Hey all,
I know this post is a little late but I had some school work to finish when I got back and this is the first chance I've had to write about our big five day weekend. I've already uploaded the pictures to Picasa so feel free to check them out!
Our mid-summer break started last Thursday with a long train ride to Rome through Strasbourg, Basel Switzerland, and Milan. We had only one delay but we managed to get to Rome by 9pm. We didn't have too much time to wander around but we grabbed some dinner and planned out our next day and a half in Rome. We rented bikes on Friday to ride around and check out the sites. Although it was very dangerous because Rome isn't exactly a biking city we did manage to cover a much bigger area of sites in a shorter amount of time. Most of the day was like playing Frogger and trying not to get run over, but on the way we stopped at the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountains, The Pantheon, among others, and took a tour of the Vatican and its museum, as well as the famous Sistine Chapel.
The Vatican was rather expensive, but we took a guided audio tour through the museum consisting of thousands of scupltures, paintings, tapestries, and other works of art. We were told detailed histories of some of the more popular pieces since it would have taken the entire day to go through all of them. I took as many pictures as possible while we strolled through the museum to give you all and idea of its vastness. The Sistine Chapel itself, is supposed to be off-limits to cameras and noise as the frescoes on the walls and ceiling are extremely delicate and are vulnerable to camera flashes and vibrations. I turned off my flash at the recommendation of our guide and snapped a couple of photos, but those few were all I could manage before a security guard told me to put my camera up. We also toured through St. Peter's Basilica and Piazza San Pietro and I was literally amazed by the size of all of it and the fact that it has been standing since 1626.
One of our last stops in Rome that night was not exactly mentioned as one of the top tourist attractions, but Kris and I decided to go visit Villa Borghese. It was a wonderfully designed park with African style trees, long and open bike paths, a zoo, dozens of fountains, and many beautiful ruins and buildings to explore. But before we knew it, it was 6:30 and we had to be back downtown to return the bikes at 7pm. We quickly found the nearest metro station (which we had day passes for) and managed to get our bikes down the series of escalators and stairs. One of which was a downward sloping moving sidewalk, so we couldn't resist riding our bikes down the length of it! Literally one of those moments that doesn't seem like it should be fun but it was unbelievable exciting.
We managed to return the bikes only a couple minutes late after many evil stares on the metro for taking up too much room. We had planned to go on our first pub crawl of the summer that evening and after we had some dinner and showers, we headed down to the metro only to discover that Rome metro workers had decided to go on strike that evening... At least we didn't pay to reserve anything, but we couldn't make it in time so we went to the local Irish Pub (which seems to exist in every major European city). After getting our first round of drinks we sat down with two German guys who had some extra room and talked while the Greece vs. Germany soccer match was on. During the course of the match we made two new friends who bought us all the drinks after that first round which was astoundingly polite. All of this was made even better when Germany advanced to the Semifinals by beating Greece 4-2! (Although I'm watching them play Italy right now and it's not looking too good...) So overall our night turned out much better than we expected.
Saturday morning we only had a couple of hours and the one major site we hadn't seen yet was the Spanish Steps. Since they happened to be next to the Villa Borghese that we visited the previous day, we decided to spend a little more time there afterwards. The steps were amazing with a great view over the city of Rome to the south due to the higher elevation of the park. When we were walking over, we heard some music and assumed that there might be an outdoor market or festival that morning. To our surprise, we happened upon the Italian 2012 Crossfit Championships which is simply put a cross section of many kinds of fitness including weight lifting, running, gymnastics, and overall craziness. We sat down for awhile and watched some of the most jacked dudes I have ever seen in person do some of the most ridiculous combinations of exercises I could imagine. We didn't stay for the whole event, but it still was something I wasn't expecting at all. We then went and explored another section of the park and set up our hammocks before lunch in the shade of a group of trees. All together, Rome is a great city and proved itself as a rival for my favorite city in Europe, on par with Munich.
Venice was the second part of our trip which was a four hour train ride away to the northeast. We showed up on Saturday night and took the waterbus to the outlying island of Lido where I had gotten us into a nice Hotwire hotel for the night. By the time we checked in, it was already 9pm so we just decided to stay on the island and check out the live music and restaurants that Lido had to offer. We ate a very classy three course meal at one place consisting of a liter of the house red wine, two types of spaghetti, a pizza with mushrooms, pepperoni, and avocado, followed by famous Italian gelato for dessert. Needless to say, the food in Venice is well known for a good reason even though it is rather expensive.
Sunday was our day for exploring Venice itself. We started by taking the waterbus from Lido to Piazza San Marco where we toured in the Doge's palace (no cameras allowed unfortunately), and saw the famous Clocktower and surrounding buildings in the massive plaza. We then grabbed a bite of lunch in a nearby restaurant and decided to go visit a local Music Museum (which was an easy choice because it was free). They had many famous instruments of past musicians on display and I was amazed by the curious design of some of them. Including guitars that had three extra bass notes attached above the normal six strings, weirdly shaped mandolin looking instruments, and violins and harps. We also bought student passes to a Vivaldi concert that night there which we were extremely excited for.
