After a long day of traveling to Bayeux, it was time to explore two of the oldest sights I have visited.
I started out the day by taking a shuttle from Bayeux to the famed Mont St. Michel. Created in the 10th century when a bishop had a series of dream from the archangel Michael, it has been occupied by monks ever since. Mont St. Michel is built on an island, with a church crowning the top. It is accessible by a 2 km causeway from the mainland, but at low tide you can walk across the mudflats (as several school groups did). There is only road leading up to the church and abbey at the top and it is packed with souvenir stands and restaurants. Lest you think it is modern commercialism run amock and destroying a historic sight, locals have been preying on pilgrims (and now tourists) ever since it opened up.
The day I visited Mont saint Michel was especially meaningful as September 29th is St. Michael's Day. And St. Michael, as my father (who was in the 82nd Airborne knows) is the patron saint of paratroopers. So the French Army celebrated the day by performing a jump exercise on the fields just across from the Mont saint Michel. It was a wonderful sight to see stick after stick of paratroopers jump out with the church on the island as a backdrop.
After the ride back to Bayeux, I had enough time to visit the Bayeux tapestry. It commemorates the triumph of William the Conqueror over Harold in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Started not long after the battle, the almost 1000 year old tapestry (which is actually an embroidery) was intended to hang in the Bayeux Cathedral as a pictoral lesson for all of the illiterate peasants.
What struck me about the tapestry was that only te last half or so dealt with the battle. The first half deals with the strength of WIlliam's claim to be king. The focal point of the tapestry is a scene depicting Harold swearing on Bayeux's holy relics not to contest Edward the Confessor's selection of William. Not long after that, we see that Edward died and Harold promptly declares himself the king. So, in essence, the Bayeux tapestry is a 70 meter paean to keeping your word. Who'da thunk it?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Day #35: On the Road again...
After a good week high up in the Swiss Alps, I am on the road again. Currently, I am in Lausanne en route to Bayeux in Normandy. My re-entry to the travel world has not been without some bumps.
First, Bayeux doesn't really have a youth hostel, so I've been forced to try and book a hotel or B&B. This is a problem since apparently Bayeux is popular this time of year.
I started by emailing a hotel recommended by my travel guide. I want to stay two nights in Bayeux. One day for touring the Bayeux Tapestry and Mont saint Michel and one day for a D-Day beaches tour. However, the hotel could only accomodate me for one night. As I would much prefer to stay both nights in the same place, I emailed another hotel that was recommended. I waited for three days, nothing. Then I emailed another place which responded they had room for only my second night.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I sent reservation requests to the original hotel for the first night and this latest hotel for the second night. I also sent the name of the second hotel to complete my reservation for my D-Day Tour. I thought I was done. Maybe not the cleanest foray into a city I had accomplished, but still, I thought I was done.
Key word there being thought.
Come to find out that the second hotel had given away the room in the meantime. Even more than that, what I thought was a tentative reservation for the D-Day tour turned out to be no reservation at all until I provided them the name of my accomodations and the tour had become full in the meantime. Nuts.
So I'm currently trying to work out several options I hope will come to fruition. I think, at worst, I will rent a car, tour the D-Day sights myself, and sleep in the car! (Don't worry Mom, I'm only kind of kidding...)
First, Bayeux doesn't really have a youth hostel, so I've been forced to try and book a hotel or B&B. This is a problem since apparently Bayeux is popular this time of year.
I started by emailing a hotel recommended by my travel guide. I want to stay two nights in Bayeux. One day for touring the Bayeux Tapestry and Mont saint Michel and one day for a D-Day beaches tour. However, the hotel could only accomodate me for one night. As I would much prefer to stay both nights in the same place, I emailed another hotel that was recommended. I waited for three days, nothing. Then I emailed another place which responded they had room for only my second night.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I sent reservation requests to the original hotel for the first night and this latest hotel for the second night. I also sent the name of the second hotel to complete my reservation for my D-Day Tour. I thought I was done. Maybe not the cleanest foray into a city I had accomplished, but still, I thought I was done.
Key word there being thought.
Come to find out that the second hotel had given away the room in the meantime. Even more than that, what I thought was a tentative reservation for the D-Day tour turned out to be no reservation at all until I provided them the name of my accomodations and the tour had become full in the meantime. Nuts.
So I'm currently trying to work out several options I hope will come to fruition. I think, at worst, I will rent a car, tour the D-Day sights myself, and sleep in the car! (Don't worry Mom, I'm only kind of kidding...)
Friday, September 18, 2009
Announcement
For the next week or so, I will be at L'Abri, which is a type of Christian study center. They have only limited access to the internet and I won't be doing anything too touristy, so I doubt there will be much of anything to post about. So don't be surprised if nothing is posted this next week.
After which, I will be rested and ready to go for my last two weeks, so expect the hijinks to continue then.
After which, I will be rested and ready to go for my last two weeks, so expect the hijinks to continue then.
Day #25: Lausanne
After holding my eyes open with tooth picks, I finally went to bed at 9pm. I know, lame. I woke up at 6am and caught to 7am train from Interlaken to Lausanne. Switzerland has a number of scenic rail routs and my train was on the Golden Pass route. It was a relatively quiet ride and, after the third stop, I had an entire car to myself to enjoy the mountainside scenery.
After I arrived in Lausanne, I dropped my bag off at my hostel and immediately boarded a boat to cruise on Lake Geneva. The cruise ended at Chateau de Chillon, a remarkably well preserved castle that dates back to 1150 A.D. Other than the fact it was still standing right on the lake where it was originally built, the castle was otherwise pretty boring.
I then hiked a mile to the village of Montreaux where I caught a boat back to Lausanne and enjoyed the sunset over lake. All in all, a pretty relaxing day.
After I arrived in Lausanne, I dropped my bag off at my hostel and immediately boarded a boat to cruise on Lake Geneva. The cruise ended at Chateau de Chillon, a remarkably well preserved castle that dates back to 1150 A.D. Other than the fact it was still standing right on the lake where it was originally built, the castle was otherwise pretty boring.
I then hiked a mile to the village of Montreaux where I caught a boat back to Lausanne and enjoyed the sunset over lake. All in all, a pretty relaxing day.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Day #24: Swiss Alps
I'm not going lie, I'm pretty exhausted right now. So this will be a short post.
I started this morning at 5:30, caught the 6:35 train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, then another train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen. Waited 15 minutes in Wengen for the next train from Lauterbrunnen which was bringing the camera I left on the ticket counter. Then, I caught the 8am gondola to Mannelich.
From Mannelich, I hiked an hour and a half to Kleine Shaddegg. From that city, I caught a train to Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe at just under 15,000 feet. From there, I hiked across a glacier, had lunch, hiked back across the glacier. Then I caught the train back to Kleine Shaddegg and hiked 2.5 hours down to Grimmevald. Then, I caught a train to Interlaken and arrived back at my hostel at 7:15pm. Whew. The hiking was glorious and the heavy clouds parted for two hours, long enough for me to get some great pictures.
I started this morning at 5:30, caught the 6:35 train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, then another train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen. Waited 15 minutes in Wengen for the next train from Lauterbrunnen which was bringing the camera I left on the ticket counter. Then, I caught the 8am gondola to Mannelich.
From Mannelich, I hiked an hour and a half to Kleine Shaddegg. From that city, I caught a train to Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe at just under 15,000 feet. From there, I hiked across a glacier, had lunch, hiked back across the glacier. Then I caught the train back to Kleine Shaddegg and hiked 2.5 hours down to Grimmevald. Then, I caught a train to Interlaken and arrived back at my hostel at 7:15pm. Whew. The hiking was glorious and the heavy clouds parted for two hours, long enough for me to get some great pictures.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Day #22: Vienna
I kicked off the morning by engaging in the most Vienese of traditions, I had a cup of coffee and read a newspaper in a coffee shop. Granted, it was a cappacino and an English language paper, but the effect was the same. Tradition has it that when the Ottoman Turks were driven back and retreated, they did so in haste, leaving their encampments and supplies behind them. The Austrian troops went to investigate and found sacks of this strange black bean. Voila, a tradition was born.
After I finished my cup of coffee, I went off to another Austrian tradition, the Lippizanner stallions. The performances are sold out long in advance, but in between performances, they have practice sessions that the public can watch. While all they did was trot around for the most part and only once or twice did we see an actual trick, but it was still cool watching them work out. And the facility has chandeliers, so it was not half bad itself.
On an interesting note, we were strictly warned several times not to take pictures or film any of the practice. Which we all observed . . . as long as there was an attendant in the immediate vicinity. I mean, come on, I am watching the famous stallions and you eect me to not take a picture to show people back home?
After the stallions, I lost myself for several hours in the Art museum. The Vienna Art Museum has two main floors. The first floor is full of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art. It is an amazing collection and made me wish I had been a Classics major in college. The second floor, not to be outdone, had an impressive collection of both Northern and Southern European renaissance era art. While I tend to like more Italian artists, I do love me some Rembrandt and Vermeer, both of which were represented.
My two favorite paintings were both quite different from each other. The first is a picture by Raphael entitled "Madonna of the Meadow." It is quite beautiful in its symetry and depicition of Mary.
