May 18,2012 Bike Tour around Paderborn!

May 18, 2012

To be honest I thought I was going to sleep through the whole day today! However, I did make it up and dressed by about 11am. Eleven hours of sleep later I am ready to face a new day in Paderborn and feeling pretty good about the 40 mile bike ride that Lena has planned for us today. It takes us a little while to actually get going, but eventually we make it out of the apartment and headed to the train station to rent the bikes.

Renting bikes in Germany sounds like an easy concept. It’s really a tourist thing, so you would think that the people who work in bike shops would at least speak and inkling of English. Well go figure it’s our luck that we pick the only bike shop in Germany where NONE of the workers speak ANY English. Somehow, through a game of charades essentially, we are able to rent two semi decent bikes, one of which comes with a basket attached to it, the only thing that I demanded. These bikes are nothing like I’m used to though! For starters they weigh about as much as my horse and carting them up and down stairs and into buses is no easy task. Luckily, most of the stair cases have nice little ramps built into them specifically for bikes. Germans are so considerate. Finally on the bike I realize within about two minutes that the “shifter” doesn’t work worth a lick. I turn the knob to shift to a lower gear and about the time I get to the top of the rise, or about the time I get my bike up to speed, the gears actually decide that they should shift to the gear I asked them to five minutes before. This is extremely frustrating but I quickly catch on that if I purposefully hit a bump when I’m shifting the gears will actually shift at the right time. One problem solved.

Lena and I make it to the bus stop that will take us to the start of the tour and this is where the real fun starts. First off, sneaking on to a bus is a great idea, if you aren’t carting two enormous bikes with you. So we end up having to pay for our bikes, not the end of the world. It takes about two minutes into the bus ride, however, to discover that we have the worst bus driver in Paderborn, possibly in all of Germany. No kidding this guy needed to go back to bus driving school. He would hit the gas really hard and rev away from a stop and then at the next stop he would get about two feet away and then SLAM on his breaks to halt before the stop. This would be bad enough with my motion sickness if I was just riding the bus. Lena and I, however, were trying to stand up, hold on to our bikes, and attempting to keep them from rolling right into the older lady sitting in front of us with a walker. I think that moment is now classified as the longest ten minutes of my life. Somehow making it to the bus stop with all my contents still in my stomach is a miracle in and of itself.  We manage to make it off the stop and head towards were we believe is the start of the tour. After riding back and forth about three times we eventually realize we have no idea where the tour starts and Lena runs in to ask somebody at the mini golf place. Luckily, she knows where the trail head is and points us in the right direction!

A little later than we initially planned on leaving, Lena and I are finally on our way, determined to make the most of the trip and enjoy actually being on a bike again. The first 20 miles of the bike ride goes wonderfully. We pass fields, cows, stables, and agriculture. It was so nice to be out in the country again, after being crammed into a city for the past two weeks. I get to see my very first asparagus field, which is really interesting how they grow it, not at all like how it was grown back in our garden growing up. They have these long rows and you can see the asparagus shoot popping out of the ground and you can see where they had already cut some. I suppose they cut it by hand, I have no idea how you would do it with a machine, but they may have some way of doing it that I don’t understand.

We go through this very adorable town called Hovelholf and, after briefly losing our trail once; we head out to the wildlife conservatory and start looking for signs that will direct us to our next destination. However, at this point our luck runs out and we completely lose all signs of our previous trail and there are no signs of the trail we are supposed to be on. Germans are apparently very good at starting things off with excellent signage postings and then halfway through the trip all signs completely disappear. With no other choice but to head back to Hovelhof, we turn around and go back in the general direction of the town. Finally reaching the town again, and with a little help from my GPS, we locate our old trail and decide to go back on that, since we are both tired at this point and have ridden about 20 miles already.  These bikes are not the most comfortable to be on for six hours, but we make it back to Paderborn with no more issues.  Along the way we pass the beer festival again and of course have to stop and get some of that amazing cherry beer again. It was just as delicious the second time around as it was the first.

Clearly exhausted now, we’ve been riding for almost seven hours, we go to return our bikes and there is a different guy working. We didn’t think there would be any problem, but somehow Lena’s bike number got written down that she owed 9 euros still because she had kept it an extra day. We tried explaining to the guy that we had paid in full earlier today and that there was no way Lena had kept it an extra day because we only rented it seven hours ago. Of course the guy didn’t speak any English and couldn’t understand anything that we were saying to him, so Lena walked up to a younger looking guy at the station and asked for his assistance with being a translator. Once again, due to the kindness of a stranger, we were able to explain to the rental store employee what was happening and asked him to get out the paper we had filled out earlier that day that had all our information on it. Turns out the previous person who had rented the bike had not paid his money and we were able to straighten out the whole mess. Yup, definitely learning the language next time I go to a foreign country.

After getting that entire bike mess straightened out we make a brief stop at the grocery store, where I find a HUGE jar of pickles for like 1.29, we head back to the apartment. We make spaghetti for dinner, and I actually make the sauce without burning anything! Pretty impressive for me, though Lena does help with the seasoning of the sauce, but I still like to think that I actually contributed to a meal for change. Then we sit down and watch a few episodes of Smallville before turning in for the night. J

May 23, 2012 Met my first Croatian dog!

May 23, 2012

Today was the third day in a row that I have not been able to sleep at night and when I finally do get to sleep, construction wakes me up at about 4am. For some reason people have decided that it is a good idea to start construction that early right outside our window. Not exactly the most pleasant thing to wake up to in the morning, but at least I know I’m never going to be late for a seminar. Today we are meeting at 9am to head to the Bavarian Landtag, which is the building that houses the Bavarian parliament. I’m actually pretty excited because we get to talk to one of the vice-presidents of the parliament. This trip has given me a new perspective on different countries’ politics and how they are run. Starting think I actually chose the right major this time with pre-law, I actually have a passion to learn this!

Of course the taxi service is running late and we have to rush to get to the building on time. On the way there I see the building that I ran into yesterday on my walk and I ask Dr. Copeland what that building was. She replied that that was the Bavarian Landtag. Ummm ok, I tried to break into that building yesterday, guess it is a good thing that my endeavors don’t always succeed.  Arriving finally in the back of the building, where I now see security gates and guards. Guess I should’ve walked all the way around to actually see what building I was trying to get into. We actually make it five minutes early, but end up having to wait another half hour because the person who is supposed to let us in is running a bit behind. I entertain myself by playing Teeter on my phone as successfully making it to level 17. We are escorted to a room in the back of the dining area where we are meeting our lecturer.

