Fairytales and Adventure in Bavaria

It's been a whirlwind of a trip since Seth met me in Berlin on Thursday. We have covered a lot of ground and done some incredible things in the past few days. Thursday and Friday I took him on a crash course of Berlin's major sights - the Reichstag, Alexander Platz, Holocoust Memorial, Tiergarten, etc. For ease and "convenience" we rented bikes to tour the city. Little did we know the headache that would ensue.

After leisurely walking through the Holocoust Memorial museum, we went back to where we had locked up our bikes and accidentally broke the key off in the lock! Well shoot, now what do we do? We took the U-bahn back to bike shop where they gave us super sharp, heavy duty wire cutters to go cut the lock off of the bike. So we take the U-bahn back to the bikes, but as we were trying to cut the wire, these Russian-looking guards came up to us asking if we were stealing the bike! We tried to explain what happened, but we couldn't really communicate very well. The we showed them the lock with the broken key and it was good enough for them to leave us alone. We rode the bikes back to the shop (in killer Berlin rush hour traffic) and decided to retire our bikes for the night. Whew, what an adventure!

We arrive late Friday night in Munich after a 5-hour, uneventful train ride (fighting for a seat when we first got on the train was the only difficult part.) The wombat hostel was really nice and thankfully right near the train station. However, they overbooked the place so Seth and I had to share the bottom of a bunk bed for the first night. But they only charged us for one bed the first night and gave us coupons for breakfast and free drinks in the Wom-bar.

Saturday we took a train to Dachau to see the memorial of the former concentration camp. It was a beautiful warm, sunny day, but the experience was sombering and slightly overwhelming. The complex was enormous. There was an expansive museum, recreated prioner baracks and religious memorial sites. You could also walk through the area where they cremated people. Very eerie, but a good experience. The really cool thing about visiting Dachau, was that there is now a convent built up against one side of it, so there are a lot of nuns walking around. Seth and I stopped into the church there and caught a few minutes of the nuns' singing. It was beautiful.

The next day, Sunday, we took a 2-hour train ride to see the Neuschwanstein fairytale castle. The castle is located right on the edge of the Alps in the middle of Bavaria, so the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. After a tiring 40 minute climb up a mountain, we got to tour the ornate, but somewhat gaudy, castle. It really was like a fairytale with turrets and tapestries and grand staircases. I half-expected to see a dragon fly outside the window! When we returned to Munich we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus to get a liter of beer, some German spaetzle and listen to a leder-hosen clad oompa band. It was touristy, but a lot of fun!


Even though we left for Rome on Monday, our night train didn't leave until 9 p.m., so we had basically a whole day in the city. We went of a free bike tour with a company that just works off of tips. I know - back on the bikes again. But this time we weren't responsible for locking them up, so it was ok! We saw some great historical and architectural sites and then continued into the massive Englischer Garten for lunch at a beer garden (which featured a giant Pagoda; they seem to have their cultures a little mixed up here!) The Englischer Garten was sooo much nicer and better than Berlin's Tiergarten. Beautifully landscaped with rivers, swans, flowers, bike paths and even an artifical surfing wave. I know, pretty weird, right? This river they diverted into the park flows very fast in the beginning and so they added rocks underneath to create this wave of water that people actually surf on. It's pretty awesome and will make more sense once I post some pictures. After the tour, a couple of us went back to the park with our guide, Conner, and few of his friends to hang out, throw a frisbee around and essentially stare death in the eye.

Here's what happened: The river I mentioned above splits in two directions, one slow, meandering river and one fast, rapid-filled one. Apparently, the locals (including our guide) jump in the river just downstream of the surfing wave and float down with no floation down the river. Me and Seth half wanted to try this, half were forced to by Conner, a couple of his friends and another American from the tour. All I can say is what a rush! The water was so cold, it was hard to breath when you first got in. But soon it seemed to warm up, whether from getting used to it or from being numb. The trick is to definitely keep your feet up in front of you so you don't get caught on any rocks or branches. The river is mostly smooth, just fast-paced, but at this one point you actually have to free swim through some actual rapids. It forces you under for a few seconds and is pretty scary! After that though, it's smooth sailing until you climb up this rickety old ladder that was probably put in for people who accidently fall in the river, not us crazy people who choose to! It was so an incredibly fun and bizarre experience, something I know Seth and I would never have done on our own.

