29/30.6.10
Not much been happening the past 2 days. Just some homework and chillin'. I really like my lit class, and the film class is pretty cool so far too. I cannot stand this grammar class though, banging my head against a wall would be more productive. Therefore, I am switching to the history class, even though it seems like it's gonna be a lot of work. At least I'll learn something new that I didn't learn freshman year of high school. Today after school we played some Fußball in a park, and right when we started leaving, we saw 1 bolt of lightning and heard 1 clap of thunder, and it immediately started downpouring. We met back up at the ice cream shop to do some homework, and of course, a bit after we get there, it stops. Irony at its finest. Speaking of ice cream, throughout the entire time I've been learning German, I've always wondered what Spaghetti-Eis is. It's always in the books for some reason. I saw it today, and it looks exactly like a plate of spaghetti. It looks fantabulously delicious. So I've decided that before I leave the country, I am having at least one. A bit later, we left the shop, and I went home to do some homework. The girls came in my room though and had drawn me pictures, so I drew them some pictures, and then they wanted me to keep drawing more and more. lol. Luckily, before I became their drawing slave, Skye called and a bunch of us went to Divesh's to hang out. On my way back, as I rode the bike into the yard, I saw a small animal running from the light. Totally freaked me out. So when I got inside I asked my host dad what it could've been, and so I got a bit of a vocab lesson trying to figure it out. We're thinking it was a hedgehog, which I had never actually seen until a week ago, but that one was dead, so this was technically the first live one I've seen (wild, anyway). Apparently there are also marmots, and they live on the roof and have babies up there so you can hear the scritchy scratchy feet. And in the alps there are groundhogs. So many different yard pests! Also, I find this translation funny: Raccoon=Wäschbär (literally, wash bear). Anyway, time to finish up some homework. Tomorrow after school we are going to the Hofbräuhaus. Should be quite fun!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wandern auf Tegernsee
28.6.10
Hallo Alle! Today we went hiking on the Tegernsee. It was not nearly as steep or hard as yesterday; mainly flat, but with a bit of hill. Pretty trail through the woods, along the lake, etc. Beautiful. Lots of panorama pictures. At the beginning, it was less shady, cuz we weren't in the woods yet. I wore jeans, so I was really really hot. Later though, when we were in the woods, it was perfect. I don't remember if I said this yesterday, but apparently there are no poisonous plants around here. Elsewhere in Germany there's this berry that 2 can kill you. The first makes you blind, and the 2nd makes you have a heart attack. Also, there's no natural predators around here. Well, big ones anyway. Biggest animals in the forest are the deer and the foxes. And the snakes aren't poisonous either. So really the only bad things are the slugs, and although they're gross (und groß), they're harmless. So after about an hour and a half of hiking, we ended up in Tegernsee (the city; we had started in Gmund, but we walked along the Tegernsee {the lake} the whole time). We toured a beautiful church, I believe it was the parish church of St. Quirinus. It was all white and bright inside, with lots of paintings on the ceiling....so pretty. It was like a wedding cake. I've only ever been in the dark cathedrals before. After the church, we went to a restaurant/Bräuhaus next door, which was delicious. I had Bierwurst mit Kartofflen/Gurkensalat, und eine Radler, which is half lemonade, half beer. Quite tasty. Then after a while of chillin, we got on the train and came home. And now I must do homework. The grammar class seems like its gonna be really easy, and the literature class is going to be interesting and fun. Werner, the guy who teaches the literature course, is a hilarious guy. And Frau Bambauer, the grammar teacher, is really nice. Tomorrow's the first film class with Herr Keel, so we'll see how that goes. Well, I shall talk to you all later, got Hausaufgaben zu machen. Tschüs!
Hallo Alle! Today we went hiking on the Tegernsee. It was not nearly as steep or hard as yesterday; mainly flat, but with a bit of hill. Pretty trail through the woods, along the lake, etc. Beautiful. Lots of panorama pictures. At the beginning, it was less shady, cuz we weren't in the woods yet. I wore jeans, so I was really really hot. Later though, when we were in the woods, it was perfect. I don't remember if I said this yesterday, but apparently there are no poisonous plants around here. Elsewhere in Germany there's this berry that 2 can kill you. The first makes you blind, and the 2nd makes you have a heart attack. Also, there's no natural predators around here. Well, big ones anyway. Biggest animals in the forest are the deer and the foxes. And the snakes aren't poisonous either. So really the only bad things are the slugs, and although they're gross (und groß), they're harmless. So after about an hour and a half of hiking, we ended up in Tegernsee (the city; we had started in Gmund, but we walked along the Tegernsee {the lake} the whole time). We toured a beautiful church, I believe it was the parish church of St. Quirinus. It was all white and bright inside, with lots of paintings on the ceiling....so pretty. It was like a wedding cake. I've only ever been in the dark cathedrals before. After the church, we went to a restaurant/Bräuhaus next door, which was delicious. I had Bierwurst mit Kartofflen/Gurkensalat, und eine Radler, which is half lemonade, half beer. Quite tasty. Then after a while of chillin, we got on the train and came home. And now I must do homework. The grammar class seems like its gonna be really easy, and the literature class is going to be interesting and fun. Werner, the guy who teaches the literature course, is a hilarious guy. And Frau Bambauer, the grammar teacher, is really nice. Tomorrow's the first film class with Herr Keel, so we'll see how that goes. Well, I shall talk to you all later, got Hausaufgaben zu machen. Tschüs!
