Thursday, April 30, 2009

Salzburg

I could smell burning rubber as the minivan careened down the mountainside. Its driver, our tour guide, nimbly steered the bulky white van, following a perilously narrow road that snaked through the mountains and surrounding countryside. Clutching my rolling stomach, I leaned toward the side window, my eyes never leaving the grandeur of the scenery before me.

Salzburg, Austria was the second stop on my mini-Eurotrip.

I got into Salzburg at around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, March 13. Not wanting to try to figure out the bus system, I hailed a cab to take me to the hostel where I was to meet up with two of my classmates, Alyssa and Rebbekah and Rebbekah’s sister, Naomi.

Over the next two days, Alyssa, Rebbekah, Naomi and I explored the city, stopping at museums, taking tours and walking around the town square. Together we toured Hohensalzburg Fortress, explored St. Peter’s monastery and cemetery and also Hellbrunn Palace with its trick water fountains.

For me, the highlight of Salzburg was when we took a tour into the Bavarian Alps. We booked the tour at our hostel and was picked up in a minivan and taken back across the border into Germany. We drove for hours on winding little roads, listening to facts and stories shared by our tour guide. When we came upon a particularly picturesque spot, the guide would stop the van and we could get out and take pictures. I enjoyed this because not only was the scenery breath taking, but I was also quite car sick and these breaks gave me a chance to recover.

The guide was a middle aged, knowledgeable Austrian fellow who was more than happy to answer our questions, encourage us to speak to him in German (though the tour was in English) and even played some selections from “The Sound of Music” soundtrack on the way back to the hostel. In fact, he timed perfectly so “So Long, Farewell” was playing as he dropped us off and drove away.

“The Sound of Music” was an ever present force in Salzburg. In fact, the city was the setting for the 1965 musical, making tours of the various filming locations popular for tourists. Though we declined on participating in such a tour, we did end up seeing the gazebo where the number “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” was filmed. The musical was also playing in the lobby of our hostel one night

What is interesting about our tour guide playing the soundtrack was that he, like most of the citizens of Salzburg, has never seen the Hollywood production. The musical, while being very successful and a cultural phenomenon in the United States, is largely ignored by the population whose backyard it was filmed in. The tour guide even knew random facts about the film and its cast members, which surprised me even more. It should not have though, considering that the guide was part of the tourism industry, which seemed to be content to milk every penny it could from the musical enthusiasts.

Everywhere we went in Salzburg, there also seemed to be some commemoration of Mozart, who was born and lived in the city. Mozart Kugles, little chocolate ball-shaped candies sporting Mozart on the wrapper, Mozart marionettes, music boxes playing minuets written by the composer and various t-shirts were sold in the countless little stores in the city center. We visited the house where Mozart lived, which had been turned into a museum, and walked past the house where he was born.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Salzburg and would recommend the city not only to those who enjoy musicals and classical music, but also to those who want to take a family vacation in Europe. The locals were very friendly and willing to answer questions and at no time did I feel unsafe as a tourist during my stay.

For more information about Salzburg, visit the city’s official tourism Web site at http://www.salzburg.com/tourismus_e/index.html. Another good Web site is http://www.visit-salzburg.net which is run by Austrian locals.

To see my pictures from the trip, click this link http://picasaweb.google.com/nemecse/Salzburg?feat=directlink

S.N.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Easter in Hannover

Mary and I arrived in Hannover Thursday, April 9, at about ten at night. Birgit met us at the station with her little red car and took us on a mini impromptu tour of the city before driving us to the apartment. The city, illuminated by street lights, seemed to glow. I felt as if I were glowing too with the simple happiness of recognizing the landmarks and stores that I had left behind last summer.

Birgit’s apartment was just as I remembered, consisting of two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, dining area, living room and balcony decorated with various angel figurines, family photos and brightly colored throws and pillows. Of course, I can not forget the resident felines, Garfield and Kitty, who seemed more interested in my luggage than with getting reacquainted with me.

Before bed, we sat together at a small table in Mary’s room, sipping champagne and talking. Soon the bottle was finished and Birgit brought me a fold out mattress and blankets so I could sleep on Mary’s floor. I feel asleep that night feeling safe and at home and just plain happy to be with people who I care about.

Mary and I spent the next two days meeting friends and walking through the sunny streets of the city. The weather was summery and I borrowed shorts from her and never had to wear a jacket. The air was fragrant. Everywhere we walked there seemed to be flowers blooming (generally cheery yellow daffodils) and trees blossoming as well.

Late Saturday night, Mary and I found that the Ostern Hase (Easter Bunny) had left us treats in our beds. I went to sleep thankful that somehow the magical rabbit had known that not only was I in Germany, but that I really enjoy chocolate. We slept for a few hours and then got up for church.

The church service at 6 a.m. Easter morning was not as different as I thought it would be from my own past Easter experiences. The ceremony began with a bonfire outside the church, with the congregation standing in a circle, surrounding the flames and chanting in Latin. Once we entered the dark church, everyone lit candles, illuminating the church in an eerie light. Eventually, later in the mass, the electric lights were turned on with a flurry of organ music.

