Before leaving for Bayern, I bought a soccer ball. Since then the whole group has twice played soccer in a park in Kreuzberg, both times with local kids. That was really fun. These kids were probably about 12 years old. They were pretty good for their age, but we were a lot bigger. No one kept score, and everyone played, even if they weren't soccer-skilled. It was fun.
Bayern and the Alps were incredible. On the 18th David, Dan, and I took the Deutsche Bahn to Munich, a six hour trip. Our hostel that night was a 10-bed room at Jaeger's Hostel. That night we watched the Rugby World Cup consolation match between France and Argentina in the hostel on TV. Somehow there were tons of Argentina fans in the hostel, and no France fans. And they weren't just France-haters, because they all spoke Spanish and sang rugby songs when Argentina scored. And Argentina scored often. They trounced France. I learned a lot about rugby and british sports commentary. The next morning we saw some sights in Munich, like Frauenkirche, Alte and Neue Rathäuser (including the Glockenspiel in Neue Rathaus, a really lame animatronic wooden scene that lasts 15 minutes with figures dancing and two jousters, and a rooster at the end. We only saw about 5 minutes.), and went up in one of the domes of Frauenkirche to get a nice view of Munich from a couple hundred feet up. Frauenkirche is absolutely massive. That afternoon we met up with Hannah R., who had taken a later train, and walked around Englischer Garten, a park twice as big as Central Park. It was pretty. Dinner was had in Hofbräuhaus, a famous beer hall in Munich. I had Schweinwürstl (basically tasty sausages) with Sauerkraut and beer. It was a fun day.
The next morning David, Dan, and I hopped a morning train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a combined village of two little towns in the Alps. The Alps were unbelievable. The landscape got snowier and snowier during the hour and a half train ride, and soon mountains were in view. After some putzing around getting trail food in Garmisch, we hiked to our hostel in Burgrain, another little village nearby. Along the way there were countless beautiful views of mountains. Our youth hostel turned out to be incredibly good. We had a four bed room with individual showers across the hall, friendly staff, and cheap dinner, which I expected to be crummy, but turned out to be absolutely delicious. It was a dream hostel.
Hiking in the Alps was the most beautiful experience of my life. Both days it was lightly snowing and about 32° F. The pictures are beautiful, but they really can't do it justice at all.
Our first day in Garmisch-Partenkirchen we decided to hike over a nearby small mountain, or get as far as we could. We set out with food and six hours before dark. Eventually we came out of some woods, and for the first time got a view of the mountain. It was...mountainous. And that was only the lower peak. There was also a higher peak that we couldn't see in fog. So our goal changed to "get as far as we can". That was still pretty far. We almost reached the lower peak. The views were absolutely astonishing, and got better and better as we got higher and higher. Eventually we couldn't see the ground from where we were, because we were in fog, and it was snowing. The trail got rougher as we went up, and snow thicker, and eventually we decided that we should get down, to avoid darkness and the danger of possible escalating snowfall. Once down, we skipped into Garmisch for a nice pasta dinner, then hiked 20 minutes back to our hostel. I was pooped, but exhilarated from the absolute beauty of the place. It was the perfect winter scene, not too cold and not snowing too hard, with mountains everywhere. My expectations for the Alps were incredibly high, and they were easily easily beaten.
The next morning we ate breakfast at the hostel and got out on the trail again. This time we went to Partnachklamm Gorge, a magnificent gorge carved out by a little mountain river. The hostel lady recommended it. We had originally planned to take a cable car to a high mountain and hike down, but she told us the snow there would be a meter high, and recommended the gorge. I'm very glad she did. It was equally beautiful in a different way. The river was all rapids and a beautiful shade of blue, and the cliffs on either side were probably 60 feet tall, with tons of cool geology. It was amazing. After the gorge, we continued to hike, taking a loop up the side of a mountain, and then going in the opposite direction to the peak of a foothill/mountain called Eckbauer. From the peak we normally could have seen the entire range of big mountains around G-P, but snow limited visibility to about 500 feet. That was totally okay, because the snow was beautiful in its own right. From Eckbauer, the hike was all downhill. We stopped by Wamberg, a tiny town with about 20 buildings, the world's cutest tiniest church (thus making Wamberg an official village), and sheep/goats (we weren't sure), and then hiked back down to Garmisch. Back at the hostel, we had the incredible hostel dinner with pork, spätzle, blaukraut, some doughball things, salad, and chocolate-wafer cake, all as buffet. I ate probably 3000 calories at that meal. I was that hungry, and the food was super well made and perfect for after a hike. Very unexpected, but very welcome. After showers, we played Uno with beer, and got to bed relatively early.
