Berlin for an Afternoon

Tuesday, 12 June, 2012 - It was 10:30am and I had just landed in Germany after my much too long flight from LAX. Although I slept more or less the whole flight, I was incredibly groggy as we taxied to the gate, and it was thus that I found myself alighting from the plane not quite yet fully functioning. I had planned a nine hour layover in Berlin on my way back to Vienna so that I could do a whirlwind tour, seeing at least a few sights, and get lunch with Abby. Heck, if the option was there, why not? My bag was checked all the way through, too, so I found a bag-holding place for my carry-on in the airport and headed out to meet Abby.

Conveniently the transportation system around the city is almost exactly the same as Vienna's (I suppose it is most places, I'm just still a country girl that's not sure how standard big city public transportation actually is), so I had no problem getting to our rendezvous point. I was awake again by this time, thankfully, and feeling ravenous, so Abby took me to an amazing Korean food place which was oddly shrouded in religious wall hangings (even the menu was smattered with religious doctrines). The fellow who took my order maintained a straight enough face when I asked for my dish not to be spicy, but the chef, a tiny old woman, came out three times to clarify that no, I did not want my meal to be spicy. Once that was absolutely clarified, though, the meal was fantastic!

After that I followed Abby around some U-bahns and we ended up near the Oberbaum bridge on the Spree River, hanging out by the canal near a sort of bum campout area which had, I kid you not, teepees. I guess the Germans really are taken with the "Cowboys and Indians" theme.

We lounged for a bit, chatting, planning potential summer excursions, and enjoying the view and mild afternoon weather. It was actually a charming little place, and nice and low-key dangling our legs over the water while I was trying to reset my internal clock.

Our view of the River Spree 

Section of the Oberbaum Bridge

After enough relaxing she took me across the bridge and down a nearby stretch of some of the remains of the Berlin Wall. I had of course seen pictures before, but I was taken aback by how good, although often quite macabre (which I'm all for), the art was and how little graffiti there was across it. Even with all of the tourists walking the length and taking pictures, it still felt surreal being there and the area felt... quiet? I don't know how to describe it, but it was a sobering experience.

Once past that we caught another U-bahn to somewhere else near the Berliner Dom, got some surprisingly good gelato, and walked through a nearby street market which had some of your typical crafts and clothes and the like, as well as some more funky offerings, like hand-painted umbrellas.

We perused for a bit, then walked to the nearby Berliner Dom and Altes Museum by way of the old Rathaus and a pretty little fountain.

 Old Rathaus (City Hall)

Altes Museum 

Berliner Dom

Alas, I really didn't have time to go inside either of them because it was nearing time for me to get back to the airport, but it was fun seeing everything at least. Plus I now know a bit more specifically what to come back and see (although the above hardly even touches on it all).

Feel like a bit of a whirlwind of a recap? That's because it was a bit of a whirlwind of a trip, especially as I kept alternating between feeling like I was still on California time and like I was back on European time. Though the glimpse told me a few things. The city has character, that's for sure. There was graffiti everywhere you looked.

Often I found myself wondering how much of it was locals just wanting to get a say out and how much was actually professionally done. Some of the art covered entire sides of buildings which would obviously need scaffolding to be completed, so they had to have had permission. Possibly even been commissioned? I can't tell, but I'm curious. However there was something about all of the graffiti everywhere. It made me uneasy, and I can't quite explain why. Or maybe it wasn't all of the wall art, but it's something I haven't quite put my finger on yet. It's almost like Berlin doesn't really have an identity, which, to some extent, it doesn't of course, but it was just unnerving being surrounded by all of the... uncertainty? It definitely left me feeling uncertain. Or maybe just being so close to such recent history. Anyway, it's a really fascinating city and I know that people love living there, but I'm not so sure it's a place that I would move to. Even though they do offer these little gems:

On a bicycle built for five...

With all of the questions buzzing through my head, I took my leave of Berlin for a while, though I aim to be back later this summer.

Until then!

Skiing (One Run At) Jenner-Königssee

(Day II of our weekend skiing adventure - you can read Day I, in Salzburg, Austria, here.)

Saturday, 25th February, 2012 - We awoke bright and early and maybe not so bright eyed and bushy tailed to a really thick fog. Not a big deal, except that it made the view out the window of breakfast a little less spectacular than I was hoping for. In fact, compared to the view across the valley the day before when I drove to Berchtesgaden to check us in, this was downright drab.

