Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Last night in Germany
Hey guys.
So I went with New Berlin out to Sachsenhausen, which is at the end of one of the S-Bahn lines. Sachsenhausen was the first concentration camp established in Nazi Germany and was used as a model for later camps. Until 1938, the prisoners were primarily political prisoners, not Jews. The forced labor erected the facade of Berlin that the world saw during the 1936 Olympics. The camp was designed around complete control of the prisoners, in a triangle shape. Next door was the SS Training Camp.
In 1938, the camp was expanded, with the so-called Jewish barracks added. After the Israeli prime minister spoke at the camp in the early 1990s, young neo-Nazis burned these buildings down, which have been reconstructed but with part of the charred walls remaining as a reminder of the antisemitism still found in society.
Sachesenhausen is particularly interesting because it was used by the Soviets for 5 years after the war, first for former Nazis and then just for anyone not in step with their Communist ideals. In the center of the camp is a giant memorial to the Communist prisoners under the Nazi regime.
Sachsenhausen was a work camp. When prisoners were killed, they were primarily shot. Guards were starting to have a hard time carrying out these killings, so the following method was developed: prisoners were taken to what looked like a medical waiting room, where loud music was playing; a guard in a doctor's uniform would examine the prisoner's teeth and make an X on the hand if there were any gold fillings; the prisoner was taken to another room to be weighed and measured; as the measuring stick was brought down, a window behind the prisoner's neck was slid open, through which the guard would shoot the inmate; another inmate would collect the body and prepare it for cremation after removing any fillings. In this way each guard was only involved in a small part of the killing process, making it easier psychologically. I thought I was going to vomit when I saw the ovens. I couldn't take any photos. Also, while gassing was not the method of choice, experiments were carried out.
Visiting the concentration camp was an experience, to be sure. I'm glad I went, to see. It's important not to forget.
Back in Berlin, I had to keep up my frantic tourist pace. As I said, state museums are free in Berlin from 6-10 on Thursdays, so I had three on my list. I started at the Gemaldegalerie, where the highlight was Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Necklace. There was a Van der Weyden exhibit that I don't think was free...but the guard was not paying attention when I entered. I was looking at an Anunciation scene for a long time that looked very familiar...obviously on loan from the Prado.
My next stop was Doner Kebap for dinner. There are a lot of Turks in Germany, so it is supposed to be the best kebab outside of Turkey. It was indeed very good (I've reached the point where I'll only eat falafel at such establishments in Spain), although there was some red cabbage on it that to me only detracted from it.
My next stop was the Pergamon Museum which was NOT free because of an exhibit. I almost skipped it, but I'm glad I didn't. The museum is named after the Pergamon Altar from Turkey, which was incredibly impressive, more so than even the Parthenon Marbles in London (I suppose not surprising since the actual Parthenon is still in Greece). I went into the exhibit, which was on "Berlin's Olympus," basically displaying the museum's collection of statues of gods. At the end, I just wished I had seen it in its original more impressive location in Brazil. There was a free audioguide, which I need to make those sorts of museums interesting, but in the exhibit it draggggggged on. There should be two versions: one for history buffs and one for people who jsut want the highlights.
My final stop was the Alte Galerie, basically the 19th century art museum. I enjoyed it, especially the room of Manets, Monets, Renoirs, etc. I had planned on crashing in that gallery until the guards kicked me out, but I was tired so I actually left the museum before closing time.
I went back to the hostel and got some internet. I tried to have an early night, but someone far more obnoxious than the Spanish guys had invaded: American girls, in the bunks below and next to me. At least for a while there were two of them in the bed below me. And they kept giggling and saying things like OMG it's 3 a.m. Seriously.
My train was at 7:37, so I had to leave the hostel early. I had to change trains in Fulda (still not quite sure where that is). My original train was actually headed to Munich as its final destination, but via Frankfurt and Diane's new hometown of Mannheim, so it would have taken an extra two hours to arrive. I was surprised there wasn't a fast direct train between the two cities, since they are the centers of tourism in Germany. I mean, both trains were ICE (InterCity Express), so they were fast. My only complaint is that the trains were COLD. And I was wearing both my sweater and my jacket. I had a surprisingly nice meal on the train, an inexpensive combo of a meatball sandwich and a large beer.
I arrived in Munich at about 1:45. My hostel, Euro Youth Hostel, is close to the train station. Aside from one unfortunate detail, it's an excellent hostel setup, one of the nicest I've ever seen. The bunk beds are wood, with a shelf, reading light and outlet next to each bed, and the lockers are big enough to accomodate just about any suitcase. The unfortunate detail is that in my 10-bed dorm, there are two sets of bunk beds pushed next to each other to accomodate couples. Ewww.
I planned to take the New Munich free tour at 3 p.m., so I made my way on foot. Once you get away from the train station, Munich basically looks like Disneyland: giant pedestrian-only shopping streets and cutesy buildings. In the Marienplatz, where the tour starts, I took an elevator to the top of the Rathaus, or town hall.
My guide for the tour was the least inspired of any of my New Europe tours. She was very enthusiastic though. Similar to Berlin, Munich was about 80% destroyed during World War II. A lot of the themes are the same in Munich as in Berlin. While Berlin was where Hitler was when he was in power, he got his Nazi political start in Munich. One thing about Munich is that they aren't as blatant with memorials or anything of that kind. Munich has a very strong identity as a city and as part of Bavaria (after a while you stop taking photos of people in traditional dress, realizing that's just how a large portion of the population dresses for normal occasions), which means they don't feel as much of a need as Berlin to atone for the Nazi past.