Franz Maget is quite an entertaining guy and I like him instantly. He is very friendly and engages us in a friendly conversation about the Bavarian Landtag, some of its functions and purposes, and then we talk about education in Germany and specifically Bavaria. Education here is much different in the US. For example, public education is completely free, no matter how high you want to take it. The most it would cost someone is 1,000 euros a year, and there are government programs that will subsidize that for you. Ok, I’m moving to Europe now, too bad my education is essentially over for an undergrad. Not that I’m ungrateful for my education, I got pretty lucky with paying for school. After about an hour of discussing the differences in education and what the Landtag’s role is in education, we head out for a tour of the Landtag and the building.

The building is absolutely gorgeous and has all original paintings from the time it was built to the current time. We make it to the actual Landtag chambers and Franz Maget was showing us around when we got kicked out because they had to bring in the drug sniffing dog. Apparently parliament was having a session that afternoon and they always have to bring in dogs to scout the room before the session starts, just to ensure the safety of the members of the parliament.

We have a nice lunch with a couple of old friends of Dr. Rivello and Dr. Copeland and then head back to the hotel for a short break before we have to leave for our next seminar this afternoon. I spend the time attempting to apply for jobs, but of course I run out of time to finish the application, which probably means I’ll have to start it over when I get back. Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.  So after about a 20 minute break it is back on the road and we head to the Geschwister-Scholl-Institute. There we meet Dr. Renner who will be talking to us about animal rights and what that means in Europe. This lecture is by far the one that I’ve been most looking forward too, since it is directly related to my Honors Thesis topic that I’ve been working on all semester. I’m not disappointed and Dr. Renner gives a very interesting lecture, I could’ve gone on asking questions for ages, but sadly we have to leave since it is getting pretty late in the evening. However, before we leave we get a chance to meet Dr. Renner’s dog and he is a gorgeous black lab mix that she adopted from Croatia. I’ve officially met my first Croatian dog and he was adorable. Anton was a little shy at first, but after a few scratches and having four girls ooh and aah over him, he was quite friendly and enthusiastic. 

After leaving Anton we head back to the hotel to grab some laundry and get it done before we go to dinner. This is the second time I have to do laundry and I don’t really want to pay another 13 euros, so I opt for just a wash and decide to let all my laundry dry back in my hotel room. So currently as I’m sitting here typing this there is bits and pieces of my clothes strung out all over the place, including out the window. However, it does make the room spell quite pleasant, like there was Febreze sprayed everywhere. Now I think I’m going to head to bed while watching an episode of Smallville, shout out to Lena for getting me addicted to that show again! J

May 17, 2012 40 hours no sleep?!

May 17, 2012

Making it to the train station this morning with no trouble I find my train and somehow manage to find my seat as well. It was my first time on the ICE train so I was a little confused on where my seat was. However, I somehow manage to find it without having to make too big of a fool of myself. This train isn’t to uncomfortable, but for whatever reason I just can’t sleep so I spend the majority of time attempting to shift from one position to another without disturbing the guy sitting beside me. At the first switchover I almost miss my train because I have no idea which one it is, but manage to make it on with barely five minutes to spare. Next time I go to a foreign country I really have to learn their language. It’s very hard not knowing what they are saying and not understanding what you are reading. The next switchover goes a lot smoother because my train actually has a number on it and I can easily identify it. So after five hours of being on a train and running on about 30 hours without sleep I make it safely to Paderborn.

To be honest at this point I am about ready to crash on the ground, but I only have a few days here with Lena so I push aside the tiredness and go exploring with her and Eric in downtown Paderborn. It’s actually a very quaint city and has the more small town feel to it that Regensburg had. We go into a few of the churches in Paderborn, which are all gorgeous. There are so many churches in each city that it amazes me. I thought the bible belt in the South was bad, but it has nothing on these German cities. We find the “three hares” at one of the churches, which is apparently a famous sculpture on a window, another story that I am going to have to look up since I cannot understand the German sign next to the sculpture.

After going through downtown we hop a bus to a castle that is by Paderborn. This is the first  castle I actually have a chance to go through and explore. It’s very pretty and is complete with a moat surrounding it, another first for me.  As we walk through the castle I am completely fascinated by all the ducks that are in the moat, including these ducklings that are so freaking adorable. I’m pretty sure I stood there for about an hour just watching them. There was this one particular duckling that was trying so hard to be independent of his parents and kept swimming away and looking for his own food. As I was watching him, he surprised a fish in the pond and it jumped up and grabbed the duckling’s beak for a second. The poor duckling was so surprised he swam back to his parents as fast as he could. I practically died laughing at that point.  

When I was through being fascinated by the ducks we went in back to the castle grounds and discovered that there was another beer fest happening. Wondering through the festival, we initially weren’t going to try anything there, but then Lena and I kept seeing people with this red beer that came from Grimbergens. We opted to try it just for the heck of it. Worst mistake ever. We have become addicted to it. It turned out to be this cherry beer that they make and it is so good!  I wanted to guzzle it down, but at the same time wanted to savor every drop. Definitely the best drink that I have had here yet. Eric ended up getting this huge stick of meat with a roll on the end. It looked like something that would’ve come from the middle ages, but apparently was extremely good. We finally leave the festival and head back to the apartment in Paderborn.

Finally getting back to the apartment I am so tired that I am ready to crash right there, but I’m also starving so we decide to go grab some pizza. There is this amazing pizza place right down the street from Eric’s apartment and we have this delicious Mexican pizza. I can barely taste it at this point however because I have been up for 36 hours.  I stay up for a little longer though so I can have  a quick skype date and then crash in bed. Takes me about two minutes before I am dead to the world for the next ten hours. J

May 16, 2012

May 16, 2012

Today we woke up a little early to head to the market and buy flowers for Dr. Copeland, who tried to hide the fact that her birthday was yesterday. We found some nice flowers at the market across the street from us and made it back to the hotel a little early for our trip to the nuclear power plant. Dr. Copeland seemed to enjoy her flowers, but sadly couldn’t accompany us on our tour of the nuclear plant. After everyone had their passports and notebooks we head off to meet with the instructor that will be taking us to the nuclear plant.

