Pictures!

Yep. All 432 of them. And that is after dropping about a hundred or so. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/skik42

Reminders of war

People's ability to pick themselves up after devastation and rebuild is a wonderful trait that has allowed us to continue and prosper, but I think it also allows us to forget and repeat the same mistakes not once, but over and over.

To go to a memorial or view the rumble left after a war only serves as a picture into what occurred. It does not give all the emotions, the death, the loss, the sadness... the lasting imprint. A crumbling building does not give the stories of the people who lived and died there. Pictures do not show the faces or carcases of our loved ones. A memorial only seems to teach us of a specific atrocity so that it specifically is not repeated.

From these we take away who was the victim and who was the wrongdoer, we do not place both of these as part of ourselves. We take away a lesson as specific as memorizing 2 + 2 = 4, but not the concept as a whole so that later we make the same mistake and only them learn that 3 + 1 also equals 4.

Berlin (part 2)

Our first time in Berlin we stayed in the old West Berlin. This time we stayed at a hostel in the old East Berlin. There is a striking difference and maybe oddly I prefer the eastern side. It is a bit more gritty and younger. It is like a jigsaw puzzle of new and old weaved together by graffiti. A street lined with cafes and bars with outdoor tables packed so closely it is hard to determine which cafe you are sitting down to will have a building that looks like it was just put up, next to a building were only the cracks along the base give away its age, and next to that a building that looks almost the same as it did since the war, dark and gray with half of its facade gone and old brick underneath showing and signs of smoke still surrounding the windows. On all the buildings beautiful graffiti art mingles with simple tagging, broken up by posters new to years old.

Sobering moments broke up our stroll when coming upon synagogues with guards and men who look like the secret service outside who quickly stop anyone who comes with in two feet of the building or a high and thick walled Jewish cemetery with a security system of cameras, gates and guard houses. Around these it seemed even the locals stopped chatting and everything was silent.

To end the day, on our way back to the hostel we noticed streets being blocked off by police and a helicopter hovering in the distance. Enough experience has taught me that this means a happy and festive occasion or a protest. Curiosity has not bitten me enough in life so we trucked it towards the helicopter.

We came up to a protest and not seeing Bush or America on any of the signs and the punk style dress of the crowd, we felt safe enough to walk along side of it till we got to the middle. There were a few times of having to dodge fighting or riot police but it was really interesting to see the differences and similarities between this and protests at home.

I think it was a fitting end to the day and oddly an uplifting one too. While protesting sadly I don't think will ever put an end to war, oppression or discrimination, it does mean that there are always those who are willing to speak out for others and help others when it is needed.

Munich (part 2)

Not much new to talk about this time. We hung out chatting at the hostel, walked around town, ate a one inch thick slab of meat sandwiched in a tiny bun and drank beer.

We met a girl from New Zealand, a guy from Connecticut, played foosball with some guys from New York and Sweden (respectively), played pool with a guy from Switzerland, chatted with a Russian guy in town for just a couple of hours, shared a beer with two guys from Australia and kicked back a few rounds with a German couple and two brothers from Italy. And that was only one day. :)

Why am I leaving???

Ars Electronica

Ok so maybe it was cooler than I thought it was going to be...

Actually it was a lot of fun! I didn't understand how any of it worked but you could play and have fun with everything.

There was a picture taking booth that then puts someone else's face on top of yours. Lets just say that if Derrick and I had a child it would be one ugly kid.

There was a cool computer you could draw right on the screen but the "paper" you were drawing on was constantly rotating.

There was this table that if you put stuff on it, depending on how solid or soft the object was, it made a different click or thud sound so you could experiment and make beats.

The best was a massive virtual world you could make with little boxes. You put the boxes into cubby holes and either took video or made pictures and then put the boxes on this table and whatever you recorded in the box entered your virtual world that you traveled around through a camera or a scooter.

Reading back, none of this makes sense but it really is how it was. I think Derrick can better explain...

Link

Also if you would like to read his side of the story for other adventures, um, like the castle...

Link

The Danube (part 2)

The other part of the day needed to be separated from the Danube cruise because it has a completely different theme. This post should more aptly be titled "Um, Derrick?"

To explain a little, the only part of our trip that I did not read or research about was of outside of Vienna and alongside the Danube. Derrick did, and his interest revolved around old castles and an "electronica museum" in Linz.

The day started in the early morning taking a train out to Leobendorf where we had a 3/4 mile hike to an old castle. Actually, scratch that, when we arrived Derrick realized it was not 3/4 a mile but 3/4 an hour hike.

So we began our hike through the fog shrouded woods in the direction Derrick claimed the castle was. The fog of course shrouded anything natural or man made farther than 20 feet away so whether or not there was a castle at the top of the hill we were climbing was anyone's guess. All the signs were in German, which Derrick claimed to understand, and he continuously kept replying, "it is just up here," to my question of, "Um, Derrick?"