I made my way back to my hostel and joined their "beer crawl" at 7 p.m. It was...fun. I met a lot of Australians who are all on this bus tour-ish thing called BusAbout that more Americans, Canadians, and English should invade. We visited two biergartens.
This morning I was a champion, making it to the train station by 9:15 a.m. without being hungover. I was going with New Munich by train to Fussen, a small town at the foot of the Alps, where there are two gorgeous castles. I had a bratwurst AND a tomato and mozzarella sandwich right before hiking up, which was not the best life decision, but I made it up. We visited the interior of Neuschwanstein, a castle built in the late 19th century by Bavarian King Ludwig II (lots of fun history there). Basically, more than the Segovia Alcazar, this palace probably inspired Walt Disney. On the way up, "When You Wish Upon A Star" was stuck in my head. Ludwig was obsessed with Wagner and opera-worthy stories. The main deocrative theme to the palace is swans. Ludwig was an eccentric character (his likely undoing), but the end result is incredible. The setting is unbelievable, this gorgeous castle nestled in the mountains in a forest overlooking the most gorgeous lakes (obviously one of them is Swan Lake). You never want to leave.
So I made it back to Munich, had some Doner Kebap for dinner, and walked around. There was a lot of music, dancing, beer, etc. in the street. I don't think that it is a special occasion, I think that's just a normal Saturday in Munich.
New life goal: make it back to Munich one day for Oktoberfest. Maybe coupled with a holiday based at least partially on cycling through Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland? When I'm a fabulously wealthy late 20something jetting around the world...
Tomorrow I am leaving Europe! Well, the European Union, as perenially neutral Switzerland is not in the EU.
So I went with New Berlin out to Sachsenhausen, which is at the end of one of the S-Bahn lines. Sachsenhausen was the first concentration camp established in Nazi Germany and was used as a model for later camps. Until 1938, the prisoners were primarily political prisoners, not Jews. The forced labor erected the facade of Berlin that the world saw during the 1936 Olympics. The camp was designed around complete control of the prisoners, in a triangle shape. Next door was the SS Training Camp.
In 1938, the camp was expanded, with the so-called Jewish barracks added. After the Israeli prime minister spoke at the camp in the early 1990s, young neo-Nazis burned these buildings down, which have been reconstructed but with part of the charred walls remaining as a reminder of the antisemitism still found in society.
Sachesenhausen is particularly interesting because it was used by the Soviets for 5 years after the war, first for former Nazis and then just for anyone not in step with their Communist ideals. In the center of the camp is a giant memorial to the Communist prisoners under the Nazi regime.
Sachsenhausen was a work camp. When prisoners were killed, they were primarily shot. Guards were starting to have a hard time carrying out these killings, so the following method was developed: prisoners were taken to what looked like a medical waiting room, where loud music was playing; a guard in a doctor's uniform would examine the prisoner's teeth and make an X on the hand if there were any gold fillings; the prisoner was taken to another room to be weighed and measured; as the measuring stick was brought down, a window behind the prisoner's neck was slid open, through which the guard would shoot the inmate; another inmate would collect the body and prepare it for cremation after removing any fillings. In this way each guard was only involved in a small part of the killing process, making it easier psychologically. I thought I was going to vomit when I saw the ovens. I couldn't take any photos. Also, while gassing was not the method of choice, experiments were carried out.
Visiting the concentration camp was an experience, to be sure. I'm glad I went, to see. It's important not to forget.
Back in Berlin, I had to keep up my frantic tourist pace. As I said, state museums are free in Berlin from 6-10 on Thursdays, so I had three on my list. I started at the Gemaldegalerie, where the highlight was Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Necklace. There was a Van der Weyden exhibit that I don't think was free...but the guard was not paying attention when I entered. I was looking at an Anunciation scene for a long time that looked very familiar...obviously on loan from the Prado.
My next stop was Doner Kebap for dinner. There are a lot of Turks in Germany, so it is supposed to be the best kebab outside of Turkey. It was indeed very good (I've reached the point where I'll only eat falafel at such establishments in Spain), although there was some red cabbage on it that to me only detracted from it.
My next stop was the Pergamon Museum which was NOT free because of an exhibit. I almost skipped it, but I'm glad I didn't. The museum is named after the Pergamon Altar from Turkey, which was incredibly impressive, more so than even the Parthenon Marbles in London (I suppose not surprising since the actual Parthenon is still in Greece). I went into the exhibit, which was on "Berlin's Olympus," basically displaying the museum's collection of statues of gods. At the end, I just wished I had seen it in its original more impressive location in Brazil. There was a free audioguide, which I need to make those sorts of museums interesting, but in the exhibit it draggggggged on. There should be two versions: one for history buffs and one for people who jsut want the highlights.
My final stop was the Alte Galerie, basically the 19th century art museum. I enjoyed it, especially the room of Manets, Monets, Renoirs, etc. I had planned on crashing in that gallery until the guards kicked me out, but I was tired so I actually left the museum before closing time.
I went back to the hostel and got some internet. I tried to have an early night, but someone far more obnoxious than the Spanish guys had invaded: American girls, in the bunks below and next to me. At least for a while there were two of them in the bed below me. And they kept giggling and saying things like OMG it's 3 a.m. Seriously.