The instructor talked about renewable energy and what nuclear power is doing to the environment and why Germany has decided to get away from it. He offered a different perspective of nuclear power than our first professor in Regensburg had. While our first professor was for nuclear power this professor was definitely against it, so I could tell that this would be an interesting trip to the power plant with someone who supported the closing of it. After the brief lecture we head into the car and make the hour and a half trip to the power plant Isar #2. Due to my intense motion sickness, I opt to sleep the majority of the trip to avoid getting sick.

We arrive at the nuclear power plant and our welcomed by our tour guide. She is a very nice lady who is obviously pretty smart because keeping up with her throughout the tour is quite a challenge. We go through security at the plant and our put into these white jumpsuits with yellow ducky shoe covers. No kidding it looks like we are about to take flight to space. Finally arriving to the plant we are able to see where the reactor is housed and the water that cools the used rods and how they are stored. It is a very interesting process and being able to tour the plant was quite an experience, especially when we are informed that this tour is probably the last tour that will be done, as the plant is going through its closing down process.  Keeping up with the process of nuclear power is exteremly hard as there are so many little things that affect the power output and I can’t really keep up with it all. The tour lasts about three hours and then we are served some dinner and have a discussion time with the tour guide. At one point during this discussion I thought her and our professor were about to get into a fight. They have very differing opinions on the closing of the plant and the discontinued use of nuclear power in Germany altogether.

Eventually we have to leave the power plant since it was getting pretty late. I still had some more questions, but we were already late leaving so I decided to withhold them until a later time. On the journey back I’m actually able to stay awake for the majority of the trip and get another good look at the German countryside.  Arriving back we have only a short time to get ready before we meet up with someone who used to go to my high school. Luckily he was running a little late to so we had enough time to get four girls ready for a night out.

We end up going to this pasta place for dinner and poor Mo has to translate for all of us since they have no English on the menu. I end up ordering a delicious pesto pasta with some spinach and a white beer that I hadn’t tried before. Ordering was quite an experience, but the guy who made our food was exteremly helpful and, along with the help of Mo, we were all able to get what we wanted, even with some complications. After dinner we head out for some drinks at a local cocktail bar, which is very crowded. One nice thing about this bar is all the drink names are in English, so we can actually order drinks without having to guess, for the most part, what is in it. I order what I think will be a good drink, and it ends up tasting like pure alcohol. I guess Germans make their cocktails extra strong, cause there is no way I would’ve gotten that much alcohol in a drink in the U.S.. Luckily we are there for a little while so I have plenty of time to finish the drink and not rush it, even though one of the girls keeps challenging me to a chugging contest. Which is kind of the only way I can drink my drink since it is really strong and not exactly something that you can easily sip, it doesn’t really taste that good.

After leaving the cocktail bar we head to a dance club for a couple hours. The club was really fun, but it was extremely crowded! Most of the time you could barely move, but it was actually more enjoyable than the clubs in the U.S.. I think this is because there aren’t really those creepy guys that try to come up and dance with you. It was a blast to actually go out and with the crowded club it wasn’t that hard to hide my awful dancing skills. The next thing I know it’s four in the morning and I have to rush back to the hotel and shower really quick in order to catch my train that leaves at six. I guess there’s no sleep for me tonight, but it was a fun night so I can’t complain too much.  Guess we will see how this train ride goes after being up for 24 hours and not being able to understand any German. Wish me luck! J

May 15, 2012 Landshut and German Ducks

May 15, 2012

Had to get up way too early today! And for me it wasn’t even early, I’m getting so spoiled on this trip, but at 7:10 my alarm went off and I had to crawl out of bed. Meeting downstairs at 8:15am to leave for our field trip to Landshut I was pretty much dragging my feet out the door and to the train station. It was about a 45 minute train ride, on which I couldn’t sleep at all because I was too busy attempting to keep down the contents of my stomach. However, we finally arrive in Landshut and all my weariness is forgotten. The city is absolutely gorgeous! Definitely tied for my favorite with Regensburg. The city is about 800 years old and the gentleman that meets us at the train station is the official head of the historical architecture department in Landshut, so he is very knowledgeable about city and it’s past.

Landshut was founded over 800 years ago and still maintains a lot of its medieval features. For example walking into the city we pass through one of the first gates to the city that was there during medieval times. We then head into was used to be the biggest of three original market areas. The shops lining the street are so interesting and have the cutest things in them that I can’t help but hope we have a little extra time to explore the city at the end of our day. We stop for coffee at a little shop in the market area and I enjoy a cappuccino and the company of a very adorable puppy, who belongs to the lady sitting behind me.  Since we are in a hurry we don’t get much time to sit there and I have to drink my coffee rather quickly before we head to the city hall.

At the city hall we meet Herr Bohmeyer, who will be giving us a lecture on the local government in Germany. He doesn’t know a lot of English so the gentleman who showed us to the city hall also operates as a translator for us. I find this lecture very interesting, especially having come fresh from my local and state government class that I took this past semester. I could actually understand what they were talking about and some of the logistics behind the way that their local government is set up, which happens to be very similar to what you would find in the United States. We have a short picture session afterwards with the head of public relations and then head out for a quick lunch and for another, more in depth, tour of the city.

Lunch happens at this authentic German restaurant and, oh boy, it is sooo good! I have the spargel, which is a white looking asparagus, a delicacy in Germany because they only have it this time of year. Along with that comes a delicious cheese sauce and a pork tenderloin that is pounded flat and then deep fried, also very good, but the meal is so filling I have a very difficult time finishing it, though I do manage somehow. After lunch we say goodbye to Herr Bohmeyer and the lady with him and continue on our tour.

The church that is in the center of the city is the start of the tour and we learn that it was actually the citizens of the tour that built the church and not the Duke. The church took over 100 years to build and was 650 years old! The current church was built on top of the first church that was built in the town and you could actually walk below the current church to the old one, although we were not allowed to. The steeple on the church is the tallest brick structure in the world 129 meters tall, which ironically enough made it 30 meters taller than the Duke’s castle. The peasants wanted to prove to the Duke that they were important and wealthy also. We were able to get a short glimpse of the castle, but sadly it was too far away to go to. I’m determined to actually see inside a castle before I leave, but I’m ok holding out for Neuschwanstein, which is the one I really want to visit while I am down here.

