Darmstadt 2007
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Notes from a first time twinner, Darmstadt 2007

Naomi James

This year it was BT Adastral Park’s turn to visit its German counterpart in Darmstadt, Deutsche Telekom, for 3 days of cultural exchanges.

Scheduled visits included the Luisenpark and the Landesmuseum and the Technical museum in Mannheim, the town of Darmstadt and its Local Radio Station, RadaR Radio and the City of Oppenheim’s underground cellar labyrinth and a trip to the Nierstein wine region’s vineyards via tractor and cart.  The highlight of the trip was the visit and guided tour of the European Space Agency’s operation centre ESOC.

 

This would be my first experience of twinning with the BT International Twinning Group and my overall first impression was that it was very well organised with an interesting and varied schedule that appealed to all tastes and enthusiasm levels.

My hosts were Werner and Petra, who made sure that their guests were collected and arrived on time and with excellent and pleasant accommodation and entertainment.

Our first visit was to the Landesmuseum, dedicated to the history of engineering and technology, both commercial and domestic.  It was a ‘hands on’ experience reminiscent of the London Science Museum.  We were given a guided tour around the museum and a demonstration of how paper used to be made.  The museum also recorded domestic life and had an exhibit which included a steam train that started inside the museum, went to the outskirts of the grounds and returned.  It was an insightful trip that appealed to both those who were technically minded, and those such as myself who are not.  The afternoon was spent at the Luisenpark which is a fabulous park divided into sections which are themed, i.e. the Rose Garden, the Chinese Gardens and the Lemon Gardens amongst others.  My favourite was the Chinese Garden as all the plants were labelled, a pagoda and a wonderful waterfall grotto that you could walk through.  The weather was pleasant which made the trip even more enjoyable.

The second day was spent at the studio of local radio station RadaR Radio.  Again we were given a tour around the station and a selection of us were interviewed about our trip to Darmstadt and also about the difference in the English accent.  Eileen Willis and Tony Gould were both spoken to as Eileen has a strong Suffolk accent and Tony contrasts with Eileen by having Received Pronunciation, (no accent at all).  I was also asked a few questions about my experience as a first time twinner.  Radio RadaR can be found at www.radiodarmstadt.de   After lunch we visited the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt.  Its purpose is to ensure the smooth running of spacecraft in orbit.  Its control rooms, linked to ground stations all over the world, track and control satellites, issue commands for spacecraft for manoeuvring, carrying out routine systems monitoring and transmitting new pay-load operational instructions.  Once again we had a guided tour which was separated into German and non-German speaking groups.  We saw the emergency control room as well as a close up of the Rosetta satellite whose purpose was to orbit around the nucleus of Comet Churyumov – Gerasimenko…in 2014.  For those who are intrigued by the mysteries of space this was a thrilling and privileged visit.  That evening we went to a nearby Grillhaus where we were all provided with food and had barbecued meats expertly cooked by Werner.

Located south of Mainz, the so-called ‘Rhine Wine’ region combines the highlights of the surrounding cities into a compact array of tourist attractions.  The ‘Rhine Wine’ region offers historical and cultural attractions and places to see, including our last visit to Oppenheim and the cellar labyrinths.  The cellar labyrinths are a collection of conjoined and interwoven cellars of various ages and depths that are under the streets of the city of Oppenheim.  We walked around the labyrinths with a guide and the aid of some stunning yellow hard hats.  A few of the cellars have remained in the care of the original owners whilst most have been taken over by the local council, one of which is now a bar.  The last trip was to Nierstein vineyards for Worsch, Wotch and Woi, a sausage and wine tour with the aid of a tractor and carts.  We were treated to the spectacular views of the Rhine wine growing region.   Whilst being able to taste the wine as we went along, we were provided with some good Bochwurst to eat.  On the way back we visited the Kroten Brunnen which is the name of the fountain in the vineyards.

 

From here people went their separate ways home after a great few days exploring the Darmstadt area.  I enjoyed my time amongst the people that I met, both British and German and I would highly recommend people of all ages giving it a go!