Tchuss und Alles Gut

I hate saying goodbyes so much.  I say Stephen from across the street and we waved our goodbyes, him not knowing it'd be our last. I ran into my host day on my shortcut home. And I got my last rostbratwurst at Super Doner. And in my poor German I told them that I'm leaving tomorrow morning, and I hope to see them if I'm ever in Germany again. And they told me, "when I come back, we'll probably still be right here, and you'll always have a friend in Germany"


I don't want to leave.

Erfurt/ Eisenach

I can't believe it's the last week of classes, time has really been going quickly lately... Well today we went to Erfurt and Eisenach. On the way to Erfurt we got lost, (which was actually fine by me, because we could stay on the bus longer. I was tired and it was cold outside.)  So once we finally arrived, we had one of the most awesome tour guides, he was a funny elderly man that would get really enthused about the different sites. One of my favorites was this cathedral, the architecture of it is phenomenal.

I was enamored by this quaint city. I was beautiful even on such a dreary day.

Next we went to Eisenach, that is home to the Wartburg castle. This is the castle that Luther stayed in when he was kidnapped by his Prince.  Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside the castle but I still have the memories to remain.  It was interesting to see the room where Martin Luther stayed. I was a very small room...and from my understanding, he was not a very small guy.  In one of the rooms of the Castle it was made completely as a mosaic.  It was magnificent. 

 Despite the terribly dreary day, this castle still provided a gorgeous view of all of Eisenach.


After the castle we visited the Bachhaus, which was by far my FAVORITE part of the day.  It was so interesting to see the different instruments of his time and hear a demonstration of them. Bach is definitely one of my favorite composers. I could have spent all day in that museum! There was a room dedicated to listening to some of Bach's compositions and we went around to listen to each one. All different and all so beautiful. 

 

 A Viola Di Gamba, a 6-stringed viola.  I used to be obsessed with this instrument when I started playing viola in 5th grade because it's so interesting, it's basically a hybrid of a Cello and Viola.

Dresden

I feel as if I've started many a entries like so, but I must say -- what a wonderful city!

There was an interesting mix in the style of the city where it was obviously modernized but as we wandered into the old city there was an obvious shift into where the true culture and history of  Dresden lies in the artistry of the cathedrals. I was fascinated by how far the city has come from being completely destroyed.  It was interesting to have a tour guide that grew up in the city when it was destroyed and how she showed us then and now  pictures to give us an idea of the complete destruction the city suffered.

Next we went into the Frauenkirsche and it was absolutely gorgeous on the inside and out.  They remodeled the outside in the style of the time, using some of the stones from the original church before it was destroyed.

After the tour was over we went to a restaurant called "Schnitzelgarten" and it was literally the best food I've had in my entire life. Not to mention I was really hungry, so I basically ripped the giant piece of schnitzel to shreds. It was glorious. After lunch we wandered with Henrieke, and did a bit of shopping.  Later that afternoon we went to see "Hunger Games" which was a great movie! Surprisingly I understood most of it, despite the fact that it was in German.  After the movie we met up with the rest of the group and did a bit of bar hopping with our friend Anna who attends the University in Dresden.  She had jut celebrated her birthday the previous evening so we just continued the celebration. Overall and awesome night!

Day 2:

 The next morning we left for the Konigstein Fortress, and man was that an adventure. We began by taking a train along the beautiful Elbe, watching as the ice slowly melted and the bird sat along the glistening slabs of ice. We made it into the city and we looked up to see the Fortress sitting on top of the mountain in all of its glory. We hiked to the top of this mountain -- Thought I was going to die.  I had an asthma attack on the way up, which was brutal because for awhile it felt like we were ascending straight up.  I stayed back with Matt and Casey and we toook our time to  take pictures and observe the scenery.  As Jackie says "I now have a new appreciation for an impregnable fortress" because that was a rough hike to get to it. Sometimes the path would narrow or be extremely rocky, with steep falls on one side. I can't even imagine how armies would make it up there, especially in winters.

Once inside the fortress it was even more magnificent.  It was so beautifully constructed the way it was basically carved out of the mountain.  It was interesting to see the way things operated back in that time, such as where they stored the food, the well, and all the canons strategically placed around the fortress.  After wandering around in the castle for awhile we got ice cream at one of the small shops up there. It was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. Fresh Strawberries and all. We took a nice relaxing nap in that same pavilion soaking in the beautiful sun that had just emerged.  