The only bad part of the weekend was the second Venice hotel, which we had to book last minute because we couldn't book the night train out of Venice that we had originally planned for. It turns out this place was in the middle of nowhere with a 30 euro taxi ride to get there and a shuttle that was anything but convenient. In the end we decided to skip trying to get there because it would be cheaper for us to just pay the full price for cancellation and stay out in Venice for the night. We ended up walking around to a restaurant for dinner followed by a bar for some lemoncello before the concert.
The Vivaldi concert was amazing in its own right. The group playing was a bunch of ex-symphony players and included three violinists, two violas, a cello, a bass cello, and pianist. They played four works from Vivaldi, one from a composer I didn't know, and one piece from Mozart. All of it was beautiful and enjoyable to listen to (unlike earlier in my life where I would often fall asleep during symphony concerts). If you ever stop in Venice, I would recommend seeing these guys play. After that, we found some local bars where we grabbed some drinks and watched Italy play England in the last Euro 2012 quarterfinal. It was quite uneventful until the shootout at the end but the bar went crazy with Italy's victory! We then found some friends to follow around for the night including a guy from St. Louis, one from Michigan, two German girls, and two British 'Blokes'. Through the course of the night I realized that the British guys were actually the most impolite and drunk of all of us so we managed to get away from them after awhile. We ended up going to Piazza San Marco one last time at 2am and played a couple games of cards with our group to kill some time. We then walked all the way across town to the train station and slept until our train the next morning at 8:30.
The ride back was a story in itself.. sadly. We took a train from Venice to Milan to catch a train to Zurich followed by a one last connection to Metz. We made it onto the Zurich train just fine, but then less than halfway through the ride we were informed that there had been a landslide on the tracks ahead and we would half to get off the train and take another route. We were shuffled onto a train going to a nearby town where the Swiss train company had hired buses to take us to another station where we could catch a train to Zurich. From there we had missed the last connection to Metz, so we had to take a train to Basel where we found a ride to Strasbourg. We were on the final train from Strasbourg to Metz, when at the last stop before Metz we were forced to get off the train because of unexplained 'Security Reasons' on the tracks ahead of us. Needless to say this French excuse was nowhere as good as the Swiss's reason. After boarding the bus, we rode around the country side with a driver who obviously didn't know his way around Metz or the surrounding area. After a 16 hour day of traveling, we made it back to the room at midnight.
Thats why America doesn't do trains.
Brian
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Our First GTL Field Trip
Hey everyone!
Wednesday this past week was the first time in a long time I've had a school field trip. We had the whole day off from classes but met at GTL to get on buses at 8:15am. I was in Group 1 with Kris which put us on the bus to go to Hackenberg in the morning. For those of you who don't know about it, Hackenberg is the largest underground fort on the Maginot line. The Maginot line was a series of strategic defenses put in place by the French after World War I from Italy all the way to Belgium on the French border. We got to take a tour of the fort and see all of the machinery that was used in its operation, some of the defensive weapons that the French installed, and some of the damage caused by the Germans when they captured the base. We rode on an electric train that was used as a troop and ammunition transport from the supply entrance of the base to two of the gun blocks and one ammunition storage area. We also were taken through the kitchen area which was supposed to have been extremely modern for its time. I took pictures of every gun I could find on the tour and boy were there alot of them! Everything from 135mm Howitzers down to the smallest German, British, and French pistols and rifles. I even managed to get a good picture of one of the anti-aircraft guns the French had used during the fort's defense that had markings on it for the two German planes it shot down. Overall a really cool place to visit, although it was deep underground so it was very cold the entire time.
The second half of our day took us to the Lorraine American Cemetery where over 10,000 American soldiers are buried as a result of the battle for Metz and the surrounding region. This cemetery is actually larger than the one even at Normandy and is an impressive site to see. We were given a short lecture on some of the famous soldiers who were buried there as well as many compelling stories of how they died. The cemetery was a very moving place to visit and it gave me a good understanding of the battle for Metz since most people don't remember it nearly as much as the other famous battles of the war. I have uploaded pictures of both sites onto my Picasa so feel free to check them out.
Brian
Wednesday this past week was the first time in a long time I've had a school field trip. We had the whole day off from classes but met at GTL to get on buses at 8:15am. I was in Group 1 with Kris which put us on the bus to go to Hackenberg in the morning. For those of you who don't know about it, Hackenberg is the largest underground fort on the Maginot line. The Maginot line was a series of strategic defenses put in place by the French after World War I from Italy all the way to Belgium on the French border. We got to take a tour of the fort and see all of the machinery that was used in its operation, some of the defensive weapons that the French installed, and some of the damage caused by the Germans when they captured the base. We rode on an electric train that was used as a troop and ammunition transport from the supply entrance of the base to two of the gun blocks and one ammunition storage area. We also were taken through the kitchen area which was supposed to have been extremely modern for its time. I took pictures of every gun I could find on the tour and boy were there alot of them! Everything from 135mm Howitzers down to the smallest German, British, and French pistols and rifles. I even managed to get a good picture of one of the anti-aircraft guns the French had used during the fort's defense that had markings on it for the two German planes it shot down. Overall a really cool place to visit, although it was deep underground so it was very cold the entire time.
