Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Buurrrr-lin and Karnival Bananzas!

Well, I'm getting slightly behind on posts now that my classes have begun, but maybe I can somehow start catching up.  Classes so far are great; my teacher this semester is motivating me to learn 50 times more than the teacher last semester, the techniques and information she uses are interesting, and the content is actually useful and practical.  Aka, I can't complain.  We even have little random fun activities in class such as dressing up for Karnival, breakfast with the class, and random dance games.  Ok, I make it sound like Kindergarten but it's not, I swear! It's just every college student's dream class :)

... kind of..

So anyways.

Two weekends ago now, my program began and we all headed off for the customary beginning group trip to Berlin.  I wasn't as pumped as I was last time for our little escapade, but I guess it's just because I've done all the tours and sight seeing twice already (now three times) but it was alright.  We actually went to Potsdam this time, which is like the rich suburb of Berlin (although it is technically a different city) across a river.  It's beautiful! The houses are huge for German houses, all really elegant architecture and some are even quite modern.  There are adorable shopping districts such as the Dutch Quarter within Potsdam as well, drawing my extra attention therein.  Another tourist plus when it comes to Potsdam is the location of 16 palaces within the city.  One of which was used for the Potsdam conference in which Germany was divided into four different sectors after WWII.  Here is that palace:

The other main "to see" palace in Potsdam is the summer palace of Frederick the Great of Prussia.  His castle was by far way cooler than the one above, however, we were merely on a walking/bus tour of Potsdam and only were able to view the outside.  Apparently, Frederick the Great was very fascinated by fruits and growing seasons.  In the gardens of the palace there are 6 terraces which were once covered by orange and apple trees; bearing fruit in back to back seasons.  Frederick wanted to push the limits of fruit growers during that age and would pay farmers a reward if they could bring him apples in March and such.  He was quite the little fruit scientist, and his gardens show it.

The last picture shows the six terraces leading up to the palace.  Another additional note to the agricultural sciences, Frederick the Great was known as the man who brought the potatoe to Prussia/Germany so people leave potatoes on his gravestone in rememberance.  This fact isn't actually true but hey, let people dream.


The day after our Potsdam tour we did our usual walking tour of Berlin.  Unfortunately, our tour was lead by the same guide to the same places, using the same stories and even jokes.  It was quite boring but yet the weather was gorgeous so you couldn't help but just enjoy it.  The tour was about three hours, and I didn't take all that many photos since well, I have them all already!  I managed to take a few though.. Here we gooooo..

My personal highlight of the trip was actually quite a simple excursion to the Ritter Sport chocolate store and museum.  Ritter sport is the amazing german chocolate (also sold in the states, especially at Woodmans..) which is in a square with solid color wrapping.  It's absolutely mouth watering.  This coming from me, a person who prior to this trip to Germany was completely disinterested in chocolate, clearly means something.  The store had every flavor of chocolate imaginable for only 80 cents per bar (a huge bargain considering they're almost $3.00 in the USA..) and cute little knick-knacks with the logo attached.  The upstairs had a museum about how the chocolate was made and packaged, which one would think would be boring, but my friends and I actually thoroughly enjoyed.  Also, one could make their own dreamy chocolate combination; right when you walk in there was a counter with about 50 different flavors, nuggets, and smorsels waiting to be added to your white, dark, milk or whatever other chocolate base you wished.  I didn't create my own since my idea of a dream chocolate bar was already a best seller in their store: chocolate with strawberry filling and crispy things like you'd find in a crunch bar.  Don't doubt it until you try it.. it's absolutely delicious. Then again, what about German chocolate isn't?

The last day in Berlin, on a more depressing note than chocolate, we toured a prison of the prior KGB.  It was in a forbidden zone of Berlin, so many citizens were not even aware it existed until the wall fell.  The torture, interrogation and emotional draining that occured in that place just pulls at your heart the moment you walk through the gate.  It made my skin crawl in a strange way which I have only felt at a few other select memorial sites, one being a concentration camp.  You must remember, the torture and such endured in this prison only occured at maximum 70-ish years ago.  The stories of some of those held within the prison are just mind boggling; some were interrogated for 72 hours straight with only one question repedidly over and over.  They would be questioned until they were too exhausted to fight back and would confess to whatever would allow them to sleep.  After the Eastern German government took over in the mid 1950s, torture was not as intense as under the Soveit control (physically) but the psychological abuse they instilled would personally have killed me within a week.  The prisoners were left alone, no noise or interaction to the outside world other than interrogation sessions.  They were watched through holes in the wall and were forbidden to sit from 6 am to 10 pm, and were only allowed to sleep on their backs, arms on their sides, palms down.  If they rolled in their sleep, they were awoken and told to return to position.  Seriously.  It was hell.  And everything was a secret.  You had no idea where you were, neither did your family.  You just vanished.  Often, people were picked up in cars labeled as grocery cars or fish delivery wagons.  The extent of security and secrecy they went to was ridiculous.  If you want to know more, just ask.  I feel like if I kept rambling though, we'd be here way too long and it'd turn into my Portugal post all over again..

