München on Sausage and Beer

When you ask me to remember Munich - or, as the Germans spell it, München - several years down the road, two images will pop into my mind:  a one-liter glass of beer and a BMW. Normally the association of those two things would be considered pernicious, not to mention illegal, but ironically, those seem to be the two greatest points of pride for the residents of that city. And rightly so! Munich is home to both a BMW automotive assembly plant and the Hofbräuhaus - the largest beer hall in the world. Those were two of my favorite parts of our three nights in Munich, but I suppose I'll start over chronologically and tell you more about them in due course.

Our first morning we decided to head to the former Nazi concentration camp, now museum and memorial site, at Dachau. It was only a fifteen-minute ride away on the S Bahn, and on the train, we met a traveler from New Zealand named Bevan. He was quite a friendly guy, also heading to Dachau, and traveling alone, so Hannah and I let him tag along with us when we visited the concentration camp. As we walked around, he told us a lot about New Zealand and what it was like to live there, and I think he convinced Hannah and I that we want to visit that country too! Hopefully we get the chance to some day.

It was really incredible to walk through the concentration camp, imagining it as it was during WWII. Apparently Dachau was the only camp to exist for all twelve years of the Nazi regime, and it was also considered the be a "model" camp on which others were based; so, as you can imagine, the conditions there were dreadful. We got to walk through the partially reconstructed barracks, the jailhouse, even the crematoriums and a gas chamber disguised as a shower room. It was all really interesting, but equally sobering to imagine the horrors people faced when they lived - and died - there.

We were at Dachau until almost 3 pm, but with the remainder of the afternoon, we decided to visit the BMW museum that's attached to the assembly plant. Unfortunately touring the assembly plant is so popular that you have to book it at least nine months in advance, which Hannah and I didn't do. I really regret it, but with any luck, I'll be able to come back to Munich some day and finally experience it!

The museum alone was fantastic. It shows how their cars, motorcycles, and aircraft engines have developed over the past 90 years, and displays a lot of really sweet vehicles along the way. Though I wouldn't call myself a "car guy," it was still really cool to visit as a mechanical engineering student. I wish they'd went into more detail on their actual engineering developments, but I suppose I'd probably need to tour the assembly plant for that sort of thing. So, to reiterate in the words of a destructive, macho robot from the future:  I'll be back!

Hannah makes a nice car model, doesn't she?

After that, we went to the world famous Hofbräuhaus for dinner. The pronunciation of that word is still a subject of debate between Hannah and me. She thinks it's "hoff-bruh-house," I think it's "hoff-brow-house," and our tour guide from the second day pronounces it "hoff-broi-house." Regardless of how you pronounce it, there's no debating the fact that it serves HUGE beers. When I originally heard it was the largest beer hall in the world, I took that to mean that it was the largest hall that served beer. After visiting it, however, I think it means it's the hall that serves the largest beers in the world. We're talking one-liter glasses large enough for your shih tzu to drown in. As daunting as that sounded to two alcohol novices, we each ordered one of those ginormous beers. I finished mine, and Hannah gave hers a noble effort! Actually, who am I kidding, there's nothing noble about a one-liter glass of beer! To add to the picture, the hall itself has live music in the form of a brass band that plays the sort of thing you picture drunken Germans swaying and waving their beers to. Though the food itself wasn't anything spectacular, it was definitely a memorable and enjoyable experience!

The next morning we went on another Sandeman tour (the same company from our awesome tour in Berlin). True to the form of the first, this was another humorous and informative tour that took us to a handful of key historic points in Munich. We saw the figurines move in the glockenspiel at Neues Rathaus, heard some interesting back stories about Peterskirche, learned about authentic Bavarian clothing styles, and also visited Residen München, Viktualienmarkt, Hofbräuhaus, the Bavarian Opera House, and a few other places. Best of all, it was free except for our tip to the tour guide! Future Europe travelers, take note:  Sandeman's free walking tours are a must! It makes everything a lot more meaningful when you can hear about the significance of everything you see from a resident of the city who speaks your own language.

That afternoon we spent a couple hours in the Englischer Garten, which is just a large, pretty park near the center of the city. Through the center of the garden runs a small river, and where it enters the garden, you can find people literally surfing on the turbulence created by some well-placed barriers under the water! We had a nice time strolling through the rich green scenery, just chatting and enjoying the cloudy, cool weather. Afterward we went back to Viktualienmarkt and had a delicious falafel pita for dinner. Then the clouds finally opened up, so we headed back to the hostel to keep dry and relax for the rest of the evening.

