Fall Break

View of Prague and Prague Castle from atop Astronomical Clock 

Last spring when I was accepted to study abroad in Germany for the fall, I suggested to my high school friend Derek to come visit for a week during his university’s fall break.  When I realized that my program’s semester break coincided with Derek’s, it gave him even more incentive to plan the trip, which he eventually decided to do.

Arriving early morning on Saturday, October 8^th, I met Derek at Berlin Tegel Airport after his nine hour transatlantic flight.  Having stayed up late to watch my beloved Phillies break my heart in game 5 of the NLCS, I was glad that the arrival of my friend would get my mind off the end of the Phillies’ season.  After returning to my apartment to drop off Derek’s bags and for a quick nap, we hopped back on the S-Bahn toward the center of Berlin for a day filled with sightseeing.  Among Berlin’s most famous attractions that we saw were the Brandenburg Gate, the Tiergarten, the Victory Tower, Alexanderplatz, and Potsdamer Platz.  That night we saw a movie at the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz in a theater where many European film premieres are held.

Sunday included more sightseeing for Derek and me.  We started our day at Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous of the few former checkpoints between West and East Berlin.  We then headed to the Soviet war memorial in Treptower Park, the largest of three Soviet World War II war memorials in the city.  From there we went to the East Side Gallery, where we walked the length of the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall.  Despite it being my third visit to the East Side Gallery, I was still taken aback by how powerful of a tribute to mankind’s struggle against oppression the paintings of the East Side Gallery are.  Later in the day we took a trip to the flea market at Mauerpark, where incredible assortments of things both cool and crappy are sold by some of Berlin’s most eclectic residents.  Derek and I decided to pack it in early that night since we were leaving for Prague early the next morning.

Derek and I boarded our bus for Prague the next morning around 7:30 am.  We found it ironic that we were two Americans from New Jersey taking a Hungarian bus from Germany to the Czech Republic and, to top it all off, were being shown a movie (in Hungarian with English subtitles) based in New Jersey.  The almost five hour bus ride through the German and Czech countryside was a cool experience in itself.  Once we crossed the border into the Czech Republic and an early fog began to lift, we realized that we were driving on a small, windy road next to the Elbe Rriver in the middle of a mountain range.  All around the bus, daunting mountains rose above us with little Czech villages along their sides, making for a quite scenic ride.

Charles Bridge and Prague Castle

Shortly after passing through the mountains and moving away from the Elbe, we arrived in Prague.  We were fortunate that my friends Peter, Jake, Jordan, and Becky who are studying in Prague were nice enough to let us stay with them, and so we met up with them after arriving in the Czech capital to drop off our bags.  After dropping our stuff off and getting lunch, Derek and I went to check out Prague’s Old Town Square.  Located in the middle of Prague’s windy and cobblestoned streets of Old Town is this historic square, which is the home of a statue of Jon Hus, the Czech religious reformer who was burned at the stake in 1415.  Also located in Old Town Square are the world’s oldest functioning astronomical clock and two impressive churches: St. Nicholas Church and the Church of Our Lady before Týn, whose Gothic style invokes images of Hogwarts, especially when illuminated at night.  Every hour on the hour, a large crowd gathers beneath the astronomical clock to listen to a trumpeter play from atop the clock tower as a precession of statues of the twelve Apostles emerge from the clock before withdrawing back into it.  From atop the clock tower, we could see the entire city, with incredible views of the Vltava River, the Charles Bridge, and the Prague Castle.  For dinner, we met Pete and Jake at a restaurant called U Medvídků, a traditional Czech pub dating back to 1466 that has been featured on the Travel Channel’s show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations”.  The food there was simply delicious.  After some shared appetizers, including thinly sliced roast beef on rye bread, fried bleu cheese and ham, and sausage, I had an incredible entrée of roast boar on garlic with potato dumpling and spinach. The excellent meal was a perfect end to our first day in Prague.  