Unfortunately, our tour has to be cut short do to the impending weather, so we are briefly shown the city hall, where the paintings on the wall depict the marriage of a Duke to a Polish princess, a tradition that is shown through a festival that the city puts on every four years. The festival is a huge deal in Landshut and attracts visitors from all over the world. I guess that’s another thing to add to my bucket list. We are also shown a mini model of the city that the officials use to see what kind of buildings should be allowed in the city and where they should go. Landshut puts a lot of emphasis on combining the old with the new and keeping the historical context of the city. The guy who gave us the tour was so in love with the city and you could tell that he absolutely loved talking about his city. It’s so rare to see that kind of passion in a person for the place where they live. I felt that if I was thinking about moving to Germany I would move to Landshut just for how well that guy sold the city. It wasn’t even just him though; both people that we talked to today had a passion for their city that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Sadly we did not get time to go back and explore the shops, but maybe someday I’ll be back if I go to that festival.

The train ride back was uneventful and I was definitely feeling a little tired since it was almost 5 in the afternoon at this point. The rains put a hold on running today, so instead I work on my computer for a bit and then decide to go do laundry with Molly. We find the laundry place ok and luckily the person working in there speaks English so we have no trouble figuring out how to work the washers and order a nice cup of coffee while we wait for our laundry to finish. While we were waiting we decide to go down and ask the hairdresser how much a cut would cost. Walking in Molly approaches the gentleman and first asks him if he speaks English. Receiving an affirmative she then asks for a price list and he responds that a wash, cut, and blow dry costs 64 euros. We respond with “Well maybe we will be back” and bolt out the door. Pretty sure I’ll wait two weeks for my $18 haircut in Bristol.

It takes almost an hour to wash our laundry and since it was two hours in the dryer we decide to head to dinner rather than wait longer at the Wash and Coffee. After collecting the other two at the hotel we head to the Asabo Steak House a few blocks from the hotel and I order a jalapeno burger that is HUGE!  The food is delicious though and we have a very fun time laughing and listening to stories from each other. The couple next to us probably could’ve chilled out on the PDA, it was slightly distracting from our meal, but at the same time I feel that we were probably distracting them with our laughing and gimmicks.

Finishing dinner, Molly and I head back to collect our laundry, which has finally finished drying.  We head back to the hotel through the rain. On our way we pass through this market and I am walking on the left side of Molly, passing this tree out of the corner of my eye I see something move. Assuming it is just a pigeon I completely ignore it and keep talking to Molly. However, right as I pass the tree the “pigeon” quacks at me and I jump about three feet in the air and let out a fairly big yell. Landing on my feet and catching my breath I realize that I mistook two German ducks for pigeons and it just shocked the crap out of me when I heard them. Molly in the meantime is practically dying from laughter and I’m forced to regain whatever dignity I have left and continue to the hotel, which is now less than a block away. Somehow I don’t think I’ll be able to live down the fact that I got scared outta my pants by two ducks every again. J

May 14, 2012 Tour of City and Newspaper

May 14, 2012

This morning started out with a tour of the city with Jewish historian from Munich. We started at the new synagogue that was built after WWII, which was only about a block from our hotel. They had designed this building so that half of it resembled the Wailing Wall from Israel and the top half resembled a tent from the desert. In the same square there was a Jewish school and the Jewish museum. The entire square could not be entered by vehicles so that there was less chance of someone attempting a hate crime. The guide then took us to several other places throughout the city that were important during Hitler’s reign, however unless you had a guide to show you all these places, you would have never known what had happened there. None of the places had any plaques or signs, anything, showing what had happened at these locations. One place, where everyone was supposed to salute as they passed a statue, there was an artist’s rendition of a path that people would take to avoid that statue and therefore avoid having to do the Hitler salute. Even at that spot there was nothing indicating what the path through the alley was there for.

We went all over the city seeing some of the memorials that had been erected and some other important sites, like where the Nazi party was founded and the memorial that was erected for those affected by WWII. That memorial was one of my favorites despite, or perhaps because of, its simplicity. The memorial was a large black square block with a cage at the top of it and inside the cage was a flame that burned continuously. This was supposed to symbolize those who had been imprisoned during WWII and yet they lived on and the flame of resistance never died.

We ended the tour at the site of what was the first synagogue built in Munich. Hitler destroyed that building during his reign and erected where it once stood was a simple stone monument with Jewish carvings, indicting what once had been there. They opted not to build the new synagogue there because the Jews didn’t want it to appear as if WWII had never happened. They felt that it wasn’t something that could be torn down and then simply re-erected in the same place.

Once the tour was over we decide to head to the English Gardens and explore that area, since the other girls hadn’t seen it yet and I had only gone on that very short run in it. We eat our lunch next to this gorgeous waterfall and it is very peaceful, despite there being a lot of people in the garden. After lunch we decide to walk through the large green area and once again we run into some police officers exercising their horses there before they take them into the city. This time we get to meet a lovely young gray and a beautiful chestnut, which could probably stand to lose a bit more weight. We also learn from the officers that there is a riding academy near the garden that might actually let us ride there. Definitely going to check that out later in the week.  Finishing up our walk in the garden we head back to the hotel and arrive just in time to make it to our next seminar, which we all thought wasn’t happening for another hour, but the time had gotten changed without us knowing about it.

So off we go in a rush to catch the next train out of Munich to the outskirts of the city. Here we meet with one of the editors of the largest paper in Germany. She talks about the direction that news print is going and what is happening with newspapers, in Germany and all over. She also talks about the building where her newspaper is. This building is the most environmentally conscious building in Germany and is a large part off geothermal energy for heating and cooling. The building also is entirely electronically controlled, including the elevators, which completely fascinated me.  The view from the top of the building was absolutely gorgeous! You could see for miles in every direction and we could actually find the plaza where our hotel was located as well, even though we were a good half hour out of the city.