To end any suspense, yes there was a castle and seeing it while half shrouded in mist was definitely eerie and cool at the same time. Derrick only told me on the way back that he too was unsure the entire hike up though.

After this we headed to the pick up point for the cruise and experienced three hours of eye popping beauty.

Later we left the boat and walked over to a cafe and had some amazing food. Once again small towns are where its at for awesome food.

We were suppose to explore a large abbey after that but were in such a euphoric state it was too much effort so we opted to catch the train to Linz.

In Linz, Derrick had been raving about the "electronica museum," so that night I grabbed a brochure to begin excitedly reading about it for the next morning. Three sentences into the brochure I looked up at Derrick and said, "Um, Derrick? This museum.. it isn't about music, is it?"

The "electronica museum" is not in fact about electronica music, but instead about electronic arts. In fact it revolves around one of the biggest electronic arts conventions in the world.

The moment of silence after Derrick told me this, us starring at each other both stunned from across a table, and the fit of laughter after realization set in for both of us is an indescribable moment, but so hilarious it is necessary to write about.

So tomorrow instead of writing about the museum I have been anticipating for weeks I will let you know how the Ars Electronica was. :-)

The Danube

Describing yourself as speechless usually means you are so awestruck that you try and try to think of an accurate word but are so struck, you are dumb to think of anything more descriptive than basic words. There are times though that you truly are speechless. You are not so awed that you can not find the words or the ability to form a sentence, you are so taken that you don't even think to speak. You simply look. What is in front of you is such ecstasy to your senses that all else (speech included) ceases to function or matter. You can not and need not speak, eat, drink, breath too if it were not an automatic recurrence of your body.

Hiroshima was horribly and the Cinque Terra fabulously like this, but to compare them to each other or the Danube would lessen each, even if only slightly, that is just enough.

I will not try and describe my cruise up the Danube; I would only ruin it. I can only post pictures later even though they only half at best portrait the experience and proclaim (demand even) that everyone make it a necessity in life to experience this.

Vienna

I would say that I ate and drank my way through Bavaria. In Vienna though I more sipped and slurped. The wine was awesome (especially the white) and the goulash soup to die for. I am definitely picking up a cook book once I get back. We also tried some of the famous Sachertorte and wine mixed with tonic (interestingly good).

In Vienna obviously music is a big thing all over and we were lucky enough to catch a band in a local bar. We bought there CD and took some video of their show.

Vienna itself is just amazing. Every building looks like a palace with massive columns, graceful statues or ornate stucco decorating them from top to bottom. Every couple of blocks opens up to a small to large plaza with a beautiful fountain or statue in it. There are churches dotted all over breaking up the landscape with tall intricate towers.

While strolling around (you can't help but stroll instead of walk) there are street performers playing everything from violins to clarinets to pianos so that there is like a fog of music throughout the city.

So now we are off to cruise the Danube and explore some small towns along it. Life is so rough. ;-)

Life's ridiculously great moments

After a night out drinking till 4am, waking up at 12:10, hastily dressing and packing in order to sneak out the back door of the hostel because check out was at 11. After draining a double espresso, sauntering in to the oldest beer garden in town at 1:30 and by 3:30 having guzzled half a gallon of beer.

After having lived (survived) through the Abrego House years, the only odd part for me is the fact that it takes place in Germany and it is heartening to know that seven years later that is all that is odd.

:-p

Life's odd great moments

Sitting in a dimly lit tavern nestled in a cobblestone alley deep with in Vienna, surrounded by a giggling and boisterous crowd, hunched over a smart phone watching your football team's come from behind win. Your squeal in delight not even warranting a glance from the crowd around you, and in celebration having a quiet toast with glasses of fabled Viennese wine. :-D

Life's little great moments

One of life's little great moments is sitting in a smoky tavern down an alley in between looming old palace homes in Vienna, surrounded by the soft drone of many intense conversations, casually weighing your options for the days to come. Vienna, the Danube, Prague or Munich?

:-)

So few times in life are decisions so difficult and so easy at the same time. Perhaps that is what creates the casual manner in which they are met; the likelihood of regret is slim.

Hohenschwangau

I finally got to see a castle!

It was while bumping elbows with droves of other tourists from all over the world but hey, how often do you get the chance to see a castle? (Disneyland does not count.)

Getting there was a bit of a leap of faith. The hostels in Munich were all booked for the weekend so we found a fairly cheap hotel online and with out a map and just an address we took off from Munich.

We took the train to the closest major town and hoped there was a bus once we got there. (If not the town we needed to get to was only 5km away.) Luckily there was a bus but once we got to the town we were having trouble finding our hotel. We asked a couple walking by if they could point us in the right direction but they were unsure of where it was. This is about when we started to worry because the town was only 4 hotels and less than 200 residence.

