Mary the blonde and Joseph the cowboy!

By Anis Albasha

Christmas is a very special occasion in many countries around the world, specially in the West. Even though we don't celebrate Christmas, we enjoy the festive atmosphere that accompanies this occasion here in Germany. We can feel the charming ambiance when we go outside and look at the Christmas decorations which make its mark on every corner of the city. All shops are decorated with bright colors and sparkling lights. The City's shopping Mall looks so beautiful with all the giant Christmas trees and the cascade of bright lights in every corner. Even the houses are decorated with bright colors, Christmas window lights, garlands and candles. 

Schools are also decorated for Christmas and have special Christmas events for their students. This year, Christmas was special as we were invited by my son's school to a Christmas party 'Weihnachtsfeier' and to watch a nativity play 'Krippenspiel' performed by my son's classmates. 

It was the first time for us to see our son playing a role in a play. The class teacher distributed the roles to the children and trained them on the speaking lines which would be performed by each child. My son was given the role of Saint Joseph. He brought from the school a paper with the dialogue of all the characters in the play. Because he was so excited about the show, my son memorized not only his dialogue, but he also memorized all the speaking lines of the other characters. It was fun watching him rehearse his role and repeat the dialogue many times with enthusiasm.   

The speaking lines of the nativity 

In order to be prepared for his role, we had to buy a suitable costume for our son. So, we looked on the Internet to find out costumes which are suitable for the role of Saint Joseph. But the costumes we found were expensive, given the fact that we wanted a costume for a 30 minutes play. Therefore, we decided to go with the German way in such cases which is usually practical and less expensive. A German mother told us that we had to buy a gunny sack and make holes for the head and the arms. She assured us that this would fit as a costume for St. Joseph's role. As a grandmother of one of the boys’ later commented, as a poor man, St. Joseph wouldn’t be able to afford buying an expensive dress!

So, I went with my son to buy a gunny sack. My son, who was expecting to wear a classy costume, felt surprised when I started measuring a number of sacks in order to pick up one of them. I then explained to my son that this jute sack would be a suitable outfit for his role as St. Joseph. The jute sack cost me six euro. Later at home, my wife made the necessary holes and we helped our son putting the outfit on to see how it looked. Though our son was not completely content with the improvised costume, the gunny sack looked nice on him. We didn’t  worry about what he had to put on his head because the class teacher already told the kids that she would provide suitable ‘headwear’ for the cast.

Having the food for the open buffet and our son’s costume for the play, we headed towards the school. We waited in the classroom with other parents until one of the teachers told us that the show was about to began. We went downstairs to the area which was set for the play. When the show started, we couldn’t help but notice how spontaneous and talented the kids were. The characters, the overture, the dialogue, the prologue, the monologue, everything was nice and tidy. Though they did it for the first time in front of an audience, there were no mistakes or fluff. Even those who just did the walk-on during the play were natural. I had no idea if the kids had already made many rehearsals before that day or if they are innately talented. But I can say for sure that they were amazing and they did a very good job.

Our son’s part was a duologue with another girl from his class who acted as Mary in the play. It was really funny when my son stole a glance at his mother while performing his part. My wife and I noticed that our son was wearing a fashionable cowboy hat which contrasted sharply with that shabby gunny sack he wore. We have also noticed that many children who acted in the play wore modern hats. Those modern hats in the play reminded us about the funny, yet incorrect western perception of Jesus as a Caucasian man with blonde hair and blue eyes! Perhaps that was the only flaw in the show, but it did not diminish the magnificence of the actors' performance as well as the very good preparation of the show.  

The children were so happy and proud when their play was greeted with a loud applause by the audience. Then we went up to the classroom and started eating and talking while the kids were playing happily. Before we left, and under the guidance of the class teacher, we all sang some Christmas songs. Of course, my wife and I did not know any of those songs so we read the lyrics from small booklets which were distributed among the parents. I have noticed that there were some German parents who did like us and read from those booklets.

You don't have to be a believer to enjoy religious celebrations. The gathering at our son’s school along with the show which was performed by the kids on that evening added another nice flavor to the festive atmosphere, aside from the fact that Joseph in the play was wearing a cowboy hat and Mary was blonde!   

Prison Break in Yemen

By Rasha Almaqaleh

Prison Break is one of my favorite TV shows. It is so breathtaking that it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time you’re watching! I’ve watched all seasons and enjoyed them all except for season 5, which unfortunately was way less than I’d hoped for.

