Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Switzerland

On the weekend of July the 14th, I spent time with a family in Zurich, who know my great uncle. They were so kind to me, and allowed me to sleep in their guest bedroom, while I explored the city. I left Mannheim early Saturday morning, and arrived in Zurich and was greeted warmly by the Martens. Uwe, (pronounced "Oovay") took me around the city, showing me a couple of churches, one that had stained glass windows designed by a famous Jewish artist, depicting the story of the Bible. He also took me to a place called "Lindonhof" translated roughly "lime tree yard." Apparently the lime tree symbolizes young love and the center of a township, namely where legislation was made and punishments were carried out.

After seeing a few of the sights Zurich had to offer, Uwe and I went back to their house, where his wife Uschi (pronounced "Ooshee") had coffee and cake ready. "Kaffee und Kuchen" is a very popular meal in the afternoon, usually around 4, so the Martens had set this up, and we had "Eiskaffee" which is coffee with ice cream in it, and pastries. Their youngest son, Fabian, was also there. Shortly after coffee and cake, the older of their two sons, Florian, arrived for the weekend. We had dinner a couple of hours later, which consisted of barbecued meat and potato salad. The meat was mostly German sausage and veal, without our traditional Texas barbecue sauce, however, it was a very good meal. After dinner, we sat around and talked for a while, then I went with the two sons to walk the family's two dogs, Fiona and Duke. I have never really been a dog person, but these dogs were very sweet and quiet, too. Anyway, that ended my day.

The next morning I woke up a bit late, around 10:00, and found that breakfast was ready. I ate a typical German breakfast with the family, consisting of bread with cheese and coldcuts and jams, then we decided what we would do for the day. Florian said he would take me around Zurich again, showing me what I hadn't seen the day before, and along the way, we would basically take Fabian to his flat which was in the city (The Martens lived in a very small town just outside of Zurich) so that he could study. Florian took me to see a few things around the city, including a church where I went up into one of the towers overlooking the city. Florian told me that a couple of men were martyred, and after they were beheaded, they took their heads and walked back up to the church where they finally died. It was a very interesting story. The climb into the tower was quite a workout, as well. Then we met everyone else, excluding Uschi, who hadn't been feeling well, for dinner. That was where I had a Swiss meal which consisted of fried potato shreds very similar to, yet better tasting than, Ihop hashbrowns, called Röschti. Along with it came veal, I think and Rattatouilles (did I spell that right?). Anyway, the meal was very good, and filling. After dinner, we headed back to their beautiful home, and I lounged in their upper garden with Uschi, watching the sunset, and the stars pop out. It was amazingly serene and peaceful. I started getting tired, and decided to go to bed, and so ended the second day.

When I woke up the next day, I had breakfast with Uwe (Uschi was at a hair appointment, and their two sons had gone back to where they lived, as it was Monday and they had to go back to work and school), then he took me to the train station, where I caught a train to Lucerne. Once there, I got onto a boat which took me to the Rigi Mountain (I don't think it is actually a mountain, however, it is one of the bigger hills I have seen). I took the next train to the top of the mountain, and was rewarded with a spectacular view on the Swiss Alps, and the clear, blue water Switzerland is known for. It was absolutely breathtaking. The only the thing I would have changed was the cows. There was a herd of bovine at the top of the mountain, and I had to step carefully so as not to step in fermented cow poo. I take that back. That would not be the only thing I would have changed; I wish Anthony, or really anybody could have been there with me. Towards the end of my trip, I was very tired of traveling alone. I suppose the travel plans could have been talked about much more, since when we got there, everyone had different plans. Anyway, it was still a lot of fun, and I would trade those experiences for anything!

After I took a walk around the mountain peak, I went back down the mountain, only to find out I had a sunburn! I took another boat back to Lucerne, and visited the one thing I knew was in Lucerne: die Kapellbrücke (the chapel bridge) and the water tower attached to it. I saw a few other pretty buildings but I didn't want to stray far from the train station, so I wasn't really able to go sightseeing much in Lucerne. After a bit, I went back to the station, and traveled back to Mannheim.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Heads up

Ok, I have been on two more trips since Weinheim, but as I am leaving tomorrow for Frankfurt to fly out on Saturday, I will not be able to update my blog like I intended. I will however catch up after I get home. For those of you who don't like suspense, I went to Switzerland (Zurich and Luzern) and Bremen, Germany. More about those later. See you in a couple of days. (Hopefully!)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Weinheim

My class at the Goethe institute decided to take a day trip to a little city near Mannheim called Wienheim yesterday. It was so cute! Very German, like Cochem. We got there at about10 in the morning, and then had a tour guide take us around the town giving us background information on the history of Weinheim. It is very old, and has walls around the old city, with watch towers, and a castle on the hill, and lots of German stuff. I think I will format this entry a little differently from the others.
I am assuming for some reason the building that was originally in the vacant lot next to this building was torn down, as you can see the outline of where it used to be.


