As the result of a lucky mistake in travel planning on my part, I spontaneously headed to Freiburg, Baden-Wuerttemburg this past weekend. It's informally known as the gateway to the southern Black Forest and has all the scenery and mountain trails any outdoor nut could want. (I originally wanted to plan a trip to Valencia, Spain- that's for the weekend to come.)
After a speedy ride on a ICE train from Koeln (these trains reach 165 mph!!), I stepped out of the Hauptbahnhof into what seemed like a whole different country- a town with cheerful, red brick- and colorfully-painted houses, the giant Muenster cathedral, whose style of church I've never experienced before, 1-liter beer steins, and a ring of conifer-shrouded hills surrounding the town on two sides. Freiburg is definitely high on the scale of visual charm for Deutschland, so much so that I had to force myself to stop taking pictures sometimes (coming soon as well). Down it's ancient cobblestone streets (the town was founded around 1200!!), one finds bright mosaics in front of shops indicating what's sold or made there- diamonds for jewelry, tools for woodwork, even symbols of Freiburg's sister cities, one of which is (oddly enough) Madison, Wisconsin. More interesting things I saw:
- A real 'badische' wind band playing in the town square, in front of the old Rathaus (now a visitor's center).
- A farmer's and craft market surrounding the Muenster, with every kind of hand-made wooden and ceramic craft imaginable, and a massive assortment of local food specialites.
- A local meeting house for adherents to Tibetan Buddhism, where I got to see ancient relics of long-past buddhas and how they're linked to worship and meditation. One guy even got his dog blessed by a monk.
- Brass plaques on the sidewalks, indicating businesses that Jews had once owned before the Nazis took power in Baden-Wuerttemburg.
- Too many views of the Black Forest to count- but one especially great one from the top of the Schlossberg, where an old French fortress used to sit.
- Germans in a club dancing to music from "Grease." The transition from pounding house music to "Tell me more" still makes me laugh.
- More bikers than I think I've ever seen in my entire life, except when watching the Tour de France on TV. Apparently Freiburgers are some of the most fit people in all of Germany. Or at least they have monster quads. Anyway, my feeble attempt at mountain biking through the Schwarzwald showed that I'd need some practice to take on these people's trails.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Europameistershaft Update
Thus far, German has knocked off Poland 2-0 but yesterday was beaten yesterday by Croatia 2-1. The effort shown in the first game failed to appear in the second; yesterday's Fanmeile in Aachen was a relatively somber one. Even after brief celebrations after a German goal late in the second, things quickly got quiet. But then the Croats took to the streets- there was a parade of cars running the Innenring road of Aachen for almost an hour, flying the Croatian flag, beeping and stopping the bus system for quite a while. There were also parades of Germans walking around bellowing, "Scheiss egal, scheiss egal!" which basically means "f%&k it, it doesn't matter." I don't think I was drunk enough for this party.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Wochenende am Rhein
Right now I'm constantly on the lookout for things to do that a normal tourist in Deutschland or Europe in general would miss. As a particularly perceptive friend once told me, I tend to be attracted to wandering and doing things on a big scale, so I thought it might be cool to try to ground myself a little more here. The experience sounds like the opposite of the typical whirlwind tour of Europe, which means it is something few people get here.
In that vein, I spent the weekend with Hendrik and his family, getting some home-cooked (i.e. far better than my shoddy leftover-making) meals and checking out some sites near their home that were really fantastic. Hendrik had organized a bike trip to the Rhein for the kids at the church youth center where he used to work in high school, so I joined the ride and ended up having one of my better experiences yet in Deutschland. The banks of the Rhein are surrounded by open parks, farmland and protected forests near Hendrik's home, so needless to say the scenery was beautiful despite the overcast sky. After a ferry ride to the far bank, I got to learn about the games Germans play when they're young and tour medieval Zons with the kids. Zons is an ancient walled town, complete with cozy pubs and cafes, traditional Niederrheinische architecture and a great ice cream place. The best part was that I felt like I actually could connect with the kids, especially since the guys wanted to know about American baseball.
The next day I visited the Augustusschloss in Bruehl with Hendrik and his parents. It's an 18th-century rococo palace built for a minor German baron or prince, and the influences of Versailles are all over the gardens and interior. Indeed, the amount of sculpture, paintings, magnificent furnishings and colorful marble reaches almost hysterical levels. In addition, it also served as the venue for official state visits to West Germany in the Cold War era, so there was an interesting exhibition with everything from medals presentented to German Kanzlers by foreign dignitaries to the special, fully automated toilet that Queen Elizabeth II had installed there for her stay.
