Solo Strolls in Robertsau
Taking a deviation from my weekend journeys, I'd like to write a bit about my experiences here at the chateau - more specifically, my walks around its grounds and into the Robertsau forest.
By nature I am definitely someone who appreciates solitude, so it is occasionally quite trying living with two roommates (who I adore, for the record) and being constantly immersed in classes and excursions without sufficient repose. This is why I so deeply appreciate my solo time exploring the nature that surrounds this odd, haunting castle.
One day I took a four hour walk, definitely a little lost among plane trees and war bunkers, when I stumbled across the Rhine. It was a magical moment as I ascended some steps to the lip of the river and the sun reflected off its surface and with a deep breath I was reminded what it's all about.
The more I travel the more everything seems so infinitely different but still so fundamentally the same. The beauty I find in these moments abroad is precious to me, because while outside of my comfort zone it is so much easier to see things with fresh eyes. To hold this perspective in every circumstance is a step on the path to enduring happiness, and with each voyage I am able to retain a little more of that persistent wonder.
On a more recent walk I found an elegantly written monument, which roughly translated means, "They were coming for the evening feast, hosted by garlands of light but the wind went crazy and the forest has retained them. Lives cut short, broken lives, shattered lives. They will always be there for us."
With no explanation given, my imagination instead constructed an elaborate fantasy (à la Chronicles of Narnia) which involved an epic battle between various personifications of nature... evidence, I suppose, of my distinct inability to embrace literal history and my aversion to contemplating worldly disaster.
Designed by the sculptor Marc Linder in 2006, the memorial is indeed a tribute to thirteen people who lost their lives during an open-air concert when a platanus tree fell in the park. While this story is much more real than those I've been documenting so far throughout my stay, it remains a moving and thought provoking experience.
By nature I am definitely someone who appreciates solitude, so it is occasionally quite trying living with two roommates (who I adore, for the record) and being constantly immersed in classes and excursions without sufficient repose. This is why I so deeply appreciate my solo time exploring the nature that surrounds this odd, haunting castle.
One day I took a four hour walk, definitely a little lost among plane trees and war bunkers, when I stumbled across the Rhine. It was a magical moment as I ascended some steps to the lip of the river and the sun reflected off its surface and with a deep breath I was reminded what it's all about.
Cue Stairway to Heaven...
The more I travel the more everything seems so infinitely different but still so fundamentally the same. The beauty I find in these moments abroad is precious to me, because while outside of my comfort zone it is so much easier to see things with fresh eyes. To hold this perspective in every circumstance is a step on the path to enduring happiness, and with each voyage I am able to retain a little more of that persistent wonder.
On a more recent walk I found an elegantly written monument, which roughly translated means, "They were coming for the evening feast, hosted by garlands of light but the wind went crazy and the forest has retained them. Lives cut short, broken lives, shattered lives. They will always be there for us."
Check out the actual sculpture this memorial goes with here!
With no explanation given, my imagination instead constructed an elaborate fantasy (à la Chronicles of Narnia) which involved an epic battle between various personifications of nature... evidence, I suppose, of my distinct inability to embrace literal history and my aversion to contemplating worldly disaster.
Designed by the sculptor Marc Linder in 2006, the memorial is indeed a tribute to thirteen people who lost their lives during an open-air concert when a platanus tree fell in the park. While this story is much more real than those I've been documenting so far throughout my stay, it remains a moving and thought provoking experience.
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