I was told that this cafe marks the location of public punishments in the history of Weinheim. Too bad they don't have something a little more memorable for it, huh?


I really like this picture. It has a lot of information, but it isn't too busy. In the background, you can see one of the towers that used to be connected to the fortress walls surrounding the old city.



This is supposed to be the oldest cedar in Germany. The trunk is HUGE!! I felt so small next to it.



This building was so thin, I doubt much could have fit on the inside wall there. I think it is barely wider than the average human height.


Monday, July 9, 2007

Liege, Belgium

Well, I didn't do much traveling this weekend, but I took a day trip to Liege in Belgium. I had read somewhere that German is one of Belgium's official languages, but it seemed that the spoken language was French, and the only French phrase I know is "I am dead" (I don't know how to spell the French words). I only know that because Sarah C. taught it to me. Anyway, I was unable to communicate properly, so it was really good that I decided to stay for only Saturday. I think I should still start at the beginning, though.

So I woke up around 7:30, in order to get to the 8:30 train. I had seen a Cuckoo Clock in Cologne which I wanted to buy, since it was priced very reasonable, considering the prices I saw in Heidelberg and Salzburg. So I took a detour to Cologne, and found the shop I had seen the clock in, and bought it. It is a really nice looking clock, and they sent it to the states for me, too. On my way back to the station, I saw one of those Silver people, and decided to put some spare change in the cup placed in front, and as soon as I did, the person started squeaking at me! It was hilarious. I am glad I did that. So after that, I caught a train to Aachen, a city on the border of Belgium and Germany, and then to Liege. I got off the train, but since the train station was under construction, it took me probably 30 minutes figuring out how to leave it. I finally had to follow a man who I was fairly sure was leaving, too. As soon as I rounded the corner, I realized that I wasn't in a very good part of town. I didn't feel that I could take my camera out in that area, so unfortunately, I don't have very many pictures of Belgium. Most of them I just thought were pretty buildings. Anyway, I started getting really hungry, but the first restaurants I saw were pretty highly priced, so I waited, but after walking around for an hour, I still hadn't seen anything else, so I just went back to the train station area and got a pasta plate.

That was a very interesting experience. I walked by the restaurant and saw they had a menu in the doorway, so I took a look, and decided what I wanted, but I don't speak French. I had forgotten what I wanted, so I asked the waiter for a menu, but he only spoke French. I asked if anyone spoke German or English, and he motioned a bit annoyedly, and got one of his colleagues. He realized I needed a menu, so he got one for me, and after that it was mostly pointing at the menu showing the first guy what I wanted. It was a very rich pasta, and it kept me from having to eat for the rest of the day. of course, I ate a 3 in the afternoon, which was a very late lunch.

Other than lunch, all I did really was walk around, taking pictures. I saw something really strange walking back to the train station, though. There was a naked lady in a storefront window. At first I thought she might have been a nude model, posing for an artist, but later down the same street, I saw another lady in a shop window in very skimpy and risqué lingerie. I came to the conclusion that prostitution must be legal there in Belgium, and that the ladies were selling their wares, so to speak. I told you I wasn't in a good part of town.

I got back on the train to Aachen, and then on the train back to Cologne, I started talking to to guys who spoke fluent German (they were from Africa, which is why I didn't refer to them as Germans) and understood about 90% of the conversation! I have been making tons of improvements.

That was my weekend. It wasn't as packed this time, but I think I needed that, after traveling so much lately. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

Monday, July 2, 2007

Munich and Salzburg

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was fantastic. Friday morning (I had permission from my Goethe teacher to skip class that day) I went to Munich along with the rest of the students in my program from St. Eds. We got there around eleven, and after exploring for about an hour, we went on a city bus tour, which our teacher, Kerstin Somerholter, paid for! It was so nice not to have to spend money on that. It was really nice, because we could get on and off at various stops, and get back on later. We got of at the Marionplatz (I am not sure of that is the correct spelling) which is where the famous Glockenspiel is, that every hour, figures come out and dance and cuckoo, and all that. Also very close by was the Hofbräuhaus, a famous brewery and Biergarten. We ate our lunch there, and had a regional beer. I got a Spätzle plate, which one of my friends, Tanya had made for me and Anthony once, but I quickly found out that Tanya's was better. This plate tasted more like macaroni and cheese. It was good, but not as good as Tanya's.

