Asrid July 30, 2013 Hamburg, Germany Back in July 13th, I made a phone call to my old college friend Berta, who recently got married to a German man and moved to Bremen. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind if I stayed with her and her husband for a week. She gladly said yes and we made arrangements for her to drive up to Odense, pick me up and take me to her home in Germany. I had to stay in Odense for an extra day until Berta could drive up to Denmark to come and get me. The hostel was very accommodating and helped me to make arrangements to spend an extra day there. What was also nice is that it also gave me time to plan with James and Tyler our trip to Hamburg and other parts of Germany. On July 15th, Berta finally made it to Odense, helped me check out of the hostel and pack my huge backpack into her car so that we could start our road trip to Bremen, Germany. During our trip to Bremen, Berta and I took the time to converse. “So, how’s married life, Berta?” “It’s good; Paul and I are very much in love, and I just started my new job which so far is going well. Even though Paul is also working he and I have time to spend with each other as a family. We currently live in Paul’s little apartment, however we are looking for a house to buy.” “I’m glad to hear, congratulations Berta! So how was your honeymoon to Chile?” “Oh, just beautiful, I must show you my pictures when we get home! We spent five glorious days in Santiago went to visit a vineyard to try some wine and then we spent the rest of our time in Valparaiso.” “Wow, sounds very exciting, Berta! You must tell me more about your trip!” ` She then began to tell me about Chile, Santiago, Valparaiso and their visit to the vineyard. She went into detail as to the various museums she visited, the history and culture she and Paul were exposed to while there, the wine they tasted, the wonderful leather jackets they had purchased, and the beautiful beaches of Valparaiso. “Tell me about your new job, what do you do now?” “I’m teaching German literature in a local gymnasium. Right now I’m preparing my lesson plans for the fall so I have no idea what my students are going to be like. However I have met some of my colleagues who are very nice, and because of them I do enjoy my job thus far nonetheless we’ll see how much I do once the scholastic year starts right?” The both of us giggled. “So Asrid, how has your yearlong travels around Europe worked out thus far? Done anything interesting?” I told her about the past two weeks I spent in Copenhagen and Odense. “Thus far all this traveling has been enjoyable and educational. I look forward to the rest of my travels.” “Do you know what you wish to see while you’re in Germany?” “I plan on meeting with Tyler and James in Hamburg a week from today, however beyond that I don’t know where I’m going in Germany. What do you suggest, Berta?” “You must see Berlin it’s amazing and I personally like Munich and Stuttgart; Halle and Brandenburg are also nice places to visit. While you’re here visiting Paul and I, I will show you around Bremen; does that sound good?” I nodded, “yes of course, Berta. Thank you.” Five hours later, we arrived in Bremen. All there was left for us to do that day was unload the car, show me around the house, and get dinner ready. Paul soon came home for dinner, which allowed me some time to start catching up with him. From July 16th to July 23, Berta showed me around Bremen. I got to take a stroll along the Böttstrasse which is a major boulevard within the Bremen. I also got to see the Bremer Stadmusikanten Sculpture, which is based on the Grimm Brother’s fairy tale character. There was also the Dom St. Petri which was pretty and I heard the famous glockenspiel. I saw the Rathaus and the markt. The highlights of my visit were the Kunsthalle, Weserburg Museum Für Moderne Kunst, the Übersee Museum because I got to see some fabulous art. I must say the Botanika was nice, and the Hafenmuseum Speicher XI was also interesting because I learned about Bremen’s marine history. We also visited the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus, the Gerhard Marcks Haus which had some really nice sculptures, and we did some shopping. On July 24th, Berta offered to join Tyler, James and I on our week-long tour of Hamburg. We first started our visit touring the historic center and its famous landmarks; the Rathaus, Sülberg Hill, and Port of Hamburg. We also visited the Tierpark Hagenbeck, which is like a zoo however the locals will correct you every time and say that it’s an animal park. We also took pictures of the Chilehaus and the Museum für Völkrkunde, which was a really great art/history museum. Every night we have gone to the many clubs along Grosse Freiheight. Man have we gotten drunk, and I will admit that James and Tyler were very happy because they got to score with girls every night. Tomorrow is our last day, and we’re still not sure where to go. Right now everyone is favoring Berlin while I’m more interested in Hannover. Asrid August 6, 2013 Berlin, Germany Obviously as demonstrated by my current location that Berlin was the winning choice, and I will admit that I’m not regretting the decision to come here. Berlin is a city filled with so much history and culture that’s valuable to not only Germany and Europe, but to the world that it’s mind boggling! For example, the fact that the city of Berlin was divided into half as the capital of West and East Germany from 1946 to 1989 is one of the most unique aspects of local, national, regional and world history that you will encounter during your visit here that is undeniably significant to the human experience. Everywhere you go in this city, there are reminders of this period in history. For example there’s the DDR Musuem, which gives details into the history of East Germany and the daily life of its citizens. There’s also the East Side Gallery, which contains a well-preserved section of the Berlin Wall and art from former East German