"Paris is always a good idea." -Sabrina

What trip to Paris would be complete without:
...a visit to the Louvre? Check!

...having your picture taken by the Eiffel Tower? Check?

...waiting 2 hours to get to the top? An hour to get down? Check, and check!

...visiting a Gothic church and checking out butt...ressses. Check!

...getting some sun at the Luxembourg Gardens? Check!

...climbing the hill to Sacre Coeur? Check!

...watching 6 lanes of traffic swirl around the Arc de Triomphe? Check!

...visiting something to do with government and politics? Check!

...catching a girly show at the Moulin Rouge? Okay, so I didn't.

Ich bin ein Berliner

We arrived in Berlin on May 16. Our first stop was the Berlin Zoo. I think this may be the first time that I have seen an actual panda. I have to say that I was not really impressed with the zoo. I wouldn't go so far as to say they were neglected, but the animals were mostly in cages and not in habitats. It was kind of depressing to see a massive lion sleeping on a subway tiled shelf.

Near the zoo is a church that was bombed during the war. It was interesting to see that the Berliners had rebuilt the church around the ruins as a reminder of the war, rather than erasing history. I found this to be a common theme in Berlin: to erase, memorialize, or build anew?

Some groups have chosen to memorialize their cause. This is the Jewish Memorial. It is a field of concrete boxes all the same dimension except for their height. The ground plane is varied and creates hills and valleys and adds to the vertical differences among the boxes. You begin a walk through the memorial almost tripping on the low boxes and in the middle, the boxes tower over you. The architect says that there is no significance to the size, number or height of the boxes. You are left to find your own meaning. Also, the architect made several universally designed paths through the boxes so that people of all abilities can experience the memorial. Universal access was definitely more prevalent in Germany than in Italy.

We did a free walking tour from New Europe, which really means that it is tip based. They give tours in most major European cities and I would recommend them to anyone, not just cheap college students. The guides have a different perspective on a city than just historical dates and monuments and they are working to get a bigger tip, so they make it entertaining. Our guide took us to a parking lot just adjacent to the Jewish Memorial and asked us if we knew where we were. It turns out that the parking lot is above the location of Hitler's bunker where he was reportedly found dead when the Soviets arrived. This site is an example of erasing history. However, out of respect for the millions that died, I don't think that this is a site that should be memorialized but at the same time, I don't think it should be totally erased.

Our next stop on the tour was Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall. If you are in Berlin, don't waste your time finding Checkpoint Charlie...it was a total tourist trap. I found it ironic that the Berlin Wall, that for so long so many people wanted it torn down, had to have protective fencing placed around it to keep some parts of it still standing.

This photo is inside the Memorial for Victims of War and Tyranny. It is kind of controversial in Berlin because it is for anyone who died, not necessarily only for the "good" guys or the heroes. Still, I found it to be really moving as the statue is a mother holding her son

Our next jaunt was to the Jewish Museum with an addition designed by Daniel Libeskind. It is a really unique building that is kind of lightning bold shaped in plan. Libeskind is also the architect selected for the September 11 memorial in NYC.

On our last night in Berlin we made a visit to the Brandenburg Gate. It is located on Parisier Platz, named that way after Napoleon came and conquered. This is the location of the French and American Embassies. The American Embassy was designed by Frank Gehry. Also on this square is the famous Adlon Hotel. Never heard of it? Me neither until our guide told us it was the hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the balcony.

Our last day in Berlin we went to the Reichstag, or where the German parliament meets. It was originally built in the 1890's and was refurbished by Sir Norman Foster in 1999. He added a open air glass dome over the top of the meeting chambers. It allows for natural air ventilation and provides for a transparent government. It is free and open to the public...which means that everyone goes there. We waited in a long line in freezing winds with every school group in town!

The last thing we did before boarding our night train to Paris was to go deep into East Berlin to the Eastside Gallery. It is a portion of the Berlin Wall that was left standing that has been given over to artists that paint their freedom of expression across the wall. Some of them are redone by new artists to commemorate what had previously existed.

Overall, Berlin wasn't my favorite city. Because of the way it was rebuilt after the war and due to the division between East and West, there is no central part of town to go to hang out and people watch. I am getting a little travel weary and am glad that I will be in Paris for an extended amount of time.