The second half of our day took us to the Lorraine American Cemetery where over 10,000 American soldiers are buried as a result of the battle for Metz and the surrounding region. This cemetery is actually larger than the one even at Normandy and is an impressive site to see. We were given a short lecture on some of the famous soldiers who were buried there as well as many compelling stories of how they died. The cemetery was a very moving place to visit and it gave me a good understanding of the battle for Metz since most people don't remember it nearly as much as the other famous battles of the war. I have uploaded pictures of both sites onto my Picasa so feel free to check them out.
Brian
Monday, June 11, 2012
Amsterdam, the Orange City
Hey everybody!
This past weekend was a short one for us, but I went to Amsterdam on an overnight train on Friday. When we arrived on Saturday we walked around the city visiting some of the local cathedrals and historical sites, including the Anne Frank House in the western part of the city. I wish I could have shared some of the Anne Frank museum with you guys but they did not allow photography in the building. To give a brief description, the house has been restored to almost an exact replica of how it was while she was hiding in its Secret Annex. There were two bed rooms, and a small washroom hidden by a bookcase secret door. This link gives a good virtual tour of the place: http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/Enter-the-3D-house/#/house/20/
Saturday was a bit cold and windy so we stayed inside at a bar most of the afternoon watching the Netherlands take on Denmark in the first round of Euro 2012. The match went back and forth for the longest time and even though the Dutch looked like they had the upper hand, they could not score any goals. Finally, to the Dutch's horror, Denmark scored the only goal of the match. I couldn't believe how upset some of the locals got, but I guess we do the same for our football games back home.
Later that night Kris and I walked to a Jazz bar called Mellow Moe's in town. I can vouch for the fact that sometimes the smallest 'hole in the wall' can hold some of the biggest surprises. We walked in, paid a small cover, and listened to a band led by a guy named Aldwin London. He was on bass guitar and singing the blues with an accompanying drummer, while his friend (whose name I didn't get unfortunately) just wailed away on his electric guitar. The music they played was amazing and everybody in the room couldn't help but dance and nod their heads to the groove these guys put together. We stayed there for several hours unable to leave and glued to the performance. My favorite part was during the last song when the guitarist wandered off stage, thanks to his wireless amp connection, and jammed right next to us. He then proceeded to order a shot from the bar, and while soloing with his left hand, finished his glass with his right. I could do nothing but stand with my mouth wide open and speechless.
After that, we walked back to the hotel and passed through the Red Light district to get a glimpse of the night scene which was slightly sketchy to say the least. After getting lost a couple of times, we finally found the red LED street posts that mark the edge of the district and left it all behind. A long night's sleep was exactly what I needed because the next morning we woke fully rested and ready to go explore one last time before we headed out that afternoon. We walked around, got lost another couple of times, and passed many coffee shops and bars as they were taking down their orange banners and other soccer decorations from the previous day. After grabbing a bite of lunch, we got on the train and headed back to Metz.
Sidenote: 5 star hotel this weekend brought to us by Hotwire.com
-Brian
This past weekend was a short one for us, but I went to Amsterdam on an overnight train on Friday. When we arrived on Saturday we walked around the city visiting some of the local cathedrals and historical sites, including the Anne Frank House in the western part of the city. I wish I could have shared some of the Anne Frank museum with you guys but they did not allow photography in the building. To give a brief description, the house has been restored to almost an exact replica of how it was while she was hiding in its Secret Annex. There were two bed rooms, and a small washroom hidden by a bookcase secret door. This link gives a good virtual tour of the place: http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/Enter-the-3D-house/#/house/20/
Saturday was a bit cold and windy so we stayed inside at a bar most of the afternoon watching the Netherlands take on Denmark in the first round of Euro 2012. The match went back and forth for the longest time and even though the Dutch looked like they had the upper hand, they could not score any goals. Finally, to the Dutch's horror, Denmark scored the only goal of the match. I couldn't believe how upset some of the locals got, but I guess we do the same for our football games back home.
Later that night Kris and I walked to a Jazz bar called Mellow Moe's in town. I can vouch for the fact that sometimes the smallest 'hole in the wall' can hold some of the biggest surprises. We walked in, paid a small cover, and listened to a band led by a guy named Aldwin London. He was on bass guitar and singing the blues with an accompanying drummer, while his friend (whose name I didn't get unfortunately) just wailed away on his electric guitar. The music they played was amazing and everybody in the room couldn't help but dance and nod their heads to the groove these guys put together. We stayed there for several hours unable to leave and glued to the performance. My favorite part was during the last song when the guitarist wandered off stage, thanks to his wireless amp connection, and jammed right next to us. He then proceeded to order a shot from the bar, and while soloing with his left hand, finished his glass with his right. I could do nothing but stand with my mouth wide open and speechless.
After that, we walked back to the hotel and passed through the Red Light district to get a glimpse of the night scene which was slightly sketchy to say the least. After getting lost a couple of times, we finally found the red LED street posts that mark the edge of the district and left it all behind. A long night's sleep was exactly what I needed because the next morning we woke fully rested and ready to go explore one last time before we headed out that afternoon. We walked around, got lost another couple of times, and passed many coffee shops and bars as they were taking down their orange banners and other soccer decorations from the previous day. After grabbing a bite of lunch, we got on the train and headed back to Metz.
Sidenote: 5 star hotel this weekend brought to us by Hotwire.com
-Brian
Friday, June 8, 2012
Barcelona Last Weekend
Hey everybody!