I had actually been pretty excited about getting to see the sun rise in the valley. I had also been excited about seeing the morning sun spill across the mountains from Eagle's Nest, Hitler's favorite residence which just happened to be at the top of one of the mountains here. We had decided the night before that since we were in Berchtesgaden we really needed to drive up there, even if it meant losing half a day of skiing. We went back and forth quite a bit over our delicious breakfast spread provided by the really sweet old German couple that owns and runs Pension Haus am Berg (literally "Boarding House on the Mountain). Our final verdict was that we would go up there that morning anyway, even if the view wasn't going to be that great. We had a re-established plan.

We stopped by the tourist office on our way, to double check where I thought we were going. The woman was incredibly short with us in informing us that not only was Eagle's Nest closed for the winter, the hiking trails that you can usually take up there were also too covered in snow to be passable. We took that as a challenge. After all, we had seen on TripAdviser.com that people had made the hike a month before and were raving about it. We drove up and were certain that we passed the 'small unmarked turnoff' we were told was the road up. We looped back and tried to drive up. Until we discovered it was pure ice. So we backed down again and parked nearby, ready to take the road on by foot. This looked promising, right?

Until we got up to where that blue sign is...

It was a water treatment facility. Then we had to slide and shuffle our way back down, complete with flailing arms.

We returned to the empty area we had parked in, and upon further inspection and climbing over some snow drifts we decided that in fact the woman at Information had been correct, this was where the road should have been, and the snow was easily three feet high, over five where the snow plows had packed it up against the side of the road. Fine. Not quite completely deterred, we drove through the little town we were near to a mountain road manned by a gated guardhouse. The woman inside was very friendly, told us that this was not the road up to Eagle's Nest, but it went very near there an still provided an lovely panorama of the valley, but frankly it would be a total waste of our time and money to go up there today. Well, at least she was honest. So, finally convinced of the fact that we wouldn't be making it up to Eagle's Nest, we drove back down to Jenner-Könnigssee, one of the five ski areas in the valley. Supposedly this had the most 'advanced' slopes.

We parked, we made our way to the base, we figured out where to rent... It's been a while, but it felt so good to be back in a ski shop!

After getting outfitted we headed over to the lifts to buy our passes. The fellow at the register was kind enough to give us a 10€ discount. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but we asked why. Oh, well, the top half of the mountain was closed due to an avalanche warning. Well, we were already there, we had our skis, at this point, we didn't really care what was open, we just wanted to hit the slopes. We took some very spiffy two-person pods up to the midway point, the highest we could go that day, and finally got a better idea of what, exactly, we would and would not be skiing that day.

The red X's indicate that those runs are CLOSED

But even that couldn't dampen our spirits, especially when we got around the bend and saw this:

Life was good. Even with the roof of fog the view into the valley was still pretty hard to beat. Speaking of valleys, one thing I noticed over the weekend was how flat it was between where the mountains rose up. I thought it was really interesting, because I'm used to the Rockies where there's some variation between them coming down and making a V with a little river gorge or something, and occasionally a more spaced out area, but with slightly rolling hills. Everywhere we drove here, if we weren't going up a mountain road, it was completely flat, and the area between the base of two mountains was really wide. I'm really curious if it's like that throughout the Alps, or if this geography is unique to this region.

Unfortunately, the slope in the picture above was the widest that it ever got; the rest of the (one) run down was sort of a hybrid between a Cat track and a slope. It was wider than a Cat track, steeper, and not as well groomed, but it was still very definitely a beginner run and there was no real choice of where to go. Despite this, we still had a blast! There was almost no one else out there, we were skiing, we were together, and if nothing else the view made it all worthwhile. I can't put my finger on how, exactly, it was any different from other views I've had while skiing, but something about it was just euphoric.

We stopped after only a few laps because we were getting hungry and it was nearing 1:00. Normally I like to save my ski breaks and use them as opportunities to rest or get some feeling back in my fingers and toes, but we got a late enough start that had we done that, we would have closed down the mountain.

There was a little restaurant next to where we rented our skis, and for lack of many other well-marked options, we figured that place would be as good as any.

It was great! The interior was exactly what I would expect for a little German restaurant in the woods, the food was hearty, warm, and delicious, and the beer was, naturally, plentiful. I have to admit, it didn't top my all-time-favorite ski lunch of a baked potato and bigger-than-your-face brownie from the Paradise Warming House in CB, but this made for a pretty close second.