The other painting was by a Dutch artist. It was portraying a village in winter. What I found most fascinating about it was that the artist had depicted a snowstorm by covering his painting in small white dots. I thought it made for the most enchanting effect.
Finally, I ended my sight-seeing by hiking up the 343 steps to the top of St. Stephen's cathedral. It was quite of a disappointment as the top was a small room with only a few windows, but the view was still pretty terrific.
After I huffed down the stairs, I got my bags from the hostel and made my way to take the night train to Zurich for my trip through Switzerland.
After I finished my cup of coffee, I went off to another Austrian tradition, the Lippizanner stallions. The performances are sold out long in advance, but in between performances, they have practice sessions that the public can watch. While all they did was trot around for the most part and only once or twice did we see an actual trick, but it was still cool watching them work out. And the facility has chandeliers, so it was not half bad itself.
On an interesting note, we were strictly warned several times not to take pictures or film any of the practice. Which we all observed . . . as long as there was an attendant in the immediate vicinity. I mean, come on, I am watching the famous stallions and you eect me to not take a picture to show people back home?
After the stallions, I lost myself for several hours in the Art museum. The Vienna Art Museum has two main floors. The first floor is full of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art. It is an amazing collection and made me wish I had been a Classics major in college. The second floor, not to be outdone, had an impressive collection of both Northern and Southern European renaissance era art. While I tend to like more Italian artists, I do love me some Rembrandt and Vermeer, both of which were represented.
My two favorite paintings were both quite different from each other. The first is a picture by Raphael entitled "Madonna of the Meadow." It is quite beautiful in its symetry and depicition of Mary.
The other painting was by a Dutch artist. It was portraying a village in winter. What I found most fascinating about it was that the artist had depicted a snowstorm by covering his painting in small white dots. I thought it made for the most enchanting effect.
Finally, I ended my sight-seeing by hiking up the 343 steps to the top of St. Stephen's cathedral. It was quite of a disappointment as the top was a small room with only a few windows, but the view was still pretty terrific.
After I huffed down the stairs, I got my bags from the hostel and made my way to take the night train to Zurich for my trip through Switzerland.
Day #23 Interlaken
I know, I skipped a day. I will have more to say about my last day in Vienna a little bit later. But first, here are some pictures of what I did today.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Day #21: Vienna
After waking up early and checking out, I caught the 7:08am train to Vienna. Arriving at 10:30, I dropped my bag off at a hostel before catching a U-bahn (subway) train downtown.
Starting off at the Vienna State Opera building, I did a self-guided tour narrated by my traveling companion, my Rick Steves guidebook. I did a loop around the old town, going past the big cathedral, the main shopping street, a few monuments and memorials, and ended up at the Hofburg palace.
I did make one detour at Cafe Sacher. A little explanation is needed for this detour to make sense. Back when we lived in Alaska, my mom was a secret shopper for a grocery store chain call Carrs. She was given a store to go to and to send in an evaluation of the store based on several different criteria (friendliness of personnel, cleanliness of store, etc.). I always tagged along, so that she could ask the questions and then I could unobstrusively catch the nametag of the employee she was talking to. At the store that was Mom's main store, we always stopped by the bakery and always ordered the same thing (after asking for a sample!): a sacher torte. It is a chocolate torte with a layer of apricot filling in the middle. It might not sound good, but it was delicious! After we moved away, I have been unable to find a place that sells it. So, it was a big deal when I discovered it was invented in Vienna and I would be able to have one. And yes, it was (almost) as delicious as I remembered it.
That led to an afternoon of touring through the imperial palace. Remember that up until World War I, Austria was the seat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that stretched over much of eastern Europe. It was a real powerhouse thanks to the deft marrying off of members of the Hapsburg family. So this was a pretty big and fancy palace.
The palace consisted of three different museums: the royal dish museum, the Sisi museum, and the Imperial apartments. I'll give a little bit about each.
The dish museum, unsurprisingly, consisted of many of the dishes the royal family used. Interestingly, up until the 18th century, proper noble families dined on silver plates and saved porcelain for soup and dessert. Then, tastes changed and porcelain became acceptable for all courses of the meal. Also, there is a particular way that the napkins are folded on the plates. But it is only done for formal state dinners (when hosting a monarch or head of state) and only two people know exactly how it is done.
The Sisi museum chronicled the life and times of Empress Elizabeth, who lived in the late 19th century. Elizabeth, or Sisi as she was called from childhood, was renowned for her beauty, her 20 inch waist, and ankle length hair. She hated court life and withdrew from it after her 30th birthday. She eventually became estranged from her husband and died after being stabbed by an Italian anarchist. This has led to some people calling her a fore runner to Princess Diana.
Finally, the imperial apartments showed how the Emperor and Empress lived. It was, of course, remarkably ornate and beautiful. But my favorite set of rooms was a back set of servants quarters that had floor to ceiling wall paintings of tropical scenes. You really felt you were on a beach!
After that, it was off to the royal treasury to see an impressive collection of crowns and jewels, which were spectacular.
Finally, I ended my evening with the opera! While tickets had long since been sold out, they sell standing room tickets 80 minutes before the show starts. I was able to get a ticket and was in the cheap seats up at the top of the opera. I did not know what they were going to show before I went, so it was a real treat when it turned out to be Mozart's the Magic Flute, one of his most successful operas. It was a little tiring to stand all that time, but they had a railing to lean on and the performance was well worth it.
Starting off at the Vienna State Opera building, I did a self-guided tour narrated by my traveling companion, my Rick Steves guidebook. I did a loop around the old town, going past the big cathedral, the main shopping street, a few monuments and memorials, and ended up at the Hofburg palace.
I did make one detour at Cafe Sacher. A little explanation is needed for this detour to make sense. Back when we lived in Alaska, my mom was a secret shopper for a grocery store chain call Carrs. She was given a store to go to and to send in an evaluation of the store based on several different criteria (friendliness of personnel, cleanliness of store, etc.). I always tagged along, so that she could ask the questions and then I could unobstrusively catch the nametag of the employee she was talking to. At the store that was Mom's main store, we always stopped by the bakery and always ordered the same thing (after asking for a sample!): a sacher torte. It is a chocolate torte with a layer of apricot filling in the middle. It might not sound good, but it was delicious! After we moved away, I have been unable to find a place that sells it. So, it was a big deal when I discovered it was invented in Vienna and I would be able to have one. And yes, it was (almost) as delicious as I remembered it.
That led to an afternoon of touring through the imperial palace. Remember that up until World War I, Austria was the seat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that stretched over much of eastern Europe. It was a real powerhouse thanks to the deft marrying off of members of the Hapsburg family. So this was a pretty big and fancy palace.
The palace consisted of three different museums: the royal dish museum, the Sisi museum, and the Imperial apartments. I'll give a little bit about each.
The dish museum, unsurprisingly, consisted of many of the dishes the royal family used. Interestingly, up until the 18th century, proper noble families dined on silver plates and saved porcelain for soup and dessert. Then, tastes changed and porcelain became acceptable for all courses of the meal. Also, there is a particular way that the napkins are folded on the plates. But it is only done for formal state dinners (when hosting a monarch or head of state) and only two people know exactly how it is done.
The Sisi museum chronicled the life and times of Empress Elizabeth, who lived in the late 19th century. Elizabeth, or Sisi as she was called from childhood, was renowned for her beauty, her 20 inch waist, and ankle length hair. She hated court life and withdrew from it after her 30th birthday. She eventually became estranged from her husband and died after being stabbed by an Italian anarchist. This has led to some people calling her a fore runner to Princess Diana.
Finally, the imperial apartments showed how the Emperor and Empress lived. It was, of course, remarkably ornate and beautiful. But my favorite set of rooms was a back set of servants quarters that had floor to ceiling wall paintings of tropical scenes. You really felt you were on a beach!
After that, it was off to the royal treasury to see an impressive collection of crowns and jewels, which were spectacular.
Finally, I ended my evening with the opera! While tickets had long since been sold out, they sell standing room tickets 80 minutes before the show starts. I was able to get a ticket and was in the cheap seats up at the top of the opera. I did not know what they were going to show before I went, so it was a real treat when it turned out to be Mozart's the Magic Flute, one of his most successful operas. It was a little tiring to stand all that time, but they had a railing to lean on and the performance was well worth it.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Day #20: Salzburg
Apparently, the dirty little secret about Salzburg is that the reason it is so beautiful is because it rains so much. A local told me that they have had two days of rain for ever day of not rain (as she put it) so far this year. But it takes a lot more than a little precipitation to derail my plans!
The day started out with the Sound of Music tour! A number of tour companies had sketched together the various sights that Hollywood used to film the Sound of Music and made it into a guided tour. While I had booked my tour online, I never received a confirmation email and my follow up email to the office remained unanswered. I showed up at the appointed time anyway hoping for the best, and thankfully it was just their fault for not sending a confirmation email.
We launched off on our tour by seeing the Von Trapp house. Well, actually, for the movie, they used two different houses (one for the front and one for the back), neither of which was the Von Trapp's actual house. This house is also where they filmed the lake scene where all the children and Maria fell into the water. Apparently, the actress that played Gretal hated the water and they were afraid of her drowning, so they had to put scuba divers in the water under the boat!