Chillin in Holzkirchen
[Unless otherwise noted, all days from here on out are in Holzkirchen.]
25.6.10
Today was the first day of school, but it was mainly an introduction. Nothing too exciting. After school I walked around a bit with everyone else, then went home and played with the kids all day. Florentina is pretty attached to me--always "pick me up, throw me, push me on the swing" etc. Speaking of swings, I was swinging with Florentina on my lap, and then I let go of the rope, and fell backwards off the swing. Ripped my pants from the bottom of the pocket down to the knee, and scraped my back up (like a palm-sized scrape). I also met the 2 turtles today. One is Lucy, and I forget the other one's name (also a girl though). Later that evening, there was a reception type thing (kennen-lernen: getting to know eachother) at the school. They gave leberkase, which I thought I would never like, but apparently I just don't like it when it's spreadable. I like it when it is of the consistency of spam. It was delicious. They also had pretzels, with some kind of cheese dip (specialty of Bayern), but I didn't like the dip. There was also Tegernsee beer, which was good. All the students introduced their host families, and everyone just got to talk to everyone. There was a choir there singing songs every now and then, they sang us a welcome song. It was a good time. After the kennenlernen, me and a bunch of other kids went to the St. John's Day fire fest. For the summer solstice, many German towns have a big party and a fire to celebrate. It was a HUGE fire. Maybe 2 or 3 stories tall. Biggest bonfire I've ever seen. And of course, they were selling beer. By the liter. Huge glass of beer to match the huge fire. It was really fun, and one kid likened it to being at Bilbo Baggins' birthday party, which was a really good analogy. When we bought the beer we got a little blue chip, so we could get a refund when we return the glass. One kid lost his though, and really didn't want to keep his cup, so I gave him mine, cuz it's a pretty cool souvenir for only 3 Euros. Says Holzkirchen on it and everything. After a while of seeing lightening in the area, it began to rain, so we left.
26.6.10
Today I went to München with Amy and Ian. We walked around the city a bit, then met up with Amy's boy, Tom. Pretty nice guy. We had lunch, and I had Jägerschnitzel and Spätzel, which was good. Then Ian and I went to Dachau, which was really depressing. If you want to stay happy, don't go visit a concentration camp. Dachau was one of the first camps in Germany, and later, many other camps followed the "Dachau method." We even walked through the gas chambers and saw the cremation ovens. It's enough to make you sick. On a lighter note, but still semi-sad, later that day I met up with some people at Spenser's and we watched the USA-Ghana game. It went into overtime, but then Ghana ended up beating us 2-1. For some reason I was exhausted all day, so I didn't catch much of the 2nd half or of overtime cuz I was nodding off.
27.6.10
Today was Florentina's 6th birthday, and they had a scavenger hunt party. I was gonna go, but they left while I was in the shower. (Speaking of the "shower," it is just a bathtub, no shower curtain, and no shower head attached to the wall. There is a shower head on a flexible neck thing, so I kinda sat/kneeled and showered in a bathtub. Interesting experience.) Anyway, they came back a few hours later, and after some lunch, I went hiking with my host dad. We went to Marienstein, and hiked up a ~500 m mountain. About 1 hour up, and 1 hour down. It was really beautiful, and pretty fun, but I've never hiked anything so big before. Some of it was really steep too. At the place where we stopped, there was a small hut/cafe thing, but it was closed. We sat outside there for a while and chilled and watched the cows. On the way down, we saw some sheep. Its interesting to hear all their bells clanging. We brought the dog with, and Jamie was very excited to run all around everywhere and smell everything. Me and Wolfgang talked a lot about random things. It was nice. We saw a small snake, but he said it was harmless and blind. Jamie tried to play with it, but he stopped her. Apparently around here there aren't any poisonous plants or big predatory animals; the biggest animals are deer and foxes. Really safe, beautiful place to hike. Shady too, from all the trees. What astounded me the most was the lack of bugs. Sure, there's a few, but I didn't even put bug spray on, and there were no mosquitos, and only maybe a few flies now and then. Drastically different from America. No wonder they just keep all the windows open all the time. The only things that really come in are crane flies, and although they're big and weird, they're harmless. On the way home from the hike, we could easily tell who won the game, even without the radio. (We had missed the entire England-Germany game up in the mountains.) Everyone and their grandmother was out driving, screaming, yelling, waving flags, hanging out of cars, blowing those damned vuvuzelas (horn things for the world cup, google it). It was crazy. And this was only the 1/8th finals. I'm afraid for what will happen at the end, and I'm not sure if I'm more afraid for the win or for the loss.