We went back out after lunch and there were a few more people on the slope, but it wasn't crowded by any means. After one run we decided to detour out to the benches overlooking the valley next to the lake they had to make snow. It was off of the main run, but we had seen other people from the lift trekking through the powder. The fog had lifted, well, slightly, so we had an even better view.

We dropped our skis at one of the benches and decided to follow a trail off through the woods a bit to an opening we could see in hopes of getting a better view of Königssee, the lake at the base of the mountain. Although it was obscured by forest, I still felt completely unburdened sitting in the snow looking out across the way.

After a time (post snowball fight and failed snow angles) we figured we ought to get going again. As we popped back into our skis, we noticed that the lifts weren't running any more. Oops. We duck walked back up to the slope and joined up with a group of ski patrol who were making the final sweep down the mountain. They were having a jolly ol' time and told us they figured the top half of the mountain ought to be open the next day. We attempted to get one picture of us with the mountain in the background from a little old woman wandering by, but she must not have understood our heavy American-accented Deutsch, because there was no sign anywhere in the picture of the major mountain looming up out of the fog behind us. Oh well.

We turned in our gear and headed back into Berchtesgaden. We walked around there for about forty five minutes, but even though it was before 6:00 the town was completely dead. Cute town, though. We did find one café that was still open and bought their famous chocolate shaped like some of the mountains surrounding the town. Luckily I was also able to get a postcard, something I was admittedly a bit disappointed about not being able to pick up since all of the shops were closed.

We also saw this little gem:

I mean, we have Jackalopes where I'm from, but a marmot-duck-goat? With a walking stick and a pipe? I'm at a complete loss even for a name for such a fantastical creature. Maybe there's a German name for it that I haven't learned yet.

Since there wasn't much else to do, we went back to the House on the Mountain, cleaned up, and killed a little time since we were still full from lunch. There was a little fire going in the living room downstairs, so I read by that for a while (it's been so long since I've read in front of a fireplace; they just don't have many of them in Austria!). Eventually we headed out for dinner at a Bräu (pub) I had read about on TripAdvisor.com, Bräustuberl Berchtesgaden. It was again a large dining hall setup with a series of huge rooms, but the food was absolutely fantastic (Erica claimed the best meal she had eaten since arriving in Austria) and the beer was fantastic. I bet this place would be really neat to come to in the summer, too, because there were a lot of outdoor patios, and maybe even an upper deck that overlooked the valley. We spent a while there, letting dinner settle before having a go at chocolate covered and ice cream filled Palatschinken (Czech crepes).

Needless to say, we went home that night thoroughly sated.


P.S. For our final day of skiing, retune to Austria...

A Freiburg Afternoon (and Morning and Early Evening)

Friday, 11 November, 2011 - Well, technically my day started at 10:26 the previous evening when I boarded the overnight train, but that's of little consequence. All that should be taken from those 11 hours are that I look forward to going to Switzerland (I had a forty minute stop in Zurich and decided to walk around outside briefly) and that paying for things in Switzerland is obnoxious because they accept Euro but they return whatever change you would have in Swiss Francs. Thus when I payed €10 for a €2 muffin, I was given approximately 8 Swiss Francs that I then wasn't sure what to do with. I still have most of them in my wallet...

Anyway, early Friday morning I arrived in Freiburg.

Lauren wasn't going to get in for another few hours, so I figured I would do some preliminary exploration to ensure efficient use of time when Lauren did arrive. I admittedly did very little reading up on Freiburg before arriving since I was rather preoccupied with getting everything settled post break-in, so I figured the best place to start would be tourist information. I got directions to the city center - about a ten minute walk straight out the main door of the train station - and after strolling through a somewhat more modern and not particularly noteworthy part of the city I came to a cobbled street that opened up onto Rathaus Platz, where the Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall) stands.

Freiburg actually has a pretty fascinating history (which ironically involves Strasbourg, the city Lauren and I were headed to later that evening, and the Hapsburgs). Aside: it's okay, you can tune out quickly if you're not enthralled by townspeople murdering a bishop. Just make your way down to the next paragraph... So, where was I? Right, Freiburg. Founded in 1120 as a free market town (Frei = free and Burg = castle, though can also refer to a fortified town), its population multiplied to 6,000 people by 1200. Life was good, the citizens had their rights, they were relatively well off, and began construction of a Romanesque-turned-Gothic cathedral. Alas, their duke died in 1218 and some nearby counts pulled Freiburg into their reign. Unfortunately a storm cloud started brewing on the horizon and by the end of the 13th century it had blown over Freiburg and was ready to unleash havoc. The lord at the time, Count Egino II, raised taxes and attempted to limit the peoples' freedom, so they utterly destroyed his castle with catapults. Not surprisingly, the count was enraged and sought the help of his brother-in-law, the Bishop of Strasbourg. Said bishop marched his army into Freiburg but was then stabbed to death by a local butcher by the name of Hauri on July 29th, 1299. It was a short-lived victory for the citizens, however, since they had to pay 300 marks annually to the count for the next 69 years. They then got fed up and purchased their independence and turned themselves over to the rule and protection of the Hapsburgs. A lot has happened in the past six hundred and forty three years, but I think that 250 year period was the most interesting. So ends your history lesson for today.