 

Leipzig Pt. Zwei

This was our second visit to Leipzig, this time much warmer, therefore much more enjoyable. I already deemed Leipzig as one of my favorite cities even though it was frigid the last time we were there. This time we visited the US Consulate.  We got a presentation about possible internships and how the U.S. Consulate operates, and what they can and cannot do for Americans in foreign countries.  Next there was a presentation of how American's typically view Germans and vice versa.  it was interesting because some of the stereotypes that Americans my mom had told me before I left, but I've proven many of them untrue.  Except that some Germans are not the friendliest to foreigners, that I've experienced a little of, especially when my German was non-existent. But I've also met plenty of Germans that are very welcoming to foreigners such as some of the friends I've met here.

After the consulate we went to Leipzig University for lunch, and their food was DELICIOUS. I was definitely impressed, makes me hate the CDR even more, thank goodness I don't have to eat there next year. After lunch we visited the Völkerschlachtdenkmal or  the Monument of the Battle of the Nations. It was an interesting building nonetheless, the reflecting pool made it very pretty.  After wandering around inside for awhile we decided to climb to the top, I have literally never been so claustrophobic in my entire life, the higher we got in the monument, the narrower the staircase became.

But the view from above was beautiful, and well worth the hike. we could see all of Leipzig from the top of the monument, every looked so small from above, but it was a beautiful day to be up there, the weather wasn't too bad, so we could just stay up there and enjoy the view.

After making the journey back down the fortress we all went our separate ways Henrieke, Juliana, Judith, Vanessa, Dylan, Evan and I all wandered around the city for awhile and at in a delicious cafe, called Lukas, to relax. We also went to H &M (one of my favorite stores that I've been to in almost every city we've visited) and shopped for a bit before it was time to  catch our train.

Bittefeld

"

"A day of nature appreciation" as Hans called it. We explored the peninsula of Bittefeld and wandered through the city a bit. There isn't much in the city but we found a nice little coffee shop to stop in for awhile to warm our hands where we came across a street notorious for its multiple book shops and outdoor book stores. We sifted through the shelves upon shelves of books and went into the shop for some cake and tea.

Our final stop was when we climbed to the top of one of the highest points in Bittefeld from where we could see Leipzig, Halle and a few other surrounding cities. What a lovely afternoon we shared!

Weimar

During the Host family weekend my host parents, Hans and Ruth, took me on two excursions.  the first we went to Weimar on Friday.  That quickly became one of my favorite cities. The city was beautiful despite it being gray the overcast contrasted the bright colors of the city very well.  First we visited the Anna Amalia Library! And we sure got lucky, because they only let about 200 people in per day because the building is so old.  In order to avoided our shoes scuffing the hard wood, we had to wear large slippers over our shoes. Very tough to walk in, very well worth it. The library was such an interesting chunk of history there were a few videos explaining

1. How incredibly awesome and interesting Anna Amalia was, she seriously became one of my favorite historical women.  She was so cultured and had such great connections with the mind of the time.  And her appreciation for music and literature was astonishing. 
2. Also The videos gave a more detailed history of the library. 
3. The most interesting part being the fire and and how volunteers in the area were working together to rescue as many books as they could. Following that video was one about the restoration of the library and how local volunteers worked to repaint the library in its original style. 

Unfortunately I couldn't sneak a picture of the inside (as much as I wanted to try) but there were busts of Anna Amalia's favorite and most influential people of the time.  It was almost moving how beautiful the library is.  Also when you stood in the center of the library, if you looked straight up there was a painting on the ceiling.  And above the main shelves of books there's an illusion that makes there appear to be even more levels of books, but in fact it was a painting.

After the library we visited the an art exhibit of the work of Lucas Cranach and then from there the museum extended to be a historical art museum guiding us through history and art with each ascending floor. Unfortunately we didn't make it up to the Rodin exhibit, but we were able to see a lot in such a huge museum. But alas, our stomachs were calling, and we left the museum.

Finally we were coming to the end of our day, we wandered the city some, and made our way to Franz Liszt's house, which was BEAUTIFUL. Sadly I couldn't take pictures in there either, but the memories are there.  He was quite the packrat -- many of the rooms were just as he had them, and there was a lot packed in there.

Magdeburg

Yet another gorgeous German city, this is also the city Henrieke is from! So it was great to see her home. We visited the Landtag and received a tour a of the building. We got to see where the sessions are held.  The woman who gave the tour was great, she was very lively and enthusiastic about her job.  Later they gave us a presentation on the inter workings of the Landtag.  The presentation was in German so I only understood part of it, but the part I understood was interesting!

Next we visited a church (whose name escapes me...) But it was beautiful nonetheless.

