Pretty much no matter where I sit in the old-city library, I will encounter tourists. Either they are pausing to read over my shoulder, holding their huge cameras out of the way, or they are taking pictures in the entryway - blocking every door, or i can see them from my seat by the window...walking around the green castle gardens, teeth glinting in the sun as they pose for the picture that may or may not end up in a coffee table photo album.
photo from here
Honestly, I don't really have a problem with tourists. Its just. Well. They remind me that I am in fact NOT a tourist. I am NOT on vacation. I can NOT spend carefree hours strolling around the castle, window shopping along the Hauptstraße, walking by volume upon volume in the library with no need to pick any of them up.
Some day I will be a tourist. on vacation. strolling aimlessly. And when that day is, I will take care to smile with compassion at the people who actually live there. In that tourist destination. Who have to work and study and fulfill the obligations of day to day life. Which is what I must do this very minute... ~love~
4 comments:
WOW, you study in a castle??
ok well, i don't actually study IN the castle. i study in the library, but from the library i can see the castle up on a hill in the distance. however, the library is full of toursits becasue it is the oldest library in Germany (I think..)
Found your blog through Jenni Austria Germany and am so so excited to have found another blogger in Karlsruhe. Well, actually this looks like Heidelberg but your info says Karlsruhe, so whatever! Anyways, I look forward to reading more!
I lived in Heidelberg for a short six weeks, and even though I wasn't there for sightseeing I still felt like a tourist. I'm in Frankfurt now and it's quite different!
Happy to find more German bloggers! :)
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