Tomorrow after school we are going hiking on the Tegernsee, and then having dinner at a brewery in there. Should be fun, I've heard it's beautiful. =)
25.6.10
Today was the first day of school, but it was mainly an introduction. Nothing too exciting. After school I walked around a bit with everyone else, then went home and played with the kids all day. Florentina is pretty attached to me--always "pick me up, throw me, push me on the swing" etc. Speaking of swings, I was swinging with Florentina on my lap, and then I let go of the rope, and fell backwards off the swing. Ripped my pants from the bottom of the pocket down to the knee, and scraped my back up (like a palm-sized scrape). I also met the 2 turtles today. One is Lucy, and I forget the other one's name (also a girl though). Later that evening, there was a reception type thing (kennen-lernen: getting to know eachother) at the school. They gave leberkase, which I thought I would never like, but apparently I just don't like it when it's spreadable. I like it when it is of the consistency of spam. It was delicious. They also had pretzels, with some kind of cheese dip (specialty of Bayern), but I didn't like the dip. There was also Tegernsee beer, which was good. All the students introduced their host families, and everyone just got to talk to everyone. There was a choir there singing songs every now and then, they sang us a welcome song. It was a good time. After the kennenlernen, me and a bunch of other kids went to the St. John's Day fire fest. For the summer solstice, many German towns have a big party and a fire to celebrate. It was a HUGE fire. Maybe 2 or 3 stories tall. Biggest bonfire I've ever seen. And of course, they were selling beer. By the liter. Huge glass of beer to match the huge fire. It was really fun, and one kid likened it to being at Bilbo Baggins' birthday party, which was a really good analogy. When we bought the beer we got a little blue chip, so we could get a refund when we return the glass. One kid lost his though, and really didn't want to keep his cup, so I gave him mine, cuz it's a pretty cool souvenir for only 3 Euros. Says Holzkirchen on it and everything. After a while of seeing lightening in the area, it began to rain, so we left.
26.6.10
Today I went to München with Amy and Ian. We walked around the city a bit, then met up with Amy's boy, Tom. Pretty nice guy. We had lunch, and I had Jägerschnitzel and Spätzel, which was good. Then Ian and I went to Dachau, which was really depressing. If you want to stay happy, don't go visit a concentration camp. Dachau was one of the first camps in Germany, and later, many other camps followed the "Dachau method." We even walked through the gas chambers and saw the cremation ovens. It's enough to make you sick. On a lighter note, but still semi-sad, later that day I met up with some people at Spenser's and we watched the USA-Ghana game. It went into overtime, but then Ghana ended up beating us 2-1. For some reason I was exhausted all day, so I didn't catch much of the 2nd half or of overtime cuz I was nodding off.
27.6.10
Today was Florentina's 6th birthday, and they had a scavenger hunt party. I was gonna go, but they left while I was in the shower. (Speaking of the "shower," it is just a bathtub, no shower curtain, and no shower head attached to the wall. There is a shower head on a flexible neck thing, so I kinda sat/kneeled and showered in a bathtub. Interesting experience.) Anyway, they came back a few hours later, and after some lunch, I went hiking with my host dad. We went to Marienstein, and hiked up a ~500 m mountain. About 1 hour up, and 1 hour down. It was really beautiful, and pretty fun, but I've never hiked anything so big before. Some of it was really steep too. At the place where we stopped, there was a small hut/cafe thing, but it was closed. We sat outside there for a while and chilled and watched the cows. On the way down, we saw some sheep. Its interesting to hear all their bells clanging. We brought the dog with, and Jamie was very excited to run all around everywhere and smell everything. Me and Wolfgang talked a lot about random things. It was nice. We saw a small snake, but he said it was harmless and blind. Jamie tried to play with it, but he stopped her. Apparently around here there aren't any poisonous plants or big predatory animals; the biggest animals are deer and foxes. Really safe, beautiful place to hike. Shady too, from all the trees. What astounded me the most was the lack of bugs. Sure, there's a few, but I didn't even put bug spray on, and there were no mosquitos, and only maybe a few flies now and then. Drastically different from America. No wonder they just keep all the windows open all the time. The only things that really come in are crane flies, and although they're big and weird, they're harmless. On the way home from the hike, we could easily tell who won the game, even without the radio. (We had missed the entire England-Germany game up in the mountains.) Everyone and their grandmother was out driving, screaming, yelling, waving flags, hanging out of cars, blowing those damned vuvuzelas (horn things for the world cup, google it). It was crazy. And this was only the 1/8th finals. I'm afraid for what will happen at the end, and I'm not sure if I'm more afraid for the win or for the loss.
Tomorrow after school we are going hiking on the Tegernsee, and then having dinner at a brewery in there. Should be fun, I've heard it's beautiful. =)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Ich bin ein Berliner!