Sorry it has taken so long for me to post, but I got back from Barcelona late on Tuesday night and immediately had to hit the books as I had three tests and a homework set due today for classes. Also, bad news is that all my Barcelona pictures were deleted because my camera memory card freaked out and froze. I guess I won't be using that one again... Sorry Kate! I am working on getting pictures from the other four people in our group so hopefully it won't be a total loss.
Anyways, this past weekend I flew to Valencia on RyanAir, the infamous low cost college student airline. We had enough time in Valencia to eat lunch at a place outside the train station where we had our first taste of the local Paella and Tapas. Shortly after finishing there, we had to jump on a train to Barcelona which was cool because we had a good view of the ocean for the entire four hour ride! Upon arrival, we decided to walk to our hotel through town and stumbled upon a closed off market street where there were hundreds of tents for shopping and a few stages with musical performances going on.
We made it to the hotel after not too long, but it was already late in the day so we just walked around Las Ramblas for the night and checked out the local scenery. The next morning we woke up and went on a free walking tour of the city which was very cool and focused on the history and culture of the Old City all the way from its Carthaginian foundings through to its modern revolution after hosting the Olympics in 1992. We also got to see the remnants of several Roman aqueducts and buildings that had been a part of the original fortifications. After that, we took a short train ride to the famous Sangrada Familia, the largest church ever built that is still under construction today. You could easily tell the difference between the sections built over the last hundred or so years and which ones were finished recently. However we were reminded that it is still a vast work in progress when we counted three construction cranes perched on different sections of the church.
Monday was my day of relaxation which I spent most of at the Barceloneta beach just a little ways away from our hotel. It turned out to be a perfectly sunny day and the beach was beautiful! (An interesting fact, the sand used to create the man-made beaches was purchased from Egypt for the Olympics in 1992.) I did end up with a slight sunburn, but I have since recovered and I was glad I was able to relax for the day.
-Brian
Sorry it has taken so long for me to post, but I got back from Barcelona late on Tuesday night and immediately had to hit the books as I had three tests and a homework set due today for classes. Also, bad news is that all my Barcelona pictures were deleted because my camera memory card freaked out and froze. I guess I won't be using that one again... Sorry Kate! I am working on getting pictures from the other four people in our group so hopefully it won't be a total loss.
Anyways, this past weekend I flew to Valencia on RyanAir, the infamous low cost college student airline. We had enough time in Valencia to eat lunch at a place outside the train station where we had our first taste of the local Paella and Tapas. Shortly after finishing there, we had to jump on a train to Barcelona which was cool because we had a good view of the ocean for the entire four hour ride! Upon arrival, we decided to walk to our hotel through town and stumbled upon a closed off market street where there were hundreds of tents for shopping and a few stages with musical performances going on.
We made it to the hotel after not too long, but it was already late in the day so we just walked around Las Ramblas for the night and checked out the local scenery. The next morning we woke up and went on a free walking tour of the city which was very cool and focused on the history and culture of the Old City all the way from its Carthaginian foundings through to its modern revolution after hosting the Olympics in 1992. We also got to see the remnants of several Roman aqueducts and buildings that had been a part of the original fortifications. After that, we took a short train ride to the famous Sangrada Familia, the largest church ever built that is still under construction today. You could easily tell the difference between the sections built over the last hundred or so years and which ones were finished recently. However we were reminded that it is still a vast work in progress when we counted three construction cranes perched on different sections of the church.
Monday was my day of relaxation which I spent most of at the Barceloneta beach just a little ways away from our hotel. It turned out to be a perfectly sunny day and the beach was beautiful! (An interesting fact, the sand used to create the man-made beaches was purchased from Egypt for the Olympics in 1992.) I did end up with a slight sunburn, but I have since recovered and I was glad I was able to relax for the day.
-Brian
Sunday, May 27, 2012
That's it. I'm getting a house in Bavaria
This weekend has been jam packed with traveling. Kris and I rode our first night train to Munich this weekend and both of us agreed that it was miserable. We were crammed into a small, and hot room with four other people for 8.5 hours. I managed to get about one or two hours of sleep before the sun rose at around 4:45am over the German countryside. Nevertheless when we arrived in Munich at 7:30 we immediately headed to Castle Neuschwanstein after being picked up by Kris's dad Eric and his boss George who works in Munich.
We arrived at the castle around 10 and decided to go for a couple of rides on a sled/luge ride that was built into the side of the hill. Kris and I didn't realize how fast we were moving until we almost crashed into the person in front of us on the first ride down. But on our second try we waited at the top until we had enough room to go full throttle. Kris managed to get both rides on video with his camera so I will post those soon, but to give you an idea we were shooting down the aluminum track at what felt like over 30 mph at top speed. Banks were built into the turns and with every lean I could feel the blades of grass slapping the top of my head. It was a great thrill and start to our weekend!
We then hiked up the mountain to Castle Neuschwanstein (which is the castle Walt Disney designed his after) and toured through the nicknamed Swan Castle because of King Ludwig II's favorite animal. Trust me when I say there were swans everywhere... Everything from sink faucets, to tapestries, sculptures, and chandeliers was covered with Swans.