Basically Prison Break revolves around breaking out of prison. It all starts in season 1( broadcast in 2005) when Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) gets falsely accused of murdering the brother of the vice president. As a result, he is sentenced to death and incarcerated in a maximum-security prison in Chicago. His younger brother, Michael Scofield, robs a bank to deliberately imprison himself in the same prison where his brother is, so he can save him by breaking out together.

The storyline is logically built up and developed and the characters are unique and full of energy. They are always on the run which makes watching the show a thrilling experience! But when the show came back in its fifth season in April 2017, this has changed.

 When I first saw the trailer and found out that Michael Scofield ended up in a jail in Yemen, I got so excited and couldn’t wait to watch the show. But after watching the first two episodes, I was so disappointed. And when I finished watching the whole season which is made of 9 episodes, I was devastated as a big fan of the show and as a Yemeni person!

 The inaccuracy and the huge amount of mistakes ruined the show for me. The writers didn’t bother themselves to write a good plot or to inquire very carefully about the situation in Yemen. It was obvious that they didn’t do their homework. The whole time I was watching I was laughing at the silly mistakes which made the characters look so dumb. 

Actually, season 5 reminded me of Chandler in the popular sitcom Friends when he wants to break up with his irritating girlfriend Janice. He lies to her that he is going to Yemen and that he will stay there for a long time. That's why he gives her a fake dull address which is: “15 Yemen Road, Yemen!” Apparently, the writers of Prison Break season 5 adopted Chandler's way of referring to Yemen!

Here are some examples of the mistakes I’ve found in the show and its events occurring in war-torn Yemen:

 The war in Yemen is wrongly and absurdly depicted

I was watching the show and wondering the whole time: Is this Syria or Iraq? The show depicts the war in Yemen as a war  between the "government forces" and "ISIl" forces! This is not what is happening in Yemen. The story doesn’t say a word about the actual warring parties, including the Saudi military led coalition.

At the beginning, I thought maybe the depiction of war had to do with fiction. After all, aren't we talking about fictional entertainment? But when I heard the comment that the actor who played the role of Scofield (Wentworth Miller) has made on the fifth season, I realized that it wasn’t meant to be fiction, it was what Miller really thinks!

He said: "The difference between the fifth season of the series and the previous seasons is that the events of this season belong to today's world and revolve around it," My question to Mr. Miller would be: " Which world do you mean and what events are you referring to?!"  Everything the show presents about the war in Yemen is totally wrong and ridiculous.

‘Ogygia’ and ‘Phaeacia’  in Yemen!

The show creator, Paul Sheurint, said that he was inspired by the Homer's Odyssey when he was thinking of bringing the show back in the fifth season. According to the epic, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, spent seven years in the island of Ogygia as he was detained by the nymph Calypso. His people in Ithaca believed he had died. After long years away, Odysseus decided to return to his home in Ithaca. Scofield's homecoming is similar to the journey of Odysseus in so many ways.

Being inspired by the Odyssey when writing the story of season 5 is not necessarily a bad idea, but using the same exact names of the places mentioned in the epic wasn’t smart. While there is a real town in New York state named Ithaca where Scofield’s wife and son live, there is no prison in Yemen called Ogygia and no island with the name Phaeacia. And yet, the writers chose the name Ogyigia for the prison where Scofield was imprisoned in Sana’a and the name Phaeacia for an island in South Yemen. It’s very unlikely for a prison in Yemen to be named after a mythological Greek Island. Such a name seems so strange and completely separate from the reality of the country and its actual culture.

Phaeacia in Al-MuKalla -South of Yemen 

Bad Arabic and the Yemeni dialect is almost absent

No one expects American actors to suddenly speak perfect Arabic just because they film a show whose events take place in an Arabic country. It would be such an unreasonable demand to place on them. However, the actors who acted as Yemeni Arabs failed completely to say one correct Arabic sentence, and sometimes even one single word!

Let’s take the Israeli actress who played the role of the Yemeni girl "Sheba” as an example. She was selected for the part just because her grandparents are of Moroccan Jewish origins, but her Arabic is AWFUL!

The Israeli actress who played the role of Sheba

In one of the scenes, Sheba stops her car at a ‘governmental’ checkpoint. Lincoln and Benjamin are with her in the car. She quickly said to them before the soldier approaches the vehicle: “Let me do the talking!” When she opened her mouth and said an Arabic sentence, I was shocked! Her sentence was “let us in”, but she said it in a very twisted way which only a three year old Arab child would do!