After church, we slept and attempted to make Easter eggs. Earlier in the week, I had commented on the beautiful colored eggs hanging from a bouquet of pussy willows sitting on the dining room table. Birgit suggested that we color eggs ourselves. She purchased eggs, crayons and all the other necessary items to decorate them.

The three of us, Mary, Birgit and I, sat at the dining room table, carefully making holes at opposite ends of the eggshells with pins, then blowing the insides out into bowls. Then Birgit directed us outside onto the patio where we would begin coloring the eggs.

There we spread newspapers and got out the crayons Birgit had recently purchased. Then we threaded a long, thin, toothpick-like piece of wood through the eggs, heated the crayons over lit candles and dripped the hot wax onto the egg shells.

Up until this point, everything had been running smoothly in the egg coloring process. However, as we rolled our eggs over the flames, trying to coax the wax to spread and cover the entire egg, we found that the wax was uncooperative. Instead of covering the egg, it burned, leaving unsightly black scorch marks. In the end Birgit brought out a set of paints and we ended up coloring the eggs that way.

Although the eggs were not colored in the traditional way, I think we had more fun laughing at each other as our eggs burned and then covering them with paint.

The next day, we went to a family brunch at Birgit’s sister’s house. The food was excellent and so was the conversation. Mary’s family has been exceptionally kind to me and patient as well. They always encourage me to practice my German with them, are happy to answer my questions and gently correct my grammar and pronunciation mistakes. I was genuinely sad when I left for Salzburg, Austria, later that day. I hope that I will be able to visit Hannover and Mary’s family again before I leave Germany.

If you would like to see photos from my stay in Hannover, click this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/nemecse/EasterInHannover?feat=directlink

S.N.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Back in Marburg

After an awesome time in Hannover, Salzburg, and Prague, I have returned safely to Marburg and am ready to start school. Tomorrow class begins again and I can not wait talk to my peers and hear stories about their break.

Over the next week I will post entries and photos about my traveling experiences, so stay tuned.

S.N.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Break

The following entry was written on Thursday, April 9, but due to technical difficulities, was not posted until now.

On Friday, April 3 and Monday, April 6, I was tested on my listening and reading comprehension, grammar, as well as my writing and speaking abilities in the German language. I am excited to say that I passed my exams and will be moving into the next level, Stuffe Zwei. Now I am on break, until Tuesday, April 21. I studied pretty hard for the tests, though it was difficult to stay indoors because of the nice weather outside.

The weather in Marburg over the last few weeks has been absolutely gorgeous. Flowers are blooming, trees are budding and people are strolling outside in t-shirts and shorts. I have even seen butterflies and have coaxed angry, confused bumblebees out my open windows. Furthermore, it smells like spring. All of these factors make it difficult to stay inside. Even as I write this, I am sitting outside the train station sipping my radler (beer mixed with Sprite) in the afternoon sun.

Presently, I am waiting for one of my best friends, Mary, to meet me so we can travel to Hannover and celebrate Easter with her family. I am very excited for this opportunity. I have been told Easter is a very celebrated holiday in Germany.

Mary is a friend that I made in high school where she was a German foreign exchange student. Since graduation, she has visited American a few times and I have visited her home in Germany as well. Last summer I was invited to live with Mary and her mother, Birgit, for two months in their apartment in Hannover. During that time I became close with Birgit and got to know Mary’s friends. Before I left, Birgit invited me for Easter. Now here I am, anxiously awaiting the train to take me back to what I have started to think of as my second home.

I am staying with Mary and Birgit until Sunday night, when I will take a train to Salzburg, Austria. I will be meeting some classmates there. We have booked a hostel room and plan to explore the city for a few days. On Thursday, March 16, we leave Salzburg and travel to Prague in the Czech Republic. On Sunday, March 19, we will return to Marburg.

I am very excited to be enjoying Easter with loved ones as well as taking a mini Eurotrip. Hopefully, I will be able to post entries and pictures along the way. Until then, Happy Easter!

S.N.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Munich part 2

The next morning I was rudely awakened by the other six occupants of our 12 person room leaving for their next destination. It was bad enough that they were other Americans (we had been hoping to meet some fun Europeans) but they did not even speak German or really talk to us at all. I was disappointed.

After breakfast, Megan and I made our way to Marienplatz, the square where a free walking tour was supposed to convene and begin. Marienplatz was teaming with people and a group of German vegan demonstrators were inconveniently situated where the tour groups met. They were entertaining to watch though. Most of them were dressed in animal costumes and would intermittently begin to sing and do the chicken dance. We grabbed some pamphlets in hopes of deciphering them later.

Though it was probably the most “touristy” thing that I could have done, I am glad that I went on the walking tour, which took us around the inner city. The guide was a quirky but knowledgeable American college student, who made the tour enjoyable with a myriad of jokes, facts and history about the sites we were seeing. Through the tour we saw the imposing and very gothic Frauenkirche, which houses the infamous Devil’s Footprint, the National Theater/Opera House, the Memorial to the German Resistance, the Church of St. Peter, both the Old and New Town Halls and much more.