Even with the ridiculous interior decorations, the castle was extremely impressive even though the second floor of the interior was never finished. I have attached a picture of a postcard I picked up to give a view of the castle since my camera magically ran out of battery on the night train but don't worry I had Kris take plenty of pictures for me. After the castle tour we took a sky lift to the top of the nearby mountain for lunch while we watched hang gliders take off in the afternoon sun. The food was a welcome relief and the view of the town, castles, and lake below was breathtaking.
I had already been convinced to buy a home in Bavaria by this point no matter the cost simply because it would be worth every euro cent! And my decision would only be reinforced throughout the weekend. Next we drove to find a certain Herschberg Castle south of Munich because of a letter my Mom showed to me before we left for Europe from my grandfather who was stationed there at the end of World War II. The letter mentioned vague descriptions of the surrounding area and the view of the alps as well as the fact that the room he stayed in had been used to hide Mussolini after he was evacuated from Italy late in the war. We figured it would be worth a try to investigate but whoever lives in the castle now wasn't home and the private property was not accessible. I don't know if that was the castle mentioned in the letter but I will be looking into it further this summer to know for certain.
We then drove to a nearby lake and sat down at our first authentic biergarten on the shore and had a half liter of the famous Augustiner Helles beer which was so smooth and refreshing it was hard to believe. The company is one of the last privately owned breweries in Munich and has been in operation since 1328. Needless to say it was very impressive, especially since the only sell their beer to bars and restaurants that have been personally inspected to ensure the purity and quality of every aspect of its service so as to keep up their reputation. After a day in the Bavarian countryside we thanked George for escorting us and went back to the guest house we were staying at in Furstenfeldbruck. When we had recovered from a day of walking the three of us went out for dinner and local biergarten hopping where I tried my first Weissbier and Dunkel which were both so good that before we knew it we had made it to four different small biergartens and had accumulated almost three liters of beer in my stomach. But soon after that we called it a night in preparation for our excursion in Munich the next morning.
SOOO...... That was Saturday!
Bright and early Sunday (7am) we took a train into town to taste a local white sausage that is served with spicy mustard and I think is considered a local delicacy (Fact checking needed). We sat down next to a couple young German guys who turned out to be in high school and invited them to our table for beer and breakfast. We quickly befriended them and ended up finishing a liter of Weissbier for each of us as we talked. They recommended some of the local attractions as well as which tourist traps to skip which was very helpful throughout the day.
We then watched a puppetry scene of sorts built into the clock tower that went off at 11am, followed by a steep climb up another clock tower dubbed 'Old Peter'. The views were amazing and we could only begin to imagine what else Munich could offer us. Next we decided to take the train to BMW World north of us near the Olymic Park from the 1968 games. The pictures speak for themselves, but the entire complex was Mind-blowing! We got to sit in a few cars and motorcycles on display on the main floor before crossing the street to the BMW museum. Its hard to describe how amazing it all was but in a few words, BMW designed their buldings as beautiful, stylish, and bold as the cars that were in them. On the tour we went through the history of the company and the different cars, motorcycles, and engines they had designed and as an upcoming Mechanical Engineer I came to understand how much they appreciate innovation, quality, and the absolute perfection of everything that carries the BMW logo. This museum was a must see in Munich and I would especially recommend it to any architects and engineers out there.
(Side Note: Munich has an unbelievable train and bus system compared to Atlanta and most other American cities which is why we and all the German citizens are able to drink this much on a regular basis. Simply because they don't need a designated driver thanks to public transportation.)
Next up was a visit to the English garden and Chinese tower just east of us. While the names sound strange for a German city, the park was filled with locals enjoying the afternoon sunshine and beer at the biergarten surrounding the Chinese tower where a band was playing for all to hear. After another half liter there we took the train north to visit the infamous Dachau concentration camp memorial site. It was certainly a change of mood for the day but it was definitely worth it and it left a great impression on my mind that I will remember for a long time. I also hope to add to the list of World War II sites that I visit this summer past this one, including Normandy and Bastogne if I can fit in trips to them.
Back to Sunday evening... We spent the end of the day in downtown Munich again before heading back to our hotel and even though we thought we had seen everything exciting nearby, we stopped for several street bands including one that absolutely blew our minds with creativity and stage presence. I will post a link to a youtube video of them that was taken at their performance, but I would recommend taking a couple of minutes to listen to these guys because they were excellent. We then ended the night at the tourist trap called the Hofbrauhaus where I tried my first Radler beer which isn't particularly strong since it is mixed with half lemonade, but it was certainly refreshing after a full day of walking around. And that, was the end to my crazy full weekend.
Cheers!
Brian
We arrived at the castle around 10 and decided to go for a couple of rides on a sled/luge ride that was built into the side of the hill. Kris and I didn't realize how fast we were moving until we almost crashed into the person in front of us on the first ride down. But on our second try we waited at the top until we had enough room to go full throttle. Kris managed to get both rides on video with his camera so I will post those soon, but to give you an idea we were shooting down the aluminum track at what felt like over 30 mph at top speed. Banks were built into the turns and with every lean I could feel the blades of grass slapping the top of my head. It was a great thrill and start to our weekend!
We then hiked up the mountain to Castle Neuschwanstein (which is the castle Walt Disney designed his after) and toured through the nicknamed Swan Castle because of King Ludwig II's favorite animal. Trust me when I say there were swans everywhere... Everything from sink faucets, to tapestries, sculptures, and chandeliers was covered with Swans.