It would be a dream to live in G-P one year, and be able to see the mountains through the changing of the seasons. I've never been anywhere so beautiful, and it was only a sampling of what it can be. During our stay we could have taken cable cars to Zugspitze, the highest peak, for a hefty fee, but with the snow we wouldn't have been able to see anything. Our hikes were better, prettier, less touristy, and cheaper. We had to have hiked over 15 miles over the two days, all mountainous.
With sadness and sore legs the next morning we left Garmisch-Partenkirchen for Munich again. Once there, we checked out the Neue Pinakothek, an art museum with 19th century art, then met up with Hannah R. again and went to the Deutsches Musuem, a gigantic science museum. It must be the largest museum on Earth. It had displays on everything, like mining, metals, ceramics, airplanes, space, musical instruments, etc., and we only saw a fraction. Munich actually has a ton of museums, mostly art museums. For dinner we went to Weisses Bräuhaus, another traditional German restaurant, and then made the obligatory Munich visit to a beer garden. Our choice was Augustiner Keller, where you can drink a Maß (one liter) of beer two stories below ground in a beer cellar. Everything is brick, and they serve the beer out of gigantic wooden barrels. That was fun, and a good taste of Munich culture. Also a good taste of beer.
Munich was cool, and a good way to see Bayern culture and hear Bayrisch (dialect of German, notoriously hard to understand). We saw several examples of Lederhosen, and some absolutely incredible beards and moustaches, which were probably the best part of the town. Especially in the Bräuhäuser, there were some very stereotypically German people.
That night we were back in Jaeger's, but in a four bed room. That was nicer. Jaeger's was a solid hostel, just very busy. We got lots of sleep, and the next morning took the early train back to Berlin. It took six hours again, with a change in Nürnberg this time. It was a fun trip, way better than even my high expectations. Still, it's also nice to be back.
Since then we've seen "Die Hochzeit Des Figaro" ("the marriage of Figaro"), translated into German, in the opera. That was an interesting test of being able to understand German during song. It was hard. The opera, though, was very cool. Very long, but very cool. Tonight we see "Die Physiker" on the stage. It was a really good book, written in the Cold War and concerning scientific ethics (interesting then for nuclear weapons, always for myriad reasons). It'll be interesting to see it performed.
Be sure to check out the photos of the Alps. They aren't the same, but they're still pretty. Tomorrow, I finally go to the zoo, and this Sunday and Monday, the whole group goes to Dresden. It's been great, and continues to be.
Thursday, October 25
Thursday, October 18
Die Zweite Reise
This weekend is "Midterm Break", which means we get Monday off, which at Carleton is the only break we have during a term, but here is just another break among many, in a program that's a little break-ish to begin with. Anyways, I'm going to Munich with two friends later today. On Friday we'll be in Munich, then Saturday and Sunday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is a little city on the southern border, to see the Alps. Then Monday back in Munich, and Tuesday morning we take the train back to Berlin, where we're seeing a play that night.
I'm extremely excited to see the Alps. I've seen mountains in New Mexico, but if they were to get into a fight with the Alps, they would be pulverized. We're planning on doing some hiking and mountain-seeing while we're in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and in Munich some touristy sights and museums, and Hofbräuhaus.
This past week we saw "Minna von Barnhelm", which was actually extremely good. We've also finished Bertholt Brecht's "Die Dreigroschenoper", known in English as "Threepenny Opera", which expounds Brecht's communist ideologie in Gangster-story format. Now we're reading "Die Physiker" by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, which is so far definitely the easiest we've read, partly because it was written fairly recently (1962).
I must pack. The train leaves in about 3 hours. I won't have internet access until Tuesday at the earliest.
I'm extremely excited to see the Alps. I've seen mountains in New Mexico, but if they were to get into a fight with the Alps, they would be pulverized. We're planning on doing some hiking and mountain-seeing while we're in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and in Munich some touristy sights and museums, and Hofbräuhaus.