My train was at 7:37, so I had to leave the hostel early. I had to change trains in Fulda (still not quite sure where that is). My original train was actually headed to Munich as its final destination, but via Frankfurt and Diane's new hometown of Mannheim, so it would have taken an extra two hours to arrive. I was surprised there wasn't a fast direct train between the two cities, since they are the centers of tourism in Germany. I mean, both trains were ICE (InterCity Express), so they were fast. My only complaint is that the trains were COLD. And I was wearing both my sweater and my jacket. I had a surprisingly nice meal on the train, an inexpensive combo of a meatball sandwich and a large beer.
I arrived in Munich at about 1:45. My hostel, Euro Youth Hostel, is close to the train station. Aside from one unfortunate detail, it's an excellent hostel setup, one of the nicest I've ever seen. The bunk beds are wood, with a shelf, reading light and outlet next to each bed, and the lockers are big enough to accomodate just about any suitcase. The unfortunate detail is that in my 10-bed dorm, there are two sets of bunk beds pushed next to each other to accomodate couples. Ewww.
I planned to take the New Munich free tour at 3 p.m., so I made my way on foot. Once you get away from the train station, Munich basically looks like Disneyland: giant pedestrian-only shopping streets and cutesy buildings. In the Marienplatz, where the tour starts, I took an elevator to the top of the Rathaus, or town hall.
My guide for the tour was the least inspired of any of my New Europe tours. She was very enthusiastic though. Similar to Berlin, Munich was about 80% destroyed during World War II. A lot of the themes are the same in Munich as in Berlin. While Berlin was where Hitler was when he was in power, he got his Nazi political start in Munich. One thing about Munich is that they aren't as blatant with memorials or anything of that kind. Munich has a very strong identity as a city and as part of Bavaria (after a while you stop taking photos of people in traditional dress, realizing that's just how a large portion of the population dresses for normal occasions), which means they don't feel as much of a need as Berlin to atone for the Nazi past.
I made my way back to my hostel and joined their "beer crawl" at 7 p.m. It was...fun. I met a lot of Australians who are all on this bus tour-ish thing called BusAbout that more Americans, Canadians, and English should invade. We visited two biergartens.
This morning I was a champion, making it to the train station by 9:15 a.m. without being hungover. I was going with New Munich by train to Fussen, a small town at the foot of the Alps, where there are two gorgeous castles. I had a bratwurst AND a tomato and mozzarella sandwich right before hiking up, which was not the best life decision, but I made it up. We visited the interior of Neuschwanstein, a castle built in the late 19th century by Bavarian King Ludwig II (lots of fun history there). Basically, more than the Segovia Alcazar, this palace probably inspired Walt Disney. On the way up, "When You Wish Upon A Star" was stuck in my head. Ludwig was obsessed with Wagner and opera-worthy stories. The main deocrative theme to the palace is swans. Ludwig was an eccentric character (his likely undoing), but the end result is incredible. The setting is unbelievable, this gorgeous castle nestled in the mountains in a forest overlooking the most gorgeous lakes (obviously one of them is Swan Lake). You never want to leave.
So I made it back to Munich, had some Doner Kebap for dinner, and walked around. There was a lot of music, dancing, beer, etc. in the street. I don't think that it is a special occasion, I think that's just a normal Saturday in Munich.
New life goal: make it back to Munich one day for Oktoberfest. Maybe coupled with a holiday based at least partially on cycling through Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland? When I'm a fabulously wealthy late 20something jetting around the world...
Tomorrow I am leaving Europe! Well, the European Union, as perenially neutral Switzerland is not in the EU.
Greetings from the Disneyland of Europe
Hello all, I am currently in Munich.
I left off my tale in Berlin at about 4:30 a.m. I let myself sleep in rather late, in time to grab a coffee and croissant and meet the New Europe free tour at 11 a.m. in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Berlin is where the free tour company started, so this tour was very popular and I would have to say very excellent.
My guide, Mary, was very infectiously interested in German history. From the Brandenburg Gate, we made our way past the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe". I put that in quotations because I think it is significant that the memorial only commemorates a certain group. The memorial consists of stone blocks of varying heights on uneven ground, probably to make the viewer feel uncomfortable. A central theme in the tour was the way that German society grapples with the theme of the Holocaust and how best to remember what happened.
Our next stop was the remaining section of the Berlin Wall. Not going to lie, I was actually kind of disappointed! There is so much buildup for the Berlin Wall that it is almost impossible for the remaining segment to meet your expectations. We also saw "Checkpoint Charlie", among other sites. Our tour took place almost exclusively in East Berlin, which is where more of the sites are. It is hard to actually imagine, a city divided by a wall, West Berlin in the middle of Soviet East Germany. I'm not the world's biggest history buff, but it was pretty incredible to be walking the streets of probably the most influential city of the 20th century. 90% of the city's buildings were destroyed in World War II, and you can very definitely still see the scars. I guess that's a major contradiction; I was underwhelmed by seeing the Berlin Wall yet seeing the history on the streets of Berlin was amazing.
One of our next stops after a lunch break was Bebelplatz, the square outside the library of Humboldt University where students and professors started burning books that went against the ideals of the Nazi regime. The memorial is underground, visible through a window in the middle of the plaza and consists of empty bookshelves, that would be filled by the destroyed books.
The tour was three hours and I'm not looking at a map of Berlin, so I don't remember every stop in detail, but the tour definitely communicated strong themes. I suppose the free tour in Amsterdam tried to show how the "openness and toleration" of that city seen today in coffeeshops and the Red Light District evolved from its history, but in Berlin you really felt like you understood the city so much better after the tour. Berlin is not the most beautiful city in Germany, but it is very real and liveable, and it probably is the most interesting city in Germany.