Even with the ridiculous interior decorations, the castle was extremely impressive even though the second floor of the interior was never finished. I have attached a picture of a postcard I picked up to give a view of the castle since my camera magically ran out of battery on the night train but don't worry I had Kris take plenty of pictures for me. After the castle tour we took a sky lift to the top of the nearby mountain for lunch while we watched hang gliders take off in the afternoon sun. The food was a welcome relief and the view of the town, castles, and lake below was breathtaking.
I had already been convinced to buy a home in Bavaria by this point no matter the cost simply because it would be worth every euro cent! And my decision would only be reinforced throughout the weekend. Next we drove to find a certain Herschberg Castle south of Munich because of a letter my Mom showed to me before we left for Europe from my grandfather who was stationed there at the end of World War II. The letter mentioned vague descriptions of the surrounding area and the view of the alps as well as the fact that the room he stayed in had been used to hide Mussolini after he was evacuated from Italy late in the war. We figured it would be worth a try to investigate but whoever lives in the castle now wasn't home and the private property was not accessible. I don't know if that was the castle mentioned in the letter but I will be looking into it further this summer to know for certain.
We then drove to a nearby lake and sat down at our first authentic biergarten on the shore and had a half liter of the famous Augustiner Helles beer which was so smooth and refreshing it was hard to believe. The company is one of the last privately owned breweries in Munich and has been in operation since 1328. Needless to say it was very impressive, especially since the only sell their beer to bars and restaurants that have been personally inspected to ensure the purity and quality of every aspect of its service so as to keep up their reputation. After a day in the Bavarian countryside we thanked George for escorting us and went back to the guest house we were staying at in Furstenfeldbruck. When we had recovered from a day of walking the three of us went out for dinner and local biergarten hopping where I tried my first Weissbier and Dunkel which were both so good that before we knew it we had made it to four different small biergartens and had accumulated almost three liters of beer in my stomach. But soon after that we called it a night in preparation for our excursion in Munich the next morning.
SOOO...... That was Saturday!
Bright and early Sunday (7am) we took a train into town to taste a local white sausage that is served with spicy mustard and I think is considered a local delicacy (Fact checking needed). We sat down next to a couple young German guys who turned out to be in high school and invited them to our table for beer and breakfast. We quickly befriended them and ended up finishing a liter of Weissbier for each of us as we talked. They recommended some of the local attractions as well as which tourist traps to skip which was very helpful throughout the day.
We then watched a puppetry scene of sorts built into the clock tower that went off at 11am, followed by a steep climb up another clock tower dubbed 'Old Peter'. The views were amazing and we could only begin to imagine what else Munich could offer us. Next we decided to take the train to BMW World north of us near the Olymic Park from the 1968 games. The pictures speak for themselves, but the entire complex was Mind-blowing! We got to sit in a few cars and motorcycles on display on the main floor before crossing the street to the BMW museum. Its hard to describe how amazing it all was but in a few words, BMW designed their buldings as beautiful, stylish, and bold as the cars that were in them. On the tour we went through the history of the company and the different cars, motorcycles, and engines they had designed and as an upcoming Mechanical Engineer I came to understand how much they appreciate innovation, quality, and the absolute perfection of everything that carries the BMW logo. This museum was a must see in Munich and I would especially recommend it to any architects and engineers out there.
(Side Note: Munich has an unbelievable train and bus system compared to Atlanta and most other American cities which is why we and all the German citizens are able to drink this much on a regular basis. Simply because they don't need a designated driver thanks to public transportation.)
Next up was a visit to the English garden and Chinese tower just east of us. While the names sound strange for a German city, the park was filled with locals enjoying the afternoon sunshine and beer at the biergarten surrounding the Chinese tower where a band was playing for all to hear. After another half liter there we took the train north to visit the infamous Dachau concentration camp memorial site. It was certainly a change of mood for the day but it was definitely worth it and it left a great impression on my mind that I will remember for a long time. I also hope to add to the list of World War II sites that I visit this summer past this one, including Normandy and Bastogne if I can fit in trips to them.
Back to Sunday evening... We spent the end of the day in downtown Munich again before heading back to our hotel and even though we thought we had seen everything exciting nearby, we stopped for several street bands including one that absolutely blew our minds with creativity and stage presence. I will post a link to a youtube video of them that was taken at their performance, but I would recommend taking a couple of minutes to listen to these guys because they were excellent. We then ended the night at the tourist trap called the Hofbrauhaus where I tried my first Radler beer which isn't particularly strong since it is mixed with half lemonade, but it was certainly refreshing after a full day of walking around. And that, was the end to my crazy full weekend.
Cheers!
Brian
Friday, May 25, 2012
Munich here we come!
Kris and I are going to Munich this weekend to meet up with his dad. We are planning to visit several castles in the surrounding area, including one in particular that is special to my family. My grandfather (on my Mom's side) was in the Army during World War II and one of the last places he stayed in Germany was at Castle Hirschberg (not sure on the spelling at the moment). We will be going on a hunt tomorrow morning to see if we can find that castle and then ask for a tour of it. This will be a short post since we are heading to downtown Metz soon on the last bus, but I plan to have tons of fun this weekend in and around Munich and I will make sure to take plenty of pictures to post for when I get back on Monday.