The next morning Derek and I crossed the famous Charles Bridge into the part of Prague known as Lesser Town.  Built between the 14^th and 15^th centuries, the Charles Bridge is protected by three Gothic style guard towers.  The bridge is adorned with 30 Christian statues, most of which depict such saints as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustine, and St. John the Baptist.  You might recognize the Charles Bridge as the location of the opening scene of 1996 movie Mission: Impossible.  Across the bridge in Lesser Town, the windy streets lead up a hill to the Prague Castle.  Built beginning in the 9^th century, the Prague Castle is the biggest castle in the world.  At the heart of the castle lays St. Vitus Cathedral, an incredible, Gothic styled Catholic church.  Intricate stain glass adorns the inside of the cathedral, whose exterior is lined with dozens of statues and gargoyles.  Other buildings inside the castle that we visited were St. George’s Basilica, St. George’s Convent, the Old Royal Palace, and the line of homes along the Golden Lane.  Among the little homes along the Golden Lane was the home of Franz Kafka’s sister in which the famous author stayed and worked in.

The next day, Derek and I departed from Prague and returned to Berlin.  Before Derek headed back to the States, we went to Potsdam, my second time to the city.  I returned for the second time to two of Potsdam’s most famous residencies, Cecilienhof and Sanssouci.  Despite having already been to both places, it was great to walk among these beautiful palaces that had witnessed so much history throughout the ages. 

Charles Bridge

This upcoming Friday I leave for a weeklong program excursion to Munich and Vienna.  I’ll be sure to upload pictures and make a blog entry in a more timely matter after the trip, especially since I’ll be heading to Barcelona, Dresden, and Copenhagen in the several weeks following this trip.    

  

Oktoberfest

Since even before I knew I was going to be studying abroad in Germany, I have been eagerly anticipating experiencing one particular event: Oktoberfest.  Despite such lofty expectations, the three days I spent last weekend at Oktoberfest  go down as some of the best times I have had in my life.  Held annually in Munich, Germany, Oktoberfest is a two and half week long festival that is the encapsulation of everything Bavarian: amusement park rides, sausages, and beer.  The festival is located on a field named Theresienwiese near Munich's center, providing a spectacular setting for Oktoberfest.    


After a quick 50 minute flight, my friend Greg and I had arrived in Munich, where we were greeted by my girlfriend Sam and her college roommate Klara.  Our apartment, incredibly organized by Klara, was located a short U-Bahn trip from the festival's grounds, a perfect location to get to Theresienwiese quickly while still being able to escape the masses of people that attend Oktoberfest.    

Me and my new Austrian friend

My trip to Oktoberfest can really be divided into two parts: Thursday/Friday and Saturday.  The festival, quite obviously, was not nearly as crowded the first two days I was there as it was on Saturday.  Since the crowds were not quite as overwhelming, I had much more freedom in strolling around the festival and was able to dip in and out of the beer tents basically at will.  I rode several of the amusement rides, which were far more extensive and elaborate than I had expected.  On Thursday and Friday I was fortunate enough to meet great people from all over the world, including Austria, Spain, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and, of course, some native Bavarians.  (I also met some Italians, but I thought they were creeps, a sentiment seemingly shared by many Oktoberfest visitors.) 

Hofbrau-Festzelt from the outside

Inside of Hofbrau

Saturday's crowds, however, did not allow for such mobility.  Knowing that it would take hours to get into any particular beer tent by the afternoon, several friends and I headed to the Hofbräu-Festzelt tent in the morning to secure a table.  The largest of Oktoberfest tents, Hofbräu-Festzelt has garnered a reputation over the years for being the most popular tent among American college students.  Once in the tent, it was pretty incredible how many college kids I either knew or had mutual friends with.  They say it's a small world, and I can personally account for Oktoberfest making it even smaller.


Before having to head to the airport to catch my return flight to Berlin, I went with my good friend from Eustace Jon Maniaci and his friends from Georgetown to Dachau.  Located just north of Munich, the quaint town of Dachau is infamous for the concentration camp located there.  Established in 1933, the Dachau concentration camp was the first large-scale camp created by the Nazis.  My experience seeing the remains of the camp was very similar to that of when I visited Sachenhausen.  Walking through the remaining barracks and other camp structures, including the gas chamber, provided ample opportunity for quiet reflection.  As with Sachenhausen, I was grateful for the opportunity to bear witness to the memory of the atrocities committed there, despite the feelings of disgust that accompanied my visit.


Since my program's midterms are being held this week, I don't think I'll have many experiences worthy of blogging about until next week, when my friend Derek is visiting for the week.  We'll be in Prague for a few days next week so I will be sure to write about our adventures in the Czech Republic.  Until then, take care and go Phillies!