From there, I made my way out to the Olympic Stadium. It was my first experience with the public transportation system in Berlin, which is quite obviously excellent. On my way out to the stadium I noticed the destroyed Kaiser Wilhelm II Memorial Cathedral and hopped off the train to have a look. The church was severely damaged during World War II and has been left as is, its damaged towers a beautiful reminder of that era. There is now a separate sanctuary built in a very different modern style, but there is an interesting exhibit of "before and after" photos below what remains of the towers.
I got back on the train and got off at the Olympic Stadium. As I approached, I noticed there were a lot of people dressed in all black. When I saw a young child with an extreme mullet, I started to think that there must be some sort of event at the stadium. Indeed, there was a Depeche Mode concert later that evening, so I couldn't get in. I made my way back to the S-Bahn, disappointed but amused by the crowd chanting "Depeche Mode" in a very German accent.
I went to the exhibit in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is free. The intent is to make the stories personal, centering on individuals and families rather than throwing out the mind-boggling statistics, which we can become numb to after a while. In one room, it is dark, with names and dates projected onto the walls. A narrator tells a brief story about that individual. I was very disappointed when a group of high school students was being obnoxious. The guard had to ask them to leave, and one of them made a commotion. I would say, ah, teenagers, what can you expect, but I really can't understand because even as a "rowdy teenager" I was very quiet...especially in such situations that really warranted such respect. There is really nothing funny about hearing the life story of someone who died in a concentration camp.
From there I walked to the Reichstag, the German parliament building. The Reichstag was not really used until the Weimar Republic. A suspicious fire in the early 1930s was used as pretext by Hitler to seize power as a dictator. It sat unused again until Germany unified. Today, there is a striking glass dome on top, that is supposed to represent "the transparency of democracy". Anyone can take the elevator up to the top for free. There is also a free audioguide, and I SWEAR mine wasn't working. I went back to the desk, and the employees didn't believe me, laughing and telling me that it was automatic. It is more high-tech than your average audio guide, but I did exactly what they said multiple times and nothing happened. I was so frustrated that the employees couldn't even be bothered to try to help me. It colored my experience on top of the Reichstag, which affords you a panoramic view of the entire city.
After that, I got some falafel for dinner and just made my way back to the hostel. I used the internet for a while and went to sleep...or as much sleep as you can get in a room with 49 other people. It actually was a decent setup, all of my stuff was in my locker on that floor. The only problem is that, as in any hostel dorm, your roommates and their consideration of your need to sleep determines your ability to sleep. That night the annoying Spanish guys from the night before decided to call it an earlier night...and had a long conversation in the dorm. Earplugs are a godsend, but they don't block out everything.
I got up early the next morning to go to the Olympic Stadium again. Berlin is my host mother Cristina's favorite city in Europe, and she has told me many times how the thing that impressed her the most was seeing the track where Jesse Owens ran in 1936, winning the gold medal and challenging Hitler's theory or Aryan superiority. I arrived at the stadium at 9 a.m., just as it was slated to open. It had been raining when I left the hostel, but I hadn't gone back to get my umbrella, or stopped for any coffee or breakfast, to make it there at that time. That morning I noticed a sign that had been blocked by the concertgoers the night before: the Olympic Stadium is closed to visitors from June 5 to June 15, because of two events, one of which was the Depeche Mode concert. I couldn't believe it. I could understand the day of, maybe even the day before or after having to close, but...
As luck would have it, I had been making my contingency plan on the way there on the S-Bahn. Most state museums are open until 10 p.m. on Thursdays and free after 6, but the Hamburger Bahnof, the contemporary art museum closed at 6. I ran back to the hostel for my umbrella (good life decision), and would have made it to the museum shortly after it opened at 10 a.m. except in my fury I couldn't spot the entrance and ended up walking the entire perimeter of the building first. The building is in a former train station (no d'Orsay though), and is under construction, so only a portion of the museum was open. They have a good collection of Warhol, and some Kiefers for Diane. There is a big section on fluxus, so there was a lot of Beuys. I wish I'd had more time to look at the pieces in detail, but I didn't. Patrick, look up "I like America and America likes me" and let me know your thoughts.
I ducked out of the museum at 10:45 to make it back to the Gate with a coffee to meet another New Berlin tour. That day I took a paying tour, again with Mary, to Sachsenhausen, the model concentration camp outside of Berlin. I'm going to stop here so I can devote enough time to writing about that, but it was quite an experience, probably furthered by the gray skies and off-and-on rain.
I left off my tale in Berlin at about 4:30 a.m. I let myself sleep in rather late, in time to grab a coffee and croissant and meet the New Europe free tour at 11 a.m. in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Berlin is where the free tour company started, so this tour was very popular and I would have to say very excellent.
My guide, Mary, was very infectiously interested in German history. From the Brandenburg Gate, we made our way past the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe". I put that in quotations because I think it is significant that the memorial only commemorates a certain group. The memorial consists of stone blocks of varying heights on uneven ground, probably to make the viewer feel uncomfortable. A central theme in the tour was the way that German society grapples with the theme of the Holocaust and how best to remember what happened.
Our next stop was the remaining section of the Berlin Wall. Not going to lie, I was actually kind of disappointed! There is so much buildup for the Berlin Wall that it is almost impossible for the remaining segment to meet your expectations. We also saw "Checkpoint Charlie", among other sites. Our tour took place almost exclusively in East Berlin, which is where more of the sites are. It is hard to actually imagine, a city divided by a wall, West Berlin in the middle of Soviet East Germany. I'm not the world's biggest history buff, but it was pretty incredible to be walking the streets of probably the most influential city of the 20th century. 90% of the city's buildings were destroyed in World War II, and you can very definitely still see the scars. I guess that's a major contradiction; I was underwhelmed by seeing the Berlin Wall yet seeing the history on the streets of Berlin was amazing.
