I doubt there is anything like being in Berlin during the World Cup Finals, or "Welt Meisterschaft" as the Germans call it. We opted to stay at the house during the Germany game against Portugal on Saturday, and it was probably a good thing- seeing as how the streets were probably completely immobile and beers cost 3 euros per small glass. Not to mention that the whole city is covered in red, black, and gold... no matter if Germany is playing or not.
Back to the finals... we went to Alexanderplatz to watch the game on a large screen with about 2,000 other people, and quite a match it was. Although I insisted earlier that I don't usually take sides at these games and watch them for their beauty, my usual position was altered once I decided that Italy would win. After all, the Italian fans were outranked 5:1 where we were. So, I whistled and yelled and cheered for Italy, and was correct in my prediction of the World Cup champion. Also correct were my predictions that France would score first and that nobody would score in the 30 minutes of penalty time. Of course, I made incorrect predicitions too, of which I will leave out for the sake of my pride.
Prior to our trip downtown, we were given a historical tour of Potsdam, a city just outside of Berlin where the great leaders of WWII and the anti-Hitler coallition met. I must say, History feels a lot more tangible, and in turn interesting, when you're standing in the meeting room of Roosevelt (and eventually Truman), Churchill, Stahlen, and other big names.
We also visited the summer house of Albert Einstein and the building in which he formed the Theory of Relativity. Although the tour of the house was in German, we had supplementary books and Claudia's translations to keep us occupied and interested. Better than the 4 Euro nap- I mean boat tour- that we took the previous day, consisting of monotone German narration and expensive ice cream (which of course I bought anyway).
And so, we had a day with the greats of both today and yeterday. Not bad if you ask me.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
At This Rate, You'de Better Pray That I'm Ever Coming Home!
I know that I am far from keeping my friends and family informed of my travels thus far, so I will do my best at attempting to catch everyone up, while I sit in a beautiful suburban home of Berlin. I will start at the most recent part of our trip, 12:48 am on Saturday, July 8th. My mother's birthday.
7/6- present. Berlin, Germany.
I dodge misquitos to avoid tacking another point for them on the board, seeing as how I'm already losing 10-0. Berlin is amazing. I think the best parts so far have been the beer, the Fußball (soccer), the wursts, and the Gelatto Cafe at Potzdamer Platz. In that order. Oh yes. And the confidence boost I have received from the family that we are staying with regarding my primitive German speaking abilities. Unfortunately I feel like giving up each time a store clerk does not understand me. However, neither Patrick nor Daniel speak, nor are willing to learn or speak, and German, so "making a fool of one's self in foreign german-speaking countries" is on my list of chores for the trip.
We went to the "Fan Mile" for the World Cup, where mega-sized Toshiba screens hang and supposidly a million Germans gather for their home teams games. So it will be in about 20 hours when Germany plays England for 3rd and 4th place. We stumbled upon it today while wandering Berlin, looking for the Brandenburg Gate and found that it was blocked off. So we entered from the actual entrance and learned that Wycleff Jean, Sean Paul, and others would be performing there at 6pm for free. It was 2pm at this point, and we were more than willing to wait in the 95 degree plus weather, humidity included. So, we wandered some more, ate, and bought t-shirts as witness to our existence in this football-inspired mayhem.
And then it rained. The thunderstorm we caught wind of earlier (no pun intended) reared its dark and warm wet head as we stood 2 rows back from the front of the stage. Soon enough our clothes were litterally dripping in harmony with the rest of the crowd... and the stage. The concert was cancelled after an hour once we were all well and wet, despite the German's statements that Germans don't care about the rain and thunder, and that the show would indeed go on. And so, we ran to the U-bahn as dry people gasped at us from undercover. The only thing that we worried about were our passports and Eurail passes in the money belt... under patricks soaking shorts... of which I still do not know the status. I'm curious, but busy. On with the story.
7/5. Zürich, Switzerland.
You may be wondering why only one day appears on the aforementioned date in our travels to Switzerland. This is where the joys of a Eurail pass come in. After we had just about enough of Hamburg (which I will mention next), we decided to find a train which would take long enough for a good sleep and a good day trip. After all, we had to be in Berlin the next day to meet Claudia (our host there).