A much needed visual and aesthetic break was provided by the nearby Max Ernst Museum. Ernst was one of Germany's top surrealists and dadaists of the 20th century, and he's my new favorite sculptor at the moment. This museum, mostly devoted to a chronological exhibition of Ernst's work, has a great collection of the fantastical figures and animals he sculpted, many of which show the influences of the years he spent in Arizona as an expat. Just one work is shown at left.
The best part about the weekend, though, was hanging out with Hendrik and his friends. They're a cool, relaxed group and great to practice German with. Many of his friends are in his major of special education in Koeln, but one of his old high school friends is a DJ, so it was interesting to hear what Germans want spun at their discos and parties. One of the hardest decisions I have to make here is planning time for both traveling around and making time for these people, who have really been kind in letting me into their lives and social circles a little. I've found that once you learn the language, at times it's hard to forget that you're just visiting.
In that vein, I spent the weekend with Hendrik and his family, getting some home-cooked (i.e. far better than my shoddy leftover-making) meals and checking out some sites near their home that were really fantastic. Hendrik had organized a bike trip to the Rhein for the kids at the church youth center where he used to work in high school, so I joined the ride and ended up having one of my better experiences yet in Deutschland. The banks of the Rhein are surrounded by open parks, farmland and protected forests near Hendrik's home, so needless to say the scenery was beautiful despite the overcast sky. After a ferry ride to the far bank, I got to learn about the games Germans play when they're young and tour medieval Zons with the kids. Zons is an ancient walled town, complete with cozy pubs and cafes, traditional Niederrheinische architecture and a great ice cream place. The best part was that I felt like I actually could connect with the kids, especially since the guys wanted to know about American baseball.
The next day I visited the Augustusschloss in Bruehl with Hendrik and his parents. It's an 18th-century rococo palace built for a minor German baron or prince, and the influences of Versailles are all over the gardens and interior. Indeed, the amount of sculpture, paintings, magnificent furnishings and colorful marble reaches almost hysterical levels. In addition, it also served as the venue for official state visits to West Germany in the Cold War era, so there was an interesting exhibition with everything from medals presentented to German Kanzlers by foreign dignitaries to the special, fully automated toilet that Queen Elizabeth II had installed there for her stay.
A much needed visual and aesthetic break was provided by the nearby Max Ernst Museum. Ernst was one of Germany's top surrealists and dadaists of the 20th century, and he's my new favorite sculptor at the moment. This museum, mostly devoted to a chronological exhibition of Ernst's work, has a great collection of the fantastical figures and animals he sculpted, many of which show the influences of the years he spent in Arizona as an expat. Just one work is shown at left.
The best part about the weekend, though, was hanging out with Hendrik and his friends. They're a cool, relaxed group and great to practice German with. Many of his friends are in his major of special education in Koeln, but one of his old high school friends is a DJ, so it was interesting to hear what Germans want spun at their discos and parties. One of the hardest decisions I have to make here is planning time for both traveling around and making time for these people, who have really been kind in letting me into their lives and social circles a little. I've found that once you learn the language, at times it's hard to forget that you're just visiting.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Europameisterschaft!
So this coming weekend is opening of the Europameisterschaft, the European football championships, so needless to say most of of the continent + the British Isles will be glued to the TV for the coming month every weekend. I'll be visiting my friend Hendrik to immerse myself in the craziness with friends, but if you were in Deutschland as well, you'd probably head out to one of the "fan miles" (Fanmeile) to watch the games with a thousand other screaming, drunk, enthusiastic fans, as seen above from 2004. A whole park or city square would be set off for each Fanmeile, and huge screens would be set up to show the games throughout the day. The one in Berlin, according to official estimate, can hold 900,000 fans this year. Pretty sweet.
Germany actually has a proud history in this tournament, having won the Meisterschaft 3 times since it's inception in the 60's. France is the only other country that has won more than once, and seeing that the French and Germans still dislike each other this immediately makes for competition. Also, Greece won the Meisterschaft in 2004 with a German coach, bitter irony for my neighbors here for sure. Russia could also be a contender- it's come in second more times than any other country.
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