Potsdam

After gallivanting through Berlin the previous night, we decided to stay the extra day to take a trip to Potsdam to see the Sansoucci Castle.  It was beautiful, we didn't actually go inside but we wandered the premises of it. Even though it was winter and nothing had bloomed yet, it was still beautiful to look see such an important place in history.

Berlin

My new favorite city! It liken it to be the New York City of Germany it was wonderful. It was a great city it was busy, but it didn't feel crowded because it was so spacious. There we met our International Studies professor, and he gave us a tour of the city. He was very informative which was nice to learn so much about the city while walking through it.  Around the city there were still chunks of the Berlin Wall, which was interesting to see where the wall stretched, and what it looked like.  Some of the pieces have since become covered in used gum and graffiti of lovers that visited the wall and decided to leave their mark. There were also lines that ran through the city showing where the boundaries of the wall once were.

Next we walked to the Brandenburg Gate and there it stood in all of it's splendor. It was great to be able to witness such a great part of history. At the time there was a protest going on. Dr. Kolkmann told us how there are often protests in front of the gate, to symbolize change.

Next we visited the Reichstag which essentially was my first taste of German Politics. It was such an interesting building. The architecture was truly symbolic of how the German government operates like the 8 cylinders of an engine. Also that there are big windows throughout the entire building to represent transparency in the government. The building itself was very symbolic of what the government stands for in both ideals and morals. Also in the building there was a Jenny Holzer marquee that shows on one side one view of the government, and on the other side the opposing view.  There was cultural memory woven into the building where they had pieces of stone with the Russian graffiti scribbled on it.

Later we went to an opera, "Die Schneekonigin", which turned out to be a children's Opera with some of the damn catchiest songs I've ever heard. Despite the fact that I had little idea what they were saying, the songs were still stuck in my head. It was interesting though, I understood most of what was going on until these storm trooper looking characters came on stage-- then I stopped understanding. But it was still a very cute play.

Later that evening we went on a hunt through Berlin's many districts in search of food. We found an Indian restaurant where we decided to settle in with a Indian sample and some tasty fruity drinks. The food was delicious and the conversation was even better. After that we did a little exploring and stumbled upon an Irish Pub where we sang karaoke and met an adorable Irish waiter.  He greeted us by saying "My apologies," with his strong Irish accent, " My German isn't too good, but my English is great!" And it was a relief because our German wasn't the best either. So we enjoyed good conversation with him.  That's when the karaoke began, and that is one thing I can't resist.  Amber and I took the stage in doing our rendition of "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga, which apparently we were a hit with the crowd! We had a group of guys rooting for us from the back of the pub, egging us on, and we had a woman beside us singing along as well. Another wonderful night.


Day 2:

The next morning we visited the Deutsches Museum, which I like to think held the history of the world.  Every inch was oozing with history and memory seamlessly guiding me through history.  It was astonishing to follow the paths of history through different relics and paintings of the time. I could have stayed in there for hours -- in fact, I did.  I couldn't help but try to see everything I could in this museum, it was entrancing.  For a while I had lost the rest of the group entirely, the museum was so expansive. Following the museum I wandered with Henrieke, Virginia, Molly and Kate, for a bit of shopping before visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial.  It was so eerie how desolate the area was.  Henrieke told us a little about how it was growing up in East Germany while being from West Germany and the struggles she experienced with that.  How the children were sometimes mean to her even through they weren't even born while the wall was up, they would just go off of their parents' prejudices. Then we visited the Holocaust memorial and wandered through pillars. It really did give me the feeling of isolation and being lost in the masses and being separated from everyone, it's a powerful memorial.

Later that night we went on a pub crawl through Berlin, which was quite the adventure as well, we explored a variety of different bars and lo and behold there was even cultural memory in that as well. One of the stops was a GDR themed bar that had different propaganda and items from the time, very interesting. The bars progressed from sit down bars to a disco later on that night, once again -- and overall great night.

False Stereoype # 1

The Fallacy: Germans wear a lot of dark colors.

The Truth: I have seen some colors I have never seen before both in German clothes as well as in people's hair.