We decided upon Zürich after very little debate, which you may know got me quite excited. After almost 15 years I would get to see the town that I vaguely remember, yet have fond memories of from the 5 years my family spent there. We arrived, dropped our bags off in lockers, and immediately hit the local train for Stäfa. Of course, I had no idea how to get from the train station in Stäfa to Geimoss Straße (the street we live on), so I used my broken mixture of swiss german and hochdeutch (regular german) to find our way, and I knew that I was in the right place from the moment I saw kindergarteners walking home for lunch with their fluorescent orange crossing vests on (just as I had in years past).
The street and surrounding areas was just as I remembered, but smaller (naturally). I saw the same garden, the same appartment, the same playground, with only slight adjustments down the street. They added a high school.
I then found my way to my Kindergarten from the appartment by memory, even to my old classroom. Wow was that a trip. It was as if nothing had changed besides the teachers (mine wasnt there any longer). Little backpacks still hung from the same racks with shoes below, and my imagined images of the classroom behind the door was confirmed by another teacher nearby.
It was, however, just a day trip and a place that we would revisit for longer periods in a month, so we parted the most beautiful view any of us had ever seen and continued on our way back to Zürich for an unexpected, but well needed, swim in the Zürichsee... in my underwear. It was wonderful.
7/1-7/4. Hamburg, Germany.
This lag of the trip was split into two locations of Hamburg. The first, 'Instant Sleep' hostel in the center of town, which came with high recommendations by the Lets Go Europe travel book, a relatively rude staff, and mildly cheap internet... when you dont pay for half of it. The first day went something like this: Check in, shower, go to the market, make the best damn Minestrone Soup know to man (surprisingly), go to the beach bar across the street and attempt to watch the Germany game throught the glare on the TV, go back to the hostel, take a 14 hour nap. Yes, you heard right. A sleep intended only for a brief period consisting of all of us in all of our clothes above our sheets which turned into a hearty sleep and groggy awakening.
The next morning was a Sunday, and I had hoped to find an anglican church to go to in Hamburg. With no success at finding one anywhere nearby, I settled for one only two S-bahn stops away, which turned out to be the most well- know historical church in Hamburg: Michaeliskirche. While the service was completely in german, I enjoyed it as it was quite similar to the episcopal services I'm used to. In fact, I have no idea what denomination this church is. All I know is that the pastor/priest wore one of those giant white collars around his neck. But seriously the most surprising thing about the the church, this collar was one of those that you have only seen in baroquean paintings. The ones that look like a big, circular white fan. I have no idea what it's called, but it was crazy!
On saturday we traveled to a campground that we found in a travel book called Campingplaty Blankenese. It took about an hour and a half to get to with train, bus and foot, but it was well worth it... at least at first.
We stumbled upon this absolutely gorgeous beach along the Elbe River, and then proceeded to trip into our swimsuits and the water. Sunscreen was mistakenly not on my list of things to do, evidenced by a nice pink chest later that night. We talked about how nice it would be to sleep on the beach, wake up with the sun, and spend yet another full day laxidazically lounging, tanning, and swimming. Sounds good right? What we didn't talk about, however, nor did we predict, was that flocks of bugs that also seemed to enjoy the beach at night.
coming soon:
-Stockholm
-Copenhagen
-Amsterdam
-London
-Paris
-London (again)
7/6- present. Berlin, Germany.
I dodge misquitos to avoid tacking another point for them on the board, seeing as how I'm already losing 10-0. Berlin is amazing. I think the best parts so far have been the beer, the Fußball (soccer), the wursts, and the Gelatto Cafe at Potzdamer Platz. In that order. Oh yes. And the confidence boost I have received from the family that we are staying with regarding my primitive German speaking abilities. Unfortunately I feel like giving up each time a store clerk does not understand me. However, neither Patrick nor Daniel speak, nor are willing to learn or speak, and German, so "making a fool of one's self in foreign german-speaking countries" is on my list of chores for the trip.
We went to the "Fan Mile" for the World Cup, where mega-sized Toshiba screens hang and supposidly a million Germans gather for their home teams games. So it will be in about 20 hours when Germany plays England for 3rd and 4th place. We stumbled upon it today while wandering Berlin, looking for the Brandenburg Gate and found that it was blocked off. So we entered from the actual entrance and learned that Wycleff Jean, Sean Paul, and others would be performing there at 6pm for free. It was 2pm at this point, and we were more than willing to wait in the 95 degree plus weather, humidity included. So, we wandered some more, ate, and bought t-shirts as witness to our existence in this football-inspired mayhem.