Until next time,
Brian
Until next time,
Brian
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Made it Back
Well, I'm back from my first weekend trip to Luxembourg and Brussels and everything went well. Our group woke up at 7:00am on Saturday to catch a 9:00 train for Luxembourg where we walked around taking lots of pictures. We found a map of downtown with a walking tour outlined for us at the tourist office and spent until lunch seeing the sights in Luxembourg. My pictures include a World War II memorial, the 14th century city walls that were constructed by the Spanish, as well as the ravine/park that ran underneath the city's bridges. The sights were beautiful but there was a lot of walking and elevation change, so after we had Kebabs for lunch we decided to head back to the train station and catch a train to Brussels.
After a three hour train ride to Brussels with some annoyingly loud french kids next to us, we found our hotel in the heart of downtown. We grabbed lunch at a cafe nearby while listening to a street performing band in the square next to us. We also walked around to the different shops in the area to see what was near us. That night we made sure to stop by the Delirium Cafe (since the brewery wasn't near us), and tasted some of the local micro-brews along with the famous Delirium Tremens. We then bar and club hopped for the rest of the night until we were too tired to continue.
The next morning was rather quick since we do have to get back for school work, but we did stop for a Belgian waffle for breakfast and took some pictures of the major square nearby. Overall it was a fun weekend that wasn't planned out at all and turned out great. With all the things we crammed into a two day weekend it's hard to imagine what our upcoming three, four, and the one five day weekend could be like. Well I'm off to do homework and learn some French for class this week, but I hope you guys enjoy the new pictures I posted from this weekend.
-Brian
After a three hour train ride to Brussels with some annoyingly loud french kids next to us, we found our hotel in the heart of downtown. We grabbed lunch at a cafe nearby while listening to a street performing band in the square next to us. We also walked around to the different shops in the area to see what was near us. That night we made sure to stop by the Delirium Cafe (since the brewery wasn't near us), and tasted some of the local micro-brews along with the famous Delirium Tremens. We then bar and club hopped for the rest of the night until we were too tired to continue.
The next morning was rather quick since we do have to get back for school work, but we did stop for a Belgian waffle for breakfast and took some pictures of the major square nearby. Overall it was a fun weekend that wasn't planned out at all and turned out great. With all the things we crammed into a two day weekend it's hard to imagine what our upcoming three, four, and the one five day weekend could be like. Well I'm off to do homework and learn some French for class this week, but I hope you guys enjoy the new pictures I posted from this weekend.
-Brian
Friday, May 18, 2012
First Weekend Trip
Hey everybody!
It's Friday in Metz and I am super excited for the weekend now that I'm out of class. Our group went to the train station last night to reserve train tickets for the weekend and we managed to plan out a weekend in Luxembourg and Brussels with most of the other GTL kids since it's only a two day weekend. I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Luxembourg for the day and then Brussels tomorrow night and Sunday before we return. My personal plan is to make sure to visit the Delirium brewery in Brussels which is one of my favorite beers I've ever tasted. (you should try it if you haven't)
On another note, Kris and I also managed to book our Munich trip for our next 3 day weekend which should be fun but for now we don't have any events planned. We have also come up with the idea to go to Barcelona on our four day weekend after Munich which is still in the process of planning, but we are booking it soon.
This week has been a hectic one overall, with a trip to the grocery store Cora literally every day to get supplies and food for the room, but with our first weekend trip so close, everything is looking up. I will post again with pictures on Sunday when we get back. For now we are going to downtown Metz for the night to walk around and party.
Peace
-Brian
It's Friday in Metz and I am super excited for the weekend now that I'm out of class. Our group went to the train station last night to reserve train tickets for the weekend and we managed to plan out a weekend in Luxembourg and Brussels with most of the other GTL kids since it's only a two day weekend. I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Luxembourg for the day and then Brussels tomorrow night and Sunday before we return. My personal plan is to make sure to visit the Delirium brewery in Brussels which is one of my favorite beers I've ever tasted. (you should try it if you haven't)
On another note, Kris and I also managed to book our Munich trip for our next 3 day weekend which should be fun but for now we don't have any events planned. We have also come up with the idea to go to Barcelona on our four day weekend after Munich which is still in the process of planning, but we are booking it soon.
This week has been a hectic one overall, with a trip to the grocery store Cora literally every day to get supplies and food for the room, but with our first weekend trip so close, everything is looking up. I will post again with pictures on Sunday when we get back. For now we are going to downtown Metz for the night to walk around and party.
Peace
-Brian
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Metz and First Day of Classes
Hello People!
Yesterday was a really cold day for our first visit to downtown Metz. We took a bus tour of the city and saw alot of the sights and buildings, but it was muggy and raining so I didn't take any pictures. Not only did it rain, but it hailed and was sunny again all in about an hour, so needless to say I was freaking cold as hell. Also dad, that umbrella you gave me was either broken already or one of the metal things broke on the flight over.
I had my first experience ordering coffee and now I'm very glad I am taking a French class here because otherwise I would never be able to feed myself! Also, the food portions here are much smaller than America so I have been perpetually hungry for the past several days.