They asked around and offered to give us a ride to the hotel. This was a God send because it turns out we had booked a room above the restaurant just outside the castle gates up a dark and windy road outside the town. Going to bed in the shadow of a castle I think will be listed as one of the highlights of this trip.

The castle (Neuschwanstein was amazing and the view jaw dropping. I have a ton of pictures but again, you are just going to have to take my word for now until I can post them.

Next stop: Vienna.

Munich (Part 1)

I have a bruise on my back from where my shoes in my backpack have been knocking against me while walking, half my face and one arm have broken out in bumps from the starch and chemicals in the hostels bed sheets, and because I have been mostly speaking in single words of German my English has become that of a kindergartner. I am having the time of my life!

First, we did not make it to Prague. We decided to double back and take another day in Munich and Berlin in stead. But that is getting ahead...


While on the train to Munich (the first time) I wrote that I might not return to America. Things have seriously changed since visiting Munich. I am currently drafting an e-mail to quit my job and researching how difficult it would be to move the cats out here.

No, to be serious now. The German school system has made private tutoring of English a profession as useful as palm reading. I am actually currently trying to learn the basic German needed to be able to mop floors at a tavern. :-)

Munich is like a much older Seattle; life revolves around hanging out with friends and drinking good espresso or beer and eating.

I did go sightseeing but the majority of the time was spent chatting and then heading off to a spot recommended to us. This routine began on the train ride to Munich with the guys in the food car and went from there.

One of our waitresses for lunch listed out four places we needed to go and then described them to us as, "beer garden, beer garden, beer garden, place you make picture." We didn't make it to the photo spot because at the second beer garden we got to chatting with a group of people and before we knew it it was 10pm.

Everyone seems to have their favorite local beer and beer garden. One waiter gave us back our tip and told us to use it to try his favorite beer at the place he recommended.

The hostel we are staying in was a lot more like we are use to. The one in Berlin and Wurzburg did not have a common area or bar so there was not much interaction with others. This one though has one of the better common areas\bars I have seen. Both nights we were up till 3 or 4am talking with other travelers and the people who work there.

So I basically spent two and a half days chatting, drinking great beer and eating amazing food.

I have pictures of some of the meals we had (meat, meat and more meat) and I will post them with descriptions if I get back. ;-)

Oh, I also took pictures of famous landmarks.

Wurzburg

I apologize for the delay and for there not being any pictures. I have taken almost 200 so far and the upload time would take over an hour. I will post them with descriptions once I get back.

I must also apologize for the extensive usage of "damn" "awesome" and "amazing from here on out. I left my thesaurus at home. ;-)

Wurzburg is an amazing town a little more than half way to Munich from Berlin. I swear, it does not matter what country you are in, small towns are where its at for good grub.

Our first stop was a pub where I had the local schnitzel and Derrick had a local specialty of cooked meat in gelatin. Damn good!

Later that night we had a platter of Bavarian cheeses and Franconian wine. The cheese was... can you guess...amazing. The wine was.. bet you can't guess... kind of odd. Ha ha got you there. :-)

No seriously, the wine was very different and not really my type. The odd part was that it was very sweet and tasted like it needed to be decanted but if you swirled it in your glass it then tasted great, but only a minute later it would be sweet again.

The next morning I was introduced to Bavarian breakfasts. This is by far the most awesome breakfast I have ever had. First, no eggs! (I don#t like eggs) It is sweet schnitzels with sweet mustard and a pretzel. Oh and it comes with a hefeweisan.

We didn't just eat while there, we spent half our time walking around too. We went to their fortress and the palace. Quite a contrast but both were really grandiose.

We meant to go for one day and then head off to Munich the next morning but ended up staying until the afternoon. Oops. ;-)

So now we are in Munich walking and eating our way through...

I may not come back home.

Berlin

It seems to have become a tradition for Derrick and I to spend the first hour or more in a new country walking in circles looking for the tourist information office. Trust me this is not an intended tradition.

After (finally) finding the tourist information office and buying a map we began our quest for coffee. Doing this after two weeks of five hours or less of sleep and no sleep on the plane ride here, not an ounce of coffee in our systems, and it being early on a Sunday morning...

The rest of the day was a lot easier. We met Connie at the subway station and she gave us a tour of the city while telling us some of the history, interesting facts and personal experiences of the Berlin.

(BTW, Dad, if you find some erroneous spelling errors, there is a fifty percent chance it is not me but the small differences in the key boards. Some slack is appreciated.)

The architecture here is unbelievable, both old and new. Even the apartment buildings are interesting. They form a ring around the block and a courtyard in the center, but then there is another ring with in the courtyard and maybe another
after that.