Other stops included the church where Maria and the captain got married, the famous gazebo (an important part for me after the duet I had in the Free Speech Musical), the hills where Maria ran through, the convent, the trees where the children were playing in, and various other bit scenes. On the way back to Salzburg (after a struedel break!), our guide popped in the movie soundtrack and we do, re, mi'd our way back to town.
The tour took most of the morning, so it was afternoon by the time I got to the next stop on my itinerary: Mozart's house. Mozart lived in Salzburg for much of the young part of his life. Of course, much of that time was spent touring Europe with his father and sister, wowing the courts and nobles of various European capitals with his prodigious talent. Maybe some of that trotting around Europe had an effect, because the museum mentioned how much Mozart disliked Salzburg and how he couldn't wait to get out! Which is especially ironic because if you go to Salzburg today, you can't swing a stick without touching some sort of Mozart paraphinelia. The town does not seem to mind Mozart's sentiments, they will profit off his memory nonetheless. Ah capitalism.
After Mozart's House, it was a quick hike up to the Hofburg fortress that overlooks the city of Salzburg. The views were spectacular although the castle itself was not all that great, compared to some of the ones I've seen. As with Neuschwanstein, you could get to the top with a little train, but I opted for the hike!
I finished the day with a Mozart Dinner Concert. One restrauant has a deal set up where you sit in a Baroque style room, have a three course meal featuring dishes that were popular in Mozart's day, and in between courses, you get a sample of Mozart's work from a string quartet and two opera singers. The performances were outstanding and the dinner was great. I especially enjoyed the intriguing cream soup with lemon flavoring and a dumpling. The maitre d sat me at a table with five Brits and two Aussies. They were great dinner companions and we had a lively conversation in between performances.
At one point, they were talking about BBC tv shows and then realized I was clueless. So one bloke from England told me, "You know the best show America's put on? Frasier." The rest of the table heartily agreed. I knew there was a reason I liked these people! One woman said how her favorite character was Eddie and I was able to put to use my vast Frasier knowledge and tell her that Eddie received the most fan mail out of any actor on the show!
Well, after a day like that, I was just able to drag myself into my bed and fall asleep! But not for too long, I had to catch an early morning train to Vienna the next day.
The day started out with the Sound of Music tour! A number of tour companies had sketched together the various sights that Hollywood used to film the Sound of Music and made it into a guided tour. While I had booked my tour online, I never received a confirmation email and my follow up email to the office remained unanswered. I showed up at the appointed time anyway hoping for the best, and thankfully it was just their fault for not sending a confirmation email.
We launched off on our tour by seeing the Von Trapp house. Well, actually, for the movie, they used two different houses (one for the front and one for the back), neither of which was the Von Trapp's actual house. This house is also where they filmed the lake scene where all the children and Maria fell into the water. Apparently, the actress that played Gretal hated the water and they were afraid of her drowning, so they had to put scuba divers in the water under the boat!
Other stops included the church where Maria and the captain got married, the famous gazebo (an important part for me after the duet I had in the Free Speech Musical), the hills where Maria ran through, the convent, the trees where the children were playing in, and various other bit scenes. On the way back to Salzburg (after a struedel break!), our guide popped in the movie soundtrack and we do, re, mi'd our way back to town.
The tour took most of the morning, so it was afternoon by the time I got to the next stop on my itinerary: Mozart's house. Mozart lived in Salzburg for much of the young part of his life. Of course, much of that time was spent touring Europe with his father and sister, wowing the courts and nobles of various European capitals with his prodigious talent. Maybe some of that trotting around Europe had an effect, because the museum mentioned how much Mozart disliked Salzburg and how he couldn't wait to get out! Which is especially ironic because if you go to Salzburg today, you can't swing a stick without touching some sort of Mozart paraphinelia. The town does not seem to mind Mozart's sentiments, they will profit off his memory nonetheless. Ah capitalism.
After Mozart's House, it was a quick hike up to the Hofburg fortress that overlooks the city of Salzburg. The views were spectacular although the castle itself was not all that great, compared to some of the ones I've seen. As with Neuschwanstein, you could get to the top with a little train, but I opted for the hike!
I finished the day with a Mozart Dinner Concert. One restrauant has a deal set up where you sit in a Baroque style room, have a three course meal featuring dishes that were popular in Mozart's day, and in between courses, you get a sample of Mozart's work from a string quartet and two opera singers. The performances were outstanding and the dinner was great. I especially enjoyed the intriguing cream soup with lemon flavoring and a dumpling. The maitre d sat me at a table with five Brits and two Aussies. They were great dinner companions and we had a lively conversation in between performances.
At one point, they were talking about BBC tv shows and then realized I was clueless. So one bloke from England told me, "You know the best show America's put on? Frasier." The rest of the table heartily agreed. I knew there was a reason I liked these people! One woman said how her favorite character was Eddie and I was able to put to use my vast Frasier knowledge and tell her that Eddie received the most fan mail out of any actor on the show!
Well, after a day like that, I was just able to drag myself into my bed and fall asleep! But not for too long, I had to catch an early morning train to Vienna the next day.
Day #19: Dachau
Well, it wasn't a trip I was especially keen on taking. Concentration camps are never fun to go visit. But you feel compelled to go. As if you still can't comprehen how man could be so cruel as to slaughter his fellow man unless you see the place where it happened. That, and several other reasons, was why I spent a half day tour out to Dachau Concentration Camp.
Aushwitz and several others beat out Dachau in terms of sheer numbers of people murdered within their camps, but Dachau is important for a variety of other reasons, as I soon learned. Dachau was one of the first concentration camps opened in 1933, not long after Hitler assumed dictatorial powers. And what I did not know is that it was not intended as an extermination camp per se. The Nazis placed Dachau at the site of an old munitions factory and used the "prisoners" to help the war effort. The idea was to work them relentlessly under such inhumane conditions, that the workers would eventually die. You see in the gate to Dachau, the phrase "Freedom through Work." Considering the conditions they put people through, that phrase is both haunting and chilling.
Beyond being one of the first camps, Dachau became the blueprint for how other camps were structured and run. The second commandant of Dachau experimented with a numbe rof different methods of punishment and camp structure. He eventually "perfected" a cruelly efficient system and for his reward he was appointed the Inspector General of the concentration camp system and exported his "Dachau method" to other camps. That method proved so ingrained that when the German generals complained that the amount of deaths were hindering the production of war materials, the camp commandants couldn't change. Instead, they fudged the numbers of deaths to make it look better for them.
After leaving Dachau, I went back to Munich and caught a train to Salzburg. After I arrived and dropped my bag off at the hostel, I had enough time to do a quick self-guided tour of Salzburg's old town center. Salzburg is a beautiful city that has a river running right through the center of it. I'll have more on Salzburg in tomorrow's post!
Aushwitz and several others beat out Dachau in terms of sheer numbers of people murdered within their camps, but Dachau is important for a variety of other reasons, as I soon learned. Dachau was one of the first concentration camps opened in 1933, not long after Hitler assumed dictatorial powers. And what I did not know is that it was not intended as an extermination camp per se. The Nazis placed Dachau at the site of an old munitions factory and used the "prisoners" to help the war effort. The idea was to work them relentlessly under such inhumane conditions, that the workers would eventually die. You see in the gate to Dachau, the phrase "Freedom through Work." Considering the conditions they put people through, that phrase is both haunting and chilling.
Beyond being one of the first camps, Dachau became the blueprint for how other camps were structured and run. The second commandant of Dachau experimented with a numbe rof different methods of punishment and camp structure. He eventually "perfected" a cruelly efficient system and for his reward he was appointed the Inspector General of the concentration camp system and exported his "Dachau method" to other camps. That method proved so ingrained that when the German generals complained that the amount of deaths were hindering the production of war materials, the camp commandants couldn't change. Instead, they fudged the numbers of deaths to make it look better for them.
After leaving Dachau, I went back to Munich and caught a train to Salzburg. After I arrived and dropped my bag off at the hostel, I had enough time to do a quick self-guided tour of Salzburg's old town center. Salzburg is a beautiful city that has a river running right through the center of it. I'll have more on Salzburg in tomorrow's post!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Day #18: Neuschwanstein Castle
On Day #18, I left Munich for an all day tour of the castles of Mad King Ludwig II. Anti-social to the extreme, he was not happy with his family castle and set out an ambitious building program. He started construction on three different castles, all outside of the Bavarian capital of Munich. He finished one and mostly finished the other two before he was forced off the throne and then found dead two days later under mysterious circumstances.
We left Munich on a two level tour bus and made our way to the first castle, Lindehof castle. Carefully tucked away at the base of a mountain, Lindehof castle was on the small side (as castles go), with only two floors and about 20 or so rooms.
This was a favorite of Ludwig and he spent a great majority of his time here after he finished it. My favorite part was the cool gardens and fountain he had out front.
After that, we bundled back into the bus for a quick side trip to the small scenic town of Oberammergau, where they are known for putting on a Passion play once every decade for the past 400 or so years. (They originally started the play as a thanksgiving for sparing them from the Bubonic plague.)