Let us in!

Another silly language mistake is when Sheba gives a bribe to the solider and said to him the Arabic word which means "give" instead of saying "Take!"

Give!

During the whole episodes of the show,  Arabic was similarly spoken  by most of the characters. Let alone that the Yemeni dialect is never heard. You can hear a mixture of different Arabic dialects when prisoners or people on the street speak, but the Yemeni dialect isn't one of them! 

 

Federal Judge in Yemen!

I burst out laughing when I saw a Yemeni “federal” judge in one of the episodes! Apparently, the writers didn’t do their homework; otherwise they would’ve known that Yemen is not a federal state. This is exactly the kind of information you can find easily on Google! In addition to this horrible mistake, the ‘full pardon’ issued by the ‘federal’ judge was nothing but a joke. It was full of language mistakes, the kind of mistakes you find in the texts translated by Google Translate without any further editing or approving. Let alone the irrelevant official seal on the paper of the pardon which has nothing to do with the Yemeni State!

The federal judge 

Google-translated full pardon

 "Find the sheikh of light and I'll be free!"

Scofield sends a message to his brother saying: “Find the sheikh of light and I’ll be free.” It turns out later that “Sheikh of light” is a person working in the electricity department as the “director of electrical works in Sana'a". This person is supposed to help Scofield escape the prison by cutting the power in Sana’a. This way, the prison outdoor lights go out and he can break out with his cellmates in the dark at night. But before cutting the power, “Sheikh of light’ is to give them a signal 24 hours before the blackout; he should pulse the power grid twice. 

"The directer of the electrical works"

Such a sophisticated plan, only if Yemen hasn’t been actually living in the dark for years! There is a major power outage in Yemen and this has severely affected the everyday life. So, planning a blackout in a country that is living in the dark was not smart.  I think it would be more fun, and much more sophisticated, if Scofiled’s escape plan was based on bringing back the power!

Train Station in Sanaa!

I could not believe my ears when Scofield tells his brother that he has a plan to leave Sana’a by train! And when Linc describes this plan as redundant, I thought he would justify this by saying: “What?Are you out of your mind? There is no trains in Yemen!” Bu to my surprise, he says: “ ISIL controls all checkpoints and train stations in North Sana’a!”

The funny thing is that there were actually scenes shot in a train station location which included a lot of action; Linc, Scofield and his cellmates had to fight with ISIL men in the station. Those scenes are so ridiculous and made the characters look as dumb as a post.

Sanaa International Airport is not closed!

As stated in the show itself which corresponds to reality, Yemen is a war-torn country. The country has been suffering from a crippling blockade by the Saudi led coalition which puts the population on the brink of mass starvation, according to international organizations. The blockade includes airports and sea ports all over the country. However, the show ignores this fact and you’ll see that Sana’a international airport manages somehow to function at full stretch!

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No Fuel shortage

When the escape plans 1 and 2 fell through, Scofield and Linc decide to leave Sana’a by car heading to Almukala, to the south of Yemen. Halfway they run out of fuel and Lincoln simply stops the car at the first gas station on the road side and fills his tank himself! Wait! What is wrong with that? Well, first of all, this is Yemen and not the United states: we don’t have self-service in our gas stations! No one is allowed to refill their cars themselves. Secondly, there is a severe fuel shortage in Yemen that has been going on for years. To get some fuel, people have to wait in long lines in gas stations or buy fuel with very high prices on the black market.

From Yemen to Greece

In order for the Greek myth to be complete, Scofield has to ride the sea. He and his companions arrive in a small isolated Island called Phaeacia ( of course!) where they find a people smuggler who helps them leave Yemen to Greece, in 12 hours by boat! While more than 20 million Yemeni people have been stuck and cannot find a way out, Scofield manages to leave the country and arrive in Crete just like that!  ( If only the Yemeni people can find this smuggler?!)

Regarding the current situation in Yemen, a senior UN official warned that the world is facing “the largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War”. However, and according to Prison Break 5, Yemen is very lucky for a war-torn country! The people there have access to electricity and they have running non-existent trains. and the airports are not shutdown  And when their cars run out of fuel, they can simply stop at ANY gas station to refill. In case they get bored of all of that, they can just take a boat to Greece!

All in all, it seems that the show portrays Yemen as the United States especially with the bad Arabic and the federal judges: the two things you conveniently find in America. The screenwriters couldn’t go further than that as their imagination didn’t help them picture the horrible situation in Yemen. Away from the show business, the war in Yemen continues to bring misery and the Yemeni people keep suffering in a way that actually seems ‘beyond imagination’.