Hallo! So here's what's happened since the last episode:
22.7.10--Berlin
Today we went to the Stasi Museum, but it was closed, since they are moving closer to Checkpoint Charlie so they can get more tourists. So instead, we went back to the Holocaust Museum, which was really moving and sad. Great way to start the morning. In one room they had letters that people in the camps had written to their friends and families....really depressing. =( After that we went to the Pergammon Museum on the Museumsinsel (Museum Island). Throughout the years, the Germans have accumulated various Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Islamic, etc ruins and art and other artifacts and brought them here. Pretty cool place. My favorite room had a really pretty blue mosiac archway with animals on it. I'm pretty sure it was Babylonian. It was awesome, whatever it was. Other cool things there were the Islamic pottery and the bones of an Egyptian king and his sarcophagus. We then had lunch by the Nikolaikirche--I had this hamburger type thing that I forgot what it was called...it came with a fried egg on top, but I took that off. (Herr Keel said in Bayern its called a Frickadelle). Twas good. Then we went on a Spreefahrt (boat ride on the Spree River), which was fun. Then we walked around a bit, did some shopping, and had dinner at an Indian restaurant--tasty. Then we went back to the hotel, and I meant to meet up with everyone down at the bar after a short nap, but my "short nap" ended up lasting until the following morning.
23.6.10--Berlin
This morning we went to the Deutsches Geschichtes (History) Museum [starting from the first German civilizations (the tribes) and going until 1994]. It was pretty cool, especially the parts about the kings and the Enlightenment and the Renaissance. It's cool watching the development of toys--it was around the Romantic era that they started making educational/gender specific toys. There was one doll whose skirt opened up to reveal a kitchen and all sorts of kitchen implements. Bunch of cool stuff there. After that some people went to the Tiergarten for the Fanmeile with 5 million other people to watch the World Cup games. Me, Amy, and Ian went souvenir shopping and ate at an Italian restaurant for lunch. We went to an Irish pub for some cider and to watch the England game (the US game was also playing elsewhere in the same pub, so we heard those cheers too--exciting: the US scored in the 91st minute!). After eating at a mediterranean place, we went back to the hotel and watched the Germany game in the bar--also exciting. Germany, US, and England are all advancing! When Germany won, there were fireworks everywhere, and it was crazy. Basically, imagine what happened in downtown Chicago when the Hawks won, except everyone was cheering for the same team, and its the whole country. If they win the cup (knock on wood), Germany is going to go MAD.
24.6.10--Berlin-->Holzkirchen
Today we returned to Holzkirchen. Very long train ride. When we finally got back to Holzkirchen, we went to the city hall, where all the parents were waiting, and they had a kid's band dressed up in traditional garb playing triumphant homecoming music. It was all quite intimidating/embarrassing/funny/nice. Then the mayor had a speech, and the principal of the school had a speech, and Herr Keel said something, and the band played between each one, and then we went to our respective houses. My family is very nice, and although the parents can speak a little German, they cannot speak it very much, so I guess I'll have to learn fast. They have 1 Jack Russel Terrier named Jamie, and 3 Daughters--Ella (8), Florentina (6), and Maren (4). The girls are adorable, but with all 3 of them speaking German at the same time, its hard to understand sometimes. I'm really close to the school and the train station, which is nice. Tomorrow is the first day of school, so I should go to bed soon.
Good night!!
22.7.10--Berlin
Today we went to the Stasi Museum, but it was closed, since they are moving closer to Checkpoint Charlie so they can get more tourists. So instead, we went back to the Holocaust Museum, which was really moving and sad. Great way to start the morning. In one room they had letters that people in the camps had written to their friends and families....really depressing. =( After that we went to the Pergammon Museum on the Museumsinsel (Museum Island). Throughout the years, the Germans have accumulated various Greek, Turkish, Egyptian, Islamic, etc ruins and art and other artifacts and brought them here. Pretty cool place. My favorite room had a really pretty blue mosiac archway with animals on it. I'm pretty sure it was Babylonian. It was awesome, whatever it was. Other cool things there were the Islamic pottery and the bones of an Egyptian king and his sarcophagus. We then had lunch by the Nikolaikirche--I had this hamburger type thing that I forgot what it was called...it came with a fried egg on top, but I took that off. (Herr Keel said in Bayern its called a Frickadelle). Twas good. Then we went on a Spreefahrt (boat ride on the Spree River), which was fun. Then we walked around a bit, did some shopping, and had dinner at an Indian restaurant--tasty. Then we went back to the hotel, and I meant to meet up with everyone down at the bar after a short nap, but my "short nap" ended up lasting until the following morning.