So yep.  That basically tied up Berlin in a nutshell.  Granted there were more social events and such, but those stories can wait for another day.  Here are the rest of my photos if you want to check them out..

And now for Karnival!  This last weekend was Karnival (time before lent.. just like Mardi Gras in New Orleans..).  The city of Cologne, about 3 hours north-west of Marburg holds the biggest celebration in Germany every year, involving parades, drinking, music, costumes, bratwurst stands, etc.  The ultimate German party ordeal.  My friend Alie from back home came over for the weekend and we took the train Sunday morning with a few others from my program right into the heart of Cologne.  I was shocked at how crazy the celebrations were- the parade was ridiculous! It was never ending! There was candy being chucked at intense force, drunk people in costumes (many men in snow white costumes.. I must admit I felt as though the Karnival somewhat raped my image of Disney characters..) and tulips everywhere.  It was awesome.  My friends and I had made our own masks the night before so we would have something to dress up in, and I must admit, they turned out pretty nifty!
Here are some pictures from the cologne celebrations..


We went back to Marburg that same night, and then Monday was Rosenmontag, or "Rose Monday." Aka, another reason to have another parade and drink in the streets! (Ok, sarcasm people, sarcasm..) but yes.  I had class in the morning from 9-1, so our class decided to dress up.  I was a pirate.  I must admit, I was quite fond of my costume :)

And before you ask, no, the guy in the background did not voluntarily choose his costume :)

After class we headed into town where there was a decently sized parade.  During lent, they sometimes play jokes on people.  If you are familiar with the Berliner doughnut (basically a jelly filled round doughnut) those are extremely popular during the days before lent.  However, sometimes, you will get one filled with mustard as merely a good hearted joke.  It happens; one can't really complain.  It is merely tradition.  Also, candy is thrown from the floats to the children.  However, sometimes, the people on the floats will throw joke items to older children or adults.  During my parade experience I was thrown what I thought to be a box of chocolates; turns out it was a pregnancy test.  But hey.  All in good fun.  My friends and I had a good laugh and then pocketed it for a later birthday gag gift. 


Further Karnival Photos..


So yes.  Happy Karnival everyone :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A little Portuguese anyone? (Warning: Longest post... ever.)

Well folks, I am back from the longest birthday celebration of my life, somehow alive, healthy and fully recovered.  Considering I started celebrating my birthday in Australian time (A full 24 hours prior to the actual date..) and then counted it down through the various time zones, I must say, survival was quite an accomplishment.  It was probably the best birthday celebration of my life, hands down, despite being away from all my friends and family, even those in Germany.  I spent my birthday  in a hostel with my friend Carissa from my program here and a bunch of strangers who later, through a series of discussions, wacky stories and cups of sangria because some of the best of friends.  They all truly made the trip to Lisbon, Portugal what it was: the best trip of my life. 

Carissa and I flew into Lisbon in the early afternoon on Sunday, Feb. 13th to find slight rain through the clouds.  We had heard that it was supposed to be rain the entire week we were there so we came prepared, but were still somehow bummed by the weather.  Luckily and unluckily, weather in Portugal is completely unpredictable.  The sun may be shining bright, no clouds in the sky with a gentle breeze and then the next moment a total downpour resembling a monsoon may hit you smack in the face.  On Sunday, even though we had some of the predicted rain, it turned out to be sunny by the afternoon and for a moment I even convinced myself I was slightly sunburnt.  For a moment, that is. 

Upon arriving, we headed straight to our hostel, YES! Hostel, right in the center of Lisbon.  If you ever find yourself in Lisbon, you must, must, MUST stay at YES! Hostel.  It is by far the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in; clean, friendly staff, nice computers, awesome lounge, and it radiates amazing people.  They also offer an authentic portuguese dinner right in the hostel every night... but we'll get to all that later. 

Right after arriving we decided to take one of the two free walking tours of the city offered through our hostel.  Carissa and I joined with about 8 other hostel residents and hiked through the old and only part of the city left standing after the terrible earth quake/ tsunami of 1755 (bet a lot of you didn't know that happened, did you?  The earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in Europes history and could be felt to the carribean!) called Alphama.  There we saw old houses which have been there since the early 1700s, a church which took 400 years to finish, and the beach/shoreline. The people in Alphama are of the lower class and aren't huge fans of tourists, although they don't say it.  However, a four year old child threw a huge piece of concrete rock at our heads from a balcony which could have killed us, so I guess they somehow do say it.  Oh well; it was rather interesting seeing the "back streets and real life" of Lisbon. 