We went for a tour of the printing plant after our lecture with the editor and it was amazing to see the machine where the papers came from! The roles of paper that a newspaper is printed on are 12 miles long and 100% recycled. It amazes me how much greener Germans are than Americans, everything here is recycled from bottles to paper to plastic. The printing press was huge and had several different printing areas that would each print a part of the paper. Typical paper printing happened from 6pm until 3am. Although they do print other articles and magazines there, so printing is actually going on all day. At the end of the tour we each got a paper for the following day, which I seriously considered re-selling, but sadly the opportunity passed me by. 

Coming back from our unexpected workshop we all were tired, worn-out, and STARVING! I decided to get some more wonton soup at the Thai place next door, which was delicious but they wouldn’t let me order a side of rice, which is what I really wanted, so I don’t think I’ll be going back there again on this trip. Since I didn’t have any carbs with my soup I went on a hunt for a pretzel, which is sold at every bakery in Germany, and eventually found one a couple blocks from the hotel. After that dinner it left me with ,50 euro left over from my food money for the week. Thank goodness we get more tomorrow; otherwise I would probably be coming home a few pounds thinner. J  

May 13, 2012 Dachau and Haffbrauhaus

May 13, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day to all!!! We started off our day with breakfast in the hotel lobby before venturing to the train station to make our journey to the concentration camp called Dachau. Dachau is one of the oldest concentration camps in Germany and was actually the only one that was operational all twelve years of Hitler’s reign.  The train ride was pretty enjoyable and we rode by parts of Munich I never would’ve seen otherwise. We also found a poster for a horse show this coming weekend, but sadly I will not be able to attend because I’ll be in Paderborn visiting one of my best friends.

Not too much later we finally arrived at Dachau. We had to take a bus to the actual prisoner camp and then it was just a short walk to the entrance of the camp. The main entrance of the camp had the words “Work Makes You Free” in German across the gate of the camp.  Entering you could see where all the barracks used to be and the old administrative building, where the bath houses were and were the prisoners initially walked through.  Walking through the camp to the back of the concentration camp I can’t quite describe how I was feeling. All the barracks had been burned down, due to the immense disease that was present throughout the old barracks, so all that you could see was 34 foundations on either side of a row of trees. We walked down the tree lined path until we reached a path that led out of the prisoner camp to where the two crematoriums were housed. The first crematorium wasn’t used after 1943 and you could only just see inside of it. The second crematorium you could actually walk through the rooms as the prisoners would have. You started in the sanitation room, walked through the de-robing room, and then were in the gas chamber. Supposedly the gas chamber at Dachau was not used for massive gassing of prisoners, but there are reports that it was used for single executions and for small groups. We then headed into the death chamber and then the crematorium where the dead bodies were burned and the last chamber where the dead prisoners from the camp were put to be burned.

I felt a little weird walking through the same building that the prisoners previously had walked through. There were mass graves for the ashes around the crematorium and you could walk right up to the wall where the prisoners were shot by pistol, execution style.  After leaving the crematorium area we walked to the three memorials that had been erected by a Pentecostal church, a catholic church, and the Jewish church. I didn’t go into the Pentecostal one because it was a legitimate church, but I did explore the catholic and the Jewish memorials and both were very well put together. The catholic memorial had a large crown of thorns adorning it, symbolizing the misery that happened at the camp. The Jewish memorial had a ramp that led into darkness with one ray of light coming through a hole in the top of the building where you could see the nine-candle statue symbolizing Judaism at the top of the opening.

I decided to walk back up the camp and see the two barracks that had been reconstructed by the camp when it was turned into a memorial. They showed how the barracks had changed over the years from when the camp had first begun to when it was overcrowded with people. The first barracks each prisoner had their own bunk with a little shelf above it for belongings, in the second room there were still individual beds, stacked three high, but no shelf and no ladder to reach the higher beds, in the last room all the beds were stacked three high and you couldn’t distinguish where one bed ended an another began.  There were 54 prisoners for each sleeping area and there was one wash area that was shared between two different sleeping areas. Each barrack also had a dining area, complete with lockers and a stool for each prisoner. Everything had to be kept in perfect order and nothing was allowed to be put out of place or a prisoner risked being shot. Within the barracks it was common to have suicides, though sometimes so called suicides were really improper treatment from the guards.

I then walked through the museum and read some personal testimonies from prisoners who had survived. The museum took over an hour to get through, but I could have easily spent longer in there reading all of the information. By far not enough time, only spent about two hours total, in Dachau. But emotionally I may not have been able to handle much more.

After taking a short bus ride, and some slight confusion as to which train we should be on, we are on our way back to Munich. I get off with Dr. Copeland and Dr. Rivello a few stops early in order to purchase my ticket to Paderborn this weekend. Despite the fact that it was a bit more than I wanted to spend I finally got it purchased and am officially ready to go to Paderborn on Thursday! Very excited to see Lena and Eric and watch them play football this weekend.

On our way we stopped and I got to try my first espresso in Germany. Can I just say that it is so much better here! Thanks Dr. Rivello for getting me that! We then head back to the hotel for the afternoon. While the rest of my group decides to sleep I opt to go for a run and find out where this infamous English Garden is.

Only getting slightly confused on where I was going once I eventually find the Garden about a mile away from the hotel. I fell in love the instant my foot hit the dirt path. First off the dirt paths to run on were a welcome relief from the hard pavement I had been running on and I could practically feel my shin splints disappearing.  The park was GORGEOUS! There were running paths everywhere and for the first time I actually ran into other runners out and about. I decided to run around the large green area towards the front of the park, since I didn’t want to get too lost on my first day. I found this amazing waterfall that was very close to a Japanese garden. Definitely decided to go back another day when my main focus would be taking pictures and not exercise. I’m actually really excited to go back running on those paths and may even go tomorrow before we have to leave for our seminar.

Arriving back at the hotel my fellow classmates were still sleeping so I kill some time on youtube, interestingly enough watching videos on the Europe horse slaughter, and prepare to go back out for dinner. We decide to go to the Haffbrauhaus, which is a famous brewery in Munich that has been around since 1516. Dinner was great, but the beer there was even better! I had my first authentic German liter beer and still have the glass to prove it. J After finishing our sausages and our beer, Molly and I engaged in a chugging contest at the end, which I won, title is still mine! Well minus that one person who beat me. One day I’ll reclaim full honors. We leave the Haffbrauhaus and take the long way back to the hotel through part of the Marienplatza again. I experience my first Burger King in Germany on the way back since it is the only place with ice cream that is still open on a Sunday afternoon. All in all I’m slightly embarrassed that of all the places I could’ve ended up in I went to Burger King, not like I can’t find those in the U.S.. After desert we head back to the hotel since it is a little late at night and we are all ready for some shut eye.