The nightmare of a drainless floor

By Rasha Almaqaleh

Last summer, I attended a seminar in Wetzlar, a town in western central Germany. One of my observations on that trip was a drain in the bathroom floor which was attached to the room where I stayed during my visit. That really struck me because I’d never seen before a floor drain in a bathroom in Europe. So, when I wrote a blog about my visit to Wetzlar, I made sure to include the drain note in my post.

When one of my relatives read that blog, she was puzzled by that piece of information and couldn’t imagine how a bathroom lacks a drain on its floor. Her puzzlement was actually understandable because in Yemen, where I grew up, all bathrooms and kitchens have floor drains and the floors are usually sloped to the drain.

 That being the case, I myself expected when I first moved here that this was the deal in every bathroom and kitchen around the globe! But I was alarmed when I found out that bathrooms here don’t have floor drains. After all, doesn’t it make perfect sense for these two rooms in the house to have a floor drain? Bathrooms and kitchens have water sources and one gets a little splashy in there. And what happens exactly if there is, for some reason, an overflow in the bathroom? Without a drain on the floor, the water will simply flow out of the bathroom door ruining everything in its way.

I didn’t know how unpleasant this situation could be until I had myself a flooded bathroom at our place. With the absence of a drain, it took me forever to dry out the floor with the mop and all the available cleaning cloths and towels. If this happens in Yemen, I would simply slide a squeegee on the floor and collect the water into the drain.

But regardless of the water sources and the possibility of having an overflow accident, bathrooms in the Western countries are not expected to be wet places. They are designed with some adjustments to make them as dry as a bone. The shower for example is normally separated from the rest of the bathroom: it has a curb and a sealed cabin which prevents water from splashing onto the floor.

Besides, westerners don’t usually use bidet sprays after using the toilet, instead they use toilet paper to wipe down. In Yemen, we usually have bidet showers near the toilet as water is essential in the cleaning process. In some old-fashioned households, there is usually a faucet right next to the toilet and people put a bucket with a mug for rinsing.  

Another big difference between bathrooms in Yemen and in Europe is the bathroom slippers. While Westerners usually go to the bathroom barefoot, people in Yemen use slippers; these are plastic shoes placed at every bathroom door in the house so people could put them on when entering the bathroom and take them off when leaving. 

It is very common in Yemen, especially in modern residential buildings, to have two types of toilets in one bathroom: squat and sitting toilets.  However, squat toilets can be sometimes seen in Western countries but that would only be in public restrooms. During my stay in Europe I saw squat toilets two times, one in the migration office in Karlsruhe, a city in southwestern Germany and the other in the main train station in an Italian city at the Italian-Swiss border.

Squat toilet in Karlsruhe, Germany

Squat toilet in Varese, Italy

All in all, moving between different cultures makes the smallest details more striking than the big ones. This small detail could be anything, including a non-significant hole on a bathroom floor. You come then to realize that what you have taken for granted for so long, some people on other parts of the world can’t imagine it exists! 

The lantern festival !

By Anis Albasha

I go with my lantern
and my lantern goes with me

There above, the stars shine
and we shine here below…

This is a translated part of the popular German song 'Ich geh mit meiner Laterne' which my son and his classmates along with parents and teachers sang in one of November's cold evenings to celebrate a popular German festival called St. Martin's Day. With the kids carrying their handmade lanterns, we strolled the street and chanted joyfully.  

St. Martin’s day, also  known as the 'Lantern Festival’ takes place on November 11. It is officially a Catholic occasion. However, the celebration of this occasion has become a widespread tradition in the whole Germany including the Protestant areas.

This religious celebration dedicated to St. Martin of Tours (336- 397 AD) who was known as ‘friend of the children and patron of the poor’. According to Wikipedia, “Saint Martin was a Roman soldier who was baptized as an adult and became a monk. Conscripted as a soldier into the Roman army, he found the duty incompatible with the Christian faith he had adopted and became an early conscientious objector. The most famous legend concerning this person was that he had once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the latter from the cold. This celebration originated in France and then spread to the Low Countries, the British Isles, Germany, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe.” Though St. Martin's Day is so popular in Europe, celebrating this occasion is not common in the United States of America. 