We capped off our stay in Munich the next morning with a trip to Nymphenburg Palace, which was the home to the Royal Family that ruled Germany for about 800 years until the start of the First World War. Though large, it was rather plain from the outside; but inside, it was quite ornate and interesting, so we spent about an hour walking through the rooms. The most interesting was a room that contained thirty-some portraits of different women, all of whom were mistresses to King Ludwig I. The King would go out in the town "collecting beauty," meaning he'd pick a pretty girl and take her back to his palace to "paint her portrait." Yeah. Yuck.

The backyard of the palace is a giant garden, so we spent another hour roaming through it until it was time to head back to catch our train to Salzburg.

And just like that, our week in Germany was over! It went by quite quickly, and I have to say, I don't think I gained as much weight as I thought I would. This is largely due to the fact that the pretzels here were completely underwhelming. Turns out Wetzel's Pretzels is not representative of an authentic German pretzel; the real things are nowhere near as soft, buttery, and salty. I know - tragic. But the beer was great, and all the sausage I had was outstanding, so still a successful seven days from a culinary perspective!

I'm not sure what food Austria is known for, but I'm determined to find that out in the next 48 hours. I'll keep you posted.

... Also, I promise I'm not THAT focused on food here in Europe. Though it seems to be 90% of what I talk about, it's really only about 85% of a country's culture. So I'm only slightly inflating its significance. Right?

The East and West, the Ups and Downs, of Berlin

Well, Berlin started off to be quite the interesting experience! We were supposed to be staying in an Airbnb place that had great reviews, but I hadn't heard from the host in quite awhile so I was getting suspicious. When we reached Berlin and got into wifi, there was still no contact from her and I looked back at her reviews and they were all great until the most recent one that said the host cancelled on her the day before! At this point I was beginning to worry, but we went to the address anyway. At the address, there was no one there with the host's name... Okay at this point, I was beginning to panic. Jeremiah remained calm and we walked around the area for awhile, sent the host an email (never heard back), attempted (and failed) to figure out how to use a pay phone in German, and by the time 9 pm rolled around, I was simply done and we just decided to stay in a nearby hostel. It turned out that the hostel was quite inexpensive and very nice! Also, with my mom's help, she was able to call Airbnb for us and get us a full refund. So while it may seem like my awesome, positive view on Airbnb is now changed because of this experience, you would be wrong! They were very helpful and understanding with helping us deal with the issue and even gave us a $75 coupon to use toward a future Airbnb stay! So, it all worked out despite a stressful beginning. And we found gelato afterward to make up for the stress... 

Our first day in Berlin started with a walk through the Tiergarten which is really a massive park right in the middle of the city. It was beautiful and green (which so far it seems that much of Germany is), but unfortunately terrible for both of our allergies. Jeremiah has always had an issue with bad allergies, but this was the worst I've ever experienced. Let's just say, we had to buy quite a few more of those little packs of tissues and blew through them. Quite literally. But we pushed through the day and went on a free walking tour of Berlin. Our guide was from the U.S. and he was an excellent, informative guide. We visited and learned a lot about the Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews (Holocaust Memorial), the former location of the Fuhrer's bunker, part of the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie, among other sights. Something interesting about Berlin is that the history, compared to the other cities we've been visiting, is very recent. That makes sense considering it pretty much had to be rebuilt after the World Wars! But just to see the remnants of what happened during World War II and the Cold War in particular were really fascinating. We both kept commenting on how mind boggling it was that the Berlin Wall was up until 1989! That's so recent! Another thing, that our tour guide pointed out, was that he admires how much Germany accepts their past mistakes. So many terrible things happened there, but now they have these memorials to remember what they were once like. Consequently, many of the sights were free, we figured, to show as many people as possible what had happened in the past so as not to repeat it in the future. 

After our tour we went back to the part of the Berlin Wall that we had briefly visited which was located right next to the "Topography of Terror" Museum. This is the former location of the SS headquarters where they also had a prison underground to keep and torture their major political opponents. They now have remnants of that prison and a museum building on top that has information on the SS, Hitler, and the Holocaust. The purpose of the museum was to try to give a better understanding of how Hitler became such a big influence and movement in Germany and much of Europe. We ended our long day of walking and touring by trying a food apparently well-known in Germany called Currywurst. It is a Bratwurst cut into small pieces, covered in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder. I was a skeptic, but it was actually quite delicious.