May 12 2012

May 12, 2012

Waking up early today I decide to head out for my second run in Germany and head towards some parks that I had seen yesterday. Finding one park that had some running paths along the river I wish that I had a few more days in Regensburg to explore these paths, but sadly could only go a couple miles down them before I had to turn around and head back to the hotel to prepare for the trip to Munich.

We left Regensburg about 11am and made the hour and a half drive to Munich. This time I was awake for part of the drive and actually got to see some of the German countryside. All of the farms in Germany seem so manicured and put together. There is a yellow flowering plant that is grown in a lot of the fields that I’m going to have to look up the name to before I leave, apparently this plant is one of only a few that Germans actually grow themselves. After about ten minutes of enjoying the countryside however, I once again fell asleep. When I finally woke up it was to our bus driver yelling, in German, and honking is horn at the car in front of us, who wasn’t moving. Now I know my road rage comes from the German side of me. J

Finally we arrived at our hotel in Munich, called the Hotel Blauer Bock. After checking into our rooms, which are very similar to the ones that we lived in in the Hotel Weindl we set off for a quick tour of downtown with Dr. Copeland and Dr. Rivello. First we stopped at a little Italian pizzeria just a block from our hotel. Dr. Rivello is very good friends with the owner, Luigi, and we all got to meet him. It was really cute when he shook all our hands he would shake our right hand, then put it in his left hand so that all our hands were together, I felt like we were about to do a cheer. After saying goodbye to him we went to the Marianplatza in part of the old city of Munich, which is only a few blocks from out hotel. Since it was raining we didn’t take a very long tour and instead of staying out, decided to head back to the hotel for a bit. I finally was able to get online again, though I must admit that not having contact with the outside world for three days was quite liberating. It gave me a chance to focus completely on what, and who, was around me at the time and not focusing on keeping everyone else updated with what was happening with my life. However, I am glad to be connected to the cyber world again. I was able to unpack all my stuff and contacted everyone back home to let them know that I was alive still. I’m sure my parents are glad they can breathe again knowing I didn’t get killed in the three days we were out of contact.

Finally everyone in my group was down packing and we headed out once again to explore the city, this time prepared for the rain with jackets and umbrellas at the ready. Since we were all hungry we decided to eat in the small Italian place that Dr. Rivello recommended, as he is good friends with the owner. Unfortunately my German isn’t very good and I ended up ordering a pizza with goat cheese on it. Thankfully I was splitting it with someone else and was able to stomach down half of it, though I will be eating a much bigger dinner. We then walked all down the Marianplatza and stopped in a few of the clothing stores. Given the slightly dark and dank weather that Germany is known for I expected the clothes to resemble that, however, they are all bright and colorful here. Best of all scarves are a necessity here! Everyone wears them and there are so many different styles here, most of which are sadly out of my price range.  I did, however, find a unique glass spoon to add to my collection in a souvenir shop. (Side note: I have been collecting spoons from all the places I go since I was 8 years old. The hobby started out as a school project and it just never stopped. ) 

Once again us equine girls found four police horses that were guarding the platza. Apparently they were Bavarian Warmbloods, which I have never heard of before so I’m going to have to look that one up as well and see what kind of breed it is. They were gorgeous horses and I definitely wouldn’t have minded taking one for a ride around the plaza. After walking for about 3 hours we headed back to the hotel once more and decided to grab a bite to eat on the way back. Unfortunately all the places seemed to be closing up for the afternoon so we ended up back at the hotel. We asked the receptionist if there were any good eating places around, but she said most of them were a good walk away so we decided to eat at the Thai place next door to the hotel. I order the wonton and vegetable soup which is just what I needed to warm up after spending a rainy day outside. 

Now that I have caught up on all my journals over the past few days it's time for me to head to bed!

-Tess

May 11, 2012

The late night the previous night resulted in a late start to the day today. Since we had nothing planned that we had to do today I ended up sleeping till about 12:30pm. I finally crawl out of bed when Molly comes to my room wondering if I was hungry. My stomach was growling since I hadn’t had a proper meal since lunch the day before so I get dressed quickly and we head out into the hot day. Andrea and Averi were still sleeping and didn’t look like they would be up for a few hours so we decide to wander around in the old city and end up eating at this little café that serves an amazing Panini. For desert we decide not to go with eis and instead head to a bakery close by that had some cheap sweets. I order this sweetened croissant that tastes amazing, though not as good as the eis. We continue around downtown and check out this tea place so Molly can buy some tea as a present for her mom. I order some iced white tea that I had never heard of before and while it was good, I have had better.

We decide to go check out the Castle that we had heard about called Thastle and Thurn. After getting lost a couple of times we finally find part of it. Turns out we found the backside of the castle and cannot figure out for the life of us how to get around to the front. We walk through this park that goes around the castle grounds, but still have no luck finding the front. After about a mile we decide to turn around and go back to the part of the castle that we could actually see. We wonder around for a bit longer and eventually find the information place inside the castle and find out that you have to take tour to actually see any parts of the castle. Ultimately we decide that it’s probably not worth the cost and head back to the hotel to see if the other two girls are awake yet.

On our way back we run into Averi and Andrea heading to the grocery store to get something to eat, since Molly and I have been walking around for about three hours we decide to go back to the hotel and shower and take a short nap. We agree to meet up with the other two at the sausage bridge about 6pm which gives us a couple hours to shower and nap.

On our way back down to the sausage bridge Molly and I decide to take a different route and get slightly lost, but manage to make it to the meeting place on time. We eat at the historic sausage house next to the bridge. This place has been around for hundreds of years and was supposedly a common place for workers to eat and is one of the oldest buildings in the city. We weren’t really sure how to order so we stood around like idiots for a little while, before I was finally able to stalk someone else who ordered and we figured out how to do it. It was a neat experience to order, because you actually went into the kitchen, told the cooks what you wanted and they would then give you the food and you paid them right there. No waitress, no waiting. The sausages were delicious and we enjoyed eating them on some steps that overlooked the river and the stone bridge. After finishing our sausages we headed over the stone bridge to where we had heard a carnival was taking place. Of course we stopped for some eis along the way and this time I tried strawberry, not my favorite but I’m determined to try all the flavors before I leave Germany.