Clearly it's gorgeous.  Before I keep rambling, if you want to see the rest of my photos and quit reading here, this is the link which you are looking for..


Ok so back to life in Portugal.  The second day (since the first day we just bummed around after the walking tour..) we bought a day card for 12 euros which allowed us to travel around the small penninsula of which Lisbon is located.  We first boarded a local train to Sintra, a town about 30 minutes out of the main city area.  On the way out of Lisbon I witnessed the effect of "old money, no new money."  Portugal is one of the poorest European nations today, and has been for quite some time.  After the money of exploration and trade died down, and the effect of a dictatorship and lack of proper taxation processes were felt, the country has had a difficult time reclaiming their past wealth.  So, as a result of this issue, much of Portugal is covered in beautiful buildings which are merely lacking the necessary upkeep or face lift required to make the country comparable to France or Germany.  However, this lack of money has also resulted in large, hideous apartment buildings in desperate need of a coat of paint surrounding the city.  These apartment complexes were built by cheap contractors who knew the living space was in high demand, but took advantage of the lack of necessity for upkeep.  It's quite the eye sore.  Going out of the city center for about the surrounding 10 miles can be rather depressing; it reminded of me a poorer part of Mexico or Jamaica.  There are broken windows, grungy apartment complexes, litter in the streets, homeless people, etc.  However, this is really only on the outskirts of Lisbon.  So do not fear; the country still has great potential.  Just don't chill out in the outskirts of Lisbon.  It's a big enough city to hang out in the "in-skirts" sooo.. yeah.  Do not fear!

Anyways, back to Sintra.  In Sintra we boarded a tourist bus which took us to an old castle built by the African Moors which is basically in ruins and just an outlining wall today.  Carissa and I enjoyed ourselves on the path up to the castle, but did not want to pay 5 euros to see the inside of the walls, which would just be the same as the outside. 

 
 

After the castle (which was the last dry point of the day) we boarded the bus again to venture up to our next stop- the Moors' Palace.  The palace, just like the rest of Portugal, was in need of a serious paint job.  However, other than that, I do believe it is one of the most beautifulboarded the bus again to venture up to our next stop- the Moors' Palace.  The palace, just like the rest of Portugal, was in need of a serious paint job.  However, other than that, I do believe it is one of the most beautiful castle's I have ever visited.  We paid the 9 Euros to go inside the castle, which ended up being completely worth it (unfortunately, no photos allowed..).

 
 

The rain really started picking up at the palace, so we kind of had to leave a little sooner than we would have originally wished.  Oh well- rain happens.  Unfortunately it happened while I was wearing ballerinas and a light coat prepared for the sun shiny day which had greeted us in the morning with temperatures in the high 50s, but you know.  Rain happens.

After the palace (I know, it's after this, after that, after another thing in Portugal.. bear with me folks!) we got on another bus which drove us about an hour away to the most western point in Europe, Cabo Da Roca.  The bus ride was hands down the closest I've ever come to motion sickness in my life; I know many that would not have whole-stomach survived the trip.  Portuguese bus drivers are ungodly ridiculous.  Curving road on the side of a cliff with other cars zooming by? Ok lets go 70 miles an hour! Don't mind the lack of guard rails which could prevent a bus from flying us all into the pearly gates above, just gun it!  Also, they only stop at a bus stop for about .5 seconds.  So if you even think about running to catch a bus in Portugal, I wish you the best of luck, because you'll just be running after it.  No wonder they're all so skinny.

Cabo Da Roca was met at the point of the day in which I was just losing enthusiasm with the weather, my outfit, and life itself.  You know, just one of those moments.  I was cold, my shoes were soaked, and my umbrella was being a pain in some particular region of the body in which many would refer to as a scandal.  We got off the bus in a literal last second decision (we had been previously contemplating just calling it a day due to our wet and miserable states, but then realized you're only in Portugal once, and this could be one of those stories you would tell your grandkids about..) only to discover the bus to pick us up would not return for another hour and 45 minutes.  At this moment I do believe I declared to some god or another "Fack* my life."  But anywho, life clearly went on.  So, shaking, shivering, and mumbling infamous curse words under my breath, I began to wander through the terrential downpour and hurricane force winds to the cliff.  Just my luck, about 10 meters away from the bus stop, a gust of wind grabbed my umbrella, threw it inside out, twisted it in a circle, and spat out the result: snapped supports.  Aka my umbrella of five years and 13 countries died.  In accurate accordance to the mood I was in, and the appropriate elevation of anger upon this discovery (folks, I was in a hurricane, in cold February temperatures, ballerina shoes, and left without an umbrella) I found it somehow appropriate to throw a small tantrum in the parking lot of the park.  After throwing my umbrella to the ground, stamping on it with all my anger and throwing it five feet, I immediately felt relieved.  After retrieving the remains of said umbrella, I wandered out to the coast and ended up enjoying myself and laughing with Carissa while taking photos of cliffs.  Yep.  One of those days.


