This is a quick guide on how to connect with eduroam, zoom and vpn at FAU. This guide is in addition to How to setup Gmail client for FAU mail which was for the email.
Eduroam is a convenient way to access the University Wifi across multiple universities. Eduroam helps in easy authentication of students internationally even when working or traveling to a different university.
The detailed instructions for connecting is provided in the FAU site here. I summarize the steps here for android and windows.
Android
Download geteduroam app from playstore. You can also click here.
Search for FAU Erlangen and when prompted for username and password just enter the idm username and password.
Bamberg is a neighboring city of Erlangen. It is a UNESCO World heritage. I could have visited this place on any other day but I would have missed the Antique Market. This morning when my flatmate asked if I would like to join I said yes spontaneously and it turned out to be a good decision.
Antikmarkt
After a 40-min train ride we reached Bamberg station. The city felt busier as soon as we exited the station. A 10 min walk on the Luitpold Strasse – the main street right in front of the station, took us to the Luitpold Bridge (Bruke). This is one of the many bridges across the Main Danube canal. It is the same Canal which passes next to my house in Erlangen.
Luitpold Strasse
Upon reaching the bridge we found that the main attraction seemed to be on the nearby bridge. We walked over to investigate and found a flea market there. Many antique stuff were on sale – old telephones, camera, coins, iron boxes, paintings and a lot of other things. It was crowded but enjoyable.
Antikmarkt
When we asked around what this market was and we understood that this is a yearly Antique market. It happens on the 3rd of October. The things sold here are strictly regulated so that nothing new gets sold as antique. There is also a group of experts available on site to can confirm if the object is truly antique or not.
St. Elisabeth Church
We continued our walk without buying anything at the flea market looking for the famous Bamberg Cathedral. We entered the Old Town area. This is where the UNESCO World Heritage buildings are. Many buildings date back to the middle ages here.
The first prominent building we encountered was St. Elisabeth Church. The building dates back to before 1300s.
Bamberg Cathedral
The roads kept climbing and getting narrower. At the top they suddenly opens into the vast open space. This is where the main buildings are located.
Bamberg Cathedral
I do not know enough about architecture to appreciate it. All I can say is that it is a huge building. You really need to be inside it to feel the scale of construction. The roof stands 26m high with the towers being 81m.
One interesting thing about the cathedral is that it has been rebuilt over on top of the same area 3 times. This significantly raised the ground level. I recently watched a video on this concept and I was happy to see it.
This Cathedral was initially built over a settlement around 1000 AD. A fire in 1081 burned it down. It was rebuilt a second time in 1085 AD and a fire in 1185 AD brought it down again. Finally, the current cathedral is built in 1237.
A section of the old cathedral can be seen inside the new one, though the entry is restricted.
Old Cathedral inside the new
New residence, Old court & Ice cream
Stepping outside the cathedral we saw the Neue Residenze and Alte Hofhaltung, the new and old residences of Bamberg’s Bishops. These buildings were both majestic buildings to look at. Both are now used as museums.
New residence
The view from up here was stunning. The entire city was visible below.
Bamberg from Cathedral
After enjoying the view for some time we decided to walk down. On the way, we found an ice cream stall. I had never had a lemon flavored ice cream. So, I gave it a try. It was essentially frozen lemonade. It was too sweet for my liking.
Lemon flavoured ice
We also passed Schlenkerla brewery which is famous for its smoked beer – though wouldn’t know the difference so we simply crossed it towards the Altes Rathaus.
Altes Rathaus and the bridges
The old town hall (Altes Rathaus) of Bamberg has an interesting story. Evidently, the bishop of Bamberg in the 14th century refused to give land for constructing the town hall. The town people came to with an ingenious plan. They built an artificial island in the middle of the water and built the town hall on top of it.
Altes Rathaus
Two bridges connect Rathaus to either side of the riverbank. The Rathaus walls are decorated with murals. One notable aspect is a 3D leg protruding out of the painting.
Mural and the leg
Further
The city is interesting and a single visit isn’t enough to explore it all. There are a few things that I missed. The next time I’ll hike to the monastery up the hill, take a photo of the Rathaus from the smaller bridge, which offers a better view of the Rathaus. Also, visit the “Little Venice”.
Overall the city is a nice place to spend time walking. So I might visit it a couple more times in the future.
The Saturday hike with Highlights e.V was awesome. Highlights e.V is an NGO which works for Mental health and wellbeing. Especially this one focused on international community where mental well being and health is often neglected.
Courtesy to this group I enjoyed a nice hike on the Happurg trail. A well organized hike with roughly 30 people. There were people from India, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Italy, Croatia, Tunisia and some more. This internation collection made the trek more interesting.
The group gathered in the morning at the Nurnberg train station at 9.30 am. A half hour train ride took us to Happurg station. The roughly 10km hike started at the Happurg train station with the organizers setting the ground rules for the hike.
Happurg train station
The hike started with a steady climb through the winding roads of the Happurg residential area.
Roads to start of tail
After a short walk we reached a pair of gates which marked the start of the trail. The initial segment was a bit steep and we walked in a queue. With a leader leading us from the front and another experienced hiker walking at the back of the queue ensuring no one was left behind.
Walk in line
After the first climb which took us 1 hr we met a fox compass. Thanks to the compass we got our first beautiful view of the city below.
Fox Compass
Happurg below
We continued walking for another 1 hr. In the mean time we got to know each other. Between these interesting talks we did not realize that we were close to the peak. We stopped for a quick lunch and reached the peak soon.
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The descent from there on was whole another story. The first part was easy. We quickly reached the Hohler Fels – a rock structure.
Hohler Fels
The real fun began after this point. The road ahead was a slippery slope. With many people tumbling and rolling, this segment made the highlight of the trek.
Slippery slope
After the treacherous segment we reached the lower regions where we found a WW-2 tunnel system called Doggerstollen. It was an attempt at creating an underground aircraft production line. But the war ended before this could be operational.
Doggerstollen
Finally, at the base we sat by the beautiful lake chitchatting, skipping stones and enjoying the view.
Stausee
The 6 hour hike left us all mildly exhausted and full of memories worth remembering forever. Everyone had a smile on their face with the satisfaction of completing the hike. We were already asking the organizing team if there are plans of any more hikes.
I had never expected my first week in Germany to be so eventful. This was all possible thanks to the wonderful coordination by Highlights e.V.
