for support of the actual roller coaster. I am not that tall (... I don't think. I haven't been measured since coming to Germany, but when I left for Germany I was 5 feet 11) but every time we took a turn or rise or fall, I would somewhat worry about the location of my head in relation to the bars, as it always felt like the bars came a bit too close to my head for my liking. But nothing happened - the bars probably weren't anywhere near my head, and only felt that way since we were moving around so much and at such a speed.
I feel like I am going to forget to mention a part of what we did, but I hope I don't.
Soon, it was began to darken, and simultaneously get brighter.
We went on a swing ride, that lifts really high off of the ground, and swings around at a very quick speed, sending you coasting above the carnival, around the center-point of the ride. It was so beautiful, that I wanted to take pictures the whole time, but didn't for fear of losing my phone (not only is it my phone, but it also still has a large portion of my pictures from my time here in Germany. I should work on moving them onto my computer, but I have to do it manually, emailing them eight at a time, since my computer does not recognize that my cell phone has photos on it when I hook the two up to each other, so I haven't done it yet (there are more than 1200 pictures at the moment - and I take more and more photos everyday).
As we were heading up, my friend said "It is a good thing that I don't have a fear of heights, huh?" Then we joked around about that like "Oh no, I forgot about my fear of heights, let me out!!", while halfway to the top. But then it ended with me saying "Haha, yes, me too...." and then I thought to myself "... but it is awfully high..." I am not a person with a fear of heights, but I guess I had thought about it too much, and for half a second I was just sitting there thinking "Oh no", But luckily it was only half a second, and then I returned to my normal height fear relatively-free self, and it was so beautiful!
Afterwards, we went to the enormous Ferris Wheel, which gave us a fantastic view of the Dom! Fortunately, it was night, as that gave us a unique perspective of Dom, one that I had wanted. Unfortunately, it was night, so it was harder to make photos for the both of us. But that did not stop it from being fun!
Overall, it was a great evening, and was so much fun! Interspersed among the different rides, we also wandered and ate random carnival foods, and chatted.
I kind of want to go back to the Dom once more, since it ends on the 17th, but if it doesn't end up happening that is okay.
Sorry that this post probably doesn't flow so great, but I am tired, and so I hope you will forgive if the quality of the post is not it's best.
I think I will now do as I normally do, and let some photos talk for themselves.
Hopefully all is well with you guys! And I will talk with you soon! (I am actually quite happy with myself since it has only been five days since my last post... hopefully I can keep this up? I don't know. But I already have in mind what I want to tell you guys about/show you all in my next post)
-Jason
P.S: There are so many more photos I would love to post here from this day, but I do not want to flood this blog with too many photos.