Lennon Wall

Prague City Center

Praha

On the train ride there we met and adorable elderly, Austrian man who was in the train car with us, who was returning to Vienna from an Opera in Dresden. he gave us a brief history of the Dresden Opera House along with a short history of the world. His effulgence astounded me. After travelling through the gorgeous mountainsides we had arrived. What a beautiful city! I now see why they call it the "City of Gold". It was absolutely freezing though. It took us awhile to find our hostel. And by a while I mean around and hour and 45 minutes in 10 degree weather. If the city wasn't so gorgeous I would be bitter, but it was a pretty sight to see everything so lit up. I don't think Prague actually has real street signs. It didn't help that none of us read any Czech. There were at least three 'Tyn' streets but none of which were the right ones. Finally we literally stumbled on our hostel. It was in a back alley, but it was a pretty little place with colorful walls lines with brochures and maps. We went to try a few places but most were full. We found an American 50s themed diner, which was adorable, but alas it was full. So we went to an Italian restaurant. I ordered some of the most delicious Gnocchi I had ever tasted, and as Dr. Bennett said "Beware, Czech beer flows freely and cheaply" He wasn't lying. It was delicious. It was something long and seemingly unpronounceable for my lack of knowledge of Czech.But it was something yummy.

 We went back to the hostel then, we were beat after a roughly 6 hour train ride, 2 hours of wandering and a full stomach. We retired to the hostel and began planning for the next day.

We started our day early. With a trip to the bank, a pit stop at Starbucks for a cup of hot chocolate, meeting the most cheerful baristas. They were very enthusiastic about their job, it's always nice to see that in people, especially that early in the morning. With our bellies warm, we continued our hike to the top of Petrin Hill. It was cold, it and steep, and we made a few stops to thaw our numbing toes.

What a beautiful and well worth it hike it was. Wandering the castle was beautiful as well, the architecture was magnificent, It was so vast and overwhelming almost, it was entrancing. After making it to the top of the hill we walked around, enjoyed the live Polka-esque band band that was performing and enjoyed some tradition Czech food. We could see everything from here. It was strange to see the main church (of which our hostel was located behind from where we were and consider how far we've walked. The church looked so small that we could hold it in the palm of my hand. What a wonderful city. Even covered in snow it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. We later began our hike downward slowly and steadily, because if not, I have no doubt that I would've fallen to my death. The hill was so steep, and it was slick because of the packed down snow, that had been trodden on by people with the same intentions. However, we were joined by a clever little distraction to take our minds of the negative temperatures.

And I shall call him Kafka in honor of Franz Kafka who happens to be from Prague. He was a gem. Stalking from the bushes and providing as a little road block we couldn't help but stop to pet. We finally made it to the bottom and back to our hostel, exhausted but feeling accomplished. 

That night in honor of Virginia's Birthday we did Prague's Largest Pub crawl. We met a guy in his early 20s named Daniel from Australia in the first bar. in the second we met a kid from OSU named Cody that is doing an exchange in France. The world is smaller than we think.  We made it to 3 out of 5 of the bars before returning to our hostel out of pure exhaustion. Our whirlwind of a night on Prague ended here.

The following morning we left for the train station to return to Germany. We were tired, we were cold, but we had a night well lived full of stories to tell.

Independent.

Onward to do karaoke at Flower Power tonight! Should be interesting...

I can slowly feel my German getting better, I was in a store today and was completely evesdropping on someone's conversation (though I'm not sure if you can call it evesdropping when you can barely understand) But nonetheless! I understood a few words and it felt awesome. I'm picking up this language somewhat quickly, surprisingly. It definitely helps to be immersed in the culture! 

The guided city tour was really interesting! It was easy to tell the actors really enjoyed their jobs, and were very believable in the characters they played. The woman that played the wife of Martin Luther was very humorous and made the tour very enjoyable despite the freezing cold. The city is beautiful at night, to see all the building glowing with the dim streetlights is something that no camera could ever accurately capture, the feeling of such a comforting and peaceful city.  Also seeing Dylan in the medieval handcuffs was pretty funny as well.

"We don't talk about money, we just have it"

A German saying, we learned today, when talking about the taboo topics in Germany.

Leipzig.

Leipzig so far has been my favorite city, the architecture of it was simply gorgeous.  I love the coffee museum, although we didn't look through the museum itself, just walking up the stairs to get to the coffee shop was increasingly beautiful by each step.  Despite how cold it was today, it was still a wonderful city.  The choir we saw was really great. The church was arranged in an odd fashion, where no one could actually see the church from where they were sitting, but I suppose the concert was more for listening than watching. After that we embarked on our usual wanderings through the city checking out coffee shops and other stores. I definitely want to pay a visit to this city again.

Leipzig.

Nacht.

Reise.

Flower Power: the fun bar of the night.

airberlin

AirBerlin is by far my favorite airline. They serve you food twice in a 7 hour flight, offer you (complementary) Wine, Bailey’s and Bourbon every time they pass you in the aisle. And it was by far the smoothest ride I’ve ever had.  Not to mention the incredibly nice flight attendants.
Thus far— Smooth sailing with slight turbulence today.

Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany