It's been a while since I've posted on here. The biggest reasons being that the internet connection here isn't all that great so I'm not able to put many pictures up even though I'd like to. In my three weeks in Germany, I've taken nearly 2,300 pictures (although many of the shots aren't that great). I'm starting to sort out the best ones so when I get a chance I'll stick them in a post.
Over the past two weeks, the days have come and gone quickly. When you're going to class in the morning, attending a site visit or meeting in the afternoon, exploring the city when you have free time, and trying to finish homework in the evenings, the days fly by. We've had a chance to visit different sites like the Pergamon Museum, Sanssouci in Potsdam, the Reichstag, the Holocaust Memorial, and Sachsenhausen concentration camp. We've also gotten to meet with various politicians and community leaders. It's been a lot of fun hearing different stories and perspectives.
Today, our tour of the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen was one of the more emotionally draining experiences of the trip. Walking through the prison within the concentration camp was probably the most gut-wrenching tour I've had in a long while. As you walk along the paths that so many people walked on 60 years ago, a wide range of emotions flood your mind. Throughout the tour, a combination of anger, sadness, disgust, and guilt pulsed through my head as we walked around the site. Sometimes when I study history, I make the mistake of glossing events over as facts or numbers. This visit, however, definitely put things in perspective.
Tomorrow, we head to Prague for a short weekend trip. It will be a nice way to spend our last weekend as a class together. I'll be sure to take lots of picture. I hope I have enough space on my memory card.
More after Prague,
Sam
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Goodbye, Munich; Hello, Berlin
Well, it's been a while since I've written a post as there has been so much to do in Berlin. I did promise to write a longer post over the past weekend, but I guess I'll just have to write it tonight. I'll just touch on the highlights as much has happened.
First, a wrap up of Munich. That was hands-down the most amazing place I've ever been. I thoroughly enjoyed the city (except the prices) and the region (Bavaria). The food was excellent, the sites were incredible, and the experience was spectacular. On Friday, we visited two castles--King Ludwig II's Linderhof and Neuschwanstein. I took a ton of pictures (as in over 270 on Friday alone).
Our first stop was Schloss Linderhof, a recreation by the Bavarian king, Ludwig II, of the royal French palaces of King Louis XIV of France and his son and successor, King Louis XV. The morning weather was a bit wet, but conditions cleared up throughout the day. We also took a tour of the castle and walked around the grounds.
After Linderhof, we headed to its more famous neighbor, Neuschwanstein, a fairy tale castle that I'd been wanting to see for a number of years. We trekked up the mountain path and also took a castle tour.
Our tour guide on the bus told me that the "real fairy tale castle" (as he called it) is two hours north of Berlin called Schloss Schwerin. We're hoping to check it out while we're in Berlin.
After spending an entire day around Bavaria and the castles, we walked around Munich again at night. Even around 9 pm, the streets were still jam packed with people. But the evening atmosphere provided a great place to take pictures.
On Saturday morning, we flew to Berlin to meet up with the rest of our classmates. My first impressions were mostly comparisons between Munich and Berlin, so I was slightly biased. But even after seeing sites such as the Brandenburg Gate (pictured below), my conclusion was that I liked Munich and Bavaria more.
In Berlin though, the highlights started right away. That night, while taking pictures in front of the Reichstag, we saw an extremely tall Chinese man walking with a tall Chinese lady. Behind me, the energetic screams of my classmate, Paul, confirmed the man's identity. "Yao Ming! Yao Ming! Yao Ming! Yao Ming! OMG, it's Yao Ming!"
He was in Europe with wife for their honeymoon. They ended up taking pictures in front of the Reichstag (pictured below) so we took pictures and videos of them. That was definitely one of the more exciting experiences I've had since arriving in Germany.
On Monday, we started class at Humboldt University. While we live in Wedding which is in West Berlin, our classroom is within the city so we've had to learn to navigate the public transportation system. It's been a quick week and homework is at a minimum for now, but I'm enjoying my experience here.
During our free time, we have much freedom to travel around the city and see sites like a memorial to the victims of war and suffering (pictured below).
On Tuesday, we took a brief tour of major spots around the city.
This morning, we had an opportunity to visit the Polish Embassy and hear from an official regarding Europe today and Poland's stance on current issues. Tomorrow, we head to the Pergamon Museum which I have been looking forward to very much. As my internet connection is rather slow, my posts may be briefer and less frequent but I will try my best to at least show my pictures. If you'd like to see more of my pictures from my time in Munich and Berlin, feel free to click on the links below:
A Day in Munich-Part One
A Day in Munich-Part Two
A Day in Munich-Part Three
Late Morning at Linderhof
An Afternoon at Neuschwanstein
Goodbye, Munich; Hello, Berlin
I'll have more pictures from Berlin once I upload them, but for now, most of the pictures are from Bavaria. Enjoy!
Until next time,
Sam
First, a wrap up of Munich. That was hands-down the most amazing place I've ever been. I thoroughly enjoyed the city (except the prices) and the region (Bavaria). The food was excellent, the sites were incredible, and the experience was spectacular. On Friday, we visited two castles--King Ludwig II's Linderhof and Neuschwanstein. I took a ton of pictures (as in over 270 on Friday alone).
Our first stop was Schloss Linderhof, a recreation by the Bavarian king, Ludwig II, of the royal French palaces of King Louis XIV of France and his son and successor, King Louis XV. The morning weather was a bit wet, but conditions cleared up throughout the day. We also took a tour of the castle and walked around the grounds.