Finally, it was on to the main castle, Neuschwanstein. Ludwig had this castle built not from an architect's drawing, but rather from a painter's. He had a painter conceptualize what he thought a king's castle should be and then went from there. Ludwig had it mostly completed and lived in it for only about 100 days until he died. We did a tour of the interior, which was impressive, at least the parts that were finished. He had a huge Wagner fetish and had a cave and grotto built into his castle since that was a feature in one of Wagner's operas.
Although, the tour bus could only take us up to the base of the mountain the castle sat on. We had to use on of three ways to get up to the top: (1) pay two euros and take the bus that came every 20 minutes, (2) pay six euros and take a horse drawn carriage up, or (3) pay nothing and hike the mile up at a steep angle.
I think by now you all know which option I picked. My vacations, as some of you well know, have a tendency of turning into fat camps. By that, I mean I walk everywhere to see sights and think nothing of launching up a steep hike for a good view. And when you throw in my natural thriftiness, the choice was practically pre-ordained. So, when I made the hike up (our guide told us it would take 45 minutes, I made it in 20) to the castle, I had time to kill. Then, i found out you could hike up even higher to a bridge for a great view of the castle. It was hard work, but I think you can see from the pictures that was well worth it. While it was a little cloudy and rainy, you could still see the castle quite clearly.
One interesting thing about Neuschwanstein castle is that it supposedly is the basis for the castle at Walt Disney World. What do you think?
We were warned to be at the bus by 5pm so we can get back to Munich. In the abundance of caution, I got back at 4:50pm. Well, it turns out other people were not so cautious. Out of a bus of 70 some odd people, 6 people were late. We waited until 5:20 and then, in the face of a mini-passenger revolt led by a Brazilian who had to catch a train, we left them behind. I hope they had a way of getting back to Munich!
We left Munich on a two level tour bus and made our way to the first castle, Lindehof castle. Carefully tucked away at the base of a mountain, Lindehof castle was on the small side (as castles go), with only two floors and about 20 or so rooms.
This was a favorite of Ludwig and he spent a great majority of his time here after he finished it. My favorite part was the cool gardens and fountain he had out front.
After that, we bundled back into the bus for a quick side trip to the small scenic town of Oberammergau, where they are known for putting on a Passion play once every decade for the past 400 or so years. (They originally started the play as a thanksgiving for sparing them from the Bubonic plague.)
Finally, it was on to the main castle, Neuschwanstein. Ludwig had this castle built not from an architect's drawing, but rather from a painter's. He had a painter conceptualize what he thought a king's castle should be and then went from there. Ludwig had it mostly completed and lived in it for only about 100 days until he died. We did a tour of the interior, which was impressive, at least the parts that were finished. He had a huge Wagner fetish and had a cave and grotto built into his castle since that was a feature in one of Wagner's operas.
Although, the tour bus could only take us up to the base of the mountain the castle sat on. We had to use on of three ways to get up to the top: (1) pay two euros and take the bus that came every 20 minutes, (2) pay six euros and take a horse drawn carriage up, or (3) pay nothing and hike the mile up at a steep angle.
I think by now you all know which option I picked. My vacations, as some of you well know, have a tendency of turning into fat camps. By that, I mean I walk everywhere to see sights and think nothing of launching up a steep hike for a good view. And when you throw in my natural thriftiness, the choice was practically pre-ordained. So, when I made the hike up (our guide told us it would take 45 minutes, I made it in 20) to the castle, I had time to kill. Then, i found out you could hike up even higher to a bridge for a great view of the castle. It was hard work, but I think you can see from the pictures that was well worth it. While it was a little cloudy and rainy, you could still see the castle quite clearly.
One interesting thing about Neuschwanstein castle is that it supposedly is the basis for the castle at Walt Disney World. What do you think?
We were warned to be at the bus by 5pm so we can get back to Munich. In the abundance of caution, I got back at 4:50pm. Well, it turns out other people were not so cautious. Out of a bus of 70 some odd people, 6 people were late. We waited until 5:20 and then, in the face of a mini-passenger revolt led by a Brazilian who had to catch a train, we left them behind. I hope they had a way of getting back to Munich!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Day #17: Munich
There was a lot in store to see of Munich, and due to my schedule, I had to pack in all of what I wanted to see in Munich into one day. (The next two days were reserved for side trips.) So I started the day on a whirlwind walking tour. Advertised as a totally free tour, all you did was show up and tip the guide at the end, if you felt so inclined.
We started off in the Marienplatz, which is the home of the famous Munich Glockenspiel. Recently tabbed as the second most overrated tourist attraction in Europe, the glockenspiel pretty much lived up to that billing. After a five minute interlude of bells, the glockenspiel sprung into action. One the top part, a Bavarian knight defeated an Austrian knight. And on the bottom part, several coopers twirled around in a dance. Not much to see.
The rest of the tour was more entertaining, showing off much of the reconstructed old city, 90% of which was destroyed in World War II. Highlights included the old royal district, now an über pricey shopping district.
There was one lowlight for me though. When trying to pitch his company's other (for pay) tours, he mentioned the most important one was Dachau, the concentration camp tour. He said it was important because learning the past helps prevent making the same mistakes again. In fact, he said that after going on the Dachau tour, he was struck by how much it resembled Guantanamo Bay. In fact, he further informed us, in his opinion, Gitmo fit every part of a definition of a concentration camp. I did not feel like it be productive to argue with him right in the middle of Munich and thus derail the tour, but I did take his little diatribe into account when tip time came around... (As Michael Jordan once famously said when someone tried to urge him to be more politically active, Republicans buy shoes too.)
That tour took up most of the morning, and then it was off to the Residenz palace, home to the Wittlebach family that ruled Bavaria for over 700 years. First, they were dukes. Then after a few hundred years, they were made electors in the Holy Roman Empire. Finally, Napoleon made one a king in the 1800s. Point being, these people had money and power and their house showed it. Most impressive was the Antiquarium, a long dining hall that is lavishly decorated with busts of Roman emperors on the sides. (Hence the room name, antiques = antiquarium. It does not signify that any pet fish are involved as I was mistakenly thought as first!)
Finally, the evening was capped off by a tour of a brewery and Munich's most famous beer hall, Hofbrauhaus (Originally, the king's own private beer label and beer hall). Not bad for a day's worth of sightseeing.
We started off in the Marienplatz, which is the home of the famous Munich Glockenspiel. Recently tabbed as the second most overrated tourist attraction in Europe, the glockenspiel pretty much lived up to that billing. After a five minute interlude of bells, the glockenspiel sprung into action. One the top part, a Bavarian knight defeated an Austrian knight. And on the bottom part, several coopers twirled around in a dance. Not much to see.
The rest of the tour was more entertaining, showing off much of the reconstructed old city, 90% of which was destroyed in World War II. Highlights included the old royal district, now an über pricey shopping district.
There was one lowlight for me though. When trying to pitch his company's other (for pay) tours, he mentioned the most important one was Dachau, the concentration camp tour. He said it was important because learning the past helps prevent making the same mistakes again. In fact, he said that after going on the Dachau tour, he was struck by how much it resembled Guantanamo Bay. In fact, he further informed us, in his opinion, Gitmo fit every part of a definition of a concentration camp. I did not feel like it be productive to argue with him right in the middle of Munich and thus derail the tour, but I did take his little diatribe into account when tip time came around... (As Michael Jordan once famously said when someone tried to urge him to be more politically active, Republicans buy shoes too.)
That tour took up most of the morning, and then it was off to the Residenz palace, home to the Wittlebach family that ruled Bavaria for over 700 years. First, they were dukes. Then after a few hundred years, they were made electors in the Holy Roman Empire. Finally, Napoleon made one a king in the 1800s. Point being, these people had money and power and their house showed it. Most impressive was the Antiquarium, a long dining hall that is lavishly decorated with busts of Roman emperors on the sides. (Hence the room name, antiques = antiquarium. It does not signify that any pet fish are involved as I was mistakenly thought as first!)
Finally, the evening was capped off by a tour of a brewery and Munich's most famous beer hall, Hofbrauhaus (Originally, the king's own private beer label and beer hall). Not bad for a day's worth of sightseeing.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Day #16: Rothenburg/Nuremberg
On Day #16, I started out the day by walking the wall. Rothenburg still has most of its original fortifications still up with an inner rampart you can walk. But part of the town and its wall in World War II. What the city did to rebuild was issue a call for donations. In return for a certain amount, a person could "adopt" a portion of the wall and get a brick on the wall in their honor. It was cool to see the town from a different perspective in the early morning light and seeing the bricks with people's names and places from them.
After walking the wall, I spent the rest of my time spending my money. Rothenburg is the king of quaint German souveniers and I loaded up. One shop in particular, the Friese-Shop, was quite kind to me. In addition to the 10% discount I got for having a Rick Steves book, I got my 19% value added tax refunded for immediately shipping everything, which they were happy to do for me at cost. So, all told, it cost 10 euros to ship presents for my parents, brother, and sister back to America. Not bad.
After shopping, I caught a train to Nuremberg for a quick day trip. Unfortunately, the Nuremberg courtrooms were closed for renovation, but there was still plenty to occupy me. Nuremberg was a kind of spiritual headquarters for the Nazi Party. It is where they held their yearly party rallies up until they started World War II. Each rally had a theme theat the Nazis used to communicate their message through, i.e. one year was the Rally for Unity and Strength Ironically enough, the theme for that year was slated to be a Rally for Peace, but then they invaded Poland instead.
