This Building Feels Like Communism

So I finally figured out how to put my pictures in order on this crazy website. It required a lot of cutting and pasting...on the computer of course

So yes...I went to Dresden and Berlin the last weekend in March (I got back last Wednesday morning...at 5.30 in the AM)

But the night before I left for Dresden, I somehow got talked into going to a playoff hockey game that Slavia Praha was playing against Plzen (or...Pilsen...yes the same town that Pilsner Urquell comes from). There was talk about it earlier that week, but I did not think I was seriously going to the game...until I was asked when someone was at the ticket office and called and asked if I wanted to go. That game was INTENSE. It was tied with one second left in the game...tied through sudden death...and then Slavia Praha scored with their last guy on the ice (i think it was the son of the coach or something...i learned that a few days ago). The whole stadium erupted! There was also a fight on the ice at some point...and 2 people got thrown out of the game. And then it took like an hour to get from the stadium back to my dorm because of the massive amounts of people on the metro. So now I can say that I went to both Prague hockey teams' games. Now I feel like I need to go to an American hockey game and compare notes. But...after the game I did not get back to my room til like midnight...and had yet to pack for my long weekend...and had to wake up at like 4 to make it to the train station on time.

So...long story short...I wound up being awake for 24 hours and walked a few miles on like 2.5 hours of sleep. BUT...im getting ahead of myself at this point...

back to the story at hand...

So our trip leader showed up to the train station like a half hour late...but thats a common occurance on ISC trips (not leaders showing up late...just the group in general being late for things...a lot). Our train was a nice compartment train...and even had a dining car. My friend Caitie and I were jonesing for come coffee and food...so the 2 of us decided to visit the dining car and have breakfast. Since it was like 7ish in the morning...we were the only people there. It was nice.

We got to Dresden at about 9 in the morning and then had 3 hours of "free time." The group of people that I was with (about 9 of us just kinda gravitated toward eachother) picked a direction and started wandering around. Actually...we walked in one directions because someone said "we should go that way...it looks like there's old stuff over there." After about an hour we decided it was booze time...so we found a vegetarian restaurant and got soup and booze.

Then we met up with the rest of the group and had lunch at one of the university's dining center...which was an experience. the dumplings were in the shape of baseballs...and stuck to my fork. After that we went on a 2 hour scavenger hunt of Dresden. We learned about some of Dresden's well known sites...and had certain tasks to accomplish. One...which you see below...was to cram as many people as possible into a phone booth. we had 7...but the record apparently was 10.

yep...there are seven people in there...a contrast of old and new architecture. if I am not mistaken, Dresden was heavily damaged during World War II, so a lot of the older buildings had to be rebuilt.

That night we had kebabs which are not like American kebobs. The only thing i can think to compare them to are gyros. But in Germany I don't think that they use lamb meat in their spinning meat hunk mixture. I ordered something that was meat, french fries, tazaki (sp?) sauce, and ketchup...and it was delicious. It might not sound like that...but it definitely was. Then we went to a hookah lounge...then I somehow got mixed up with the group that went to a club...and did not get back to our hostel til 5.30 in the AM. it was a good time though...

The next day, we went to the German Hygeine Museum in Dresden. Its a lot like the Museum of Science and Industry in concept...but more health related. I had my first Latte Macchiato there...and am now currently addicted to them. They are essentially a shot of expresso with steamed or foamed millk (it might be both actually) and on occasion whipped cream...de-liciousness. After that ...we headed to a German restaurant to have a German meal...which apparently meant only soup.

and beer...my friends and i thought it would be a great idea to drink a liter of beer...

2 of the 3 liters of beer attempted by the 3 of us.

My friends Staci and Caitie finished theirs...and I tried to drink about half of it in like 10 minutes... because I was unaware that everyone was getting ready to go...and I was still eating and drinking my beer...I got about 3/4 of the way through...and then had to give the rest away...because my body could not hold any more liquid....I felt defeated. Then we wandered around a different part of dresden for a few hours, and then Staci, 2 other friends, and I got on our train to head to Berlin!

Interesting facade in a small courtyard in Dresden

Welcome to Berlin!!

We got to our hostel at about midnight...and then go down to the lobby and all have a beer and talk about a master plan for the town. The hostel we stayed at was actually an old brewery...and one of the nicest hostels Ive ever stayed at. The four of us had a room to ourselves and our own bathroom. And we each had our own locker so we could lock our stuff up while we were gone during the day.

Day 1 in Berlin Started with a visit to the Brandenburg Gate...which had to be partially rebuilt after the War. From what I remember...the Berlin Wall was built around it...and was pretty much in a lot by itself until the wall went down. The American Embassy is now to the left of the Gate

Me at the Brandenburg Gate...with the American Embassy being to your left.