Prague, Czech Republic

After Munich we headed to Prague. There are quite a few K-Staters there and we were lucky to get free lodging from them as well as the best tour of a city I have been on! My former roommate Alyssa is studying there, so it was good to catch up with her.

We took a train from Munich to Prague. Due to construction on the track, we had to change trains in Pilzn, which is where Pilsner beer is from. Our train was delayed and so we ended up missing the connection and ended up in Prague an hour later than what we had told our friends. The Czech Republic doesn't use Euros, they use the krown. So, we had to go to the ATM before getting a metro pass. Our options were 1,000 or 2,000 krowns! It was kind of weird pulling 2,000 out of my bank account, but that equaled about $100 USD.

Our Prague friends cooked us dinner the first night that we were there and they made fajitas! It was nice to have a change of flavors from Italian and even the heavy German food. The next day was our only full day in Prague, so we began our whirlwind tour. First we went to Prague Castle.

Being a castle, it is located on the highest point of the city and afforded us some nice views.

There is a really pretty Gothic church and this is a picture of the oldest section of that building.

Around the castle are a bunch of royal gardens. One of the inhabitants of the garden is a rather raucous albino peacock.

We crossed the river and hit the main part of the city. On the way, we were able to see St. Charles' bridge.

Prague is home to a very accurate astronomical clock. We were able to get there in time to see the figures on the side move and ring the bell. It was also a special celebration of the police, so there were batallions of police performing complicated routines with their rifles while marching around.

A common thing that we have seen while in Europe is locks that are locked to bridges. I guess the trend is to buy a lock with your lover and as a symbol of your intentions, you lock it to a permanent structure and throw away the key in the river. Kind of romantic.

A visit to Prague can't be complete without a visit to the Frank Gehry building with the nickname of "Fred and Ginger."

Prague was interesting in that it was the first formerly Communist country that I had visited. I was greatly surprised by the beauty and the ornateness of the architecture. However, there is still the mark of Communism on the people. Our next mode of transportation was to be bus. The information that we had told us the bus left at 9:30 from the train station. When we got to the bus stop, the sign said that it left at 10:30. After going to buy a reservation for the bus, we found out that actually the bus left at 11:30. Nobody seemed to really care that the sign was wrong. That's just life in Prague.

Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps

It was a lifelong goal of mine to see the Neuschwanstein castle and I am very glad that I was able to. I joined a tour and had a great time meeting other people from around the globe. There were people from Canada, South Africa, Sweden, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Australia, and England. It was a 2 hour train ride to the town of Fussen and then a 10 minute bus ride followed by a 20 minute walk up to the castle.

The first castle that we saw is called Hohenschwangau and was built by Mad King Ludwig II"s father. Ludwig built several castles in his lifetime, but his favorite was Neuschwanstein.

It was designed after several scenes from Wagner's operas, Ludwig's favorite composer.

It was kind of a dreary day and seemed to rain on us at the most inopportune times.

The Bavarian countryside was absolutely gorgeous and one can see why Ludwig wanted to retreat to this location.

The sun did manage to poke out from the clouds a few times and softly illuminated the valley below. We weren't able to take photos of the castle interior, but we could take photos out of windows. I was a bit disappointed with the tour of the interior becuase less than a third of the castle is completed. Ludwig died before it could be finished. However, it was a castle with the most modern equipment, including a telephone!

The castle is backed by a deep gorge and there is a bridge that spans the gorge. The postcard photos are almost always of this side of the castle.

After our tour of the interior, our guide took us on a trail into the gorge. It gave us yet another perspective of the castle. Overall, it was a very enjoyable day.

First Stop: Munich

My after study travels began with a few days in Rome with some friends from the University of Texas - San Antonio. Then, I met up with my after travel partners Laura and Emily, both from K-State. We had quite an adventure getting to Munich on time. Always be sure and double check the dates on your tickets, especially if using a third party! We booked a night train that left from Rome at 7:00 pm and arrived in Munich at 6:30 am. After having to have our tickets changed to the correct date, we found out that the train company had overbooked our cabin and instead of 6 people, there were 11! Things got resolved, but needless to say, we didn't get much sleep. The trains have been extrabooked lately due to the volcanic ash cloud.