Last night we took the night train from Munich to Rome, which was also pretty uneventful beyond an incredibly rude woman who worked in our car and took our tickets. But we both ended up getting a few hours of sleep. Right now we're kiling some time in an internet cafe until we can check into our hostel. I will catch up with you again when I can. But for now, Ciao bella!

The end...of my Berlin study abroad

Woo-hoo, my project is done! Check out my photo story on Stefan Kraul, a fashion photographer in Berlin. I also wrote a short profile on him, but I don't think it's posted to the Web site yet. Enjoy the slideshow!



Sorry I haven't written in a while. The past few days have been very busy, but not with anything particularly picture-worthy. I've spent waaayyy too much time in the hotel lately, but that's what happens when your hotel is also your classroom. Our project was due at noon yesterday, so I was working on it all day Monday. I literally did not leave the hotel except for 15 minutes to get some food to bring back for lunch. Later Monday night we ordered a pizza, which was an interesting experience in Berlin. The good news: it was delivered right to our hotel room. The bad news: it wasn't cut...weird.

After our projects were due yesterday, we ventured out for a relaxed late lunch at a biergarten in southeast Berlin on Lake Mugglesee. It was one of the most beautiful places I've been in Berlin. The biergarten was right next to the lake so there was a beautiful breeze. Even though it is technically within the city boundaries of Berlin, the woods all around made it feel very rural. Lot's of people were out sailing and windsurfing, and there were even swans in the lake!




After stuffing ourselves with the best German food I've had so far - bratwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad and, of course, beer - we walked through a tunnel that went under the lake to relax in a beautiful nature area full of bike and hiking trails. A stop to get ice cream before getting back on the U-bahn nicely rounded out our day.

A colorful Sunday

A trip today to a giant outdoor flea market at Mauerpark exposed me to the vibrancy of Berlin. Although I didn't buy anything (except for a 2-Euro Bratwurst for lunch), I enjoyed walking through the market. People were selling everything from doorknobs and cassette tapes to screen-printed shirts and jewlery. In the open area of the park, people sat on the grass enjoying the warm day while children were entertained by inflatable jump houses, a balloon artist, a clown and a face painter. I also had fun experimenting with Hannah's 200mm zoom lens!

Members of the fire department helped children use fire hoses to knock over stacks of tin cans.

A man and woman sing as children look on during a free performance of drum and tribal music.

A boy stands near two people ordering at a food stand.

We're so legit

Having our first day completely free of responsibilities, Hannah and I made the most of it. We started the day by shopping around Hackescher Market where we also got lunch at a cafe. We found some good stores to look in, but nothing we could really afford. We both tried on some silly dresses at an upscale vintage store, but didn't buy anything.

After lunch we headed back through the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag Building, which is the home to Germany's governing body, the Bundestag. We had to wait about 50 minutes just to get in to take the elevators up to the Reichstag dome, but it was absolutely worth it. The views of the city were top-notch, and we also got a glimpse of members of parliament through the partially transparent dome.

Hannah and I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Tiergarten, where we saw people bike riding, out with their dogs, jogging and playing with their children. It also seemed quite the romantic location - we saw several couples very 'involved' with each other as we walked through the park!

Hannah and I were talking on the way home about how we feel like we're really comfortable in Berlin now. Although there obviously can still be language barriers, we feel very confident walking around, finding places and using the public transportation. As she likes to put it, "We're so legit."

A man rides his bike through the Tiergarten with his son sitting in front.

A man waits outside of the Reichstag building. Although the building is open daily, visitors sometimes wait more than an hour to enter and take an elevator to the Reichstag dome.

Visitors to the Reichstag building climb the spiral ramps to get panoramic views of the city from the Reichstag dome.

People take a break after climbing the ramp to the top of the Reichstag dome.

A fantastiche day

Thursday was another solid day in Berlin. In the morning we got to meet with Andrew Purvis, an international correspondent and bureau chief for TIME Magazine. In addition to giving us advice about breaking into international journalism, he also touched on ethics, safety and the future of journalism. His intern, Laura, was also there to talk with us.


Afterwards we went to check out Mercedes World, the largest Mercedes dealership in the world. It's a massive 4-story indoor dealership, complete with a cafe, fancy childrens play area and a towering waterfall flanked by two rock climbing walls. Dad, can I get one of these?