Once again we get thoroughly lost, this time attempting to find a bottle of water. You would not believe how hard it is to find a bottle of non-carbonated water in Germany! While beer isn’t cheaper than water in Germany it is, however, the same price as a bottle of water, especially if you want non-carbonated. Giving up on the water we head towards the large Ferris wheel that marks where the carnival begins. Slightly expecting something that resembles the Juneau County Fair I am shocked into reality when I see a wall of people that makes our state fair in Wisconsin seem puny.

We wonder in and one of the first stands that we see is a pony ride tent. Being the horse crazy people that we are we stand at the tent for about ten minutes watching and judging the horses in the arena. Unlike the pony ride places back home the five ponies are loos in the ring and one person stands in the center with a lunge whip to tell them when to start and stop. They all follow the lead pony around and as soon as the music stops all of them turn towards the center of the ring like they are lining up for judging, all of them that is except for the very last one. He was probably my favorite because he reminded me the most of my pony that I had when I was young, but you could tell that he was still in training. He had a tendency to try and pass the pony in front of him all the time and he also did not turn towards the ringleader when the music stopped and instead just t-boned the pony in front of him and was forced into a stop.

We weren’t really brave enough to ask the ringleader if we could pet the ponies, but eventually he took pity on us when he saw us attempting to reach over the railings to pet the ponies’ butts. He let us into the ring and allowed us to take pictures with them before the next round of kids came up and got on. They were all so friendly and thoroughly enjoyed being scratched behind the ears.

Finally we had to leave the ponies and began to wonder around the rest of the carnival. Overall it was very similar to a fair or festival in America except for these huge beer tents that were set up and could probably hold about five hundred people. All of these tents were super crowded and we couldn’t find a seat anywhere.  However, I had been in Germany for three days at this point and still hadn’t had a beer. So I push my way through a crowded counter and order a local beer. Finally able to taste my first authentic German beer, I’m slightly disappointed since I have had better before, but then again it was a darker beer and I tend to prefer the lighter beers, so I definitely have to try again. I did however keep the glass that it came in and decided that it would be a nice souvenir. While we were in the beer hall we are listening to a live band and wouldn’t you know it they start playing and singing Sweet Caroline. I’m sitting there singing along to it and then it hits me that I’m in Germany, at a beer festival, thousands of miles away from home, and singing along to a song I know every word too, small world huh?

We wonder around the market that is in the carnival and find this amazing place that sells homemade dips. After sampling each one about three times I finally decide on three to buy since I think they would make good gifts to bring back for a couple people and are fairly light so they won’t weigh down my bag. By this time in the night I’m hungry again and I remember seeing a sausage that was about two feet long that someone was eating earlier, so I head off in search of the stand that produces those. Molly and I eventually find it and we each order one. By far the longest sausage I have ever had in my life! It was extremely good though, but I couldn’t finish it so I give the rest of it to Andrea. All of us are pretty tired now so we head back to the hotel. Once again though we have to stop for eis along the way and this time I try passion fruit. Also very good, but melon is still my favorite.

While we are eating our eis we stop in the Bismarck Platza and listen to a band that is playing then just people watch. The platza is very busy tonight and there are a lot of people wondering around, so it is really difficult to find a place to sit, but we eventually plop ourselves down on the ground and finish our eis while listening to the band and discussing what had been going on the past few days. Finally we leave downtown for the last time and head back to the hotel in preparation for leaving for Munich in the morning.

May 10, 2012

Up bright and early at 8am today to go to our first, and only, lecture at the University of Regensburg. The University was only a mile or so from our hotel so it didn’t take us long to get there. Once we found our building and met Professor Bierlin, whom we had had dinner with the night before. For the next three hours we sat with him in the room and asked him questions while he talked. He gave quite an interesting lecture on the economy, international relations, and the government within Germany.  After the lecture was over he introduced us to one of his master’s students who would be taking us on a tour of the university.

Not surprisingly the university was quite large, especially when compared to VI. The student body alone was 26,000 students. We explored some of the buildings and he took us through some quad like areas that were crawling with students out studying. There were people everywhere some sitting and relaxing in the grass, others are rushing to class, and some enjoying the wide selection of food choices on campus. Given our rather lack luster night the previous night we decided to ask our guide, Robert, if he could tell us the best way to meet some people and what students our age do at night. He suggested the platza and also suggested a bio party that all the biology majors would throw in their building. Partying on campus seemed like a completely foreign concept to us so we thought that may be kind fun to do later that night.

When we said goodbye to Robert we decided to head back towards downtown and go to the mall that Dr. Copeland and Rivello had told us about earlier. We wondered around the mall for a while and went into some shops. All the clothing was very similar to what you would find in the U.S. and some of the stores were even the same, such as H&M. None of the clothes stood out to me until we went into a show store and I found the most amazing pair of heels! Unfortunately these shoes also cost about 50 euros. No way was I going to pay that much for a pair of shoes so I decided to head back to the sale section, very disappointed and not expecting to find anything that would interest me. Browsing through the shoes that were piled in that shelf wouldn’t you know I open a box and there are the exact shoes I had just tried on only in a different color! Barely able to breathe I look at the size on the shoe and am completely shocked to see a size 10 on it! Taking this as a sign I buy the 50 euro shoes for only 9.95 euros. Go figure that I would go to Germany without a pair of heels and only survive two days without buying one.

Having made a successful purchase we go down to the grocery store in the mall and find some drinks to take to the party with us. This was quite a bit more challenging than we had initially thought since all the drinks are in German and we have no idea what is good or not. Finally Andrea gets up the nerve and asks some of the guys standing in the aisle what was good or not. Either they couldn’t understand us or didn’t know how to reply because all they said was “it’s good, have fun!” Not extremely helpful to those of us who don’t really want to end up poisoning our bodies.  In the process of asking several different guys what was good we finally strike some luck and get a guy who can speak English. However, he is about as helpful as the rest of them, though he does invite us to a party at his house and we kindly decline the offer, telling him we are going to the Bio party at the University.  Finally we decide on this Cream Fizz drink that is Pina Coloda flavored and add some coconut rum to the mixture for good measure.