Nuremberg was thus accorded a special place in the world of Adolph Hitler. It was slated to be one of five Führer cities that were to showcase Nazism. But Nuremberg is the only place where they built anything and even then, not much was even started, much less completed. The city is still the best place to see Nazi architecture as envisioned by Hitler and his favorite architect, Albert Speer.
Original plans for Nuremburg included a stadium that would hold 400,000 spectators and several party buildings. What we have today is the fully completed Zeppelin grounds where Hitler delivered his fiery speeches to the party faithful and the half-built Congress Hall built to house meetings of party diginitaries.
It is in one wing of Congress Hall where Germany has built a museum, documenting Nuremberg's place in Nazi folklore and tracing Hitler's rise to power, including original footage from party rallies and the propoganda film, Triumph of the Will. It was quite well done and sobering to take in. I will try to come back and post some pictures when I get to.
Nazi architecture is austere and monolithic, designed to show all who is in power. The buildings were designed to last 1000 years, which is how long Hitler imagined his Third Reich would last. Interestingly enough, the background of the podium at the Zeppelin Field was designed to look like the Pergammon Altar I saw in Berlin.
After spending several hours at the museum and wandering around the Rally Ground complex, I caught a train to Munich and used the rest of the evening to settle into my hostel.
After walking the wall, I spent the rest of my time spending my money. Rothenburg is the king of quaint German souveniers and I loaded up. One shop in particular, the Friese-Shop, was quite kind to me. In addition to the 10% discount I got for having a Rick Steves book, I got my 19% value added tax refunded for immediately shipping everything, which they were happy to do for me at cost. So, all told, it cost 10 euros to ship presents for my parents, brother, and sister back to America. Not bad.
After shopping, I caught a train to Nuremberg for a quick day trip. Unfortunately, the Nuremberg courtrooms were closed for renovation, but there was still plenty to occupy me. Nuremberg was a kind of spiritual headquarters for the Nazi Party. It is where they held their yearly party rallies up until they started World War II. Each rally had a theme theat the Nazis used to communicate their message through, i.e. one year was the Rally for Unity and Strength Ironically enough, the theme for that year was slated to be a Rally for Peace, but then they invaded Poland instead.
Nuremberg was thus accorded a special place in the world of Adolph Hitler. It was slated to be one of five Führer cities that were to showcase Nazism. But Nuremberg is the only place where they built anything and even then, not much was even started, much less completed. The city is still the best place to see Nazi architecture as envisioned by Hitler and his favorite architect, Albert Speer.
Original plans for Nuremburg included a stadium that would hold 400,000 spectators and several party buildings. What we have today is the fully completed Zeppelin grounds where Hitler delivered his fiery speeches to the party faithful and the half-built Congress Hall built to house meetings of party diginitaries.
It is in one wing of Congress Hall where Germany has built a museum, documenting Nuremberg's place in Nazi folklore and tracing Hitler's rise to power, including original footage from party rallies and the propoganda film, Triumph of the Will. It was quite well done and sobering to take in. I will try to come back and post some pictures when I get to.
Nazi architecture is austere and monolithic, designed to show all who is in power. The buildings were designed to last 1000 years, which is how long Hitler imagined his Third Reich would last. Interestingly enough, the background of the podium at the Zeppelin Field was designed to look like the Pergammon Altar I saw in Berlin.
After spending several hours at the museum and wandering around the Rally Ground complex, I caught a train to Munich and used the rest of the evening to settle into my hostel.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Announcement
I'll have my daily post up in a couple hours, but I want to say that I'm scaling back my trip a little. Two weeks over here has taught me that ten weeks is way too long to be on a trip by yourself. Especially when you are me and have a maniacal fix on seeing every sight possible before I drive myself to exhaustion. Had I stayed on the road all ten weeks, I can only imagine that I'd turn into some sort of anti-social Gollum-like creature, clutching my RIck Steves guidebook calling it my precious...
So, I changed my flight and will now be going back to my parent's place in DC on October 10th instead of November 1st. That gives me approximately seven weeks on the road instead of the original ten.
So, I changed my flight and will now be going back to my parent's place in DC on October 10th instead of November 1st. That gives me approximately seven weeks on the road instead of the original ten.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Day# 15: Rothenburg
After a nice breakfast at the B&B I was staying at, I spent most of the next five hours on a train. Here's the route:
From Bacharach, I took a regional line to Mainz. From Mainz, I hopped a bigger train to Frankfurt's main train station. In Frankfurt, I ran several tracks over to catch my connection to Steinach. From Steinach, I caught the shuttle train to Rothenburg. Whoo.
Rothenburg (and I wish I could post the pictures but the terminal is locked up, precluding access to the USB port) is a medieval walled town. Sacked several times during the 30 Years War in the 17th century, it basically has not changed since then. I spent most of the afternoon wandering around in the town, taking in the sights.
One museum to note is the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. It has a fascinating collection of torture devices and other instruments used as punishment through the years. My favorite were the shame masks, the ornaments of which were customized to reflect the crime you committed. The Museum also had an impressive arrray of ancient seals, papal indulgences, and other legal documents of old.
My evening ended with the Nightwatchmen's Tour. Dressed to look the part, our guide led us on a tour of Rothenburg at dusk, seamlessly intertwining historical facts with a witty turn of phrase. In a sign of the times, at the end of tour, the Nightwatchman hawked his dvd that was available for sale at all major tourist stores!
After the tour, I went back to my hostel and met a couple of Americans who had just come from Munich. I was able to pick their brain for suggestions on what to do, so I feel like I've got a good idea about how to tackle that town.
Well, that's all for today! Hope everything is going well with yall. As always, emails and/or comments are appreciated.
From Bacharach, I took a regional line to Mainz. From Mainz, I hopped a bigger train to Frankfurt's main train station. In Frankfurt, I ran several tracks over to catch my connection to Steinach. From Steinach, I caught the shuttle train to Rothenburg. Whoo.
Rothenburg (and I wish I could post the pictures but the terminal is locked up, precluding access to the USB port) is a medieval walled town. Sacked several times during the 30 Years War in the 17th century, it basically has not changed since then. I spent most of the afternoon wandering around in the town, taking in the sights.
One museum to note is the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. It has a fascinating collection of torture devices and other instruments used as punishment through the years. My favorite were the shame masks, the ornaments of which were customized to reflect the crime you committed. The Museum also had an impressive arrray of ancient seals, papal indulgences, and other legal documents of old.
My evening ended with the Nightwatchmen's Tour. Dressed to look the part, our guide led us on a tour of Rothenburg at dusk, seamlessly intertwining historical facts with a witty turn of phrase. In a sign of the times, at the end of tour, the Nightwatchman hawked his dvd that was available for sale at all major tourist stores!
After the tour, I went back to my hostel and met a couple of Americans who had just come from Munich. I was able to pick their brain for suggestions on what to do, so I feel like I've got a good idea about how to tackle that town.
Well, that's all for today! Hope everything is going well with yall. As always, emails and/or comments are appreciated.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day #14: Köln and the Rhine River
Monday dawned bright and clear and it was off to see Köln's main attraction, its amazing Gothic cathedral. Construction started in the 13th century, but after the Reformation and moving trade routes, funds dried up and building halted. The cathedral wasn't completely finished until the late 19th century. The cathedral is famous not only for its size, but also for housing the bones of the Magi. The bodies were "discovered" in Jerusalem by Helen, mother of Constantine the Great in the 300s. From there, the relics lasted almost 1000 years in Milan, until Barbarrosa of Germany invaded Italy and the Archbishop of Köln transferred (to use the tour guide's word for it) the bones to Köln.
After the cathedral tour, it was off to catch a train down the Rhine River to tour Rheinfells Castle. Built high above the river and the scenic town of St. Goar, Rheinfells Castle protected this stretch of the river for hundreds of years, until the French Revolutionary Army came through and partially destroyed it. Still, what is left is an impressive sight.
After traipsing through the castle, I caught a boat for a cruise down the Rhine. The scenery, idyllic villages, and numerous castles (built to extract tolls from river floating commerce) all combined to let the river live up to its knickname of the "Romantic Rhine."
After the cathedral tour, it was off to catch a train down the Rhine River to tour Rheinfells Castle. Built high above the river and the scenic town of St. Goar, Rheinfells Castle protected this stretch of the river for hundreds of years, until the French Revolutionary Army came through and partially destroyed it. Still, what is left is an impressive sight. After traipsing through the castle, I caught a boat for a cruise down the Rhine. The scenery, idyllic villages, and numerous castles (built to extract tolls from river floating commerce) all combined to let the river live up to its knickname of the "Romantic Rhine."My boat tour ended in the town of Bacharach where I stayed the night at a small B&B. After a delicious meal of jaegerschnitzel, I headed for an evening stroll. Bacharach is world famous as a wine making town, especially for its Reisling wine. So, I at the end of my walk, I ended up at a wine garded. There, I shared a table with a retired Swedish couple. We had a great conversation (well, the wife spoke English well and translated for her husband). One interesting item she mentioned was that more and more Swedish people were buying private health insurance. It turns out that the waiting list for the government provided health care was too long, so they are turning to private sources. I thought it was interesting given the health care debate back home.