23.6.10--Berlin
This morning we went to the Deutsches Geschichtes (History) Museum [starting from the first German civilizations (the tribes) and going until 1994]. It was pretty cool, especially the parts about the kings and the Enlightenment and the Renaissance. It's cool watching the development of toys--it was around the Romantic era that they started making educational/gender specific toys. There was one doll whose skirt opened up to reveal a kitchen and all sorts of kitchen implements. Bunch of cool stuff there. After that some people went to the Tiergarten for the Fanmeile with 5 million other people to watch the World Cup games. Me, Amy, and Ian went souvenir shopping and ate at an Italian restaurant for lunch. We went to an Irish pub for some cider and to watch the England game (the US game was also playing elsewhere in the same pub, so we heard those cheers too--exciting: the US scored in the 91st minute!). After eating at a mediterranean place, we went back to the hotel and watched the Germany game in the bar--also exciting. Germany, US, and England are all advancing! When Germany won, there were fireworks everywhere, and it was crazy. Basically, imagine what happened in downtown Chicago when the Hawks won, except everyone was cheering for the same team, and its the whole country. If they win the cup (knock on wood), Germany is going to go MAD.
24.6.10--Berlin-->Holzkirchen
Today we returned to Holzkirchen. Very long train ride. When we finally got back to Holzkirchen, we went to the city hall, where all the parents were waiting, and they had a kid's band dressed up in traditional garb playing triumphant homecoming music. It was all quite intimidating/embarrassing/funny/nice. Then the mayor had a speech, and the principal of the school had a speech, and Herr Keel said something, and the band played between each one, and then we went to our respective houses. My family is very nice, and although the parents can speak a little German, they cannot speak it very much, so I guess I'll have to learn fast. They have 1 Jack Russel Terrier named Jamie, and 3 Daughters--Ella (8), Florentina (6), and Maren (4). The girls are adorable, but with all 3 of them speaking German at the same time, its hard to understand sometimes. I'm really close to the school and the train station, which is nice. Tomorrow is the first day of school, so I should go to bed soon.
Good night!!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Updates of the Past Few Days
Hey, so I was gonna update 2 days ago when I was still in Koeln, but then my internet ran out halfway through writing it. So here's an update. (fyi I'm on a friend's computer so I can't do umlauts =[ )
17.6.10--Koeln
Today we walked around the city, saw a bunch of historical Roman sites, and the Dom (cathedral). Roman ruins are buried all underneath the city, and only some are excavated. We went to an underground museum to see the Praetorium, which was the center of the city, like the town hall/palace type thing. It was pretty cool. Apparently the Romans gave the Germans clean water, bricks, a sewer system, and roads. Then we went to the Dom, which is really pretty, both inside and out. Inside lie the ruins of the 3 kings (from Jesus' birth), which were transported to Germany in the 1100s from Italy I believe. They're in a gold box in the back of the church by all the shrines/sarcophagi of the dead arch bishops.
After we looked around inside, we decided to climb up to the top of one of the towers-->533 steps (I didn't count, this is just what someone told me). We got 2 random people to join our group so we could get a discount (only 1 Euro each!). Most of the stairs were spiral staircases surrounded by brick walls, which wasn't too bad until mild claustrophobia started clicking in. At the bell tower, there was a landing, wherein lies the largest church bell in Europe. After the bell was more stairs, and then a landing with even MORE, but these were worse, because they were more open (surrounded by chain link fence and lots of windows, so you could see how far you've climbed). So, needless to say, by the time I reached the top, I was shaking not only from exhaustion, but also from acrophobia. Really pretty view though. Again, I was astounded at the graffiti. All up the stairs, and also all over the top. People brought white-out up with them to write on the tower. Quite ridiculous. Another ridiculousness was that there was a a small information booth/gift shop at the top. That guy's commute to work must suck.
After that we walked all over the city, got a bit lost, then found our way back again. Got some souvenirs, had curry wurst und pommes for dinner (schmeckt sehr gut). Then we chilled in the hotel bar for a while.
18.6.10--Bonn
Today we spent the day in Bonn. First we went to a history museum-->end of WWII to today. Pretty cool museum, nicely presented exhibits. Cool interactive stuff. Then we had lunch; I had Himmel und Aeaed, which is black pudding (Blutwurst), liver sausage (Leberwurst), potatoes (Kartoffeln), onions (Zweibeln), and applesauce. Good, but not nearly as good as the blood sausage we make at home. Nowhere close--too mushy. After lunch we went to Beethoven's birth house...alright, but nothing too exiting. Just stuff he touched and composed and whatnot. Then we walked around the city for a while, and I bought some cool cds. Then we went back and chilled in the hotel bar for the rest of the night (way more fun than the previous night). The bartender was really nice and funny and chilled with us all night. He wanted to practice his English, and knew we had to learn German, so he spoke to us in English and made us speak in German; if we said anything in English to each other we had to buy a round. Had quite a few interesting conversations with him.