After Linderhof, we headed to its more famous neighbor, Neuschwanstein, a fairy tale castle that I'd been wanting to see for a number of years. We trekked up the mountain path and also took a castle tour.Our tour guide on the bus told me that the "real fairy tale castle" (as he called it) is two hours north of Berlin called Schloss Schwerin. We're hoping to check it out while we're in Berlin.
After spending an entire day around Bavaria and the castles, we walked around Munich again at night. Even around 9 pm, the streets were still jam packed with people. But the evening atmosphere provided a great place to take pictures.
On Saturday morning, we flew to Berlin to meet up with the rest of our classmates. My first impressions were mostly comparisons between Munich and Berlin, so I was slightly biased. But even after seeing sites such as the Brandenburg Gate (pictured below), my conclusion was that I liked Munich and Bavaria more.
In Berlin though, the highlights started right away. That night, while taking pictures in front of the Reichstag, we saw an extremely tall Chinese man walking with a tall Chinese lady. Behind me, the energetic screams of my classmate, Paul, confirmed the man's identity. "Yao Ming! Yao Ming! Yao Ming! Yao Ming! OMG, it's Yao Ming!"
He was in Europe with wife for their honeymoon. They ended up taking pictures in front of the Reichstag (pictured below) so we took pictures and videos of them. That was definitely one of the more exciting experiences I've had since arriving in Germany.
On Monday, we started class at Humboldt University. While we live in Wedding which is in West Berlin, our classroom is within the city so we've had to learn to navigate the public transportation system. It's been a quick week and homework is at a minimum for now, but I'm enjoying my experience here.
During our free time, we have much freedom to travel around the city and see sites like a memorial to the victims of war and suffering (pictured below).
On Tuesday, we took a brief tour of major spots around the city.This morning, we had an opportunity to visit the Polish Embassy and hear from an official regarding Europe today and Poland's stance on current issues. Tomorrow, we head to the Pergamon Museum which I have been looking forward to very much. As my internet connection is rather slow, my posts may be briefer and less frequent but I will try my best to at least show my pictures. If you'd like to see more of my pictures from my time in Munich and Berlin, feel free to click on the links below:
A Day in Munich-Part One
A Day in Munich-Part Two
A Day in Munich-Part Three
Late Morning at Linderhof
An Afternoon at Neuschwanstein
Goodbye, Munich; Hello, Berlin
I'll have more pictures from Berlin once I upload them, but for now, most of the pictures are from Bavaria. Enjoy!
Until next time,
Sam
Thursday, August 16, 2007
7 Hours of Walking Around Munich
Boy, what a day! Today was very busy and full of exciting adventures, but I'll just touch on the basics in this post. My friend, Joan, and I started our day after breakfast at our little hotel. We decided that we'd roam around Munich today since it would be our only full day in the city. So we headed for Marienplatz, the famous center of the city.
On our way, we passed Karlsplatz and saw the first of several McDonald's restaurants around the city. The fountain below is from that area.
We passed some very grand buildings on our way, including the Justiz-Palast. Here's a view of the Justiz-Palast from the other side of the fountain.
The road to Marienplatz leads through a long path with plenty of small stores and cool looking buildings. We took plenty of pictures, but here are some favorites:
This fountain was in front of the church of St. Michael. The area where I'm seated was pretty empty in the morning, but by noon it was packed.
Since it's midnight in Munich right now and I'm supposed to wake up early for a tour tomorrow, I'll summarize the highlights of today and blog about them this weekend when I get to Berlin.
Basically, we made it to Marienplatz, took plenty of pictures around the incredible churches around, and climbed up to the top of St. Peter's church. We also visited the Hofbrauhaus where we had Bratwurst and Sauerkraut. I have to say that was the best Bratwurst and Sauerkraut I've ever had. There were some other places we visited, but until I get the right spelling of the names, I'll wait until this weekend to mention them. Time for bed!
On our way, we passed Karlsplatz and saw the first of several McDonald's restaurants around the city. The fountain below is from that area.
We passed some very grand buildings on our way, including the Justiz-Palast. Here's a view of the Justiz-Palast from the other side of the fountain.
The road to Marienplatz leads through a long path with plenty of small stores and cool looking buildings. We took plenty of pictures, but here are some favorites:
This fountain was in front of the church of St. Michael. The area where I'm seated was pretty empty in the morning, but by noon it was packed.
Since it's midnight in Munich right now and I'm supposed to wake up early for a tour tomorrow, I'll summarize the highlights of today and blog about them this weekend when I get to Berlin.
Basically, we made it to Marienplatz, took plenty of pictures around the incredible churches around, and climbed up to the top of St. Peter's church. We also visited the Hofbrauhaus where we had Bratwurst and Sauerkraut. I have to say that was the best Bratwurst and Sauerkraut I've ever had. There were some other places we visited, but until I get the right spelling of the names, I'll wait until this weekend to mention them. Time for bed!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Made it to Munich
After 18 hours of travel, I finally made it to Munich early Tuesday. I have some other bits of news and of course pictures. But I am entirely exhausted after a long day so those will have to wait. Cheers!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Less than 12 hours before departure...
My flight leaves for Munich at 6:00 am from Spokane, and I just finished packing. Whew! I hope I have enough clothing for the month. =)
In case I am unable (or if I forget) to blog in the next few days, here's a look ahead at this week:
Tuesday, 8/14/07
Leave for Munich from Spokane via Denver and Washington Dulles at 6:00 am.
Wednesday, 8/15/07
Arrive in Munich at 8:00 am.
Wednesday and Thursday, 8/15/07-8/16/07
Run around Munich.
Friday, 8/17/07
Visit to Neuschwanstein! (pictured above)
Saturday, 8/18/07
Leave for Berlin from Munich at 9:30 am.
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