Day #13: Leaving Berlin
Today I leave Berlin, so first item of business is to find a place to drop off my backpack. I figure the best place is the main train station. I guess because the Berlin train station is so big and important, they don't have luggage lockers. Instead, they have a bag check where your luggage first has to go through an x-ray machine. Pretty high tech.
The reason I had to check my bag was my first stop of the morning was the Reichstag, and they don't allow large pieces of luggage. The Rechistag was built in the late 19th century and was rebuilt after World War II. The Rechistag building does have one modern addtion: a glass dome on top over the plenary session of the Bundestag (Germany's version of the House of Represenatives). The neat thing is that you can take an elevator up to the glass dome and walk up in, giving you great views of the city. UInsurprisingly, this is a popular attraction so I had to get their early before the crods arrived. I got there around 9am, but still had to wait about 30 minutes to get through security and up into the dome. The view was well worth it. Here's the dome:
From there, it was on to Gemäldegalerie, Berlin's museum for 14th-18th century art. The heart of the collection is 16 paintings by Rembrandt. Here's a self-portrait he did of himself as a young man.
From there, it was back to the train station to collect my bag and hope a train to Köln (or Cologne). The train ride was uneventful, but made more interesting by a young German soil scientist who sat across from me. She was on her way to a soil science convention in Bonn and was kind enough to point out interesting sights out the window.
When I got to Cologne, I checked into the hostel. After check-in, I heard someone say, "I like your shirt!" (I was wearing a long sleeved Carolina shirt). Turns out, there was another UNC grad at the hostel! Ellen graduated last December and was on her way to an orientation for the Fulbright Scholars. Small world!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Real Day #12: Still Berlin
So I noticed my day numbering system has been a little off. Oh well, I will try to put my days in the correct order from now on.
I awoke and took a train to meet up with a walking tour. I had to scramble to find an ATM since I only had 10 euros on me and the price was advertised as 15 euros. I finally found one, fot my money, and made it to assembly place just before they left. After an unadvertised student discount, my walking tour cost me . . . 10 euros. Sigh.
I thought that the price was a little high for a walking tour, but I went along with it as my guidebook gave this particular company its highest rating. The walk was billed as "Discover Berlin," containing all of Berlin's essentials. And boy did it ever. I originally thought the tour would last two hours, but it instead lasted 4.5 hours! At two euros per hour for all of Berlin's essentials, I felt like I had underpaid!
Our tour was led by an energetic Scot named Kenny. We kicked off the main part of the tour at Museum Island, where the kaiser and his family had their own private art gallery and cathedral. From there, we hit all the big sights: where the Nazis had the book burnings, Checkpoint Charlie, what's left of the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag.
I did commit a little faux pas on the tour though. While at Brandenburg Gate, Kenny pointed out the historic Hotel Adlon and listed many of the famous people who had stayed there: President Bush, then Senator Barack Obama, Madonna, etc. And then, in a burst of realization and enthusiasm, I blurted out, "Isn't that where Michael jackson dangled his kid?" "Yes, Jeff," Kenny replied, "thanks for ruining the punchline." Whoops.
After the tour was over, I returned to Museum Island to visit the two famous antiquities museums. The Altes Gallery had an impressive display of Greek and Roman artifacts, including several statues and a plethora of amphoras. But the highlight was an Egyptian piece, the bust of Quen Nefertiti. Used by the royal builder for all of her likenesses in public buildings, the bust is a model. Nefertiti is called the most beautiful woman in Berlin and after a close look, I might have to agree!
The next stop was the Pergamon Museum, named for its most famous piece, the Pergamon alter. Built to commemorate a Pergamese (sp?) military victory, the altar is surrounded by a tremendous freize that depicts the Greek gods in battle against the giant children of the earth goddess Gaia. While only 1/3 of the freize survived, they managed to put together some pretty good streches of it, including this one of a victorious Athena.
The Pergamon Museum also includes the Ischtar Gate of babylonian fame. Built by King Nebukadnezzar, I'm told the gate is mentioned in the Bible.
The last stop of the day was the Museum of the House at Checkpoint Charlie. While the museum did have some interesting displas of ways people used to get over the wall, it was cluttered and unorganized and I would not recommend it. Signs announced they were renovating, so maybe it well be more clear after that. Of course, it was late after a long day of sight-sightseeing, so I'm sure that affected my judgment of it as well!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Day #12: Berlin!
Well, I'm not good at suspense (and let's be honest, you'd skip to the end anyway to peak; I know I would), so I'll go ahead and tell you that I made it safely to Berlin.
When I left you at the end of yesterday's episode, I found out that both my Plan A and Plan B for getting to Berlin were fully booked. Leaving me unsure of how I was going to get to the German capital.
I decided the best course of action was to get to Copenhagen, the source of my bottleneck. Not only was it a transportation hub, it was also a familiar city so I was somewhat familiar with its layout and (more importantly) its train station.
As I sat on the train to Malmö from Stockholm, the thought occurred to me, if Malmö/Copenhagen was the problem for me, if I were able to just get to Hamburg (a north German town famous for, well, you know...), they had hourly trains to Berlin. Based upon that, I started look at train connections from other, more western, Danish towns. It turns out, that if I could make it to Odense, the biggest town on the island west of Copenhagen, I could catch a train to Fredericia, which is on the main penisula of Denmark. From Fredericia, there was a train to Hamburg, and from Hamburg I could get to Berlin. The only drawback? To make it all work, I'd have to take the first train from Copenhagen to Odense, and that left at 6am. (grumble, grumble, grumble).
So after 5 hours of sleep at the hostel (which was neatly cut in half at 2am by the drunken entrance of, what I believe from what I could recollect in my half-awake state, part of an American minor league baseball team), I headed to the train station and caught the train to Odense. When I made it to Fredericia without incident, I noticed on the departure board that there was a train going to Berlin. I quickly made my way to the information desk and reserved a seat. Praise the Lord! My time of arrival in Berlin? 2:27pm. Which is the exact same time it would have been had I been able to get on the straight from Copenhagen train. And when we arrived, that train had not yet come in. So my piecemeal way was faster. Ha. How's that for working out?
That left me time to wander a little around East Germany after I checked in at my hostel. I was able to visit the highly conceptual Jewish Museum in south Berlin. It is devoted to the history of the German jews, with a heavy emphasis on the Holocaust. While for the most part, the unconventional architecture of the building interested me more than the displays, there was one case that stuck with me. It displayed a little stuffed monkey, that's all. The placard next to the display case told the story that a father had given the monkey to his son right before they were separated into different concentration camps. That was the last time he saw his son and both his wife and son were murdered in the camps. Simply heartbreaking.
When I left you at the end of yesterday's episode, I found out that both my Plan A and Plan B for getting to Berlin were fully booked. Leaving me unsure of how I was going to get to the German capital.
I decided the best course of action was to get to Copenhagen, the source of my bottleneck. Not only was it a transportation hub, it was also a familiar city so I was somewhat familiar with its layout and (more importantly) its train station.
As I sat on the train to Malmö from Stockholm, the thought occurred to me, if Malmö/Copenhagen was the problem for me, if I were able to just get to Hamburg (a north German town famous for, well, you know...), they had hourly trains to Berlin. Based upon that, I started look at train connections from other, more western, Danish towns. It turns out, that if I could make it to Odense, the biggest town on the island west of Copenhagen, I could catch a train to Fredericia, which is on the main penisula of Denmark. From Fredericia, there was a train to Hamburg, and from Hamburg I could get to Berlin. The only drawback? To make it all work, I'd have to take the first train from Copenhagen to Odense, and that left at 6am. (grumble, grumble, grumble).
So after 5 hours of sleep at the hostel (which was neatly cut in half at 2am by the drunken entrance of, what I believe from what I could recollect in my half-awake state, part of an American minor league baseball team), I headed to the train station and caught the train to Odense. When I made it to Fredericia without incident, I noticed on the departure board that there was a train going to Berlin. I quickly made my way to the information desk and reserved a seat. Praise the Lord! My time of arrival in Berlin? 2:27pm. Which is the exact same time it would have been had I been able to get on the straight from Copenhagen train. And when we arrived, that train had not yet come in. So my piecemeal way was faster. Ha. How's that for working out?
That left me time to wander a little around East Germany after I checked in at my hostel. I was able to visit the highly conceptual Jewish Museum in south Berlin. It is devoted to the history of the German jews, with a heavy emphasis on the Holocaust. While for the most part, the unconventional architecture of the building interested me more than the displays, there was one case that stuck with me. It displayed a little stuffed monkey, that's all. The placard next to the display case told the story that a father had given the monkey to his son right before they were separated into different concentration camps. That was the last time he saw his son and both his wife and son were murdered in the camps. Simply heartbreaking.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Day #11: Disaster!
Its no secret that I am a fan of the sitcom Frasier. There is one episode later on in the series where Frasier and his brother Niles are planning their father's wedding. The day of the wedding dawns and we see the lovely (and meticulously prepared) reception room. Suddenly, Niles burts in one side door while Frasier runs in from another side door. "Frasier!" Niles says. "Niles!" Frasier responds. "Disaster!" they both say together. It turns out both of them had discovered problems with the wedding that would lead to their father being married at a vet's office, ruining they're carefully prepared plans.