After that, we visited the Holocaust Memorial. for more information about it...check out this website: http://www.holocaust-mahnmal.de/en/thememorial/fieldofstelae

Holocaust Memorial...its a pretty moving place...

After that...we went to Checkpoint Charlie...which I believe was one of 2 ways into the American Sector. This picture shows that you are leaving the American Sector

Checkpoint Charlie. There was a museum across the street...but Staci and I could not figure out how to get in...so we ate lunch instead.

After lunch...we went to the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It was one of the most interesting museums I had ever been to.The building was designed by Daniel Leibskind...has no right angles in the building. The museum starts with a history for Jewish people in Europe dating back to the 1000s...and then goes all the way til modern times I guess. Its a very extensive history..until about 1933...and then it more or less glosses over the next 15 years...in a slightly cynical way. One of the exhibitions that my friend Staci and I went to was about eugenics...which is a combination of the study of race and anthropology. The Nazi's tried to use eugenics to create "the perfect race"

Then...we went to dinner...we went to a restaurant in a more artsy part of Berlin...because another restaurant was recommended to us...but we could not find it.
This delicious picture was veal ragout with herb spatzle...I really wanted spatzle...and this was the only thing on the menu that included it. I was a little leery at first because I have only eaten veal a few times...and had no idea what a ragout was. BUT....I devoured the whole plate...and 2 hefeweissens...and apple strudel. AMAZING.
We saw a Dunkin Donuts in the Train Station soon after getting to Berlin and I was adamant that we would go before we left the city. And...we did...I had a double chocolate donut...with some OJ to balance out the chocolate. It was one one of the best donuts I had ever had in some time. Then...we headed to the Berlin Wall...well...what was left of it. What's left of the wall is called the East Side Gallery, and there is about 1.3 km of it left as a memorial.
This is me writing on the Berlin Wall (i wound up writing on it 4 times...this particular time...i was writing a quote that was at the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off"
Staci and I standing my our birth year. There were several pictures of this scene...but this is the most rediculous one of me...with my leg sticking straight out.

After that...Staci and I wandered around Berlin for the next 4 hours...walked a shit ton...and visited the Pergammon museum. And then we visited the Reichstag...and then we headed to the bus..and got back to my room at 5.30 in the AM

Me in front of the Reichstag

So that brings me up to last Wednesday...sweet jeebus! I've been typing to like 2 hours.

but pushing on...

Friday...I went for Thai food...and thought that it would be a good idea to eat part of a chile....half of my tongue went numb...and I was unable to eat for like ten minutes.

Then Saturday...I went to a restaurant called Buffalo Bill...which looked like southwest America threw up on a basement restaurant. It was ok... and then I was going to go to the Obama speech sunday morning...so my friends and I thought it would be a bright idea to stay up all night so we could get to one of the gates really early. So we spent a few hours at another dorm called Strahov. It felt like communism with its interior design...or lack of it. I should have taken a picture...but was afraid to.

So we show up at the press gate at 3.45 in the AM...and there were about 8 people there before us. Around 4.30...some of our other friends showed up...but by about 5.30...people started getting antsy...so i pretty much had to stand from then til I ate lunch at like 12. It turns out that there were over 20,000 people at the speech, and i was about 5 feet from the barrier that separated the general crowd from the volunteer crowd ahead of us. I planted myself next to my french canadian friend...because I knew that he would make sure I did not die....and he's hilarious. There was a break in the crowd at some point...and I was able to see Obama for 2 seconds...but I did see him! So now I can claim that I saw Obama in Prague...

And that's more or less the end of massive highlights in my life...

Right now is tourist season in Prague...which means that its hard to get anywhere because of the massive crowds of tourists that cannot decide what it is they are looking for. Its very frustrating...because when I got here...the city did not seem very crowded.

ugh...I give up...

oh wait...im going to Krakow in a few weeks!!

so...trips coming up...Rome...then Krakow...then Paris!! Im planning on going to Vienna at some point...and possibly Greece...and maybe Spain.

now...i give up

till next time...

quote of the day... "I'm wearing taco pants today!"

Phantom of the Opera...Apparently Not An Opera

View of Stage and Row of Boxes Next to Us

View from our box at the Statni Opera Praha. We had pretty amazing seats.

Cool Looking Building Near the National Gallery in Prague...its a large modern-ish art museum...ie massive.

View of St. Vitus (?) or Some Other Old Church in Prague

This picture astounds me...and it actually looks much better here than on my computer...and on my camera...damn technology. But seriously...I believe in the background is a bridge tower (quite possibly St. Charles Bridge)..and in the foreground...a McDonalds. I still cannot wrap my head around the clash/cultural ease between medieval architecture and modern capitalist businesses. Sometimes I forget how comparatively young the United States is in the global scene...geez this trip is expanding my world view...in a good way.