After that, we got back on the bus and headed back to the train station, where we started out, so that six of us could get on a train to Salzburg. I was very much looking forward to going there, since that was one of the cities Anthony and I visited on our honeymoon. I also wanted to go on the Sound of Music Tour, and was very much looking forward to it, but I found out that it would have cost me 35 euros for the tour, and no one else wanted to spend that money on it, so I decided to wait until I could go see it with Anthony. This fountain is in that movie, by the way.

We did go see Mozart's Birthhouse, and walked down the street with stores that have to abide by certain regulations about the signs on the store fronts. They have to have these iron brackets, and look antiquie. Does that make sense? Anyway, I found a number of stores carrying Dirndl dresses, which are the traditional dresses of Austrian and Bavarian women. I really wanted to buy one, but decided against it at the moment, since I really don't have anywhere to where it, and it cost around 300 euros for a simple one. I saw some very extravagant ones, that people where to their weddings, and such.

We also
went into some very beautiful churches, and a cathedral. That cathedral was the second prettiest I have seen so far, the first being the one I saw in Trier. After that, we headed up to the fortress overlooking Salzburg. Six of us went up there together, but we got split up somewhere in there, so I along with three others decided to leave after a bit, and go get something to eat. After that, we walked along the street, window shopping, and then went back to the hotel, which is actually an interesting story in and of itself.

When we got there Friday evening, the lady running the bed and breakfast we had made reservations at told us our rooms weren't ready, and it was fairly obvious that the house was under construction. She had already called a lady friend of hers who also runs a bed and breakfast, and she had rooms that we could stay in for the same price. So for the first time this trip I rode in not one, but two German cars, both Mercedes to be precise, along with the four other girls who were renting rooms for the weekend there. The lady at the first place took us to a middle point where the lady of the second place was waiting to take us back to her establishment. The halls there smelled like stinky cats. It was really bad, and there was cat hair in some of the food in the breakfast room. However, I decided to not eat that food, and still was able to make myself quite satisfied with what was available.

In any case, we were split up, and the two girls that weren't with us still had the keys to my room, which was of course locked. So I spent most of my evening with the other two, who fell asleep on their beds, leaving me very bored, and nowhere to sleep. I finally got really tired of that, and since I didn't know
where the proprietor was, except that she lived in the house, I went to the front door, and rang the doorbell, since that was the only way I knew to get a hold of her. She seemed a little put out when I asked her to open my door; I think she was ready for bed. In any case, shortly after that, I went to bed, and shortly after that, the other two finally came back.

The next morning, Kasi and I decided we wanted to go to the Salt mines, which
were an hour away by train. The rest of our group went back to Mannheim, via Munich. Let me tell you, the salt mines were so much fun! At the beginning, everyone changed into a suit that was supposedly what saltminers wear, however, I don't think they were very authentic. After that, we got on this tram which took us to the first point of interest. A slide. Apparently they used the slide for transporting both people and supplies further into the mine. We were able to slide down and it was exhilarating! It makes me want to go to an amusement park again! Well, we slid down, and a picture was taken of us on the way down, and I sortof cheated, since I didn't want to pay the huge price to get the picture, so I took a picture of the picture. Anyway, the next parts of the mine were explaining the process of mining salt. I don't remember all of it, but basically what they did was fill parts of the mine with water, let the salt dissolve, then pump put the brine. That process took a few years, and then they were able to test the area for the content, and finally start mining out the salt they found there. After that, we were taken into one of those areas, which still had much of the water in it, and it was breathtakingly beautiful! I could hardly tell there was water in there, it was so clear. The pictures that I took didn't come out very well, but in the picture here you can't even tell there is water! We took a short boat trip to the other side, all the while they were playing laser shows for us. It was pretty cool, if a little bit cheesy. But I still think it was well done. Shortly after that, we got back onto a tram which took us back to our starting point, but before we got off, each of us received a tiny container of salt that was taken out of that mine. That was a bit cheesy, however, I didn't have to buy any!

After the salt mine tour was over, Kasi and I headed back to Salzburg, and from there we took a train to Munich, and caught another one from there to Mannheim. That day was just packed full of different modes of transportation for the two of us. We took two different buses to get to the train station, then a train to the town where the mines were, and since it was Sunday, the buses aren't as regular, so we decided to take a taxi to them, and then in the mines themselves, we took a tram, a boat, a slide (I am not sure if that counts, but it was a way to get from point A to B), another tram, then three more trains to get to Mannheim and once we were in Mannheim, we took a tram back to our dorms! All in all, I enjoyed the trip very much, and look forward to going to Salzburg again, this time with Anthony.