Welcome to my first blog post! I'm going to introduce you to the little town in Germany where I lived for 9 months from 2016-2017 -> Bebra!

Quick facts:

Bebra is a small town situated the state of Hessen, central Germany
The name Bebra acquires its meaning from 'village on the beaver river'
The town's crest is symbolised by a beaver and inter-crossing rail tracks
The historic watertower serves as a symbol of the town
The train station served as a former East-West Germany border crossing
The town is surrounded by fields, farms, lakes, and forests
Bebra is situated on the Fulda river
The town is twinned with Knaresborough, England

Welcome to Bebra/Herzlich Wilkommen in Bebra

The first question is: What on earth was I doing in Bebra, a dinky little town in the middle of the German countryside?

Well from the end of 2016-mid 2017 I was completing my year abroad placement as an English Language Assistant in said town. The experience was rather a mixed one and I may write about it eventually but as I want to keep this blog positive and cheerful, it won't be featured just yet.

I shall however provide you with a insight into my life in the little German town of which I have such fond memories. Keep reading...

Views of Bebra including the bell tower and town hall

Introducing Bebra

Bebra is tucked away in the German countryside and the ultimate definition of 'green'. There are trees, fields, farms, lakes, the lot! When I mention lakes in the category of 'green', I'm not joking(!) See below...

In the summer it's wonderful to wander along near the lakes and relax in the peace and quiet. It's also possible to walk along the route of the Fulda river to the neighbouring town of 'Rotenburg an der Fulda'. Just try not to loose your MP3-player along the way like I did(!)

The lakes of Bebra

Along with being scenic, Bebra also fits the phrase "Klein aber fein" (translated as "small but great" <- The German version is evidently a lot more poetic). One of the reasons is that this super small town has not 1 but 4 supermarkets within about 10-15 minutes walking distance of each other. These include:

• Aldi

• Lidl

• Edeka*

• TeGut *

* Edeka and TeGut are roughly the German equivalents of Asda and Waitrose respectively (to me at least).

Luckily for me, my flat was practically on top of TeGut so I could always dash in and grab another Müller rice pudding if I was short!

Following on from the fact that Bebra is a super convenient town was that all of the things that one could ever need where within less than 5 mins of each other: the newsagents, the bakeries, the shopping centre (das Be!), the post office, an arts & crafts shop, a cinema and even an ice cream parlour!

Bebra's Train station

Another great thing about Bebra is the transport links. From the town you can reach:

The following cities:

Fulda (40 mins)
Kassel (50 mins)

The following towns:

Rotenburg an der Fulda (8 mins)
Bad Hersfeld (15 mins)
Melsungen (25 mins)
Eisenach (35 mins)

(I'll be writing about all of these places in the future- Stay tuned!)

One massive bonus is that you can also travel on a direct train (no transfers) to Frankfurt Main Station(!) The only snag (not that I ever considered it one) is that said train leaves at 5:22am hence why my alarm was permanently set for 4am. It just always amazed me how I could get from little town hidden away in the countryside to one of Germany's main cities!

One thing to note however is that as a lot of freight trains travel on Bebra's tracks, the majority of regional trains from Bebra only leave once an hour... This is something that certainly caused a lot of frustration when I missed trains by mere minutes!

Bonus fact:

The town of Bebra also served as an important border crossing between the former East and West Germany.

Another of Bebra's lakes. A great spot for sailing

Top picks of Bebra

The Red Telephone Box

The picture to the right, of a red telephone box, is probably an instant source of confusion. It was to me when I first arrived! However this slightly out of place telephone box is actually a mini library! As with a library, the rules are simply 'take a book and leave a book'. Simple as that- 24/7 and all within a telephone box! I believe it was gifted to the Bebra by the town of Knaresbourgh, England (Bebra's partner town).

For me having a free source of German language books was amazing and I used to pop here in the evenings quite often and I found quite a few books including ones about life in Switzerland and nuclear energy. This is and was the only one of its kind that I have ever seen but I presume that similar ideas exist in other countries. I'd love to have one in my hometown!

Beautiful sunsets over Bebra and beyond

Sunsets

During the summertime I used to always love wandering up to the hills, that overlook Bebra and the surrounding area, to see the sun setting (cheesey I know!) but the sky always used to turn an amazing variety of colours! As the area towards the back of the town is mainly filled with farmland and horse stables, the tops of the hills were also always a super place to go to get some peace and quiet (much like the lakes). The only thing that ever made me jump up there was seeing a fawn running across a path and bouncing off into a field- rather cute!

Church Bells

This may be to some people's horror but one of my favourite things about living in Bebra was the church bells! Yes they are loud, yes they go on for ages and yes they ring everyday. But one of the biggest advantages (besides calling those, who wish to go to church, to mass) is that you can always tell what time it is and even use them as your alarm clock (like I did at 7am on weekdays). Plus they really add to the atmosphere town (at least to me they do).

Weirdly this will always be one of the most prominent things that I miss about living in Bebra!

Saturday mornings at the farmer's market

Saturday Morning Markets

Another things that added to Bebra's atmosphere was being able to visit the farmer's market in the main square on Saturday mornings. I used to pick up my fresh fruit and vegetables as well as pretty little potted plants with which to brighten up my flat. Being able to pick up fresh produce from the local area also used to made me feel very 'green' and 'eco-friendly' or in other words, 'very German'.

Bebra's sailing lake

This concludes my post on my former town Bebra. I hope this has been an interesting read and hopefully you may have learned a few things about this quaint, little town in the heart of Germany.

Thanks for reading and until next time! :-)