19.6.10--Mayschoss
Today we took the train to Mayschoss for a wine tasting. Unlike wine tastings in the US, where you get a tiny sip and then have to spit it out, we got full glasses, and they never let em get empty. We started off with a red champagne, which was interesting, though for some odd reason it had a hint of cheese. Then we had lunch, which started off with a really yummy salad and a white wine, and then chicken/spinach/noodles/creamy sauce with the same white, and then we got a red with dessert (seemed backwards to me), which was a hot rhubarb thing; consistency/taste of pie filling, and delicious. Then, since one kid was talking to the guy the whole time and asking lots of questions, he took out his favorite bottle of wine and gave us all some. We then took the train one stop over to tour a cellar, and we got another glass of wine straight from the barrel. It was pretty cool. After the tour we went in the shop, and they gave us more tastes of whatever we wanted, but these were only small sips. There were lots of cool things in there, including wine jelly, wine truffles, and wine cake. The winery and cellar were dug our of the ground, with stone all around (it was in the mountains) Apparently, its much better to grow grapes on a mountain than flat land because you can control the sun (which side of the mountain), and the water doesn't pool, and there are no shadows (the sun hits at a 90 degree angle), and it stays warmer in the valley. Very interesting stuff to learn. Then we went back to Koeln and ate at this American-European restaurant--it was trying to be American anyway. I had Salami Pizza, which consisted of minimal amounts of cheese and 4 largish pieces of Salami. A valiant effort to replicate American pizza, and it tasted good, but nothing akin to our pizza monstrosities. Then we came back to the hotel to pack (I broke a zipper on my carryon =[ )
20.6.10--Berlin
After a long train ride, we finally got to Berlin. Our hotel is in the old east Berlin, about 15 minutes away via train from the center of the city. We had Doener for dinner, which was delicious (google it). Then we went to the Reichstag, which is where the German parliament meets. We went up to the top, where there was a really pretty view of the entire city. Then we went to this one street that one guy's friend had said had really good food, and we just chilled there for a while and walked around.
21.6.10
This morning we went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which was pretty cool. I found it especially interesting how inventive people got in their escape from the east--i.e. homemade scuba gear, gliders, hollow speaker boxes, various places in cars, etc. Then we went to the Gustapo museum, where I saw a short propaganda video which was the EXACT scene "Be Prepared" from the Lion King. No joke. It's quite ridiculous what Disney does. Anyway, after that we went to lunch, and then after lunch we went to the Museum of the Deutscher Wiederstand, which was all the German people against the Nazis--i.e. people who tried to kill Hitler, the student uprising, etc. Then we saw the Holocaust memorial, and we were gonna go in the museum, but its closed on Mondays. After that we went and saw this church that was bombed in the war and never rebuilt/renovated as a memory of the horror. After some shopping, we had dinner, and then just chilled for a while.
Ok well I gotta go for now, its late and I'm on my friend's computer. Ta ta for now!!
17.6.10--Koeln
Today we walked around the city, saw a bunch of historical Roman sites, and the Dom (cathedral). Roman ruins are buried all underneath the city, and only some are excavated. We went to an underground museum to see the Praetorium, which was the center of the city, like the town hall/palace type thing. It was pretty cool. Apparently the Romans gave the Germans clean water, bricks, a sewer system, and roads. Then we went to the Dom, which is really pretty, both inside and out. Inside lie the ruins of the 3 kings (from Jesus' birth), which were transported to Germany in the 1100s from Italy I believe. They're in a gold box in the back of the church by all the shrines/sarcophagi of the dead arch bishops.
After we looked around inside, we decided to climb up to the top of one of the towers-->533 steps (I didn't count, this is just what someone told me). We got 2 random people to join our group so we could get a discount (only 1 Euro each!). Most of the stairs were spiral staircases surrounded by brick walls, which wasn't too bad until mild claustrophobia started clicking in. At the bell tower, there was a landing, wherein lies the largest church bell in Europe. After the bell was more stairs, and then a landing with even MORE, but these were worse, because they were more open (surrounded by chain link fence and lots of windows, so you could see how far you've climbed). So, needless to say, by the time I reached the top, I was shaking not only from exhaustion, but also from acrophobia. Really pretty view though. Again, I was astounded at the graffiti. All up the stairs, and also all over the top. People brought white-out up with them to write on the tower. Quite ridiculous. Another ridiculousness was that there was a a small information booth/gift shop at the top. That guy's commute to work must suck.
After that we walked all over the city, got a bit lost, then found our way back again. Got some souvenirs, had curry wurst und pommes for dinner (schmeckt sehr gut). Then we chilled in the hotel bar for a while.
18.6.10--Bonn
Today we spent the day in Bonn. First we went to a history museum-->end of WWII to today. Pretty cool museum, nicely presented exhibits. Cool interactive stuff. Then we had lunch; I had Himmel und Aeaed, which is black pudding (Blutwurst), liver sausage (Leberwurst), potatoes (Kartoffeln), onions (Zweibeln), and applesauce. Good, but not nearly as good as the blood sausage we make at home. Nowhere close--too mushy. After lunch we went to Beethoven's birth house...alright, but nothing too exiting. Just stuff he touched and composed and whatnot. Then we walked around the city for a while, and I bought some cool cds. Then we went back and chilled in the hotel bar for the rest of the night (way more fun than the previous night). The bartender was really nice and funny and chilled with us all night. He wanted to practice his English, and knew we had to learn German, so he spoke to us in English and made us speak in German; if we said anything in English to each other we had to buy a round. Had quite a few interesting conversations with him.