Today I had to visit a church with a supposed gothic interior, but wa build in the late 1370s Today sadly...is not Sunday. More about this adventure later on. Stay Tuned!

Yeppers....I went to the opera

wait...scratch that...it was a ballet

why call it Phantom of the Opera...if it is not a Opera?

To be perfectly honest...I do not have clue what was going on throughout most of ballet. There was not any dialogue...and the dialogue that was included in said ballet (i guess there are letters that are crucial to the story)...were in Czech. It was very interesting and well done though, and I don't think that I had ever seen a ballet before. And the only other ballet that I know I have watched on television was the Nutcracker...but the version with Macauley Culkin.

Yes...he was in a ballet

It also might have helped if I had seen Phantom of the Opera beforehand so I could follow along with the story....possibly.

Oh geez...so what has been going on with me more or less the past 2 weeks....

Well first off...this weekend I am going to Dresden with my international student club, and then Im going with some friends to Berlin for a few days!! I'm uber excited. I have always wanted to go to Berlin. There is a lot of great architecture there...and a shit ton of history. And german beer...and legit german food...and a chance to see one of the most recognized symbols of communism...and a literal translation of the "iron curtain"...if you substitute concrete for iron in the previous statement. but you get the idea.

So last week while trying to find a cafe near the Jewish Quarter in Prague...which probably did not exist...2 friends and I stumbled upon a restaurant/cafe called Pastacaffe. It was a mainly white interior...which much of the color coming from its modern hue primary color logo and seating. I would have taken pictures...but getting thrown of of cafes was not necessarily on my list of things to do while in Prague. AND if i were to get thrown out of a place of establishment...I want it to be for something awesome (like a knife fight or something), not me taking pictures where I wasn't supposed to It was one of the coolest interiors I think I had been in up until that point. I ramble about this place because I ate Tirimisu there for the first time ever. It was really good; it wasn't too sweet...and had an interesting texture. I want to try some again....now would be nice...but its almost midnight...so no delicious dessert for me.

Last week for my contemporary architecture class we went to the National Gallery...which I think was a massive modern art museum for Prague. We looked at an exhibition from the Bata shoe company. The founder of the company created a little compound in the town of Brno (its in the eastern part of the country)...and believed in collective working...but separate living. Bata commissioned architects to design duplexes that workers could live in. I looked at some of the plans they had displayed...and they seemed small...but very functional. So kind of like socialism...but not really. Of course that changed when communism hit and massive housing blocks were developed...but it was an interesting concept. I really wish I had taken pictures...but yet again...my camera was locked in a locker with my purse and jacket, which was not where I was. A part of the exhibit was also a showing of different instructional videos related to the Bata shoe company and their manufacturing process. They showed a ten minute video about how the factory made a shoe to perfectly fit a person's foot. It was in German...but you could still understand what was going on.

Oh man...so on monday in Studio...my studio professor told us about a Gothic interior that we were supposed to visit and sketch because the last one he told us (located in the Prague Castle) is currently being renovated. I had to go today because I would not be able to go there til atleast next thursday because I'm going to be in Germany so my roommate and I made the trek this afternoon...which was a bit of a struggle after a bit of a long night. But moving on...so the closest metro stop is i guess almost half an hour away...and on the other side of a bridge that stretches over an enormous park. The bridge had to be close to .25 miles long...and we had to walk across it...and then back again to get back to the metro. Well when we crossed the the bridge there was a chuch immediately to our left. It didn't look Gothic...so we kept walking. And walked pretty much to the next metro stop without realizing it. So then we had to backtrack...a lot. In our defense...the street we started walking on after getting off the bridge was really long...and we could not figure out how cross the street and go left so we could turn around. So we back track...and end up at the church we passed like half an hour before that. So we get into its little courtyard...and stop at a sign in it that has the history of the church...and as im quickly scanning it...my eyes stop on the part that says that church is only open on Sunday...between the hours of 2 and 4. My roommate and I were PISSED. We more or less walked around for 45 minutes in an area of Prague that I am almost positive tourists have no business being in...just to discover that going to the church was an epic fail.

NOT cool...i think i punched the sign...but only out of frustration...and not very hard.

I guess the other highlight of the week is that I booked my trip to PARIS!!! I'm going to go for 4 days in may with one of my friends because he leaves for an internship in the beginning of June...and I want to leave June open to go to other places that are closer...and therefore cheaper. I'm pretty excited. All we have planned so far is the tickets and a hostel...which is enough for now.

well...since this post took 3 days to write...and I am exhausted...I give up on this post.

til next time...when I ramble on about Germany...and hopefully I will have pictures

as long as my camera stops being a douche and quits going through batteries like I'm made of money....grr.