This past week we saw "Minna von Barnhelm", which was actually extremely good. We've also finished Bertholt Brecht's "Die Dreigroschenoper", known in English as "Threepenny Opera", which expounds Brecht's communist ideologie in Gangster-story format. Now we're reading "Die Physiker" by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, which is so far definitely the easiest we've read, partly because it was written fairly recently (1962).
I must pack. The train leaves in about 3 hours. I won't have internet access until Tuesday at the earliest.
Saturday, October 13
die Reise
We just got back yesterday from our six day Weimar-Nürnberg trip, which functioned like a vacation, although the whole trip is kind of a vacation too. A vacation within a vacation. It was cool. See below. Before we left, David and I went to the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, which has art. While there, some girl saw that David was wearing a Carleton shirt, and stopped us. Turns out her brother is a member of the class of 2011. It was very unlikely. I facebook-messaged the guy, which was successfully not creepy.
Also successful was the Hertha BSC (Berlin): Energie Cottbus soccer game on Saturday the 6th. The game was a dudder of a soccer game (0:0, with some absolutely thrilling turnovers and mis-passes), but it was still very exciting to be at a European soccer game, where the fans cheer nonstop and wave flags and have their own drumline. That was in the rowdy section, which is separated by physical plastic barriers from everyone else, for everyone else's safety. Even Cottbus had a strong contingent of hooligans. The game was almost exciting, because there was a PK in the 90th minute for Hertha, but the player shot the ball off the crossbar, fittingly. On the way there and back we were treated to some nice drunk serenades by soccer hooligans in the Ubahn.
The next day we left for Weimar. Weimar has only 60,000 people but a ton of famous former residents, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, and either Beethoven or Bach (I had famous person overload), among others, including Hitler for a little while. The whole city is straight from a fairytale, with all cobblestone streets, and a pretty park, and some horses for tourists, and pretty buildings. We toured the former residences of Goethe and Schiller (Schiller is kind of a big deal at Carleton). What's kind of funny in a sick way is that right outside this fairytale city is Buchenwald, a former concentration camp. We toured it. It was tragically awful in a way that makes non-crying people cry. The gate where prisoners entered says "Jedem das Seine". That means "to each his own". That perversion is what sickened me the most. That, or the people ovens or the punishment wagon that prisoners had to pull or the solitary confinement building or the punishment pole from which people hung until they passed out or the pictures of dead piles of humans or the pictures of live skeletons of humans, which were all truly terrible.
I'm very glad I saw it.
We left Weimar to go to Nürnberg. Nürnberg is over 900 years old, and has an altstadt (old city) surrounded by an old city wall, in addition to lots of traditional German architecture, like Fachwerkhäuser and the like. Phenomenally large and pretty churches as well, like many cities here. Albrecht Dürer lived here around 1500, so we toured his former house. They have yummy bratwurst too, the best I've yet had. Also, the best museum I've seen yet, the Germanishes Nationalmuseum, which had cool exhibits of old weaponry, musical instruments, and scientific instruments, among many other things. One could spend days there. There were a ton of things I could have done in Nürnberg, like an aquarium, Pigeon museum, and even a "Bible Experience House" (actually, several kids from our group went there, presumably in jest, and were actually turned away, because there was a group of 60 people already in there. Jesus wouldn't turn people away, unless things become uncomfortably crowded, or maybe violate fire code, apparently). Anyways, I went to the Toy museum (worthwhile) and the Hat museum (incredibly worthwhile). The hat museum was a museum connected to a hat store, and the guy leading the group of five on the tour was a 4th generation owner. He had a ton of passion for hats. We got to see how hats are made, and got to try on anything we wanted, which we gladly did. I got my head measured (it's big) and at the end, bought a classy hat. In fact, six people from our group bought hats from that guy. He deserved it. Also in Nürnberg, I sleepwalked not only for the first, but then also the second time in Germany the next night, both times waking up my room partner David, because both times I was convinced he was someone dangerous and either ran away from him trying to leave the room (unsuccessfully, because I tried to unlock an unlocked door, thereby locking it, and then woke up), or tried to fend off his attacks by grabbing him (apparently he attacks by sleeping, maybe?). Poor David. Those were two of the stranger sleepwalks I've taken in my years, seeing as both occured in a state of fright that scary David was someone bad. Usually, I just wake up and do something totally irrational or say something comically incomprehensible to my roommate, and then go back to bed. Anyway, I thought it couldn't get prettier than Nürnberg. I was wrong.