Next to the Rathaus I spied with my little eye the tourist information center I was looking for and gathered my information before setting off. I took the scenic route to the cathedral, Freiburger Münster, passing such noteworthy places as the "Kartoffel Markt" (the Potato Market square). Most of the squares had Christmas market stalls in the midst of being set up, but none were actually open yet. At long last (okay, more like fifteen minutes later), I turned a corner to behold the Münster spire beckoning me down the narrow cobbled street.

As I neared the massive red sandstone cathedral I saw that there was a famers market filling the square. I was a little surprised that most of the stalls were selling flowers and plants, but it created a really pleasant aroma as it mixed with the scent of roasting chestnuts.

I meandered through the stalls, stopping to further investigate some of the ones that boasted wooden carvings, and had a few brief chats with some of the merchants. I was particularly taken with one stall and the woman working there was very friendly and informative. I considered buying a piece or two, but decided to at least wait and see what else I might come across. After all, I'd only been in Freiburg for an hour.

After poking around in the market a bit more I continued on through other parts of the old town. Günter had recommended that I find a bakery near Martinstor, one of the original gates into the city, that he really liked, so I decided that would be my next destination. I journeyed the five blocks or so with relative ease despite having to dodge some horse-pulled wagons in the narrow cobbled lanes

Notice the gutter, or Bächle, running along the side. These gurgled quaintly throughout the streets and folklore says if you tread or fall in one then you will marry a Freiburger, or 'Bobbele'.

and found the shop exactly where Günter said it would be: three storefronts in from the gate and on the right. I refrained from going in at the moment, waiting instead until Lauren could indulge with me, although the smells of fresh bread and würst that were wafting through that farmers market had whet my appetite.

After a bit more wandering down narrow alleys I wound my way back to the cathedral to linger there for a few more minutes before going back to the train station to meet Lauren. It was about all I could do to keep from getting a light snack since I figured Lauren would be hungry too, but about then she texted me to say she would be about an hour late due to a train that didn't get in on time. Unfortunately the farmers market was closing up, so I went inside the cathedral. I was drawn in by a slightly eerie booming that was rolling out of the doors and almost seemed to reverberate inside of me, and I didn't comprehend what it was until I stepped across the threshold of the entranceway. Someone was playing the organ. Well, practicing, really, but I've never heard someone practicing the organ, ever. It was really nice relaxing in the pews with my own semi-private organ performance (there were very few others in there), but eventually I had to go collect Lauren.

I found her at the train station with no problems, and after dropping off her bag in a locker we meandered back to the old town. We were both pretty hungry by that time, so I took her back to the Münster in the hopes that one of the würst stands would still be open, and we were in luck. We each had a weißwurst (white bratwurst) sandwich, then continued on to the bakery that Günter had recommended near Martinstor.

Martinstor

It turned out to be a very good suggestion and we split a slice of chocolate cake and a pastry. Then we took the scenic route back to the Münster and climbed the spire which afforded us a really nice view of the city and surrounding hillsides, still vibrantly colored with the changing leaves.

The cathedral was started in 1200 but the spire wasn't completed until 1330. There were a lot of names and old dates carved into the sandstone which were really interesting to look at. The oldest that I saw dated from the 16th century; it's fun to imagine someone else standing in that exact same spot looking out across the same hills almost five hundred years ago. I wonder how old a lot of the houses are, anyway. I know the half-timbered (fachwerkhäuser) structure was around long before the 1500s, but I'm not sure how big the town was then. Presumably it didn't really extend beyond the city wall (you can see part of the boundary at Martinstor in the picture, the white tower sticking up in the middle distance).

We went inside the Münster afterwards. Unfortunately the organ practice had stopped and there were more people milling about, but it was still nice. The stained glass was particularly interesting. At the western end of each side aisle there was an offset rose window which was partially cut-off. But the colors were spectacular!