One of our next stops after a lunch break was Bebelplatz, the square outside the library of Humboldt University where students and professors started burning books that went against the ideals of the Nazi regime. The memorial is underground, visible through a window in the middle of the plaza and consists of empty bookshelves, that would be filled by the destroyed books.
The tour was three hours and I'm not looking at a map of Berlin, so I don't remember every stop in detail, but the tour definitely communicated strong themes. I suppose the free tour in Amsterdam tried to show how the "openness and toleration" of that city seen today in coffeeshops and the Red Light District evolved from its history, but in Berlin you really felt like you understood the city so much better after the tour. Berlin is not the most beautiful city in Germany, but it is very real and liveable, and it probably is the most interesting city in Germany.
From there, I made my way out to the Olympic Stadium. It was my first experience with the public transportation system in Berlin, which is quite obviously excellent. On my way out to the stadium I noticed the destroyed Kaiser Wilhelm II Memorial Cathedral and hopped off the train to have a look. The church was severely damaged during World War II and has been left as is, its damaged towers a beautiful reminder of that era. There is now a separate sanctuary built in a very different modern style, but there is an interesting exhibit of "before and after" photos below what remains of the towers.
I got back on the train and got off at the Olympic Stadium. As I approached, I noticed there were a lot of people dressed in all black. When I saw a young child with an extreme mullet, I started to think that there must be some sort of event at the stadium. Indeed, there was a Depeche Mode concert later that evening, so I couldn't get in. I made my way back to the S-Bahn, disappointed but amused by the crowd chanting "Depeche Mode" in a very German accent.
I went to the exhibit in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is free. The intent is to make the stories personal, centering on individuals and families rather than throwing out the mind-boggling statistics, which we can become numb to after a while. In one room, it is dark, with names and dates projected onto the walls. A narrator tells a brief story about that individual. I was very disappointed when a group of high school students was being obnoxious. The guard had to ask them to leave, and one of them made a commotion. I would say, ah, teenagers, what can you expect, but I really can't understand because even as a "rowdy teenager" I was very quiet...especially in such situations that really warranted such respect. There is really nothing funny about hearing the life story of someone who died in a concentration camp.
From there I walked to the Reichstag, the German parliament building. The Reichstag was not really used until the Weimar Republic. A suspicious fire in the early 1930s was used as pretext by Hitler to seize power as a dictator. It sat unused again until Germany unified. Today, there is a striking glass dome on top, that is supposed to represent "the transparency of democracy". Anyone can take the elevator up to the top for free. There is also a free audioguide, and I SWEAR mine wasn't working. I went back to the desk, and the employees didn't believe me, laughing and telling me that it was automatic. It is more high-tech than your average audio guide, but I did exactly what they said multiple times and nothing happened. I was so frustrated that the employees couldn't even be bothered to try to help me. It colored my experience on top of the Reichstag, which affords you a panoramic view of the entire city.
After that, I got some falafel for dinner and just made my way back to the hostel. I used the internet for a while and went to sleep...or as much sleep as you can get in a room with 49 other people. It actually was a decent setup, all of my stuff was in my locker on that floor. The only problem is that, as in any hostel dorm, your roommates and their consideration of your need to sleep determines your ability to sleep. That night the annoying Spanish guys from the night before decided to call it an earlier night...and had a long conversation in the dorm. Earplugs are a godsend, but they don't block out everything.
I got up early the next morning to go to the Olympic Stadium again. Berlin is my host mother Cristina's favorite city in Europe, and she has told me many times how the thing that impressed her the most was seeing the track where Jesse Owens ran in 1936, winning the gold medal and challenging Hitler's theory or Aryan superiority. I arrived at the stadium at 9 a.m., just as it was slated to open. It had been raining when I left the hostel, but I hadn't gone back to get my umbrella, or stopped for any coffee or breakfast, to make it there at that time. That morning I noticed a sign that had been blocked by the concertgoers the night before: the Olympic Stadium is closed to visitors from June 5 to June 15, because of two events, one of which was the Depeche Mode concert. I couldn't believe it. I could understand the day of, maybe even the day before or after having to close, but...
As luck would have it, I had been making my contingency plan on the way there on the S-Bahn. Most state museums are open until 10 p.m. on Thursdays and free after 6, but the Hamburger Bahnof, the contemporary art museum closed at 6. I ran back to the hostel for my umbrella (good life decision), and would have made it to the museum shortly after it opened at 10 a.m. except in my fury I couldn't spot the entrance and ended up walking the entire perimeter of the building first. The building is in a former train station (no d'Orsay though), and is under construction, so only a portion of the museum was open. They have a good collection of Warhol, and some Kiefers for Diane. There is a big section on fluxus, so there was a lot of Beuys. I wish I'd had more time to look at the pieces in detail, but I didn't. Patrick, look up "I like America and America likes me" and let me know your thoughts.
I ducked out of the museum at 10:45 to make it back to the Gate with a coffee to meet another New Berlin tour. That day I took a paying tour, again with Mary, to Sachsenhausen, the model concentration camp outside of Berlin. I'm going to stop here so I can devote enough time to writing about that, but it was quite an experience, probably furthered by the gray skies and off-and-on rain.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
On the road
Greetings from Berlin! I am in my hostel using the internets so I thought I would try to make a dent in starting to blog. I arrived in Amsterdam Monday afternoon. I caught a train to Central Station, where I decided to buy my train ticket to Germany for Tuesday night. It took a maddeningly long time.