And that's how my day went. The original plan was to spend two days in Stockholm, catch a train to Malmö, Sweden, and then take a sleeper train to Berlin. Thus, I would arrive in Berlin the morning of the third day and it would be good.
But when I went to the train station in the morning to make those reservations, disaster struck. I was cleared through Malmö, no problem. BUt when it came time to book the sleeper train, I was informed it was booked full. Stunned, I left the ticket counter. I wasn't sure what to do next. I stumbled over to the free tourist info computers to check flight prices, but at this late hour, the prices were astronomical.
At this point, you might wonder what the big deal was, so I spend another day in Stockholm. I have all this time left, right? Well, not quite. I recently confirmed a reservation in Swtizerland to stay a week at L'Abri, a type of Christian education center starting September 19th. So I have a defined two week period to get through Germany and Austria.
My next move was to consult my time table schedules to see what other train arrangements could be made. And that's when I discovered I no longer had my daypack with me. I must have set it down when I mooned away from the ticket counter. No matter, I was there only five minutes ago, it had to be nearby. But it wasn't. A wave of panic spread over me. While nothing in my daypack was 100% essential, there were several helpful items.
I went up to a side counter and asked if anyone had brought a bag up. She asked me to describe it and soon disappeared behind a door, only to re-appear with my bag! Hallelujah! I was saved. Although, I think I might have been a bit effusive in my thanks. When I called the ticket lady my hero, I think she blushed.
After finally sitting down to consult the train timetable, I determined I would go on my day of planned sightseeing, come back early to check to see if anyone had cancelled, and, if not, reserve a seat on the next morning's first train to Berlin out of Copenhagen. (Malmö is less than 30 minutes from Copenhagen.) So I went sightseeing at Stockholm's palace complex, seeing the royal armory, the crown jewels, royal apartment, and changing of the guard.
I returned to the train station 45 minutes before my train to Malmö was scheduled to depart and headed to the ticket line. Sure enough, still booked full. Expecting this, I unleashed Plan B. BUt at this time, I was informed that the early morning train from Copenhagen was also fully booked. Disaster! As Frasier and Niles might say.
It seemed like everyone was fleeing Scandianvia for Berlin and I was caught in the middle of it. I couldn't do anything else but hop on the train to Malmö and figure out a Plan C. The next train from Copenhagen was in the afternoon, getting me to Berlin too late. So I ended day 11 in Copenhagen, waiting to go to the train station early the next morning to play my last card.
Will I make it to Berlin? Will my carefully constructed itinerary beyond destroyed beyond redemption? Will I be stuck in Scandianvia . . . forever?
Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!
And that's how my day went. The original plan was to spend two days in Stockholm, catch a train to Malmö, Sweden, and then take a sleeper train to Berlin. Thus, I would arrive in Berlin the morning of the third day and it would be good.
But when I went to the train station in the morning to make those reservations, disaster struck. I was cleared through Malmö, no problem. BUt when it came time to book the sleeper train, I was informed it was booked full. Stunned, I left the ticket counter. I wasn't sure what to do next. I stumbled over to the free tourist info computers to check flight prices, but at this late hour, the prices were astronomical.
At this point, you might wonder what the big deal was, so I spend another day in Stockholm. I have all this time left, right? Well, not quite. I recently confirmed a reservation in Swtizerland to stay a week at L'Abri, a type of Christian education center starting September 19th. So I have a defined two week period to get through Germany and Austria.
My next move was to consult my time table schedules to see what other train arrangements could be made. And that's when I discovered I no longer had my daypack with me. I must have set it down when I mooned away from the ticket counter. No matter, I was there only five minutes ago, it had to be nearby. But it wasn't. A wave of panic spread over me. While nothing in my daypack was 100% essential, there were several helpful items.
I went up to a side counter and asked if anyone had brought a bag up. She asked me to describe it and soon disappeared behind a door, only to re-appear with my bag! Hallelujah! I was saved. Although, I think I might have been a bit effusive in my thanks. When I called the ticket lady my hero, I think she blushed.
After finally sitting down to consult the train timetable, I determined I would go on my day of planned sightseeing, come back early to check to see if anyone had cancelled, and, if not, reserve a seat on the next morning's first train to Berlin out of Copenhagen. (Malmö is less than 30 minutes from Copenhagen.) So I went sightseeing at Stockholm's palace complex, seeing the royal armory, the crown jewels, royal apartment, and changing of the guard.
I returned to the train station 45 minutes before my train to Malmö was scheduled to depart and headed to the ticket line. Sure enough, still booked full. Expecting this, I unleashed Plan B. BUt at this time, I was informed that the early morning train from Copenhagen was also fully booked. Disaster! As Frasier and Niles might say.
It seemed like everyone was fleeing Scandianvia for Berlin and I was caught in the middle of it. I couldn't do anything else but hop on the train to Malmö and figure out a Plan C. The next train from Copenhagen was in the afternoon, getting me to Berlin too late. So I ended day 11 in Copenhagen, waiting to go to the train station early the next morning to play my last card.
Will I make it to Berlin? Will my carefully constructed itinerary beyond destroyed beyond redemption? Will I be stuck in Scandianvia . . . forever?
Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day #10: Stockholm
I awoke in Stockholm, the beautiful capital of Sweden. Home of ABBA, Bjorn Borg, and ligonberry jam.
My day began by purchasing a Stockholm Card, which allows access to all the city's museums and public transportation for an upfront fee. With all I wanted to see, I'm sure it will be worth the upfront expenditure. My first stop was the Nordic Museum. Originally designed to chronicle the history of all Scandianvian people, they gave up along on the way and now focus only on Swedes. Housed in a Danish Renaissance style castle (compare to the picture of Frederiksborg Palace), the Nordic Museum has a number of fascinating exhibits. My favorite was Dining Throughout the Years, an exhibit on the eating habits of Swedes over the years. Check out this setting from the 1600s, when Sweden was in its heyday. They would use (and re-use) the swan's neck, head, and wings as a centerpiece, while putting the goose roast where the swan's body should be. Imagine rolling this out at your next dinner party!
From there, it was a short stroll to the Vasa museum. Built in 1628 during Sweden's war against Poland and the Holy Roman Empire, the Vasa was to be the first two cannon-deck ship built in Sweden. Everything from as big as the size of it to as small as the intricate carvings was designed to convey the power and might of the King Gustavus Adolphus. The boat was launched with great fanfare from Stockholm and managed to sail all of 20 minutes when a gust of wind caught it sails and tipped it over, sinking the ship. It lay in the Stockholm harbor for 333 years before it was re-discovered, raised, and restored. Over 95% of the ship you see is the original parts, meticulously replaced by craftsmen. Pretty neat.
Last stop of the day was at Skansen, the original culture park in Europe, where you don't have to go to all of Sweden, all of Sweden comes to you. The most interesting part was a demonstration of traditional glass blowing techniques. I sat mesmerized as the glassblower took a lump of ghot glass and made a little cat out of it!
Day #6: More Oslo
Today was a lot more relaxed day. I slept in a little after yesterday's quick sprint through the fjords (although, small confession, I did sleep quite a bit on the train both coming and going). After breakfast at the hostel, it was on to downtown Norway. My first stop was City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. I thought it'd be cool to do a tour there. But it was closed for renovations. Fine, the Oslo City Hall was only built in 1950, so it barely counts as historical anyway.
Undaunted, I went on to the National Gallery to view art. While the National Gallery did have an understandably heavy emphasis on Norwegian artists, it did have a smattering of "big name" artists, including a couple of Monets I thought were lovely.
The National Gallery is most famous for being the home of famed Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's most acclaimed painting, the Scream.
Undaunted, I went on to the National Gallery to view art. While the National Gallery did have an understandably heavy emphasis on Norwegian artists, it did have a smattering of "big name" artists, including a couple of Monets I thought were lovely.
The National Gallery is most famous for being the home of famed Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's most acclaimed painting, the Scream.
The Scream is the very embodiment of the phrase, existential angst. Munch was famous for this, and similar type pictures, that portrayed the darker, uneasy side of human nature. Then, after a nervous breakdown, he went to a psychiatrist, got better, and started painting happier works. Somehow, the happy Munch never produced a popular painting thereafter. Go figure.
After the National Gallery, I hopped a train to Frogner Park. In 1921, the City of Oslo. struck a deal with Gustav Vigeland, Norway's greatest sculptor who then lived in Italy. In return for a studio and state support, Vigeland would spend the rest of his days sculpting and installing pieces in the city park. And boy did he ever. Over the next two decades, Vigeland sculpted 192 bronze and granite statutes (which were compirsed of over 600 figures, all nude) that stand in the park today. The centerpiece of the park is a 50 foot monolith.
The monolith consists of 121 different people, all seemingly striving to the top (with some succeeding more than others). Vigeland died just after it was installed and left us no explanation of what it means or the message he meant to convey. After 30 minutes of staring at it, I'm stumped. What do you think?