19.6.10--Mayschoss
Today we took the train to Mayschoss for a wine tasting. Unlike wine tastings in the US, where you get a tiny sip and then have to spit it out, we got full glasses, and they never let em get empty. We started off with a red champagne, which was interesting, though for some odd reason it had a hint of cheese. Then we had lunch, which started off with a really yummy salad and a white wine, and then chicken/spinach/noodles/creamy sauce with the same white, and then we got a red with dessert (seemed backwards to me), which was a hot rhubarb thing; consistency/taste of pie filling, and delicious. Then, since one kid was talking to the guy the whole time and asking lots of questions, he took out his favorite bottle of wine and gave us all some. We then took the train one stop over to tour a cellar, and we got another glass of wine straight from the barrel. It was pretty cool. After the tour we went in the shop, and they gave us more tastes of whatever we wanted, but these were only small sips. There were lots of cool things in there, including wine jelly, wine truffles, and wine cake. The winery and cellar were dug our of the ground, with stone all around (it was in the mountains) Apparently, its much better to grow grapes on a mountain than flat land because you can control the sun (which side of the mountain), and the water doesn't pool, and there are no shadows (the sun hits at a 90 degree angle), and it stays warmer in the valley. Very interesting stuff to learn. Then we went back to Koeln and ate at this American-European restaurant--it was trying to be American anyway. I had Salami Pizza, which consisted of minimal amounts of cheese and 4 largish pieces of Salami. A valiant effort to replicate American pizza, and it tasted good, but nothing akin to our pizza monstrosities. Then we came back to the hotel to pack (I broke a zipper on my carryon =[ )
20.6.10--Berlin
After a long train ride, we finally got to Berlin. Our hotel is in the old east Berlin, about 15 minutes away via train from the center of the city. We had Doener for dinner, which was delicious (google it). Then we went to the Reichstag, which is where the German parliament meets. We went up to the top, where there was a really pretty view of the entire city. Then we went to this one street that one guy's friend had said had really good food, and we just chilled there for a while and walked around.
21.6.10
This morning we went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which was pretty cool. I found it especially interesting how inventive people got in their escape from the east--i.e. homemade scuba gear, gliders, hollow speaker boxes, various places in cars, etc. Then we went to the Gustapo museum, where I saw a short propaganda video which was the EXACT scene "Be Prepared" from the Lion King. No joke. It's quite ridiculous what Disney does. Anyway, after that we went to lunch, and then after lunch we went to the Museum of the Deutscher Wiederstand, which was all the German people against the Nazis--i.e. people who tried to kill Hitler, the student uprising, etc. Then we saw the Holocaust memorial, and we were gonna go in the museum, but its closed on Mondays. After that we went and saw this church that was bombed in the war and never rebuilt/renovated as a memory of the horror. After some shopping, we had dinner, and then just chilled for a while.
Ok well I gotta go for now, its late and I'm on my friend's computer. Ta ta for now!!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Hallo von Köln!
Today was a long day of travel...lots of time spent on the train. But I'm finally here =) Unlike in Holzkirchen, I don't get free internet...I paid 2,00 Euro for one hour, so I probably won´t be on much.
Das Wetter hier ist sehr schön. In Holzkirchen it was rainy and cloudy, and here it is hot and humid..big change. Though despite the sweatiness, it is nice.
The next few days are full of museums, touring around Köln, and a wine tasting, I believe. Should be a fun time.
Dinner was good; the place we went had 1 meter long bratwurst (for 4 people). tasty. Had that, Bratkartoffeln with some kind of cabbage (cabbage was surprisingly good) and Kölsch--Köln´s brew of beer. Then we walked around the city for a bit, saw the cathedral and the bridge; they were pretty, then we just ambled around, though most everything was closed by then.
The Köln S-Bahn is most like the El so far, but its still much cleaner. Everything is so much cleaner. None of the train stations are dirty or smell like piss or have bums living in them. Its crazy.
Well I gotta sign off now, I´ll update later...maybe when its less expensive.
Das Wetter hier ist sehr schön. In Holzkirchen it was rainy and cloudy, and here it is hot and humid..big change. Though despite the sweatiness, it is nice.
The next few days are full of museums, touring around Köln, and a wine tasting, I believe. Should be a fun time.
Dinner was good; the place we went had 1 meter long bratwurst (for 4 people). tasty. Had that, Bratkartoffeln with some kind of cabbage (cabbage was surprisingly good) and Kölsch--Köln´s brew of beer. Then we walked around the city for a bit, saw the cathedral and the bridge; they were pretty, then we just ambled around, though most everything was closed by then.
The Köln S-Bahn is most like the El so far, but its still much cleaner. Everything is so much cleaner. None of the train stations are dirty or smell like piss or have bums living in them. Its crazy.
Well I gotta sign off now, I´ll update later...maybe when its less expensive.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Holzkirchen
Hallo von Holzkirchen!