From the train station I walked to my hostel...which was in the Red Light District. I decided to stay in Shelter City, a Christian youth hostel with a no drinking/drugs policy. I thought that would be a good balance since it would be well-located but without any shenanigans so I could sleep. Not sure that was the best choice, as you'll see later. After unsuccessfully messing around with my locker for a while, I decided it didn't matter since I lock my suitcase anyway and marched to the Van Gogh Museum, making it there about 5. They close at 6. The hour was about enough time to see the permanent collection, although I definitely was the one the guards had to push out of the museum come closing time.
I wouldn't have been able to see everything in an hour if I had been in Amsterdam a day earlier. That was the final day of the big exhibition titled something along the lines of "Van Gogh and the Night". It was pretty epic, with works such as The Potato Eaters and Starry Night (which I missed when at MoMA). I knew I was missing it, but the exhibit title was on my bag in the shop, which made me sad. One thing about Van Gogh that is interesting that is easy to forget is that he really only was productive for about ten years. Few other artists have the same cultural prominence without having a much larger body of work.
From the museum, I made my way to the Anne Frank House, which is usually open until 10 pm, but obviously since I was there they decided to close early that day at 5. I was hungry so I got some fries: not as good as in Belgium, fyi. I pretty much just started walking back towards my hostel. I opted for a meal on the streets. I was enjoying a piece of pizza and people watching. I had just about finished when a creeper started bothering me. I said "no" and walked away. I went into a shop for a while, but either he was following me and waited outside or I just had really bad timing because he saw me again and started bothering me again. I jaywalked away and decided I needed a chocolate-covered waffle for my trouble. I made my way back to the hostel. I wanted to leave again after dark, to see the Red Light District all aglow, but I just didn't feel comfortable going outside again on my own so I called it a night early. No Bible study.
The next morning I had a bit of an issue checking out. I was certain I had paid 10€ deposit, but they were convinced it was only 5€. Guess who was right after they pulled the tape out of the cash register. Breakfast was included, and it was actually a cute setup. There were several options, and you also got a drink; I got muesli and yogurt with a piece of fruit and coffee.
I wanted to arrive at the Anne Frank House by 9 but got a little lost and didn't get there until 9:15, meaning I was right behind a bunch of school groups- joy. I never used public transportation in Amsterdam, opting to walk everywhere. Firstly, the city center is pretty small, so since I was always rushing about it was faster to walk. But Amsterdam is a series of canal rings, so it can be pretty easy to get lost.
Seeing the Anne Frank House was a treat. When I was younger, Holocaust lit really interested me, and obviously The Diary of Anne Frank is the major work in that genre. The biggest group of schoolkids was British, and the kids were probably about 10, so they were at the perfect age to appreciate the story. In general, they were kind of bored and antsy, but one boy you could tell was very interested and knew a lot about Anne. At one point he called some kids out for not paying attention, and kept making comments like, "Wow, three people shared this room, and it's smaller than my sister's room". Adorable.
From there, I marched to the Rijksmuseum. The state art museum is for all practical purposes closed, but they have a small exhibition of the masterworks in the collection. Unfortunately they still charge full price...and don't have a student discount. The treasure of the collection is Rembrandt's The Night Watch. They also have four Vermeers, although the most interesting was on loan to somewhere else.
I had lunch on the street, having a hot dog and a waffle with strawberries. In Dam Square, there was a sand court set up and I saw kids so at first I thought it was beach volleyball. Then I looked a little closer and realized I was in Europe...definitely beach football.
In Dam Square I met my Sandemans New Europe free tour. I'd heard of these tours from friends. The guides work on a tips-only basis (although apparently the guides have to give the company a certain amount of money per head as overhead to cover the cost of flyers, etc., so you definitely have to pay something.) It was unfortunate that the tour was one of the last things I did in Amsterdam, since I felt like I had walked around most of the places we saw already, although I still got a lot out of it.
I was supposed to pick up my suitcase from the hostel by 6, which was ok, since my train was at 7 anyway. However, by the time the tour was over it was about 4:30, and I still hadn't done the Heineken Experience, which even someone who doesn't drink beer told me was a highlight of her time in Amsterdam. I did it, rushing a bit, but it was still fun; it definitely was the kind of thing that would have been much more fun with a travel buddy, though. I made it back to the hostel more or less at 6, not that it mattered because there was only one person at the desk and she was pretty busy.
I got myself some deliciously cheap made-to-order pasta and some Heineken at the station and waited for my train. I was a little nervous because the sign said the destination was Moscow...and none of the intermediary stops were Berlin. Some other people were also confused. The signs on the train when it pulled in were partially in Russian. However, they later changed it, and the train was going to end up in either Prague or Warsaw.
For the "overnight" train that left Amsterdam at 19:01 and arrived in Berlin at 4:23, I opted for a six-person bunk. Surprisingly it wasn't too much more expensive than a seat; I can't understand why some people opted for the regular seats for a long journey. I had been in four-person compartments on trains before but never for six. Of course I got stuck with one of the tops. There were four Americans going to Prague who all knew each other and some other guy who got on shortly after Amsterdam and fell promptly asleep with his shoes on.
Luckily I got some sleep so I wasn't too dead when the train threw me out at the crack of dawn. I had made a hostel reservation for Tuesday night because I knew I would want to sleep. I grabbed a cab to baxpax Downtown Hostel. The epic battle began.
