Guest Post #1 - Book Read 'Round the World: Rikki from Germany Shares Her Book Hobo Experience



The Enchanted April = Red Pin
Journeyed from Nuremberg, Germany to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Distance Traveled = 4102 mi./ 6601 km.


Guest Post #1
Rikki from Germany
I just received word from Sandie at Imagination Cafe that she received her package from Rikki at The Bookkeeper so I can now post Rikki's guest post about her experience! After you finish reading, make sure you go check out Rikki's wonderful blog as well!


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I am Rikki from The Bookkeeper (http://www.rikkidonovan.com) and I was the first in the group for The Enchanted April. I received the book from The Book Depository, so there were no surprises in the package (except for what will the bookmark be like?).


Questions

To make it easier for me, Carin provided me with a few questions about Germany, so I wouldn't be left to my own devices. The questions I answered (Sandie Lee will probably be surprised about my ramblings) were:

1. Since most of the non-native English speaking bloggers I know are blogging in English, I wonder what most people in your country read. Do most people read books that are published in German only, or are people in general fluent enough in English that they can read either English or German books?

Most people in Germany definitely read books in German only. A lot of people speak English, but not at a level where they feel confient enough to read books in English. There are not many books, I think, that have not been translate, so basically there is no limitation in their reading material. However, if one chooses to read books in English it is now not a problem anymore to get any book you like in its original version.


2. If someone were to visit Nuremberg, what is the one thing you would tell them they cannot miss doing or seeing, and what would you tell them to absolutely avoid?

The one thing that people ought to see is the old town of Nuremberg. It was more or less completely destroyed during WWII and has been rebuilt very beautifully. One sight that shows this is the church of St. Lawrence. There is a photo of it taken after the war showing only ruins and rabble and now it looks grand and impressive again.

There is really nothing anything that I would advise a visitor to absolutely avoid, but I'd suggest instead of going to the tourist restaurants around the market square to go to a country inn outside the city to experience the delicious real Franconian home cooking - as heavy and unhealthy as it might be.


Shopping!!

After reading the book I went shopping for Sandie Lee. This was fun. I wanted to buy mainly book related items with a German touch which is quite hard over here, believe it or not. It seems the German language is turning into a hodgepodge of German and English (called Denglish over here) and shops sell more items with English writing on them than German. Anyway, after looking around for some time I found some nice book related items and a fridge magnet. Additionally I went into a few bookstores to collect their free bookmarks (all in German surprisingly) and added them to the loot. A pretty card on top of it all and then I was done.


What I got was a book with "Lieber Lesen" on it (I'd translate this as "[I'd] rather [be] reading"), a metal bookmark with the poem Loreley by Heinrich Heine and a fridge magnet with the Nuremberg castle. I bought the magnet in the most tourist-y shop you can imagine right in the city center on the main market square. You can see the castle and its surrounding buildings and even though it is an illustration it looks quite like the real thing. The bookmark I bought at Thalia, a bookstore I showed you in abundance some time ago (http://www.rikkidonovan.com/index.php/2010/07/16/book-locations-the-bookstore/). The bag I bought at a  place called Hugendubel, a book shop I plan to show you soon.


I love the idea of this Book Read 'Round the World event and can't wait to see what all the other participants have to say about the book and about the experience.

One Sentence Review

Oh, a very short review of The Enchanted April? This is hard because short is not my style, :-). But I will try...:

"Travelling broadens the mind". No book has shown this in a more charming and delightful way.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay, so you just made me want to go back to Germany.

Anonymous said...

What a great selection of goodies you got there for Sandie! And you only got a Bookdepository book tag. Well, it's very nice!!!

Now I need to think what to buy from the Netherlands when it's my turn. You set a high standard, Rikki!

Carin said...

@Sarah - I talked to Rikki a bunch during the event since we were the first two to get the books. She made me want to visit Germany too. She kept showing me awesome things that go on in Nuremberg. Jealous much? Absolutely! LOL!

@leeswammes - I know. I want to steal the tote bag she got for Sandie. I love it. And no worries, she will get something from someone at the end of the tour (including Lost on Planet China). The last person from each list is going to have to send to the first person on the other list! :)

Anonymous said...

Carin, this is such a cool way to learn about other countries. I love it! I also want to steal that tote... how cool!

Rikki, I think you did a wonderful job summarizing the book in one sentence. It makes me want to read it even more! :)

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

What a fabulous way to experience other cultures and countries! And a great post! I will be following both!

Carin said...

@unputdwnables - I know, right?!! We might just have to bribe Rikki with some free books to trade for a cool tote!

@Coffee and a Book Chick - I just tweeted your Ernest Hemingway Look-a-Like post! Best post I've read in awhile! I loved it, and tell your dad he was robbed! Glad you are going to follow the event. It's been super fun so far. Here's a link to the post about how you can follow the event: How to Follow Book Read 'Round the World.

Let me know if you have any questions! I'm happy to answer any you might have!

Laura @ I'm Booking It said...

What a cool project! I enjoyed this post, and look forward to seeing more.

Rikki said...

Thanks everybody. Believe me, I had to look around quite a bit to find things with German on them...

Wallace, thanks, I am terrible at keeping it short, so I'm glad you think it works.

Carin, I think I'll go and take pictures of all totes available and post them just to make you all drool over them, lol.

Carin said...

@Laura - Thanks! I should be putting up another post next week and the next set of review should be coming soon after that! I'll go poke you on your blog next week. :)

@Rikki - Please do..lol. It's really sad because I am actually looking for a cool tote bag. I am probably going to resort to Etsy.com since I do not have access to cool German tote bags here! :P

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