Photo of the Week- Final colors of Autumn

The last viewing of autumn on a tree outside the Dresdner Residenzschloss in Dresden. Colors are fading quickly in Central Europe but this tree took advantage of its time to shine before winter.

Painting the town

A couple years ago a friend advised me that Berlin is not a city to see in a couple days, but more like a week or two. With this suggestion I reserved 7 full days to tour this evolving city. From what I had read about it in travel books and online you can not pin this city down. It is one that you can visit in the year 2000 and then again in 2010, 2020, etc and it will be like a new place each time. Twenty years ago everything that I am about to say about this magnificent city would be unimaginable. The fall of the Berlin Wall has changed everything, not only in Berlin but in Germany and Europe.

The monuments and memorials in Berlin are innumerable. Reminders of the past are everywhere to emphasize the horrors and insure they will not be repeated. Brandenburg Gate. East Side Gallery. Topography of Terror. Checkpoint Charlie. Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. The list goes on.

These things are not to overshadow the new and innovative things that have popped up in Berlin. The renovated Reichstag (Parliamentary Building) is something to brag about. 

Don't even get me started on the food. I've fallen in love with the gooey worm-like potato pasta Germans call spätzle. Try this with the traditional Berlin currywurst and you'll be in a food coma halfway through the meal. Or if you are eating on the cheap, you can live off the €3 döner kebap which originated in Berlin. Whatever your preference, you will not go hungry in Berlin. 

...or thirsty. Try a Berliner Pils or any of the other German beers on tap and you'll be satisfied. Jon and I became somewhat regulars at the Prater Biergarten where we drank Prater Pils or Radlers (sprite and Pils) with a side of bockwurst and bretzels.

Germans, especially the new generation, has embraced the idea of recycle and reuse-- antiques, that is. Flea markets and antique stores are easy to come by, as are hipsters wearing 50s fashion. Tokens of German life before and during the Soviet era can be an inexpensive and unique souvenir from Berlin. I fell in love with the atmosphere at the Flohmarkt in Mauer Park. Young Germans were buying and selling everything from antique cameras or clothes, to paintings and bicycles.

The new Berlin was inspiring but I'm intrigued by the past. I spent many days scouring East Berlin for signs of reconstruction and remanence of the past, taking in the things that will be forgotten in 50 years. Old buildings and walls are still scarred by war. A thick coat of graffiti masks the pain. Graffiti, graffiti everywhere!

7 days in Berlin was enough to make me want to come back and see the the new tags or the fresh coat of paint in years to come.

Photo of the Week- First sign of Autumn in Berlin

Fall leaves decorate the maze-like Denkmal für di emordenten Juden Europas (Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe) in Berlin.

Pröst to Oktoberfest!

September 18th began the 3 week long drunkfest that is Oktoberfest in Munich. This year was the 200 year anniversary of this massive celebration that grows larger every year. This day has been much anticipated. Bavarians and tourists alike waited anxiously and quite grumpily reserving tables hours before the first keg was tapped at noon. As soon as the beer was flowing everyone instantly became friends and language barriers were a thing of the past. Just say Pröst and you are instantly Bavarian for the day. Surrounded by a sea of lederhosen and dirndls, I sat in my much sought after seat at the Augustiner Beer tent drinking Maß after Maß trying to keep up with the locals. I don't know who's idea it was to add carnival rides to the mix but I could only imagine the disasters that happen when drunk people and heavy machinery meet. Oktoberfest is an experience not to be missed. There's still time, Oktoberfest ends Oct 3rd.

Planning Ahead for Oktoberfest

As paperwork comes together for my Czech Visa, plans are forming for my first adventure this year in Euroland. Luckily, Prague is very accessible and a great hub for traveling by rail or air. Berlin is only about 7 hours by rail from Prague and will be my first stop. The second stop and real reason for this post will be Munich.

OKTOBERFEST.

September (Yes, September) 18th is the kickoff of Oktoberfest in Munich. It will be crowded, smokey and sweaty with a hint of stale beer, and it is going to be legen-wait for it-dary! Remember the show Three Sheets from my previous post, Czech List for Prague? He's back for his second appearance in my blog to help everyone get excited for Oktoberfest.



This is one of the things on my "list" so I'm going to go all out- Dirndl dress and all. Suggestions and tips about navigating the Munich festivities are welcome and much appreciated.

Exchanges last a lifetime

Seven years ago, I embarked on my first oversees adventure with the Lone Star International Jazz Exchange (aka Pink Jazz). It was a musical exchange in which students from the U.S. played with students from Kepler Gymnasium in Germany and a few French musicians from Gourdon, France. It was an experience of a lifetime playing the universal language of music in an international setting. We travelled throughout Germany and France on a tour bus playing concerts for eager crowds of jazz loving Europeans.