Baxpax is a new, pretty highly rated hostel, but I especially chose it because of its 24-hour reception. However, the clerk informed me that I had to check in by 3 a.m. I was staying in the "K Studio", a 50-bed dorm (not for novice hostellers but surprisingly livable), and he said he couldn't let me in because I would never find my bed and would make too much noise etc. etc. However, I would still be charged for the night since they considered it a cancellation. The only open beds were in that room, so I was going to be on the hook for a bed he wouldn't let me into until 8 a.m. I was furious. Finally, he let me in. I left my bag in a locker outside the room, so I don't think I made too much noise and my bed was right by the door. I would have been so mad if he hadn't let me in because there were some REALLY loud Spanish guys who were obviously much more disruptive. So I finally got some sleep.
I'm about to run out of Internet time so I'll pick this up later. I leave for Munich tomorrow. I've enjoyed Berlin, but I'm exhausted from going so many places. Also, I haven't forgotten my trip to the Balearic Islands...
From the train station I walked to my hostel...which was in the Red Light District. I decided to stay in Shelter City, a Christian youth hostel with a no drinking/drugs policy. I thought that would be a good balance since it would be well-located but without any shenanigans so I could sleep. Not sure that was the best choice, as you'll see later. After unsuccessfully messing around with my locker for a while, I decided it didn't matter since I lock my suitcase anyway and marched to the Van Gogh Museum, making it there about 5. They close at 6. The hour was about enough time to see the permanent collection, although I definitely was the one the guards had to push out of the museum come closing time.
I wouldn't have been able to see everything in an hour if I had been in Amsterdam a day earlier. That was the final day of the big exhibition titled something along the lines of "Van Gogh and the Night". It was pretty epic, with works such as The Potato Eaters and Starry Night (which I missed when at MoMA). I knew I was missing it, but the exhibit title was on my bag in the shop, which made me sad. One thing about Van Gogh that is interesting that is easy to forget is that he really only was productive for about ten years. Few other artists have the same cultural prominence without having a much larger body of work.
From the museum, I made my way to the Anne Frank House, which is usually open until 10 pm, but obviously since I was there they decided to close early that day at 5. I was hungry so I got some fries: not as good as in Belgium, fyi. I pretty much just started walking back towards my hostel. I opted for a meal on the streets. I was enjoying a piece of pizza and people watching. I had just about finished when a creeper started bothering me. I said "no" and walked away. I went into a shop for a while, but either he was following me and waited outside or I just had really bad timing because he saw me again and started bothering me again. I jaywalked away and decided I needed a chocolate-covered waffle for my trouble. I made my way back to the hostel. I wanted to leave again after dark, to see the Red Light District all aglow, but I just didn't feel comfortable going outside again on my own so I called it a night early. No Bible study.
The next morning I had a bit of an issue checking out. I was certain I had paid 10€ deposit, but they were convinced it was only 5€. Guess who was right after they pulled the tape out of the cash register. Breakfast was included, and it was actually a cute setup. There were several options, and you also got a drink; I got muesli and yogurt with a piece of fruit and coffee.
I wanted to arrive at the Anne Frank House by 9 but got a little lost and didn't get there until 9:15, meaning I was right behind a bunch of school groups- joy. I never used public transportation in Amsterdam, opting to walk everywhere. Firstly, the city center is pretty small, so since I was always rushing about it was faster to walk. But Amsterdam is a series of canal rings, so it can be pretty easy to get lost.
Seeing the Anne Frank House was a treat. When I was younger, Holocaust lit really interested me, and obviously The Diary of Anne Frank is the major work in that genre. The biggest group of schoolkids was British, and the kids were probably about 10, so they were at the perfect age to appreciate the story. In general, they were kind of bored and antsy, but one boy you could tell was very interested and knew a lot about Anne. At one point he called some kids out for not paying attention, and kept making comments like, "Wow, three people shared this room, and it's smaller than my sister's room". Adorable.
From there, I marched to the Rijksmuseum. The state art museum is for all practical purposes closed, but they have a small exhibition of the masterworks in the collection. Unfortunately they still charge full price...and don't have a student discount. The treasure of the collection is Rembrandt's The Night Watch. They also have four Vermeers, although the most interesting was on loan to somewhere else.
I had lunch on the street, having a hot dog and a waffle with strawberries. In Dam Square, there was a sand court set up and I saw kids so at first I thought it was beach volleyball. Then I looked a little closer and realized I was in Europe...definitely beach football.
In Dam Square I met my Sandemans New Europe free tour. I'd heard of these tours from friends. The guides work on a tips-only basis (although apparently the guides have to give the company a certain amount of money per head as overhead to cover the cost of flyers, etc., so you definitely have to pay something.) It was unfortunate that the tour was one of the last things I did in Amsterdam, since I felt like I had walked around most of the places we saw already, although I still got a lot out of it.
I was supposed to pick up my suitcase from the hostel by 6, which was ok, since my train was at 7 anyway. However, by the time the tour was over it was about 4:30, and I still hadn't done the Heineken Experience, which even someone who doesn't drink beer told me was a highlight of her time in Amsterdam. I did it, rushing a bit, but it was still fun; it definitely was the kind of thing that would have been much more fun with a travel buddy, though. I made it back to the hostel more or less at 6, not that it mattered because there was only one person at the desk and she was pretty busy.
I got myself some deliciously cheap made-to-order pasta and some Heineken at the station and waited for my train. I was a little nervous because the sign said the destination was Moscow...and none of the intermediary stops were Berlin. Some other people were also confused. The signs on the train when it pulled in were partially in Russian. However, they later changed it, and the train was going to end up in either Prague or Warsaw.