It’s fairly late in the day by now, so after grabbing some more eis at a stand in the mall, melon flavored this time, and some bread for dinner we head back to the hotel for a short nap before preparing for tonight. Waking up about two hours before the party I decide to go on a run to explore more of the city. Being told by Dr. Copeland that there is less traffic towards the University I head up that way. After running about two miles I come across what appears to be a dirt path that leads off the main path I was running on. On a whim I decide to take it and start running down it. About a half mile later I turn around because I have to start heading back and wouldn’t you know it as soon as I turn around I see a sign that says something along the lines of this path being private property and do not trespass. I book it back to the main path, slightly scared that my first day in Germany I’ll end up being arrested for trespassing on private property. Luckily I make it safely back to the hotel and start getting ready for the party.

The Cream Fizz stuff that we bought ended up being the most discussing alcohol I have never tasted and after one glass I decide that I would much rather grab a beer at the party then drink any more of that.  After the others are all set to go we head up the road to the university. Robert had told us about a band that was playing on our way to the university and we decided to stop there first and see if it was any good. However, finding the place proved to be a little more difficult than we imagined. First of all it was supposed to be right on the street where our hotel was, but it ends up being two streets over. We have to ask about four different people where the place is and after we finally get there we are told there are about ten people in the club and that there is a cover charge. Deciding that it isn’t really worth our time, we skip out on the band and continue on our way to the university.

We arrive at one end of the university and see a huge party going on a decide to maybe check that one out, only to discover that that one is by invitation only, but the bio party is all the way across campus. At this point I am slightly regretting wearing my new heels, but am immensely to stubborn to admit it and refuse to change into the flats that I took along. Finally we run into two guys, Dennis and Alez, who are extremely helpful and escort us to the biology building where the party is being held. Finally we arrive at the party and can I just say wow. The entire building is one huge party! There are about four stands set up inside all selling alcohol and beer and there are people everywhere! We walk through the building and find the main dance floor that really reminds me of chrome.  Heading through the crowd we come outside again and they have a bratwurst and sausage stand set up and people are grilling all over. I’m pretty sure by this point my mouth is hanging open since this is not what I even imagined a college party consisting of. There had to be at least three hundred people at this one party alone.  After exploring a bit we head back inside and dance for a little while. At this point Molly and I are both tired and ready to walk back to the hotel. Since the other two still want to stay we decide to head back by ourselves. Outside we run into Alez again and he shows us how to get out of the university and points us in the right direction to our hotel.  Regensburg is an extremely safe city and I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all with walking back to our hotel with just Molly. Finally back at the hotel I crawl into bed exhausted once again, but pretty happy about how the whole day had gone.

May 9, 2012

Well I have finally arrived in Germany today!!! I can’t believe that after dreaming about traveling to Europe for years I am finally here, in the country that my great-grandfather was born in! Excited would probably not even begin to explain how happy I am to be here. However, that isn’t exactly how I felt getting off the plane after being cramped on an aisle seat for nine hours and not having gotten any sleep for about 24 hours. The words to describe me when I stepped off the plane would probably be something along the lines of tired, exhausted, grouchy, and definitely not looking my best. We finally made it through customs after being crowded in a small waiting area and practically being shut into a sliding glass door, not exactly what I felt like dealing with at the time. Luckily everyone’s baggage was easily collected and we were rushed onto the bus that was taking us from the airport in Munich to our hotel in Regensburg. I was finally able to get a little bit of sleep on the bus and missed seeing any of Germany, but at that point I didn’t care as long as I was able to close my eyes for a bit.

Finally we arrived at the hotel and I would’ve loved nothing better than to sleep, but once again we were whisked away to go on a walking tour of downtown Regensburg. The Old City of Regensburg was very pretty. It had an Italian feel to it has you were walking down the streets and there were a lot of plazas each one with a fountain or some kind of statue in the middle of it with little shops, cafes, bakeries, and ice cream places surrounding it. We decided to eat a quick lunch at a small bakery that served sandwiches. The bakery was called Müllers and the Panini sandwich I had was quite delicious for the small price of three euros. I also tried a Beze which tasted like a soft pretzel, but was shaped more like a Kaiser roll, also very delicious and at less than a euro I was fairly certain I would be eating that more than once over the next few days.

After settling the grumbling in our stomachs all of us decided the next thing to do was to get our bodies some sleep! We headed back to the hotel and after nearly 36 hours of being awake I was finally able to sleep. Five hours later my body felt that it was satisfied and I wanted to explore the city a little more, plus we had to have dinner at a burger bar, so American, with the professor who would be teaching us tomorrow. The burger bar was delicious and actually had a choice of veggie burgers so I decided to go with the Italian flavored one. Extremely tasty and when I mentioned how rare it was to find a veggie burger in burger bars in the U.S. the professor was shocked! In fact his precise words were “Surely you can get a veggie burger at McDonalds?!” I just about fell off my seat laughing.

After the very American dinner off we went to downtown to see what the night life consisted of in Regensburg. We soon discovered that Germans tend not to interact a whole lot with each other, unless you get very much in their face. In order to get any sort of directions we had to literally yell at people and wave our hands in their faces. Once you got their attention they were quite friendly and helpful, as long as you didn’t attempt miming what you wanted, which one member of our party quickly discovered. We found this amazing eis place that served frozen yogurt and it was DELICIOUS! Regensburg had these little eis shops all over the place and everyone you saw was eating a cone of eis, it was definitely the desert of choice in that town. Needless to say I’m pretty sure I ate my weight in eis during the three days that we were there.

Night life in Regensburg pretty much consisted of sitting around a café or platza eating and drinking with your group of friends. The Bismark Platza was a very popular place and had a lot of people sitting around enjoying their drinks and laughing with their friends. After wondering around for a few hours we all decided that we were just too tired to keep going and went back to the hotel to catch up on some more z’s. I officially know what jet lag feels like now and never again will I consider a one hour difference to be jet lag. J