My first overseas trip: a year on- Munich

19/06/2010   Munich

It has rained for all of my time in Munich. If not rained, it has drizzled, or had the very real threat of rain about to be unleashed. It is also a little cool, so I have been wearing my jacket and scarf. But none of this has dampened my trip (pun intended), for there is something nice about the rain…maybe because we have not had that type of rain back home for what seems so long now. On my first full day in Munich I joined a walking tour of the city- yes, it rained, but it was still lovely! We took refuge in beautiful old churches and palaces. We walked under umbrella’s through the vast English gardens, dodging puddles and bicyclist. 

Day two saw me on a tour of the concentration camp at Dachau. Again, it was emotionally draining, but worthwhile... I don't think I ever need to see another of these places. Once more I was filled with grief, tears and utter sadness over why and how this occurred. Interestingly, there is an international memorial there (I think made in the 70's perhaps?), it is made up of the triangles (badges) of colour of those that suffered in the camps, with the exclusion of 2 - pink (for homosexuals) and black (for asocial elements such as gypsys and ‘work shy’ people). It was really sad to see that prejudice still existed then to the point that they chose not to respect these two groups of people in a memorial for those that suffered!

One of the best things about Munich was that my friend M has a mate called Stephen whom she used to work with in Dublin. She kept insisting that he and I catch up, and I am glad I said yes. He is such a nice guy and originally from Ireland. We meet on a couple of occasions after he had finished work for the day. One night we had drinks at a cool bar, moved on to dinner at a gay bistro and then were off through the gay section of town and onto a couple of gay bars. The bars were tiny and full of smokers !!! I drank way too much (note to self- Don’t try and keep up with an Irish drinker) and am amazed that I somehow made my way back to my hotel in the early hours of the morning. The next night Stephen and I had dinner at a Bavarian styled place (with kitschy décor), walked through town and then had coffee.

Munich has quite a few art galleries and I decided to spend the good part of my last full day in Munich visiting three of them. Walking from the hotel I put on the discman and let the music fill my head. First up local Aussie raw energetic garage/rock group -Eddy Current Suppression Ring´s LP 'primary colours' fittingly sound tracked the grey and wet streets. ‘Memory Lane’ screamed into existence and the words.. “as i walk down memory lane”... caused me to reflect that I was walking along the same streets that so many historical figures have as well, infact they may have taken the exact same steps at the exact same speed as I !!!  WOW!! And then lost in fantasy I realised that I had become a little dis-orientated (yes .... lost !!). The track 'which way to go' comes on and it is if I was making the lyrics up there and then-'and I still don't know, which way to go'. This put such a big smile on my face!!!

I soon found my way and arrived in an area filled with some of the galleries I had planned to see and wow!!! I saw such great things! At 'neue pinakothek' I saw many great works including one of Vincent Van Gogh's sunflower paintings. As walked past other paintings I had these realisations that I had seen many of these before in books !!  It was so exciting.... I next went to the ‘museum Brandhorst’ and saw some great modern pieces. In particular they had a brilliant collection of Cy Twombly. I didn't really know this person before I had been to the gallery, but immediately loved the art. The canvases were HUGE and the paintings looked so great. At the ‘pinakothek der moderne’ I saw some architecture, design and art exhibitions.... which were all very aesthetically pleasing. The thing I realized was that not only are the galleries filled with fantastic art, but the buildings themselves are beautiful!!  Some had very modern designs and others were more classical looking (ie. Greco-Roman).

Anyway, what a huge day!!!!... as great as it all was, three galleries were more than enough, and I walked back to the hotel in the rain, which had become heavier. Future of the left's Lp 'travels with myself and another'..came on, very fitting! They are a heavier, indie-rock/noise-rock group. Jaggered guitars sounded in my ears, Vocals yelped and the rain lashed against my near to collapsing umbrella... brilliant !! The energy of the music played against Munich's weather and got me back to the Hotel.

I’d had such an interesting time in Munich despite the constant rain. Stephen certainly made it so much better than it could have been! Tomorrow I am off to Zurich! It is a four hour scenic train trip Via Austria! Wow!!

Next Stop- Zurich 

 The City's beautiful buildings:

 

Not as old but definitely as cool, is this:

The English garden:

Inside one of the many beautiful churches:

Deutsche Bahn Trains!

Tram!!!  Just like being back home.

Cool scaffolding!

One of the original gates to the city!

 Cy Twombly:

 

 
A local outfit anyone?

At the internet cafe I was frequenting, they had lovely Peonies on the tables. Very classy!