For the "overnight" train that left Amsterdam at 19:01 and arrived in Berlin at 4:23, I opted for a six-person bunk. Surprisingly it wasn't too much more expensive than a seat; I can't understand why some people opted for the regular seats for a long journey. I had been in four-person compartments on trains before but never for six. Of course I got stuck with one of the tops. There were four Americans going to Prague who all knew each other and some other guy who got on shortly after Amsterdam and fell promptly asleep with his shoes on.
Luckily I got some sleep so I wasn't too dead when the train threw me out at the crack of dawn. I had made a hostel reservation for Tuesday night because I knew I would want to sleep. I grabbed a cab to baxpax Downtown Hostel. The epic battle began.
Baxpax is a new, pretty highly rated hostel, but I especially chose it because of its 24-hour reception. However, the clerk informed me that I had to check in by 3 a.m. I was staying in the "K Studio", a 50-bed dorm (not for novice hostellers but surprisingly livable), and he said he couldn't let me in because I would never find my bed and would make too much noise etc. etc. However, I would still be charged for the night since they considered it a cancellation. The only open beds were in that room, so I was going to be on the hook for a bed he wouldn't let me into until 8 a.m. I was furious. Finally, he let me in. I left my bag in a locker outside the room, so I don't think I made too much noise and my bed was right by the door. I would have been so mad if he hadn't let me in because there were some REALLY loud Spanish guys who were obviously much more disruptive. So I finally got some sleep.
I'm about to run out of Internet time so I'll pick this up later. I leave for Munich tomorrow. I've enjoyed Berlin, but I'm exhausted from going so many places. Also, I haven't forgotten my trip to the Balearic Islands...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Already almost too late for typical Colleen end-of-something nostalgia
I was so busy in May that I couldn't devote my usual effort to blogging so I just gave up altogether.
You missed:
Daytrip to Toledo (to be honest I wasn't overly impressed)
País Vasco (Bilbao is Bilbao, Guernica was kind of creepy, Elantxobe was gorgeous, San Sebastián was gorgeous and I ate the best tapas of my life)
Copenhagen and Stockholm (beautiful and a lot of fun, we explored both cities by bike)
Group trip to Córdoba and Granada (Gran Mezquita, Alhambra, etc.)
Barcelona with my brother and dad
Diane visiting while I was taking finals
Me teething (one of my 12-year-old molars is finally coming in all the way)
Me having a pedestrian crash (I still have a giant yellow and purple bruise)
La cena de despedida (some of my friends are already back in the States!)
Colleen finding an internship last minute
Now I am done with finals and waiting for my tutor to get back to me so I can get my last paper done. Tomorrow I am meeting Diane in Palma de Mallorca and then we're taking the ferry to Ibiza for a day and a half. We'll get back to Madrid either very late Friday or very early Saturday, depending on where you break the days. That Saturday my host family leaves for the U.S. for the first time, heading first to New York City and then down to New Jersey to attend the wedding of one of their former Georgetown students.
I can't believe the program is for all practical purposes over! The fact that our departures are spread out over a month makes it seem slightly less dramatic (aka I only cried a little on Saturday night), but I probably won't see most of the people in the program until next year at Georgetown, even if they are here all month. The second semester definitely went by faster (I guess that is somewhat a statement of the obvious since there was no three week Christmas break in the middle). I can't believe how little time I have left in Madrid, especially since I've got a pretty hefty travel agenda. An entire (academic) year in Spain is over! I am almost a senior in college! I need to figure out what I want to do with my life after graduating... I'm taking the LSAT in September and also considering signing up for the Foreign Service Officer exam, but we'll see.
You missed:
Daytrip to Toledo (to be honest I wasn't overly impressed)
País Vasco (Bilbao is Bilbao, Guernica was kind of creepy, Elantxobe was gorgeous, San Sebastián was gorgeous and I ate the best tapas of my life)
Copenhagen and Stockholm (beautiful and a lot of fun, we explored both cities by bike)
Group trip to Córdoba and Granada (Gran Mezquita, Alhambra, etc.)
Barcelona with my brother and dad
Diane visiting while I was taking finals
Me teething (one of my 12-year-old molars is finally coming in all the way)
Me having a pedestrian crash (I still have a giant yellow and purple bruise)
La cena de despedida (some of my friends are already back in the States!)
Colleen finding an internship last minute
Now I am done with finals and waiting for my tutor to get back to me so I can get my last paper done. Tomorrow I am meeting Diane in Palma de Mallorca and then we're taking the ferry to Ibiza for a day and a half. We'll get back to Madrid either very late Friday or very early Saturday, depending on where you break the days. That Saturday my host family leaves for the U.S. for the first time, heading first to New York City and then down to New Jersey to attend the wedding of one of their former Georgetown students.
I can't believe the program is for all practical purposes over! The fact that our departures are spread out over a month makes it seem slightly less dramatic (aka I only cried a little on Saturday night), but I probably won't see most of the people in the program until next year at Georgetown, even if they are here all month. The second semester definitely went by faster (I guess that is somewhat a statement of the obvious since there was no three week Christmas break in the middle). I can't believe how little time I have left in Madrid, especially since I've got a pretty hefty travel agenda. An entire (academic) year in Spain is over! I am almost a senior in college! I need to figure out what I want to do with my life after graduating... I'm taking the LSAT in September and also considering signing up for the Foreign Service Officer exam, but we'll see.
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