country. Visitors can also see DDR made cars at the Classic Remise Berlin next to German cars made throughout this country’s history. Another museum, the Gründerzeit Museum, features art by one of the DDR’s most famous icons, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. There are also a lot of sites reminiscent of the notorious Nazi era. For example, the Olympic Stadium, which was built during the 1940s still has its basic, coliseum-style construction that the Nazis had originally intended, which I found to be rather creepy. There’s also the Deutsches Historisches Museum, which was formally the Nazi Foreign Office, and the Stasi Museum. There’s also the Teufelsberg, and the Ökowerk, both landmarks and reminders of this turbulent, tragic piece of German, European and world history. Don’t worry, not everything to see here is reminiscent of the Nazi or DDR era if that’s too depressing for you. There’s plenty of fine art museums like the Neues Museum, the Schloss Köpenick, and the Zitadelle Spandau just to name a few. Plenty of parks and gardens to stroll through, as well as other important landmarks from Berlin’s Baroque era like the Brandenburg Gate. Berlin also has a very vibrant modern art scene. Erik and Claudia got me in touch with several local artists that they have worked with to show my traveling companions and I around their studios, as well as some of the local modern art galleries. Tonight is our last night in Berlin; I’m sad that this week has ended already, however I’m looking forward to beginning my travels to Hanover. Well, Berta just told me that we are getting ready to go out for dinner and do some clubbing, so I need to get offline. Bye for now and have a great evening! Asrid August 13, 2013 Hanover, Germany We just spent an amazing week here in Hanover; it’s sad that tonight is our last night here. Hanover is a very charming city, a wonderful walking city. There’s lots of lovely fountains, sculptures, in particular Die Nanas Sculptures, which are abstract sculptures that are party of this city’s nostalgic landmark. There’s also the Peace Bell, which was donated by Hanover’s sister city, Hiroshima as a memorial to those who died during the atomic bomb attack. We also visited the Sprengel Museum, which was a nice art museum. Another site we visited on August 10th was the Schloss Marienburg, which is a castle, and then later on we went to the Kestner Gesellschaft, which is a modern art gallery. The main reason why I wanted to visit Hanover in the first place is because I have heard so much about this city’s ancient architecturally stunning historic center and I must say I am not disappointed. So where are we going to go next? Well, right now we’re trying to decide whether or not our next destination is going to be Germany or if we are going to go straight to Holland. Hopefully by morning we will have a plan, but for right now we’re going to go out to dinner together. I will keep in touch and this is goodnight! Travis August 15, 2013 Valencia, Spain Hola from beautiful Spain, mates! Since my last blog entry my Australian mates and I have been traveling through sunny, gorgeous Spain! After Porto, we drove all the way to Salamanca, where we spent about four days. While in Salamanca we toured the centro historico, or the historical center as they call it here, which has a huge Plaza Mayor or Main Plaza, gothic cathedrals, and the Convento de San Esteban. Another major site is the university, which is one of the oldest and most renowned in Spain and in Europe for that matter. Maria, one of the staff members at our hostel, recommended that we should see la Casa de Las Conchas and the Palacio de Monterrey because they iconic and unique buildings to Salamanca. We also visited a lot of convents, as well as the Museo de Salamanca, Museo de Art Noveau y Art Decó, Museo Taurino and Museo e la Universidad which all had very interesting exhibits. Our next destination was Madrid, where we stayed for about a week. I never realized how much of an art city it was; there are art museums everywhere in Madrid, and they’re really good. My personal favorite was the Salvidor Dali Museum, however the Prado Museum was amazing too. Madrid’s centro historico was also very charming. We spent a lot of time in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, however we also explored Plaza de la Cebada, Plaza de Neptuno, Plaza de Oriente and Plaza de la Cibeles just to name a few. I never realized that Madrid had so many plazas here, more than I’ve ever seen. Templo de Debod was another interesting site because it was an actual Egyptian temple. After Madrid, we traveled to Cordoba, where we stayed for four days. Like Salamanca, Cordoba is a university town, and also has a charming centro historico. We visited lots of museums and churches which were nice. Me Australian mates loved it, and I will admit that Cordoba was very pretty. One thing I can definitely say about Spain thus far is that the architecture is truly unique, certainly different. I would definitely describe the architecture here as “Spanish.” We visited everything in the four days we were there, the museums, landmarks you name it we saw it. After Cordoba, we spent three days in Malága. Did you know that Malága is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas? That’s something I learned from the locals we talked to, and also the many museums themed around Señior Picasso. We even got to visit Picasso’s birthplace which was very cool. We also visited lots of castles while there, and also cathedrals. Today was our first day in Valencia, in fact we just arrived in our hostel. We’re getting ready to go out for night and have some dinner, and also figure out what we’re going to do for the next week. -Danielle Swisher, selection from The Adventures of Travis and Asrid, Book 1: The Europe Blogs, Create Space Independent Publishing, Oct. 2012
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 22:34:36 +0000
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