I unfortunately am not able to upload photos right now, but will later. Trying to describe all the different buildings, churches and monuments would take half a day there are so many styles spanning over different centuries and eras.

We went to the monument to the Jewish killed in the Holocaust. While it was very different than the A Bomb Memorial in Hiroshima it was just as dramatic. Over the area of about one block there are perfectly smooth concrete blocks placed so that they create a grid of narrow paths. Around the outside the blocks are ankle to knee high but quickly go to six feet and higher asyou move inwards. The effect is so that once inside you feel completely isolated, only being able to see down the narrow aisles in front and in back of you and from side to side. Every now and then someone passes through the aisle you are looking down and then quickly disappears, almost like a ghost. If you look up, the walls of the blocks almost look to be looming over you,about to to close together and cut off your view of the sky. Definitely an experience!

By the end of the day I had been awake for a total of 33 hours. Combine that with with two weeks of five hours of less of sleep and I was almost in tears with joy to be going to bed without setting an alarm...

Well sleep in I did! I slept in a whole half hour! Yep, after five and a half hours of sleep I was wide awake. :-/

I guess the bright side of this is that I was ready and out the door to explore Berlin again by 7am.

We went to Potsdam to look at four old Prussian palaces. The first one we came upon was with amazement. The second one had us shaking our heads. By the third one we could not help but say out loud, "you have got to be kidding me." and maybe a few expletives in there too. The best part
is we only viewed the outside of these palaces and their gardens. By garden I mean the area of a football field. I remind you that there were four. We ran out of day to view the insides of these "homes."

We are going to try and circle back to Berlin in order to go to museum or two or perhaps the interior of a palace or two. As for now we are off to Würzburg :-D

Oh. And yes, the food and beer is awesome!

Day 1

Day 1:

Slept 5 hours, woke up, showered, dressed, hopped in a car, hopped on a plane, sat on a plane.

Thus ends day 1. :)

Break on through to the other side

The oddest thing has happened. The last couple of weeks I was so stressed that I became completely overwhelmed, but just yesterday I got so overwhelmed that I think I broke. Somewhere in between moving, preparing for a trip overseas, applying for school, work and my Mother, I simply cracked. I mean to the point of laughing, well actually giggling (but in that mentally deranged sort of way) when I found out that the keys I had just handed off to the cat sitter an hour ago don't actually work.

Anyways, yeah. So I moved last weekend. Really that should have been a post in itself but, uh, I've been a bit busy. It was fun driving a 16 foot truck through half of Seattle though. (No, I did not kill or maim anything or anyone.) I have only unpacked what I need for hygiene purposes and not getting arrested for indecent exposure. The rest went into the closet or is in boxes in the kitchen. Hmmm, actually maybe I should try and find the boxes with all the food in it...

Ah, whatever.

I am taking off to Germany, Prague and Vienna this Saturday. I am taking only a backpack like normal but have not even started packing. (Note: when you are only bringing a school-sized backpack pre-packing and planning are highly recommended, all other situations I normally pack an hour before leaving.) In fact I am hoping to God that something I need is not in one of those boxes in the kitchen or closet. He he, cross your fingers for me.

In order to prepare for being gone for two weeks I was going to train my co-worker, but she quit a month or so ago. She is going to come in for a couple hours each day while I am gone but instead of having tons of time to train her I have had an hour each day for 8 days. I have also been working 9 to 10 hours each day the past couple of weeks, which normally is not a problem... except when you are trying to move and prepare for a trip, but whatever, it's a job.

Speaking of jobs and moving on, I am applying for college... again, yeah, I know. I really should finish this time because it is becoming more and more of a bitch to get all those transcripts together (the more there are) and test scores out of the archives (the older they get). So I guess again, cross your fingers for me.

Oh, and then there is my mother...

She does this every time I am about to go traveling - she gets worried but won't say she is worried. She calls me two to three times a day with a question about something, or can I help her with this, what do I know about such-and-such... You get the point. This in itself can be a problem (read previous blog post) but when I am super busy, it really is NOT okay.

Ugh, lets change the subject.

Oh! And just on Tuesday I found a message sent to me back in May telling me my high school reunion is in November! Woohoo, right? Actually perhaps this is good timing? This way I am either too busy to actually care or perhaps will be so busy I will forget. ;-D


Oh, and the quitting smoking is... going.

Fucking whatever. I am going to go get my sixth cup of coffee now (only 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night for almost two weeks does catch up to you), finish up work (working late again), go home and pack for Germany (finally), WITH A BEER AND A FAT SMILE ON MY FACE. :-p

Because after all, I am heading off to the land of beer, can't start letting myself get rusty all of a sudden. Actually, fuck work, I am heading to a bar and starting things right. :D



Coming up next: Did Skick make it to Germany alive?