The next day we went to Hersbruck, a very small town outside Nürnberg, in the rolling hills of Bavaria. Hersbruck is over 1000 years old. It was really sunny (every day of the trip, actually), and from the top of the hills, you could see four individual little villages nestled in the hills. More Fachwerkhäuser, and little cobblestone streets, and a uniquely tasty local beer. It's the kind of place to which every sane person would want to retire. Absolutely beautiful. Then, we hiked to another little town, had a snack, and hiked back. Sigi, our professor, grew up in Hersbruck. We saw her former kindergarten. It was great.
Then, we took the train back to Nürnberg. The next day, we went back to Berlin. Tonight, we see "Minna von Barnhelm", since last time we tried to see it, the main character was sick. Next week, back to work, and maybe finally the Berlin Zoo.
Also successful was the Hertha BSC (Berlin): Energie Cottbus soccer game on Saturday the 6th. The game was a dudder of a soccer game (0:0, with some absolutely thrilling turnovers and mis-passes), but it was still very exciting to be at a European soccer game, where the fans cheer nonstop and wave flags and have their own drumline. That was in the rowdy section, which is separated by physical plastic barriers from everyone else, for everyone else's safety. Even Cottbus had a strong contingent of hooligans. The game was almost exciting, because there was a PK in the 90th minute for Hertha, but the player shot the ball off the crossbar, fittingly. On the way there and back we were treated to some nice drunk serenades by soccer hooligans in the Ubahn.
The next day we left for Weimar. Weimar has only 60,000 people but a ton of famous former residents, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, and either Beethoven or Bach (I had famous person overload), among others, including Hitler for a little while. The whole city is straight from a fairytale, with all cobblestone streets, and a pretty park, and some horses for tourists, and pretty buildings. We toured the former residences of Goethe and Schiller (Schiller is kind of a big deal at Carleton). What's kind of funny in a sick way is that right outside this fairytale city is Buchenwald, a former concentration camp. We toured it. It was tragically awful in a way that makes non-crying people cry. The gate where prisoners entered says "Jedem das Seine". That means "to each his own". That perversion is what sickened me the most. That, or the people ovens or the punishment wagon that prisoners had to pull or the solitary confinement building or the punishment pole from which people hung until they passed out or the pictures of dead piles of humans or the pictures of live skeletons of humans, which were all truly terrible.
I'm very glad I saw it.
We left Weimar to go to Nürnberg. Nürnberg is over 900 years old, and has an altstadt (old city) surrounded by an old city wall, in addition to lots of traditional German architecture, like Fachwerkhäuser and the like. Phenomenally large and pretty churches as well, like many cities here. Albrecht Dürer lived here around 1500, so we toured his former house. They have yummy bratwurst too, the best I've yet had. Also, the best museum I've seen yet, the Germanishes Nationalmuseum, which had cool exhibits of old weaponry, musical instruments, and scientific instruments, among many other things. One could spend days there. There were a ton of things I could have done in Nürnberg, like an aquarium, Pigeon museum, and even a "Bible Experience House" (actually, several kids from our group went there, presumably in jest, and were actually turned away, because there was a group of 60 people already in there. Jesus wouldn't turn people away, unless things become uncomfortably crowded, or maybe violate fire code, apparently). Anyways, I went to the Toy museum (worthwhile) and the Hat museum (incredibly worthwhile). The hat museum was a museum connected to a hat store, and the guy leading the group of five on the tour was a 4th generation owner. He had a ton of passion for hats. We got to see how hats are made, and got to try on anything we wanted, which we gladly did. I got my head measured (it's big) and at the end, bought a classy hat. In fact, six people from our group bought hats from that guy. He deserved it. Also in Nürnberg, I sleepwalked not only for the first, but then also the second time in Germany the next night, both times waking up my room partner David, because both times I was convinced he was someone dangerous and either ran away from him trying to leave the room (unsuccessfully, because I tried to unlock an unlocked door, thereby locking it, and then woke up), or tried to fend off his attacks by grabbing him (apparently he attacks by sleeping, maybe?). Poor David. Those were two of the stranger sleepwalks I've taken in my years, seeing as both occured in a state of fright that scary David was someone bad. Usually, I just wake up and do something totally irrational or say something comically incomprehensible to my roommate, and then go back to bed. Anyway, I thought it couldn't get prettier than Nürnberg. I was wrong.