  

My first overseas trip: a year on- Berlin

15/06/2010  Berlin

I have spent 4 days in Berlin and all I want to say is: Amazing !!!

After leaving a handsome German physicists on the train, I caught a taxi and had a handsome German cabbie, who didn’t speak a word of English. Still love has its own language and fortunately I had written the address of the apartment in German. My mate M found a great apartment for us in Alexanderplatz. It was central enough and right next to transport and shopping !!!! We had a little kitchen and were able to cook a couple of meals as well as prepare breakfast each morning!!

I got a grip on the U-bahn and S-bahn and we hopped on and off in need (after mastering the underground in London, I felt brave enough  to take on anything!). M and I also walked a lot. For those that are wondering, yes I did get lost, but in doing so...stumbled across a nice shopping area that had Lacoste and Campers, however, I refrained from buying as the prices were comparable to those back home.

Berlin sightseeing:

M and I did a walking tour of the main sights. At the start of the tour we saw a completely naked woman walk over a bridge from Museum Island and towards us (yes, how cool, they have an Island of Museums!). We saw many lovely buildings, all recent. The tour guide kept reminding us that everything is fake.. ‘looks old, isn’t!’. Almost everything in Berlin was destroyed in the Second World War. We also learned that despite Germany being a well-off country, Berlin is a very poor capital!!! While we rested for a coffee break at the Brandenburg Gate (just before we walked through it!!!), a trailer and some vans pulled up in front of it, musicians sprang forth, jumped on the trailer and give us a quick 2 song set from 'We will rock you' the musical, which was soon to open. They sang, 'we will rock you' and 'we are the champions'... how AMAZING to have Queen sung in front of the Brandenburg gate !!! We then walked through the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe ‘Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas’  (also known as the Holocaust Memorial). As the tour drew closer to the end, we came across some remains of 'the wall', and then saw where the original checkpoint Charlie stood, now a weird touristy setup.


The next day we went on a tour to Sachsenhausen, a forced work camp. To be honest, I had not wanted to see any of these sites on this trip, but M was going regardless and I thought- I'll do something I wouldn’t usually do, so joined her. It was an emotionally exhausting experience. I am very glad I went, but I had to leave some sites a few times because I was becoming overcome emotionally. I have read accounts of holocaust survivors and of the many who didn't survive and found these distressing enough, but when faced with actual parts of peoples shoes and belongings, their personal photos, as well as photos of them, in seeing the actual ovens in which they burnt those poor people, the beds they were cramped in…. it was horrific…. I remember seeing a book in which the names of those who died were written. As I drew closer to it the names become clearer and I cried. How can one not see one’s own name or the names of our loved ones there and not be moved? How can anyone not cry at the sheer horror of what we as humans have done and are capable of doing and continue to do? Anyway,  enough of this talk…I feel sad thinking about it all and of the responsibility we all carry as humans to ensure peacefully that such things never occur again.

Now, onto other things…. My friend M is a character. She is loud, extroverted and talks to anyone. She is full of class (‘lower class’ that is) and has no hesitation in dropping the F word loudly regardless of where she is. M being who she is, got to chatting to a few other Aussies and we all ended up at a table at the Berliner Rebublik bar to watch Germany kick Australia's but 4 nil in the world cup !!!..Oh the shame!!!! My poor brother Christopher was watching it in South Africa (He traveled to South Africa to watch the world cup,… talk about dedication!). My brother and I SMS'ed each other a few times during half time.. he was as disappointed with our playing as I was..... Still, what a fantastic experience, watching Australia play Germany in the world cup, in a bar in Berlin !!!

The next day, M and I walked through the very beautiful Tiergarten. We went to the East Side Gallery and saw a remaining part of ‘the wall’ which has art on it. Oh, and afterwards we found a beach bar!! Yay!!! Sand was brought in and placed along the river banks for summer. It was just like being on a European beach, except for the lack of German tourists (European joke there…)!! Moving right along….. After M left to go back to Dublin, I went out again and tracked down a gallery called Tacheles. A friend from Uni, Michelle, had lived and worked in Berlin and strongly suggested it, though it was hard to find and I got a little lost (again) it was well worth the trip to the gallery.

Agh!!!! Berlin I love you!!!  

Today I am on a train to Munich. It is a 6 hour trip. I am sharing a first class cabin with a handsome man, who speaks perfect English (he is an interpreter who specializes in certain areas), of course he is married with 3 children, still, he wants to chat and I have 6 hours to kill…and he has lovely eyes!

Next stop- Munich!

Across the road from the apartment: Bahnhof Alexanderplatz. 