One of the most favorite activities for children in this occasion is the lantern run ‘Laternelaufen’. In order to participate in this run, children have to make their  own lanterns in the run-up to November. On the evening of St. Martin’s Day, children bring their lanterns and take part in the lantern procession which also includes adults. In some areas, people who participate in those parades might be lead by an actor impersonating the Saint, usually dressed up as a Roman soldier riding on a horse. In addition, many Germans celebrate St. Martin's Day with a festive meal where roasted goose or duck ‘Martinsgans’ is traditionally served as the main course. The goose became a symbol of St. Martin because of a legend which says that, when trying to avoid being ordained bishop, St. Martin had to hide in a goose pen where he was betrayed by the cackling of the geese.

So, early in November we were notified by our son’s school about the celebration of St. Martin’s Day and we were also invited to take part in it. Parents were asked to help voluntarily in building up the lanterns children would carry during the evening parade. We were also told that those who would come to celebrate might bring a homemade food so we all could have an open buffet at the school after the lantern procession. Since St. Martin's Day is not a public holiday in Germany, children went to school in the morning. Later at 5:30 pm, we went to the school and we took with us some food. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy when we left, so I wished that the rain would stop when the parade starts.

At the school, children were very excited about the celebration. Every child was keen to get his/her own lantern while the parents were busy arranging the dishes they brought on a large table. The class teacher had put all the lanterns, which have been made earlier with the help of some parents, on the floor. The names of the children were written on the lanterns so each child could look for his/her own lantern. At 6 pm, we all gathered in the school yard where children made a circular ring. All the candles inside the lanterns were lit. Under the guidance of the class teacher, children and parents started to sing some famous lantern songs. Then we all headed out of the school and continued singing while strolling around the neighborhood. The weather was cold but luckily there was no rain. However, the children didn’t pay much attention to the cold weather as they strode happily, laughing excitedly and chanting loudly.

All the songs that children and parents sang were so beautiful and I liked them all. One of the songs I liked the most is called “Kommt, wirwollen Laterne laufen” which can be translated as “come, we are going to make a lantern parade”.

When we finished circling the neighborhood, we returned to the school where all parents and children started eating together in one of the classrooms. The children finished their food quickly and then went to another classroom to play. The fact that the school and the classrooms were open that night only for fun was so delightful to the kids. As a result, they were running, playing and shouting in a passionate and crazy way. At about 7:30 pm, we left the school and went back home. Of course, we didn’t forget to take our son’s lantern with us. 

Though most religious occasions have become more commercialized recently, it is still interesting to be engaged in some of these occasions, especially those which involve parents and children. We all enjoyed the gathering, the strolling and the singing of that evening. My son was so happy about his lantern and he still keeps it. Before I took part in the lantern festival at my son’s school, I knew nothing about St. Martin's Day. I’ve read later that the essence of this occasion is to celebrate modesty and altruism. We  desperately need these values in our life to make it 'shine' even with the help of some paper lanterns. 

Flensburg , where two cultures meet

By Rasha Almaqaleh

I love old towns! They always fascinate me as I wander around and listen to the many wonderful stories they have to tell. That’s why choosing Flensburg for a destination in the fall holidays was a no-brainer! The gorgeous town is almost in Denmark. Although it is German , Flensburg was basically founded in the 13^th century by Danish settlers, basically fishermen. With its location near the German-Danish border (directly on the Baltic Sea) along with  its 700- year history, Flensburg brings the two cultures and two peoples together: the German and Danish. In Flensburg, you can definitely see and ‘hear’ something different!

The Danish minority

I was shopping in Flensburg Galerie when I first heard the Danish language. A mother was talking to her little daughter and the language sounded so different to me. I was listening and watching, and when she looked at me, I told her in German with obvious astonishment: "Sie sprechen dänish!" (You speak Danish!) She chuckled at the astonishment on my face and said : "Yes!" 

Apparently, the Danish people living in Flensburg know for sure that their minority adds to the appeal of their city. The Scandinavian flair makes Flensburg culturally distinguished and that brings in a lot of out-of-towners and tourists. 

Impressively, the settling Danes have established their community in the town which is a thriving one! In Flensburg, there are Danish kindergartens, schools, shops, libraries, cultural centers, etc.Moreover, in all the tourist attractions such as the historical harbor,
Phänommenta, etc there are descriptive signs in three languages: German, Danish, and English.  

The Isted Lion

Flensburg is not only geographically connected to Denmark but historically too; it was under the Danish rule for more than 400 years. On 25th July 1850, one of the biggest battles in the Scandinavian history took place: the battle of Isted. It was a war over who should control Schleswig, which ended with a Danish victory over the German Schleswig-Holstein forces.