There was another window that caught my attention on the right side nearest the apse. The depiction crosses the traditional boundaries to create a larger scene at the top. And, again, beautiful coloration! I also learned that the really deep red in some of the windows is not from a dye, but actually made with a suspension of solid gold nano particles, much like in crystal making or glass blowing.

I just can't help it; I'm a sucker for these things! Okay, one more interior cathedral picture, then I'm done, I swear!

It's a little difficult to tell here, but the window in the middle was also interesting in that it was all white and very pale colors.

There was also some really intricate wooden carving above the main door of the western façade (which was outside the cathedral, so I haven't really broken my promise!)

Afterwards Lauren and I wandered a little more, then stopped in at a neat café somewhere near Augustinerplatz and warmed our hands and stomachs for a bit. Then we headed off to find somewhere to get an early dinner before catching the train to Strasbourg, France.

I had gotten a few recommendations for some local cuisine when I went in to the tourist information office, and we thought that we had found one of them called Erzherzog Albrecht in a side street near the Rathaus, although I realized as we left and came to an intersection that I recognized that we weren't quite where I had thought we were. It was just as well, though, because the meal turned out to be really good and was very reasonably priced.

Then back to the train station and off to Strasbourg for the night. I enjoyed Freiburg, though; I'm really glad that we stopped off there even just for part of a day. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Lauren made a new friend! (Plus some other random photos.)

Day II (Part 2) - Fulda

Friday, 10 June, 2011 - When I was planning this trip I had the option to have a two hour layover in Fulda before boarding my overnight train up to Copenhagen, and after a little reading decided it would be a good place to stop and stretch my legs and see more of Germany, even if only a little.

Unfortunately, when I made this decision, I didn't consider what time I would be stopping there. I've gotten used to using military time enough that I often think of it as is without converting it back to the twelve hour clock, so when I saw that I would be getting into Fulda at 22:04, I didn't think about that actually being 10:04 and everything being closed.

The other mistake that I made was in switching out guide books right before I left, leaving mine in preference of one in the house library which was more compact, thus easier to carry around. I knew from earlier browsing that they both had equivalent information about Nürnberg, but I didn't double check that this replacement also had information about Fulda. It didn't.

I was going to get a little dessert and wander around because I had read about some worthwhile things to see there, but all of the restaurants were closed at that hour (at least where I was), and for the life of me I couldn't recall what was worth checking out. Admittedly becoming a bit dejected I eventually stumbled across a gelato shop that was still buzzing. For lack of anything better to do, I stopped there. After a somehow not-quite-satisfying gelato (or as close to a not-quite-satisfying gelato as one can get since such a thing doesn't exist), I was wracking my brain trying to remember what I read that had intrigued me so much. I was going to leave and take up my aimless wandering again, but on a whim turned back to the waiter and asked where he recommended I go to kill another hour. Although he had just moved from Poland and didn't know the city too well, he mentioned going to the gardens at the Stadtschloss. They were even still open by the time I got there at 11:15, though it was not lit at all so I couldn't see much. Still, I was able to get a sense of them and they certainly seemed spectacular - and smelled phenomenal. Fulda redeemed.

By then I was a ways from the station and figured it was time to make head back, passing Dom St Salvator und Bonifatius.

I also discovered why the town was so deserted despite being a Friday night: everyone was at this bar.

Seriously, music blaring, voices carrying, tables crowded, people continuously coming and going... that definitely seemed the place to be. Alas, I had a train to catch.

So, about that... I admit that I had a pretty romantic notion of this overnight train. I could just imagine dozing peacefully to the gentle vibrations of the track as I was whisked through the European countryside and waking to a fresh new day in an exciting new city. Wrong. I was crammed in a compartment with five other people, between two folks and facing the other row of three with maybe a two foot gap between us so we kept bumping legs. And the smell! I think it wouldn't have been so horrible except that the man across from me seemed to exude this horrific stench. And (AND!) he absolutely refused to put his shoes on for the duration of the ride. Not that he would have smelled much better with feet enclosed, but there was definitely a hint of foot in the awful scent. He also kept wandering in and out of the compartment, and every time he left everyone would take a deep breath of the 'cleaner' air. I don't think I fell asleep until about 6:00 when everyone in the compartment but two women had gotten off the train. Even then, it was only a light sleep.

But at 10:02 on Saturday morning, the train pulled into Copenhagen station...