So here are my thoughts and observations about Holzkirchen after walking around yesterday and today:
the town is made up almost exclusively of:
-bakeries
-dirndl/laderhosen shops
-other cafes/bars
saw some cows yesterday too. they were cute and they walked right up to the edge of the fence to say hello.
there are giant slugs EVERYWHERE on the sidewalk. so gross. und groß. gross in both languages.
last night for dinner i had a yummy beef broth soup, and then some grilled meat and fries, and then ice cream with mixed berries. tried dunkeles Bier. all was delicious. then i went with some of the other kids to the bar across the street to watch the soccer game (brazil and paraguay tied).
today we had breakfast at the hotel, which was delicious, and then orientation, where we introduced ourselves, and learned a bit about holzkirchen, the bayerische dialect, and some other things. then we had lunch, which was a chicken goulasch thing, very yummy. had coke with real sugar. then we had a scavenger hunt type thingy (eine schnitzeljagd) around holzkirchen to get to know the town. and then i took a short nap cuz i was exhausted. then was dinner, which was pork and a giant dumpling. the pork was kinda fatty, but good once the fat is cut off. the dumpling was yummy. i had apfelsaftschorle, which is apple juice mixed with mineral water so it is bubbly. pretty good. interesting to say the least.
after dinner i came back to my room and packed; we had to put our suitcases in the other room to be locked up for the next 10 or so days, which is the whirlwind tour of deutschland. tomorrow is köln, gotta leave for the 7 hour train ride at 9:45.
well, its almost midnight now, so im going to bed. gnite all!
So here are my thoughts and observations about Holzkirchen after walking around yesterday and today:
the town is made up almost exclusively of:
-bakeries
-dirndl/laderhosen shops
-other cafes/bars
saw some cows yesterday too. they were cute and they walked right up to the edge of the fence to say hello.
there are giant slugs EVERYWHERE on the sidewalk. so gross. und groß. gross in both languages.
last night for dinner i had a yummy beef broth soup, and then some grilled meat and fries, and then ice cream with mixed berries. tried dunkeles Bier. all was delicious. then i went with some of the other kids to the bar across the street to watch the soccer game (brazil and paraguay tied).
today we had breakfast at the hotel, which was delicious, and then orientation, where we introduced ourselves, and learned a bit about holzkirchen, the bayerische dialect, and some other things. then we had lunch, which was a chicken goulasch thing, very yummy. had coke with real sugar. then we had a scavenger hunt type thingy (eine schnitzeljagd) around holzkirchen to get to know the town. and then i took a short nap cuz i was exhausted. then was dinner, which was pork and a giant dumpling. the pork was kinda fatty, but good once the fat is cut off. the dumpling was yummy. i had apfelsaftschorle, which is apple juice mixed with mineral water so it is bubbly. pretty good. interesting to say the least.
after dinner i came back to my room and packed; we had to put our suitcases in the other room to be locked up for the next 10 or so days, which is the whirlwind tour of deutschland. tomorrow is köln, gotta leave for the 7 hour train ride at 9:45.
well, its almost midnight now, so im going to bed. gnite all!
Monday, June 14, 2010
I've Arrived!/First Impressions
So I'm finally here in Germany. It is 1 pm here, plane got in at 9:20 am, and then i had to take 2 trains and a taxi to get to the hotel.
The plane ride was...enh. I was on the wing, so couldnt see much out the window [not that there was much to see, it was really cloudy]. I finished my book about 1.5 hours in, and the others were in my suitcase. My tv also did not work (more on that later). Couldn't manage to fall asleep either, so it was fairly boring.
Since the tv didn't work, the stewardess gave me this card with a website on it that I have to go to to claim my "we're sorry" gift. I'll check that out later and see what I won =)
The trains here are REALLY nice. MUCH better than the El, better than the Metra, and better than in Sydney. They're so nice and shiny =) Really smooth ride.
The hotel is pretty nice. Free wifi and breakfast, nice room, and a terrace (which I'm sitting on right now).
A few first impressions:
All the roofs are orange, with the occasional brown
Quite a lot of the billboards are in English
Lots of green/trees/farms
I'm gonna go explore the town; I'll add more later and eventually get some pictures and videos up.
The plane ride was...enh. I was on the wing, so couldnt see much out the window [not that there was much to see, it was really cloudy]. I finished my book about 1.5 hours in, and the others were in my suitcase. My tv also did not work (more on that later). Couldn't manage to fall asleep either, so it was fairly boring.
Since the tv didn't work, the stewardess gave me this card with a website on it that I have to go to to claim my "we're sorry" gift. I'll check that out later and see what I won =)
The trains here are REALLY nice. MUCH better than the El, better than the Metra, and better than in Sydney. They're so nice and shiny =) Really smooth ride.
The hotel is pretty nice. Free wifi and breakfast, nice room, and a terrace (which I'm sitting on right now).
A few first impressions:
All the roofs are orange, with the occasional brown
Quite a lot of the billboards are in English
Lots of green/trees/farms
I'm gonna go explore the town; I'll add more later and eventually get some pictures and videos up.
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