The next day was our last day in Munich. I did not get up early enough to go to a service at the Frauenkirche with Tom and Richard and instead accompanied Megan to the Church of St Peter. There, you could pay a euro and climb 297 steps of the tower to see a spectacular view of Munich. We had been told by our tour guide that on a clear day, one could see the Alps from the tower. Sadly, it was not clear enough that Sunday, though the view was still worth the small, winding staircase.

At 3:05 p.m. we caught our train and started the seven hour journey home. We had to switch trains four times, but it was actually relatively easy and I suppose it was good practice for us as well. We got into Marburg at 10:20 that night.

My trip to Munich was a great time and I would love to go again and explore the city more. As of April 1, my student ticket has been activated, meaning that I can travel by train around Hessen for free. I plan to take advantage of this and I am going to plan more day/weekend trips around the state.

S.N.

Images: Me standing inside the Frauenkirche next to the Devil's Footprint

The view from St. Peter's

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Munich part one

We arrived in Munich at about 8 p.m. Walking out of the train station, I remember wanting to feel a kind of awe, anything that would say “Yes, Sara, this is going to be an awesome weekend in Bavaria.” Sadly, it was dark, cold and I had no such feelings. I trudged along behind the others and hoped that we would not get lost trying to find our hostel.

Richard was familiar with the city, having studied there for a semester, and we found it relatively easily. Next he wanted to visit the hostel that he had previously stayed in.

We walked to the Euro Youth Hostel and sat down at the bar. The place was full of young people conversing in all different languages, drinking and dancing. Everyone seemed so friendly and the atmosphere was very relaxed. I remember Tom saying that this was how he had always pictured a hostel to be like.

That night we met a Dutch man who was very impressed that Americans were speaking something other than English.

“When a person can speak three languages, they are trilingual. When a person can speak two languages they are bilingual. When a person only speaks one language, they are an American,” he said.

The next day I went on a tour of the concentration camp in Dachau with Tom. The concentration camp has been turned into a free memorial.

I did not know what to expect when visiting a concentration camp. Would I be upset by what I saw? Was this something I really wanted to experience? These were things I was mindful of as I walked through Dachau’s famous iron gates, the inscription “Arbeit mach frei” (work makes you free) looming above me.

Upon entering the gate, I was met by a harsh, barren landscape. I found myself standing in a square, surrounded by long, white buildings. Everything was still and before long, snow began falling out of the overcast sky. The crunching of gravel underfoot and the occasional explanation offered by a tour guide were the only sounds I heard for the next few hours.

The tour was in English, and the guide took our group through each of the white buildings explaining its previous uses and offering bits of history as well. Most of the tour was spent walking through barracks. I saw where prisoners slept, washed, ate, where some were tortured or experimented on, where their hair was cut and where names were exchanged for numbers and identities stolen.

I remember having this numb feeling for hours, walking silently and taking photos. How many people walked here before me? Worked here? Died here?

Near the end of the tour, I found myself outside of the gas chamber and crematorium. I was told that there was speculation as to if the gas chamber was ever actually used, but there was no doubt that the crematorium was.

I remember walking toward the gas chamber and seeing “Brausebad” (shower room) written above the door. The chamber was made of smooth concrete and had fake shower spigots on the ceiling.

Next I walked into another concrete room and instantly began to feel sick. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and panic gripped at my chest. After reading an inscription on the wall, I realized that I was standing in a room where bodies were housed before cremation. I quickly left the compound and the tour was finished shortly thereafter. A video of the compound is attached to this entry.

That night we met the rest of our traveling companions and went to the Hofbräuhaus. The Hofbräuhaus is a famous traditional Bavarian beer hall, which was a stark comparison to the concentration camp memorial. It was just what Tom and I needed.

According to Jeremy Gray, author of the Bavaria section of Lonely Planet's "Germany," says the Hofbräuhaus is “certainly the best-known and most celebrated beer hall in Bavaria, but apart from a few local yokels you’ll be in the company of tourists. A live band is condemned to play Bavarian folk music most of the day.”

This may have been true, but we enjoyed the Hofbräuhaus none the less. We were seated at a large wooden table with benches, and were served liters of beer by a waitress, dressed in a traditional dirndl (the female equivalent to lederhosen). I ate my weisswurst and thoroughly enjoyed the music played by the “condemned” band all night.

For more information about the Hofbräuhaus, please visit its official Web site at http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/index_en.html.

For more information about the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial site, please visit its official Web site at http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/english.html.

S.N.


Trip to Munich

One goal that I had for my studying abroad experience was to travel to Bavaria. On my previous trips to Germany, I had stayed mostly in the state of Niedersachsen, in the northern half of the country. Now I wanted to travel south and experience as much yodeling, weisswurst and lederhosen as I possibly could.

On Thursday, March 19, I got my wish when five of my peers (Amanda, Aaron, Megan, Richard and Tom) and I took a trip to Munich. We spent three days and three nights exploring the city and sleeping in a hostel. It was a great experience. The next two entries will be about this trip.

S.N.
Image: Five happy travelers. From left to right: Megan, Richard, Tom, myself and Amanda. Not pictured: Aaron