Then I went with a few people back to the gigantic KaDeVa department store. Instead of shopping, we went to the top floor and ate decadent desserts sitting next to a window overlooking the street. I got a whipped berry mouse dessert cup. There were champagne grapes in the mouse, and it was topped with various exotic fruits. It was delicious!


Later I went with a couple of people to the "Old Museum" (I know, they're very descriptive with their names) to see the Eygyptian collection, which included the famous bust of Nefertiti. Then back to the hotel for some laundry, blogging and bed!

Berlin unraveled

Here are some random tidbits about Berlin I've experienced, noticed, thought or wondered about:

Dogs
Berliners seem to love their dogs; they're everywhere here! I see all kinds running around: big and small, sitting in restaurants and bars, riding the subway, walking in stores. The dogs are so well behaved that most aren't even on leashes. They loyally follow their owners throughout the city, stopping at crosswalks, not running in the street, not barking at other dogs and not chasing anything. It's amazing.

I mentioned it to Sarah, our guide from the walking tour, and she had a theory that the dogs here are so well behaved here because of cultural reasons. She said that while Americans consider dogs part of their families – they have birthdays, sleep in the bed, get Christmas presents – Germans consider their dogs as just pets. While they love their pets, they also don't mollycoddle them and so the dogs are more submissive to their owners. It was an interesting insight.

Ticket Police
There's a lot of trust in Berlin. Pet owners let their dogs walk off-leash, parents let their kids take public transportation by themselves and there aren't any ticket takers or turnstiles to get onto the trams, trains and subway. The way the city enforces that people actually pay for public transportation is by doing random ticket checks.

Hannah and I got stopped on Tuesday when we were returning from David and Stefan's apartment. We both had our tickets and were fine, but one woman wasn't so lucky. The ticket police, as I call them, wear plain clothes and work in pairs. One gets on each end of a car and as it is moving between stops, they work their way in from the outside to the middle checking that you have an unexpired ticket. If you don't, you're in trouble!

My intro to high fashion

Hello!

So the past couple days I've been gloriously busy, mostly working on my photo story. The person who I'm focusing on is Stefan Kraul, a fashion photographer. I met him through his roommate, fashion design student David Ubl, who is the person my friend Hannah is doing her project on.

On Tuesday Hannah and I went to meet them for the first time. The day started off successfully as we managed to navigate the public transportation on our own. It was also the first time we got to ride the S-bahn (the above-ground train). We took the M4 to the S5 to the U1 to Neiderlandstrasse, and then we were there!

When we arrived at the Esmod International Fashion School, we were instantly transported into the world of high fashion. We got to see beautiful couture dresses, student clothing collections and luxury fashion costumes that were simply amazing.




After Hannah finished taking pictures at the design school, we went with David back to his apartment, a real swanky place just off of fashionable KuDam Strasse(similar to New York City's 5th Avenue). There I got to meet Stefan. I saw his photo studio, and on his computer he showed me some of the pictures he'd taken.


The next day, Wednesday, Hannah and I went to one of Stefan's photo shoots. It was in an empty, under-construction store and was of a fashion student's new clothing collection. I had so much fun being 'on set' at the shoot! I also got some amazing shots for my project. I'm meeting Stefan at least one more time this Saturday, because he's holding another photo shoot at his apartment.



In terms of group activities, we went Tuesday night to see the musical Glanzlichtera, really fun show that didn't seem to really have a plot. Instead it just ran through singing and dancing styles from different time periods. There was lots of crazy tap dancing, cool acrobatic acts and Vegas-style show girl numbers. It was very entertaining and a lot of fun! It seemed like it was senior citizen night though – the audience was packed with old folks.

After the show we went to a cool, completely graffitied place called Tachales, an eclectic building that houses artist galleries and work space, practice areas for bands and bars. It was originally a Nazi building, then a department store during the cold war, and then in the 1990s artists and squatters moved in. The city was going to reclaim the building, but its inhabitants protested and ended up staying there.

And last night, Wednesday, we walked to a super-cool bar. I don't even know the name of it, but it's nothing special to look at. You enter through a small, sliding, graffiti-covered door, and when you walk in, the walls are just bare concrete. There's one small bar and one big fluorescent light. The cool part is what you do there. Under the single, hanging fluorescent light is a ping pong table. For 5 euros, you can borrow a ping pong paddle and everyone plays at once. You all go around the table hitting the ball back and forth until it's down to two people and then they play one-on-one. The winner taps the paddle on the table, which is the signal to everyone that the game is going to start again. Simply incredible.