A Rat-Infested Town in Germany

Advantages: Stunning architecture, lots of history
Disadvantages: Rats!

...I would imagine that everybody's heard of Hamelin, or to give it its more correct, German spelling, Hameln. At least, I should think everyone's familiar with the legend of The Pied Piper of Hameln. The town lies around 50km south of Hanover in the state of Lower Saxony, northern Germany. It straddles the Weser river and is the cultural and economic capital of the Weser area. In fact the town owes its prosperity through the ages to the Weser river and the trade that passed along it. This led to local merchants building some elaborately decorated houses which have survived to this day and are one of the main attractions of visiting here. Approaching Hameln you could be forgiven for wondering what the fuss is all about. A series of drab suburbs does nothing to excite the newly arrived. However, at the edge of the inner ring road...

proxam 09.01.2005 (20.08.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Hameln (Germany)

Happy Hameln

Advantages: Lovely hot summer, snowy winters
Disadvantages: It's not England

...My experience of living abroad might be a little different to others. For a start, I was just 6 years old when we moved to Hastenbeck, near Hameln, in Germany. It didn?t really seem like being abroad to me because we?d already lived in Cambridge for a year and moving just seemed a natural part of life. Secondly, I lived in army ?quarters? and went to an army school, for the children of soldiers stationed abroad. That means I didn?t learn very much of the language, apart from essentials: ?danke?, ?bitte?, ?Ein schokolade eis bitte?! Where on earth is Hameln? Hameln is about 50 kilometres South West of Hannover, in what was once know as West Germany. (It was called that when I lived there) Although I never visited Hannover, we did visit Bremen whilst I lived in Germany, which is to the North East of Hameln. Hameln is often called...

pixiedon 24.02.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Member Advice on Living Abroad

Worth a visit

Advantages: the town
Disadvantages: the town

...Hameln is a small town in North Germany with a medieval town centre. It's near Hannover and in the attractive scenery of the Weserbergland area. There are many restored stone and timber framed buildings of the Weser Renaissance. In the middle of the town centre you are standing on the Osterstraße, that's where an old Garnison Church called the 'Holy Ghost' built in 1713 is. Today there's a Saving Bank in it. Oposite is the 'Pied Piper's House built in 1603 and it's a Weser Renaissance house. Also in this street is the 'Leisthouse' built 1589 which has a museum in it.There are all about Hamelns city history, the Pied Piper legend and others. When you go straight you see on the right the 'Hochzeitshouse' also built in the style of Weser Renaissance.Today there is the registry office and the town archive in it. On the gable are...

CuckoosEgg 22.07.2002 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Hameln (Germany)

Have you heard about the pied piper

Advantages: intresting for those who love ancient cities
Disadvantages: a bit boring for kids

...The legend of the Pied Piper belongs to the city of Hameln like the Tower Bridge belongs to London. This story made Hameln world-famous. I thing you have heard it once. For those of you who don´t know it, have a quick look at the end of this opinion and you get a quick introduction. Hameln is a good idea for a day trip when you are in Bremen or Hannover. From Bremen it will take you about two hours by car, using the A 27 and A 7 to Hannover and then the B 227 to Hameln. From Hannover it can be reached in about half an hour. Local trains take you to Hameln central station (Hauptbahnhof) from all towns around and the train station is just 900 meters from the centre. Follow the rats painted on the pavement as a „rat-trail“ to show you the most significant sights, boards with information are situated along the trail...

wolle0509 13.03.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Hameln (Germany)

very impressed

Advantages: legroom, good customer service
Disadvantages: small snack unless first class traveller

...If you ever have cause to fly to Hanover, it's worth considering Lufthansa. I never thought I would write an opinion on an airline, but I was so impressed with them, I think they deserve it. (My journey was almost incident-free, hence the short review). I've just returned from a weekend in Hameln, (where the pied piper solved the rat problem) and took a Lufthansa return to Hanover airport. Why Lufthansa? They were the cheapest - but with respect, there's not a huge choice of carriers. The plane was amazing. It was quite small, but had leather seats throughout. Not only were the seats leather, but also I had ample legroom. No deep vein thrombosis for me! You don’t get a decent meal- a sandwich and a drink only on this flight. First class get the full Monty, but I traveled cattle class, so couldn’t complain...

jelightfoot 12.02.2001 (14.02.2001) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Lufthansa

A diplomatic disgrace

Advantages: The funny parts are hilarious, some interesting cultural snippets
Disadvantages: much unnecessary political stuff; unlikeable author

...and she had to endure long hikes in flip flops having neglected to pack any proper walking shoes. The various comic incidents she relates are the highlight of the book and I did find most of them very, very funny. One of my favourites was when the rather nervous Brigid felt obliged to make conversation at a dinner party and decided to tell the guests about the legend of the Pied Piper of Hameln and how he was supposed to have led the children away from their homes never to be seen again. She was confused to see her guests with horror-stricken faces and realised that they thought it was a true story and that she was telling them about a notorious paedophile. This is a book about being a trailing spouse rather than about the different places the family live but there was still a decent amount of travel writing and some interesting cultural...

fizzytom 05.10.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Diplomatic Baggage - Brigid Keenan

Of Rats and Men. Oh...and a Cat

Advantages: Fun, easy read with no prior knowledge of Discworld required
Disadvantages: Diehard Discworld fans may be disappointed at the lack of complexity and Discworld continuity

...“Hey, Mum”, says Darling Daughter (DD), “the school library has two whole shelves of Terry Pratchett – do you want me to bring any home?” “Oh, yes” say I, “Please.” Fast forward one day (I read fast). “So, Mum, what’s The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents about?” queries DD. “Well,” I answer, “It’s about one cat, and a whole slew of rats who can talk…” “What, you mean to each other,” asks DD. “Well, yes, and to anyone else who will listen…it’s kind of a twist on the Pied Piper of Hameln.” “The what??” Ah. I found this exchange interesting. One, that DD did not know the story of the Pied Piper, and two, that she made the assumption that the cat and rats...

mattygroves 12.03.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett

Avoiding rip-off Britain

Advantages: save thousands, instant availability
Disadvantages: non

...Robinson. My girlfriend has just taken delivery of an Audi TT 225bhp Roadster. Rumour has it that you can pick them up much cheaper in Germany than in the UK if you do a personal import. With this in mind, we flew out and stayed with a friend in Hameln near Hanover and drove from dealer to dealer, picking up quotes and doing our research. To our amazement, we discovered that on a full UK spec Audi could save a massive £3,600. The Audi dealers in the UK are understandably not happy that you can do this, but at the end of the day, it’s clear why. The German dealers were very polite and seemed happy to supply you with a car, but we were told in February that we could have the car for mid August. This is because they would have to order it and we’d have to wait in the queue. Clearly if you’re buying a convertible, you...

jelightfoot 05.03.2001 (11.04.2001) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Alliance Car Imports Car Importer