And then it rained. The thunderstorm we caught wind of earlier (no pun intended) reared its dark and warm wet head as we stood 2 rows back from the front of the stage. Soon enough our clothes were litterally dripping in harmony with the rest of the crowd... and the stage. The concert was cancelled after an hour once we were all well and wet, despite the German's statements that Germans don't care about the rain and thunder, and that the show would indeed go on. And so, we ran to the U-bahn as dry people gasped at us from undercover. The only thing that we worried about were our passports and Eurail passes in the money belt... under patricks soaking shorts... of which I still do not know the status. I'm curious, but busy. On with the story.
7/5. Zürich, Switzerland.
You may be wondering why only one day appears on the aforementioned date in our travels to Switzerland. This is where the joys of a Eurail pass come in. After we had just about enough of Hamburg (which I will mention next), we decided to find a train which would take long enough for a good sleep and a good day trip. After all, we had to be in Berlin the next day to meet Claudia (our host there).
We decided upon Zürich after very little debate, which you may know got me quite excited. After almost 15 years I would get to see the town that I vaguely remember, yet have fond memories of from the 5 years my family spent there. We arrived, dropped our bags off in lockers, and immediately hit the local train for Stäfa. Of course, I had no idea how to get from the train station in Stäfa to Geimoss Straße (the street we live on), so I used my broken mixture of swiss german and hochdeutch (regular german) to find our way, and I knew that I was in the right place from the moment I saw kindergarteners walking home for lunch with their fluorescent orange crossing vests on (just as I had in years past).
The street and surrounding areas was just as I remembered, but smaller (naturally). I saw the same garden, the same appartment, the same playground, with only slight adjustments down the street. They added a high school.
I then found my way to my Kindergarten from the appartment by memory, even to my old classroom. Wow was that a trip. It was as if nothing had changed besides the teachers (mine wasnt there any longer). Little backpacks still hung from the same racks with shoes below, and my imagined images of the classroom behind the door was confirmed by another teacher nearby.
It was, however, just a day trip and a place that we would revisit for longer periods in a month, so we parted the most beautiful view any of us had ever seen and continued on our way back to Zürich for an unexpected, but well needed, swim in the Zürichsee... in my underwear. It was wonderful.
7/1-7/4. Hamburg, Germany.
This lag of the trip was split into two locations of Hamburg. The first, 'Instant Sleep' hostel in the center of town, which came with high recommendations by the Lets Go Europe travel book, a relatively rude staff, and mildly cheap internet... when you dont pay for half of it. The first day went something like this: Check in, shower, go to the market, make the best damn Minestrone Soup know to man (surprisingly), go to the beach bar across the street and attempt to watch the Germany game throught the glare on the TV, go back to the hostel, take a 14 hour nap. Yes, you heard right. A sleep intended only for a brief period consisting of all of us in all of our clothes above our sheets which turned into a hearty sleep and groggy awakening.
The next morning was a Sunday, and I had hoped to find an anglican church to go to in Hamburg. With no success at finding one anywhere nearby, I settled for one only two S-bahn stops away, which turned out to be the most well- know historical church in Hamburg: Michaeliskirche. While the service was completely in german, I enjoyed it as it was quite similar to the episcopal services I'm used to. In fact, I have no idea what denomination this church is. All I know is that the pastor/priest wore one of those giant white collars around his neck. But seriously the most surprising thing about the the church, this collar was one of those that you have only seen in baroquean paintings. The ones that look like a big, circular white fan. I have no idea what it's called, but it was crazy!
On saturday we traveled to a campground that we found in a travel book called Campingplaty Blankenese. It took about an hour and a half to get to with train, bus and foot, but it was well worth it... at least at first.
We stumbled upon this absolutely gorgeous beach along the Elbe River, and then proceeded to trip into our swimsuits and the water. Sunscreen was mistakenly not on my list of things to do, evidenced by a nice pink chest later that night. We talked about how nice it would be to sleep on the beach, wake up with the sun, and spend yet another full day laxidazically lounging, tanning, and swimming. Sounds good right? What we didn't talk about, however, nor did we predict, was that flocks of bugs that also seemed to enjoy the beach at night.
coming soon:
-Stockholm
-Copenhagen
-Amsterdam
-London
-Paris
-London (again)
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