Our second full day in Berlin we visited the two other remaining parts of the Berlin Wall. Each very unique, one covered in graffiti, and the other more of a memorial sight that had remnants of the inner wall and many of the traps and obstacles that were set up between the walls. We hadn't realized before coming to Berlin that it wasn't just one wall. Originally it was just barbed wire, but eventually it became the big well-known wall, an inner wall, guard towers, a patrol rode, and traps in between the two walls. Wow. All to keep its citizens from going into West Berlin. That day we also went into the new dome of the Reichstag and into the museum underneath the Holocaust Memorial. It was definitely a slower paced day than the day before and it was a short day as well. My allergies had turned into a full-blown cold so I was exhausted and Jeremiah was a trooper so we were back in the hostel early and I got 11 hours of sleep that night! I felt better the next day thankfully. I also learned that Jeremiah is a very good caretaker! 

We had originally planned to stay in Berlin for four nights, but since our Airbnb fell through we decided to book our hostel for only three nights and to make a trip to Kassel, Germany. Kassel is a smaller town Southwest of Berlin that is actually the hometown of my great grandma! Jeremiah and I thought it would be interesting to see the town she came from since we were close enough and to give us a little family history! Plus we were able to use our $75 Airbnb coupon to stay there essentially for free! First of all we ended up staying with the nicest lady, Anne, who picked us up from the train station and everything. We stayed in her basement that had it's own kitchen that she stocked with food specifically for us (she told us this, we didn't just assume), and she let us use her washing machine which was much needed. She claimed to speak very little English, but Jeremiah and I were definitely impressed with her English. She's visiting the U.S. including the Grand Canyon in October so we also showed her some pictures of our Havasupai hike to show her some of the beauty in AZ! 

After we settled in we set out to explore the town. It was pretty cool to think that I was potentially walking on the same streets or at least the same areas (as it has probably changed a lot) that my great grandma did when she was really young, around 1920! I wonder if my great grandchildren will someday walk the streets of a potentially very different Mesa, Arizona and think about where I walked and grew up. It's an interesting thought...

We basically hiked (it was a long, steep walk) up to this Herkules monument which was really amazing. Unfortunately it was undergoing some construction so it wasn't quite as spectacular as it probably could have been, but the view made up for it. It sat at the top of a hill overlooking the whole city which was, again, beautifully green. Every so often the monument has a water feature that is on that is basically a huge staircase with water descending it which I'm sure is amazing, but that wasn't running while we were there either. Our host said it is very busy when the water feature was on so it's not quite so enjoyable. That made us feel a bit better! We made our way down the hill stopping at different landmarks: a waterfall, and two different castles. The castles looked like they were out of storybooks. One in particular was very old and literally looked like it could've been the set of a Disney movie! 

The next day we rode the train to the specific suburb where my great grandma was from, Rothenditmold. We just stopped by really, because we didn't have any specifics like an address or anything, but we can still say we were right there! We also visited the city center that had an antique market sale in the street (I bought a purse which I'm very excited about), the Orangerie park, and walked along the Fulda River. It was a really nice short stop in Kassel. Jeremiah and I were both glad that we decided to stop by, because it gave us an idea of where a part of my family came from and it was a slower paced, more restful day and a half. 

So despite the rocky beginning to our time in Germany, it turned out to be a great time. So far I am loving Germany. Favorite country so far? Maybe... At the end of our trip we'll let you know our favorites, if that's possible! Jeremiah and I keep commenting that throughout our trip (and life) that just when it seems like something bad has happened or is happening, God makes something good out of it! He has a reason for everything! We're still trying to figure out the good in our terrible allergies right now though... 

Staying in Germany, Munich here we come! 

Every CA's Nightmare

You may be able to infer from the title of this post which city I'll be writing about now. Or maybe you're thinking you've cheated the game altogether because you remember the last word of Hannah's post about Brugge. Or maybe you're just feeling rather embarrassed that you have absolutely no clue which city I'm talking about and, consequently, you're grateful that nobody can read your mind right now. Well, if the latter is the case for you, allow me to spare you further embarrassment:  Hannah and I just spent three nights in Amsterdam!

Probably the first thought that comes to your mind is that marijuana is legal in this city. If you think for one second that Hannah and I took advantage of this fact, you clearly don't know us well enough to warrant reading this blog, so go ahead and close your browser. The next thing you think of is likely the Red Light District, a section of the city where prostitutes stand waiting for customers in the windows and sex shops can be found just steps away from a beautiful and historic old church. It's truly an ironic sight, and also one that elicits both disgust and pity for the people who fuel this terrible aspect of Amsterdam's culture.