 To commemorate this victory along with the Danish soldiers who died in this battle, a war monument, the Istedt Lion, was created in 1862 and placed in Flensburg's old cemetery. Two years later, the war broke out and the Prussians came back to Schleswig-Holstein and defeated the Danes. The Prussian authorities moved the bronze lion to Berlin where it remained for more than 80 years.

 In 1945, the monument was sent as a gift to Denmark by the United States army. It stayed in Copenhagen until 2011, when it returned home to Flensburg at the request of Germans. Impressively, what was once a monument of the Danish victory over the German troops is today a monument of the German-Danish friendship. Yesterday's enemies, today's friends!  

Flensburg Firth

The charming city is connected to the Baltic Sea with a firth, which is around 35 km long. Situated on the firth, the historical harbor is one of Flensburg’s best attractions. When I strolled along the docks and saw the old sailing vessels, it felt as if I went back in time.

One cannot walk through the picturesque port without meeting the princess Alexandra, the oldest German passenger steamer which is still in operation. She was built in Hamburg in 1908. Back then it belonged to a shipping company and was placed in the liner shipping. During the First World War she was used as an outpost boat. After the war, the steamer was back in the liner shipping service. In 1975, the steam ship was put out of service because of its unprofitable nature. It was hardly used and then it was left without maintenance. 

Luckily, Alexandra was officially recognized as a cultural monument in 1982.  A couple of years later, and after a lot of expensive renovation and rehabilitation work, the old steamer was back in service but this time as a regular ferry. In the season which runs from May to September, Alexandra offers public cruises. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t take a tour on the floating landmark of Flensburg as she was off-season during our visit. 

Museumwerft

At the end of the docks, there is a historic shipyard museum where old tools, boats and ships from the 18th and 19th centuries are exhibited. The shipyard provides a great experience especially for kids. The entrance fees are really reasonable , one euro for a person. The nice thing is that paying the fees was a matter of self-control. At the door to the museum, there was a sign that says : " Just put the money in the box and come in!" 

Flensburg city center

This scenic part of the town is full of vitality! It exhibits history through its alleys, courtyards, antique buildings and gates. There is a car-free zone that runs between Norderstraße, Große Straße and Holm. So, the best way to get around in here is walking. There are hundreds of  shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, etc. It is such a delight to wander around in a strange town and look at the shop windows. 

There are also two open-air markets that are held on a regualr base: the Southern Market 'Südmarkt' and the Northern Market 'Nordermarket'. We deliberately got lost here, and each time our feet would take us somewhere special.

To our surprise, when we entered the Norderstraße, we saw hundreds of shoes dangling from the power lines and other cables between house facades! It was something weird that we had never seen before. Surprisingly, many of the dangling shoes aren't even old. They are in a very good condition. We went to the tourist information center to inquire about the story behind the dangling shoes. 

The lady there told us that no one really knows the story behind this practice. She also said that there are two popular theories that explain the shoes, the first is that this is a danish practice, in Denmark when students finish school, they toss the shoes on the cables as a sign for finishing a stage and wishing good luck for the next step. The second theory states that when people buy new shoes and want to get rid of the old pairs, the shoe stores refuse to take the old shoes, so people go out and toss their shoes on the power lines. 

However, the hanging shoes have given the street a tremendous attraction, making  the travel magazine based in New York City  Travel +Leisure  include the Norderstraße  with its list of the World's Strangest Streets  .

Nordertor and Phänomenta, unwise combination?

After walking in the freakish street under the dangling shoes, we arrived at the Nordertor:  the oldest existing town gate in Flensburg. the name means the north gate as it was built as a control gate on the northern side of the old town. The structure is more than 400 years old (built in 1595) yet it is in such a good shape which suggests it has been renovated and taken care of. The gate is made of red bricks and consists of stepped gables. the gate has two sides, on the north side of the gate, the south north of the gate

To my surprise, there was a modern blue building on the right side of the gate. This is the Phänomenta which is an experimental museum for kids. I didn't really appreciate this combination as it doesn't fit the historical surroundings. 

However, the museum itself is amazing. We went inside and spent more than there hours. and it was such a great experience especially for our child!

Overall, old towns have always their own mixture of old and new. A town like Flensburg does not only provide that charming mixture but also presents two cultures! Walking down its streets, you hear the wonderful stories the town has to tell, stories about war and peace and how the two peoples could get over the conflicts of the past to coexist today in peace and harmony.