After Frogner Park, my last stop in Oslo was the Norwegian Resistance Museum, chronicling Norway's occupation under the Nazis. One thing I learned at the museum was that Hitler was obsessed with Norway's perceived strategic value. He stationed 400,000 soliders, arimen, and seamen in Norway, convinced the Allies were going to use it as a stepping stone to attack the German homeland.
After going through the museum, it was time to head to the train station to be whisked off to my next destination: Stockholm.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Day #7: Norwegian Fjords
Whew, what a day! It started early in the morning when I woke up at 4:30am. I made a quick call home for my weekly Sunday (for them it was still Sunday!) phone visit before hopping on a tram downtown in order to catch a 6:35am train out the the fjord.
Just looking outside the train window, you could tell we were climbing ever higher by the change in scenery. It went from city sprawl, to pastoral countryside, to rocky ridges over the course of the enxt several hours. Right before we got to my station, we stopped at the highest point on the Oslo-Bergen line. That station was 1,222 meters (or a little over 4,000 feet) above seal level.
We arrived at my stop at Myrdal at 11:41, just in time for a quick bite to eat and a look through the gift shop. I had left my rain coat at home as the weather in Oslo did not look like rain at all, but 5 hours away in Myrdal, it had started to rain. In the giftshop, they had a rain coat for sale, so I quickly snapped it up. Considering it rained for the whole rest of my trip, that was the best 229 kroner I ever spent!
After a while, the smaller train to Flåm came. The town of Flåm is situated at the end of an arm of the fjord, so it is right at sea level. The upshot is that it is quite the quick descent down the mountain! The highlight was about halfway down when the engineer stopped the train to let us out to take pictures of an impressive waterfall.
After our hour long descent was over, we arrived in Flåm and so I hopped on the 1:20 boat to Gundvagen. From there, it was two straight hours of taking pictures in the fjord. I think I took over 200 pictures (not counting, of course, the 50 or so pictures I took for Asian tourists using their cameras)! The fjord was cloudy and it was lightly raining, but I think the weather did not spoil the day. Rather, the clouds lent an air of majesty and mystery to the fjords . . . but maybe that's just me.
Upon arrival in Gundavngen, I was supposed to catch a bus back to the rail line at Voss. But when we disembarked form the boat, there was no bus to be found. I started to get a little worried since I had little turnaround between getting to Voss and hopping on my train. After 15 anxious minutes, the bus finally arrived and, because there were so many people going to Voss, a shorter bus as well.
I opted for the smaller bus, which proved fortunate, as it took us up a side road over 12 different switchbacks for one final view of the fjord. Or, at least, what we could make out throught eh fog and the clouds! Thankfully, the bus dropped us off in Voss in enought ime to get on the train back to Oslo.
5 hours later, I arrived in Oslo and got on a tram back to the hostel, getting back just after 11pm. Needless to say, I went straight to bed after that day!
Just looking outside the train window, you could tell we were climbing ever higher by the change in scenery. It went from city sprawl, to pastoral countryside, to rocky ridges over the course of the enxt several hours. Right before we got to my station, we stopped at the highest point on the Oslo-Bergen line. That station was 1,222 meters (or a little over 4,000 feet) above seal level.
We arrived at my stop at Myrdal at 11:41, just in time for a quick bite to eat and a look through the gift shop. I had left my rain coat at home as the weather in Oslo did not look like rain at all, but 5 hours away in Myrdal, it had started to rain. In the giftshop, they had a rain coat for sale, so I quickly snapped it up. Considering it rained for the whole rest of my trip, that was the best 229 kroner I ever spent!
After a while, the smaller train to Flåm came. The town of Flåm is situated at the end of an arm of the fjord, so it is right at sea level. The upshot is that it is quite the quick descent down the mountain! The highlight was about halfway down when the engineer stopped the train to let us out to take pictures of an impressive waterfall.
After our hour long descent was over, we arrived in Flåm and so I hopped on the 1:20 boat to Gundvagen. From there, it was two straight hours of taking pictures in the fjord. I think I took over 200 pictures (not counting, of course, the 50 or so pictures I took for Asian tourists using their cameras)! The fjord was cloudy and it was lightly raining, but I think the weather did not spoil the day. Rather, the clouds lent an air of majesty and mystery to the fjords . . . but maybe that's just me.
Upon arrival in Gundavngen, I was supposed to catch a bus back to the rail line at Voss. But when we disembarked form the boat, there was no bus to be found. I started to get a little worried since I had little turnaround between getting to Voss and hopping on my train. After 15 anxious minutes, the bus finally arrived and, because there were so many people going to Voss, a shorter bus as well.
I opted for the smaller bus, which proved fortunate, as it took us up a side road over 12 different switchbacks for one final view of the fjord. Or, at least, what we could make out throught eh fog and the clouds! Thankfully, the bus dropped us off in Voss in enought ime to get on the train back to Oslo.
5 hours later, I arrived in Oslo and got on a tram back to the hostel, getting back just after 11pm. Needless to say, I went straight to bed after that day!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day #6: Oslo
First off, I'm goign to have to apologize for not having any pictures. The internet cafe I'm in has all of their hard drives locked away, so I canæt upload anything.
The day started off with a bang, wake-up call over the intercom by the captain at 8am. After a shower and a continental breakfast buffet, I disembarked into Oslo. After a quick stop at the tourist information center, I headed out to the Bygødy penisula. Most accessible by ferry boat across the harbor, Bygødy is home to several different interesting museums.
I started off at the Norwegian Folk Museum. My guide book describes this kinf od folk museum as culture on a lazy susan, which proved to be a pretty accurate description. The Folk Museum was a big park with different types of buildings representing different parts of Norwegian culture. From ane arly sod and wood house to a modern day example of a Pakistani immigrant apartment, this place had it all.
The next stop was the Viking Ship Museum. Scientists were excavating a burial mound in Norway when they came across a local chieftain buried in his warship. On different digs, they found two additional boats. All three are in the museum and constitute the best preserved Viking boats in existence today. The ships were almost perfectly preserved. Its amazing to think that the boats I saw were once used to terrorize othe rparts of Europe!
After a little hike, it was on to the Kon-Tiki museum! This museum was on my must-see list since I had read Thor Heyerdahl's book about the Kon-Tiki in high school. The background for those who donæt know is that Norwegian THor Heyerdahl, while studying in the South Pacific and South America, was struck by some of the sanme themes and symbols he kept seeing in both places. He developed a theory that ancient Peruvians floated across the South pacific to colonize some of the islands.
The main scientific objection to his theory was that it was implausible: the Peruvians were not technologically advanced enough to make such a voyage. So to prove them wrong, Thor built a ship, using techniques and materials the ancient Peruvians would have known, and set sail across the Pacific. 101 days later, he and his crew landed on a south pacific island, proving his theory plausible. It was pretty interesting seeing the ship I had already read about!
The final museu, pf tje day was the fram museum, showing a ship the Norwegians had specially designed to be used in icy waters. The Fram has the distinction of the ship being the farthest north (it was purposefully trapped in an Arctic ice flow for three years) and the farthest south (Roald Amundsen used the ship when he became the first person to make it to the South Pole).
After a full day of sightseeing, I went to my hostel and went to bed early. I had to get up early for Day #7's trip to the Norwegian fjords!
The day started off with a bang, wake-up call over the intercom by the captain at 8am. After a shower and a continental breakfast buffet, I disembarked into Oslo. After a quick stop at the tourist information center, I headed out to the Bygødy penisula. Most accessible by ferry boat across the harbor, Bygødy is home to several different interesting museums.
I started off at the Norwegian Folk Museum. My guide book describes this kinf od folk museum as culture on a lazy susan, which proved to be a pretty accurate description. The Folk Museum was a big park with different types of buildings representing different parts of Norwegian culture. From ane arly sod and wood house to a modern day example of a Pakistani immigrant apartment, this place had it all.
The next stop was the Viking Ship Museum. Scientists were excavating a burial mound in Norway when they came across a local chieftain buried in his warship. On different digs, they found two additional boats. All three are in the museum and constitute the best preserved Viking boats in existence today. The ships were almost perfectly preserved. Its amazing to think that the boats I saw were once used to terrorize othe rparts of Europe!
After a little hike, it was on to the Kon-Tiki museum! This museum was on my must-see list since I had read Thor Heyerdahl's book about the Kon-Tiki in high school. The background for those who donæt know is that Norwegian THor Heyerdahl, while studying in the South Pacific and South America, was struck by some of the sanme themes and symbols he kept seeing in both places. He developed a theory that ancient Peruvians floated across the South pacific to colonize some of the islands.
The main scientific objection to his theory was that it was implausible: the Peruvians were not technologically advanced enough to make such a voyage. So to prove them wrong, Thor built a ship, using techniques and materials the ancient Peruvians would have known, and set sail across the Pacific. 101 days later, he and his crew landed on a south pacific island, proving his theory plausible. It was pretty interesting seeing the ship I had already read about!
The final museu, pf tje day was the fram museum, showing a ship the Norwegians had specially designed to be used in icy waters. The Fram has the distinction of the ship being the farthest north (it was purposefully trapped in an Arctic ice flow for three years) and the farthest south (Roald Amundsen used the ship when he became the first person to make it to the South Pole).
After a full day of sightseeing, I went to my hostel and went to bed early. I had to get up early for Day #7's trip to the Norwegian fjords!
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