As luck would have it, our hostel was right on the edge of the Red Light District. However, it was really a great hostel! Inside you never would have known this Christian hostel was anywhere near a part of town so rampant with sin. It was very secure, and it had a great sense of community, largely created by the cafe and courtyard areas where we spent a couple hours each evening. What's more, it had a free breakfast that was actually quite delicious; we had pancakes two of the mornings, and yogurt with granola and fruit the other morning. We also drank quite a bit of their hot chocolate to warm us up after two very cold and windy days out in the city.

Our first night in Amsterdam we wandered through Dam Square and more of the western part of the city. We found a cute little organic pancake shop that served some killer crepes for dinner!

The next morning we were greeted with a steady drizzle of rain. We walked ten minutes to the Anne Frank House and found an extremely long line. Rather than wait out in the cold, we decided to take a covered boat tour of the canals. We were the only ones on the boat except for a nice old couple from Canada, and it was a very informative and enjoyable journey.

Afterward we walked down Prisengracht - one of the city's most iconic canals - to Leidseplein, an urban hub containing a large number of shops and restaurants. We found this quiet little sandwich shop down one of the side streets and had some fantastic sandwiches. It was, in my opinion, the ideal European meal: unique, cultural food from a small, non-chain shop with no connections to Yelp or Facebook or anything of the sort! We also bought a package of these delicious little pastries called stroopwaffles. They're soft, flat, miniature versions of waffles with a thin layer of caramel sandwiched in between. So good!!

Next we walked through the Rijksmuseum to get to Museumplein. As the name suggests, it's kind of a cross between a city square and a museum; it was a large outdoor area that had some pretty gardens, a few food shops, and a bit of art. Most notably, it has a large structure composted of the phrase, "i amsterdam," where the "i am" is a different color than the rest. I'm not sure of its significance, but it seemed to be a pretty popular tourist spot.

From there, we wandered through the beautiful (and relatively quiet due to the inclement weather) Vondelpark.

Now that it was late afternoon, we went back to the Anne Frank House in hopes of finding a much shorter line to the museum. We were fortunate to find a line significantly shorter than what we had found that morning, so despite the ever windier and colder weather, we decided to wait in line. It was so very worth it:  the museum was very interesting and very moving. We got to walk through the entire house, through the hidden passageway behind a moving bookshelf and into the Secret Annex, reading about Anne's experiences and all the backstory along the way. She was such an intelligent girl! If she could have lived a full life she probably would have been one of the most famous and influential writers of her time - though, truly, she still is.

Sufficiently cold and with soaking backpacks, we decided to head back to Dam Square to find a quick bite to eat for dinner, then wrap up our evening just hanging out in the cafe at the hostel.

Thankfully the next morning brought us the same cold and wind but without the rain. We took advantage of this by taking a walk through the Jordaan, one of Amsterdam's prettiest neighborhoods. We then visited a museum called, "Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder" (Our Lord in the Attic). Apparently, back in the 17th century, Holland had outlawed the public practice of Catholicism and other non-Protestant religions. A trader whose name I forget decided to buy a house - three adjacent houses, in fact - and convert them into a single, fully functioning Catholic church! The church has since been restored to its original appearance and still holds mass today on major Christian holidays; but when it's not serving religious purposes, it's a museum. It's really a beautiful place.

Afterward we walked across the street to a cheese shop for lunch. On top of their delicious sandwiches and pastries for sale, they allow customers to sample a dozen or so different cheeses, all made in-house. It was so good we came back for dinner!

We spent all afternoon exploring the northeastern part of Amsterdam. We visited this enormous, modern public library called Openbare Bibliotheek - the largest public library in all of Europe! It had seven stories and lots of windows, so we found a couple chairs that overlooked the rest of the city and relaxed and read for several hours. We also visited a science center called Nemo, which had this really awesome clock driven completely by siphoning! All I could think was, I'm thankful my thermofluids professors at school didn't use this clever machine to create fluid mechanics problems for our exams!

Overall, Amsterdam is a very pretty city with a lot of interesting history... So long as you stay out of the Red Light District in the evenings. Hannah and I were grateful not to have any responsibility concerning all the weed-smoking, like we did when we were CAs at ASU this past year! We never really got used to the smell during our short time in Amsterdam. I swear I saw Hannah's hand twitch toward her phone a few times when we walked by a particularly rank cloud of the stuff. After being a CA for a couple semesters, calling ASU PD becomes a physical reflex to the smell of marijuana. But hey, apart from holding our breath, we don't have to do anything about it on our four-week trek through Europe! Speaking of which, I can't believe we're already ten days into it. Though 18 days still sounds like a lot of time, I know it's gonna fly by way too fast. For now, our near future holds plenty of pretzels, sausage, and beer as we spend our next week in Germany! When next you hear from us, I'll probably be a few pounds chunkier. #worthit