Although I rarely pick up my trumpet anymore, the exchange lives on with the people and places that I met and visited.

I first met Deike when the Lone Star International team hosted the exchange in Fort Worth, Texas at Texas Wesleyan University. I made friends with many of the German students but one in particular named Deike. We went our separate ways after the exchange. The next year when Ibbenbüren, Germany hosted the exchange at Kepler Gymnasium, Deike and I were able to meet up and experience the exchange from the other side of the world.

That same summer in Ibbenbüren I met the Rattay family. Tim played the saxophone ,his sister Tanja sang in the choir with me, and their younger brother Thilo attended the Gymnasium where we practiced. This was 7 years ago. Four years ago Tim visited my family and I in Texas. Four months ago I visited Tim, Thilo, Herr and Frau Rattay in Germany. This past weekend Tim and Thilo visited my parents in Colorado.

Excuse my reminiscent post, but I cannot help but love exchanges for all the opportunities and friendships that they create. It is very rewarding to keep in touch and watch friends around the world grow up with me. When I visit these friends, I have found that we just continue where you left off last time even if it's been years. Lone Star was just the beginning of my positive exchange experiences. Sister Cities International and University exchanges have kept my international studies interest high. I encourage everyone to go find one in your community and to get involved now!

Aprilfest in Bavaria

Now I've never been to Oktoberfest, but I bet it is in close competition with Aprilfest . Okay, I made that up, but Munich in April is amazing. The city smelled of sweet blossoms and beer. Easter weekend was another great reason for locals to squeeze into the ol' Lederhosen or Dirndl and wear a feather in their Alpine hat. The Biergartens were packed with families and friends socializing with mass (or masses) in hand. Our Bavarian couchsurfing hosts took Jon and I to the "local" Biergarten (opposed to the touristy ones) in Munich and helped us order the typical Bavarian snack of Obazda and a fresh pretzel bigger than my head. Obazda consists of everything bad for you- butter, brie, and camembert cheese in a spreadable consistency. This is to be eaten along side a liter mass of tasty German beer. But don't be fooled: you cannot eat and drink simultaneously because the mass glass requires two hands to hoist it to the lips (at least for the ladies). One biergarten was followed by another. I don't know how the Germans do this on a normal basis. I was biergarten-ed out in just one weekend! The Englischer Garten was a neat place, though, because while the German men drink, there is a giant park for the children to play in. When night falls, the Chinesischer Turm lights up and casts a cozy ambiance over the garten. Don't worry mom and dad, I didn't just drink German beer the whole time in Munich, I also tried the German food, like the wiener schnitzel and döner kabab (a Turkish/German specialty). Not to be cliché, but the Hofbräuhaus was a great place for German music, food, and fun. It does uphold a very touristy reputation but maybe that's because it's so good!


After our reservation with our couchsurfing hosts expired, we checked into the Wombat Hostel, which I mention here because it's the best hostel I've stayed at in all of Europe. The people, guests, atmosphere, and accommodations were superb and we made a lot of friends. 5 of my Mizzou friends were already checked in there for the weekend. But when I hopped into my bunk in a room of 10, I noticed a MIZZOU shirt on the girl across the room. We began talking. Thinking about it now, I still find it a weird coincidence that out of all the people in the world, I was randomly put in a room with a Mizzou girl who knows most of the people I do. She was studying abroad spring semester in London with another one of my friends. It's proof of this small world we live in.
So the holiday weekend in Munich was full of culture and was a great beginning for the rest of my trip as I headed up into Northwestern Germany for the rest of spring break.

Dachau -an experience I'll never forget.

I have had many opportunities to visit historical and memorial sites of WWII while traveling in Europe. Being at these sites, the whole reality of war has become more vivid in my mind. Today I find it very appropriate to write about my experience at Dachau because it manifested my nightmare last night.

The first concentration camp of WWII, founded in 1933, is in Dachau, Germany. On Easter Sunday, I made a pilgrimage there with Jon and two Jewish friends, one of whom was visiting from Israel. At the gate entrance, the sinister Nazi saying, "Arbeit Macht Frei", received us. Inside, tall brick walls, trenches, and barbed wire surrounded us. It was a very surreal experience to walk through the buildings and standing on the ground that was labored by innocent prisoners of the camp. The museum on the grounds was very educational and sobering. Observing the site of something so grave will never leave my mind, as I realized last night. The gas chamber and oven room have made an imprint in my brain that will continue to remind me of what I've seen. Despite the occurrence of my disturbing dream, I think that it is an important part of life to learn as much about the history of the past as a reminder of how not to shape the future.