 
 
 
 
 

There you have it folks.  Cabo Da Roca.
And the unfortunate death of the Umbrella.  May it rest in peace in a Portuguese Landfill in the sky.
Oh also, it was valentines day that day... the only sign of the commerical holiday was red and pink balloons in their local pizza hut.  Go figure.

Holy man this post is getting long.  My bad.

After we got back from our little penninsula adventure, we just passed out.  End of story.

Tuessday, we did another walking tour.  However, this time, it was of the other side of the city; the city destroyed by the earthquake.  You can definitely tell the difference in architecture and such; it may not be "modern" but it is definitely not old.   Kind of hard to explain.  The city, after it was destroyed, was conveniently rebuilt in a block with 8 streets going north south, and 8 going east to west.  That way, everything was quite simple and finding things would not be as complicated as it was in the city prior to the earthquake.  My hostel was in this little 8X8 block, so I felt pretty special.  We went over the history and effects of the earth quake, saw some of the main sites and a great over view of the city.  If you stay at Yes! Hostel, as I previously advised, definitely go on their free walking tours!!

 
 
 
 

Ahhh you all just need to go to Portugal.  Like seriously.  It's just unreal.  Looking through all my photos makes me just want to jump on a plane and fly back to the custard-filled, tounge r-rolling and windy coasts of a country.

On our last full day, Carissa, a friend from the hostel and I went to a really nice suburb of Lisbon called BelĂ©m.  It was only about 30 minutes by tram, and had quite a few attractions right within a small area.  Quite convenient.  We went to see the botanical gardens (had to sit and wait for a small monsoon to pass for a few minutes, but afterwards the weather was bearable), a monistary, some huge monument to the Portuguese explorers, and a castle.  The one castle was literally sitting in the sea which I found pretty darn sweet.. and also wondered who was blamed when the sea level rose to engulf the bottom of the castle.  Hmm.

 
 
 
 
 

The last photo with  my messed up face is merely due to the extreme force of winds.  I'm serious people.  Hurricane force. 

Also in Belem there's a small pastry shop which sells the Portuguese special pastry, pastel de nata.  However, the special element about this pastry shop is that it not only was the original store which started making the pastry (basically a little cup with custard type filling) but that there is a secret ingredient.  Only four men know the secret ingredient, and they are never allowed to converse with one another; aka no one knows the entire recipe.  At one point a bunch of Italians opened a lab to figure out the secret ingredient.  However, they must have been paid off to keep their findings a secret, because from one day to the next this rival lab just closed and disappeared.  Anyway, in my opinion, the secret ingredient is just extra egg.  Silly portuguese.  Carissa and I ordered one each for 90 cents at this chatoic shop... they were delicious but I kind of found the ones sold at a not-so-special shop around the corner from our hostel to be even more tasty.  Oh well.  Still delicious.

 
Speaking of food... our hostel offered an authentic portuguese three course meal for a cheap price, made by one of the locals.  Of course Carissa and I decided to attempt it- cheap = good. Authentic = good.  Win win.  However, upon actually finding out what we were eating, well, it was much more of an adventure.  The starter soup was a pumpkin base with carrots, potatoes, beans, and cabbage.  That was pretty darn good.  The main course however, was basically all the parts of a pig, some blood sausage, cabbage, beans, bread and rice all mixed together.  Needless to say, it was interesting.  Granted it wasn't nearly as daring to eat as if I were to go to Singapore and eat a sheep's brain, but still.  Pretty sure I saw a pig's snout in one of the ladels she attempted to put on my plate.  Daring, I know.  But actually it was quite good- I just ended up avoiding questionable pig pieces and the blood sausage.  I did quite well for myself :)  Desert was just fruit covered in a chocolate sauce, nothing special.


There it is folks.  Oh my god this post is so damn long. 
Oh before I forget to mention, sangria is delicious!!!!

Anyway, after all that info.. all I have left to talk about is my birthday celebrations.  Basically, I just hung out and drank with some friends at the cheap hostel bar and brought in my birthday.  My actual birthday I spent on a plane and train back to Marburg, but oh well.  At least the celebration of bringing my birthday in was fun due to the awesome people I met at the hostel :)

 
 
Birthday breakfast for champions :)

Once arriving home to Marburg my girlfriends and I celebrated again with a quick little cake and chat at my friend Nichola's house across the street..



and BOOM longest post done :)
I'll post a reviewed post of Portugal and my interesting culture facts tomorrow or something.  BED.