We arrived at our hostel quite early and weren't able to check in until 2 pm. So, we did a tour of the concentration camp Dachau (see following post). Then, after we had checked in and showered, we headed towards the historic center of town, Marienplatz. Here the Rathous, or city hall, is located.
It is a very Gothic building and there was ornate gargoyles and spires all over!

In Munich, there is actually quite a bit of modern architecture. This is partly due to the rebuilding that happened after WWII. Rena Wandel-Hoefer and Wolfgang Lorch designed this new synagogue, Ohel Jakob, which means Jacob's tent.

Another part of European culture is soccer. The Munich team had just won an important game the night before we arrived and its fans were still celebrating. Everyone was wearing red and white and some were even sporting traditional leather pants with their soccer jersey. What would Tim Gunn say about that?

We ran into a group of K-Staters and had dinner with them at a beer garden at the Chinese Pagoda in the English Gardens. How more multicultural can you get?

This was my first experience with German food and German beer. I got a currywurst, which basically a hot dog with red curry sauce, pommes frites, and a Weiss beer.

Overall, Munich was a very pleasant city. It was interesting to fall asleep in Italy and wake up in Germany. Even though they are so close to each other, they are worlds apart, culturally speaking. A benefit to being in Germany and in a larger city is that most people speak some English. That was helpful, because I speak no German at all.

Dachau: Arbeit Macht Frei

The very first thing we did in Munich was to take a tour to see Dachau, the concentration camp that is located nearby. In 1933, Dachau became the first concentration camp to open and became the model for all other camps. Dachau, and all of the other camps, had three words written on their gates, "Arbeit Macht Frei," which means, "Work Will Free You." This was an effort to disguise the camps as places for "rehabilitation."

By the end of the war, over 2,000 camps were located across all of Europe. There were many different types of camps and sub-camps and their nomenclature was all part of the Nazi propoganda. Dachau was considered a work camp where prisoners were forced to do hard labor with little or no food. It was not considered to be an extermination camp, but still, thousands died there. The extermination camps came later with the advent of the Final Solution and were mostly located outside of Germany.

Dachau was opened as a place to send Hitler's political opposers. As the camp system grew, Dachau became home to many different types of prisoners: criminals already in prison, Soviets, homosexuals, asocials, gypsies, prostitutes, Jehovah's witnesses, immigrants, and anyone who was considered a threat to Hitler's power. On Liberation Day, over 34 different nationalities were represented among the survivors.

The camp was originally built with barracks that held 208 people each and the total capacity of the camp was around 5,000. However, by the end of the war, these barracks were holding 1,500 to 2,097 each.

After the war, Dachau was turned into a refugee camp and the refugees lived in the barracks. The barracks were eventually torn down, so only the administrative buildings and crematorium are original.

Dachau did have a gas chamber, although it was never used. The gas that the Nazi's used in the extermination camps was called Zyklon B and was invented by a Jewish chemist that won a Nobel prize. It was originally used to fumigate pests and it was never imagined that it would be used on humans in only a few years. The gas chamber was very clearly labeled "brausebad" or shower to minimize the panic of the victims.

Immediately following the gas chamber is the crematorium, where four ovens were kept going by actual prisoners of the camp. Thousands were dying and the Nazis needed an efficient way of getting rid of the remains. Once you were assigned to work in the crematorium, you weren't expected to live very long. These workers and even some SS guards were regularly assasinated so that word wouldn't spread to other parts of the camp what was happening in this building. At the very end when panic among the guards was rising due to the close proximity of the Allies, mass graves were dug near Dachau. The registered death count for Dachau is 31, 951, but there were thousands of deaths that went uncounted, like the mass graves and a train of prisoners from Birkenau.

Dachau was liberated on April 29, 1945 by American troops. We were at Dachau a little over a week after the 65th anniversary. Survivors and liberators return every year to commemorate the day. They are all very old and not as many are returning each year. Our guide said that she feels priveleged to have personally met some of these people and worries about in the future when guides will not have had that opportunity. During an interview with former prisoners, the question came up, "What made survival possible in such conditions?" The response was unanimous, two things: solidarity and unity among all of the prisoners regardless of their race, politics, religion, etc. and a strong hope that they would all escape one day and to be able to tell the world what had happened and to ensure that it would happen...

...NEVER AGAIN.