While it is difficult to get a decent meal, it is very easy to find beer around town. While we were in downtown Metz, I went to a bar literally called 'IRISH PUB' where they had a happy hour and I managed to have my first 2 pints of Guinness in Europe but then when it ended we moved to another bar up the street where Kris, Cori, Alex, and I sat for a couple hours watching a looped Red Bull extreme sports video while trying new beers including Buffinger and Floreffe.
Today was my first day of classes and I quickly figured out that I have a very hectic schedule... I have four classes back to back to back to back from 11:15 to 3:15 so I don't have a good chance to get lunch during a normal class day which only adds to my constant hunger. (I'm probably going to lose a decent amount of weight because of this)
This entire week our group has been trying to figure out where to go this weekend since our first plan of wine tasting didn't work out and our second plan to go to the beach at Nice, France looks like it might be too far away for a two day weekend trip since the earliest train we can catch would take almost 12 hours to get there. Needless to say we are absolutely typical clueless Americans on this trip right now and it could take us awhile to get used to things over here... Oh well we will figure it out somehow.
Signing off the blog for the night, but remember to subscribe to my posts by entering your email addresses at the bar at the top of the page! you will be notified anytime I add a new post so you can stay updated.
-Brian
Yesterday was a really cold day for our first visit to downtown Metz. We took a bus tour of the city and saw alot of the sights and buildings, but it was muggy and raining so I didn't take any pictures. Not only did it rain, but it hailed and was sunny again all in about an hour, so needless to say I was freaking cold as hell. Also dad, that umbrella you gave me was either broken already or one of the metal things broke on the flight over.
I had my first experience ordering coffee and now I'm very glad I am taking a French class here because otherwise I would never be able to feed myself! Also, the food portions here are much smaller than America so I have been perpetually hungry for the past several days.
While it is difficult to get a decent meal, it is very easy to find beer around town. While we were in downtown Metz, I went to a bar literally called 'IRISH PUB' where they had a happy hour and I managed to have my first 2 pints of Guinness in Europe but then when it ended we moved to another bar up the street where Kris, Cori, Alex, and I sat for a couple hours watching a looped Red Bull extreme sports video while trying new beers including Buffinger and Floreffe.
Today was my first day of classes and I quickly figured out that I have a very hectic schedule... I have four classes back to back to back to back from 11:15 to 3:15 so I don't have a good chance to get lunch during a normal class day which only adds to my constant hunger. (I'm probably going to lose a decent amount of weight because of this)
This entire week our group has been trying to figure out where to go this weekend since our first plan of wine tasting didn't work out and our second plan to go to the beach at Nice, France looks like it might be too far away for a two day weekend trip since the earliest train we can catch would take almost 12 hours to get there. Needless to say we are absolutely typical clueless Americans on this trip right now and it could take us awhile to get used to things over here... Oh well we will figure it out somehow.
Signing off the blog for the night, but remember to subscribe to my posts by entering your email addresses at the bar at the top of the page! you will be notified anytime I add a new post so you can stay updated.
-Brian
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
First Day
I finally made it to Europe! After a smooth 9 hour plane flight, I landed in Frankfurt at 7:00am this morning. I was crossing my fingers in the hopes that nothing else would go wrong, but the buses arrived late (they were supposed to be there at 9) and then we had to sit and wait for all the GTL students to arrive which took until almost 11am.
We stopped for lunch along the way and overwhelmed a German Burger King, where I had my first foreign Whopper and Coca-Cola... Let's just say it doesn't taste the same. I also noticed that personal space isn't too important here when I went to the bathroom and found three urinals in a 5 square foot room without any separating panels. This trip could get very interesting...
After arriving at Metz, I moved into my room with Kris Moen and we have since unpacked our stuff and thrown it all in the closets and desks. The room itself is actually very large and should work just fine for the time we will spend here during the weekdays. (I will attach pictures that I took when I get a chance)
All in all, I'm doing well and can't wait for my first trip this weekend which should be to Nice, France. The beach sounded like a swell place to start the summer off, and I might even get a chance to visit the famed casino town of Monte Carlo although I probably don't have enough money to bet on anything serious since the place is full of millionaires and billionaires. Oh well!
Orientation starts tomorrow morning and then first day of classes on Wednesday and hopefully by then I will have recovered from the severe jet lag and bus ride that kept me up for over 24 hours today with about 1 hour of sleep scattered around somewhere.
Until next time,
Brian
We stopped for lunch along the way and overwhelmed a German Burger King, where I had my first foreign Whopper and Coca-Cola... Let's just say it doesn't taste the same. I also noticed that personal space isn't too important here when I went to the bathroom and found three urinals in a 5 square foot room without any separating panels. This trip could get very interesting...
After arriving at Metz, I moved into my room with Kris Moen and we have since unpacked our stuff and thrown it all in the closets and desks. The room itself is actually very large and should work just fine for the time we will spend here during the weekdays. (I will attach pictures that I took when I get a chance)
All in all, I'm doing well and can't wait for my first trip this weekend which should be to Nice, France. The beach sounded like a swell place to start the summer off, and I might even get a chance to visit the famed casino town of Monte Carlo although I probably don't have enough money to bet on anything serious since the place is full of millionaires and billionaires. Oh well!
Orientation starts tomorrow morning and then first day of classes on Wednesday and hopefully by then I will have recovered from the severe jet lag and bus ride that kept me up for over 24 hours today with about 1 hour of sleep scattered around somewhere.
Until next time,
Brian
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