The bedroom/living space of the apartment:

 TV tower (Fernsehturm) This guided us home many a time!- Just walk towards the tower!!

Cool lane with exposed wiring, somewhere near Marketplatz

 Staircase at Kunsthaus Tacheles (Art House Tacheles)

An art galleries and churches we saw on the walking tour:

 Brandenburg Gate

Section of the remaining Berlin wall

The Holocaust Memorial

As you walk through the memorial, the ground is uneven, anyone can appear from the left or right paths and you are left with a feeling of fear and uncertainty.

Sachsenhausen:

The east side Gallery (part of the remain Berlin wall):

My first overseas trip: a year on- Frankfurt

12/06/2010  Frankfurt.

So there I was 2 days ago at Gare du Nord Station in Paris, thinking… It is grey and raining and some dodgy people are hanging about… Hmm I am off elsewhere.. Germany sounds nice! I boarded the ICE train to Frankfurt. It traveled at speeds of over 300 Km an hour, as I escaped the weather and the thieves of Paris, of course I did so in First class, and whilst sipping wine. I looked out the window mesmerized by the German countryside for most of the trip. I must say that I did have a couple if scares on my way to Frankfurt:

The train to Frankfurt stopped at what I thought was the second last stop. I figured we had another 45 mins to go till we reached Frankfurt... but as we left the ‘second last’ stop, the train started back in the direction it had come from!!! i.e. we were going backwards!!!!  I panicked, went white in the face, found someone who spoke English and was told that it was ok, we are going to Frankfurt. We had reached a terminus station and were not going back the way we came, though it seemed that way…Whew!!! As we rode backwards towards Frankfurt, a lightening storm in the not too far off distance, raced alongside off us, with lightening filling the horizon... such a brilliant site!!

Panic number two occurred when I decided to be blokey at the Frankfurt train station. I checked where my Hotel was (I booked it when I brought my ticket in Paris). ‘Oh! the hotel is only 400 meters away!. Well I will just walk down a few streets, towards the bridge, it’s on a street that runs off to the right, I’ll be fine’… and so I headed off without a map and not speaking the language.... It wasn’t long before I became very confused and dis-orientated ..... Miraculously, I did somehow find the hotel.

Frankfurt:

The weather in Frankfurt was sublime! I walked the city streets, visited two art galleries. One was modern conceptual art (a bit too conceptual for me) and the other had an exhibition of German expressionist Ernst Kirchner. It was great and I connected with a couple his pieces.  

I stumbled upon a gay section of town, then a record shop, where I brought a 2nd hand lp by a German electronic guy I like. I walked into a lunch time market, where stands sold; deli goods, fruit and veg, cooked sausages and lots of beer !!! There were seats where people sat and drank.. it was all very civilized. I have never seen so much beer being drunk before, in fact I have never had so much beer before!! From light fruity beers, to darker and heavier ones. Beer, Beer, Beer (German beer has to be the best beer anywhere!). After walking for miles, eating heaps and of course more shopping!!! I finally made my way back to the Hotel, to briefly rest and freshen up, so that I could do it all again!

Now refreshed and donning some light linen pants, I walked along the river making my way into the center of town. I had coffee at a café as I sat and wrote in my journal. I watched and listened to the locals. Spied a few cute guys, all soon met by their female partners.. (story of my life !!  LOL). I walked some more and got lost again!!! What is it with me and getting lost???? While lost, I was mistaken a few times by Germans as a local and was asked for directions, that was kind of fun. Frankfurt was so lovely! But sadly, soon came the time to say Auf Wiedersehen and board the train to Berlin.  For the duration of the four hour trip, I shared a first class cabin with a handsome man who spoke English very well and has a PHD in Physics. Unfortunately for me, he was married. Hmmm, I could certainly marry a German man… well any man when it comes down to it.. universe are you listening??? Anyway, soon I will arrive in Berlin where my friend M who is working in Dublin, is also on her way over to meet up for a few days!

Next Berlin!!

German Beer...BITburger....Yum....

More German beer... yummmm.....(I suddenly feel like Homer Simpson)

 

On the other side of the river......The Epiphany Church

Saint Bartholomeus's Cathedral (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus) and at it's base are some Roman ruins

A closer look at the Roman ruins

and again.....

Along the 'River Main', I came across concrete table tennis tables, which people used.. very cool !!!

Museum of Modern Art

Market I stumbled across

This mushroom dish I brought at the market was much nicer than it looks

There were so many people using bikes

So many apartments had flower boxes!!

After a hard days walking, i need coffee... and err... cake!!!