roses, rain, and really old churches

today i took it easy-ish. i woke up late and prepared to conquer the city by foot. it took me about 2 hours to walk to marktplatz (center of downtown). if you know where you are going and don't stop to take pictures it should take about 4o minutes. i took a few back streets through other neighborhoods to get to the main pedestrian street (hoher weg). i stopped to get some coffee at coffee and beans (a cafe recommended to me). afterwards i set out to do the rosenroute, which is a walking tour of old places and monuments in and around the marktplatz. here were a few of the highlights:

marktplatz

andreaskirche

st. michael's

hildesheimer dom

kehrwieder tower

i walked around for about 6 hours. needless to say i am pretty tired. i managed not to get too lost, and i took the bus on my own for the first time. baby steps! it was nice to be out on my own and exploring the city. i had two different old ladies ask me something in german today. i guess i look like i speak german/know what i'm doing?!? i, of course, am of no assistance. even saying i don't speak german (ich spreche kein deutsch) doesn't come to me fast enough yet. i basically just stand there and look dumb. when i ordered coffee (i got a chai latte) it is the same in german on the menu. apparently even when i ordered it was obvious i don't speak german because the waitress spoke in english to me the rest of the time. hopefully the german will come soon, after much, much practice. i also need some friends...

oh and a little history about the pictures:

the marktplatz

it contains the town hall, old butchers guild, the temple house, and roland fountain. many of the buildings were bombed during wwII and were reconstructed just like the originals

andreaskirsch

st. andrew's church has the highest steeple in lower saxony (the state hildesheim is in)

st. michael's

during wwII the ceiling was taken down to prevent damage if it were to be bombed. the church was in fact bombed and after the war the ceiling was put back up. (it's wooden boards)

hildesheimerdom

this was the first chapel in hildesheim. according to legend a visiting bishop got something stuck in a rosebush and took it as a sign to erect a chapel. the rosebush still lives and is over 1000 years old.

kehrwieder tower

this is the only surviving town from the original city gates. the entire neighborhood is very old timber buildings