The next day we went to Hersbruck, a very small town outside Nürnberg, in the rolling hills of Bavaria. Hersbruck is over 1000 years old. It was really sunny (every day of the trip, actually), and from the top of the hills, you could see four individual little villages nestled in the hills. More Fachwerkhäuser, and little cobblestone streets, and a uniquely tasty local beer. It's the kind of place to which every sane person would want to retire. Absolutely beautiful. Then, we hiked to another little town, had a snack, and hiked back. Sigi, our professor, grew up in Hersbruck. We saw her former kindergarten. It was great.
Then, we took the train back to Nürnberg. The next day, we went back to Berlin. Tonight, we see "Minna von Barnhelm", since last time we tried to see it, the main character was sick. Next week, back to work, and maybe finally the Berlin Zoo.
Wednesday, October 3
Day of German Unity
Happy Tag der Deutschen Einheit! This is the day that Germany was reunited 17 years ago. To celebrate, they had a big free concert in front of the Brandenburger Tor.
To celebrate my sister's birthday, the German women's national soccer team won the World Cup. How thoughtful! I watched the game with my host, which gave us opportunity to talk more about sports. Plus, I found out Uwe has a baseball bat, but only to beat down intruders.
A couple days ago the Carleton group did a theater workshop, which sounded intimidating, but ended up just being fun. The first half essentially consisted of jazzed-up get-to-know-you games, but we all know each other already, so they were actually fun. Then we ate pastries, and came back to play a big improvisation situation where we each had a known role (for example, I came from Finland, had no money, and was seeking a bed for the night) and a secret role (mine was Vater, or Father), and we all mixed in a cafe and talked in German, and waited for hilarity to ensue. It did ensue. The game eventually ended with Jordan (who was in the cafe to meet his gay partner for the first time after 10 years of online chats) pole dancing on the table to music. I'm pretty confident that the lady leading it used to be a hippie (still was?).
Today we saw "Kabale und Liebe" in the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, which is the one that tries to modernize old stuff and throw twists at it. For "K+L" they made der Präsident die Präsidentin, and set everything in modern time, and at the end, cut out a bunch to change the focus. Very dramatic changes in some cases, but they were defensible, I thought. The play was also easier to follow, since we had read the entire book before seeing it. I caught more words than I had at either of the other two plays, but still didn't catch a ton. "K+L" the book was awesome. Love, death, power struggles, vowed revenge, etc. My favorite German work I've read (out of a pool of about four). Action-packed.
Tomorrow we go to the Museum of German history, and Saturday I see my first soccer game here (finally!). Then, we leave Berlin for an entire week, going to Weimar and Nürnberg. Hopefully this time the hotel beds won't break.
To celebrate my sister's birthday, the German women's national soccer team won the World Cup. How thoughtful! I watched the game with my host, which gave us opportunity to talk more about sports. Plus, I found out Uwe has a baseball bat, but only to beat down intruders.
A couple days ago the Carleton group did a theater workshop, which sounded intimidating, but ended up just being fun. The first half essentially consisted of jazzed-up get-to-know-you games, but we all know each other already, so they were actually fun. Then we ate pastries, and came back to play a big improvisation situation where we each had a known role (for example, I came from Finland, had no money, and was seeking a bed for the night) and a secret role (mine was Vater, or Father), and we all mixed in a cafe and talked in German, and waited for hilarity to ensue. It did ensue. The game eventually ended with Jordan (who was in the cafe to meet his gay partner for the first time after 10 years of online chats) pole dancing on the table to music. I'm pretty confident that the lady leading it used to be a hippie (still was?).
Today we saw "Kabale und Liebe" in the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, which is the one that tries to modernize old stuff and throw twists at it. For "K+L" they made der Präsident die Präsidentin, and set everything in modern time, and at the end, cut out a bunch to change the focus. Very dramatic changes in some cases, but they were defensible, I thought. The play was also easier to follow, since we had read the entire book before seeing it. I caught more words than I had at either of the other two plays, but still didn't catch a ton. "K+L" the book was awesome. Love, death, power struggles, vowed revenge, etc. My favorite German work I've read (out of a pool of about four). Action-packed.
Tomorrow we go to the Museum of German history, and Saturday I see my first soccer game here (finally!). Then, we leave Berlin for an entire week, going to Weimar and Nürnberg. Hopefully this time the hotel beds won't break.
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