In keeping with the rhythm of trying to pump out a blog post every few weeks until I’m caught up I’m moving on a few weeks past my family coming to Barcelona to the week of my birthday at the end of October.

Since coming to Germany I’ve been lucky enough to meet a great group of people. My coworkers, primarily Andy, Tina and Mirko have been especially welcoming outside of the work place, including me in their routines and introducing me to their friends and family, without them I’d be pretty bored most weekends.. But, for my birthday they went above and beyond for sure.

For my birthday I had asked them if they wanted to join me in the Schlachte quarter in Bremen which is where, the beer gardens are located along the river Weser. Behind the beer gardens are bars lining the river and they are a great place to go catch a soccer game. On the day of my birthday, Werder Bremen was playing in the DFB Pokal, which is Germany’s single elimination Cup tournament that runs from August to May, it includes the top 2 levels of professional soccer in Germany as well as the best teams beyond that in Germany, and it is a very sought after trophy for all teams involved. The plan was to go to dinner with my friends, and then to the bar to watch the game after.

My co-workers are far too nice to me

On the day of my birthday though they called me down to the lab and they had a few gifts for me which was already too much and more than I expected. They were silly gifts like a can of goulash soup because they know how addicted I am, chocolates, a Werder Bremen cookie, and a hilarious t-shirt with a picture of a Manchester United player named Marouane Fellaini from Belgium, who has a huge afro, on it. Than came Tina and Mirko’s gift, I unwrapped it and out rolled a Werder Bremen scarf, for those of you who aren’t too familiar with me, I collect soccer scarfs and whenever I go to a game I have to get one, so at this point I have a nice little collection, and when I saw the scarf I was super excited! I was a little too caught up in the scarf and I didn’t see until Tina pointed it out that there was an envelope inside the wrapping paper. I opened it, and expecting a card I was surprised when I realized that it was a Werder Bremen ticket! I figured it was to a game later in the season but as I looked at it, I saw that it was actually for the game THAT NIGHT! Instead of going to the bar to watch the game, we were now going to the stadium! And on top of that, we were in the best section of the stadium, the “Ostkurve,” where the loudest Werder Bremen fans stand and sing and wave their flags for all 90 minutes. You could say I was now pretty pumped for the game!

Mirko, Nina, Myself and Tina

Werder Bremen was playing Hoffenheim, a very good team from the southwest of Germany that finished 4th last season, so it was not going to be an easy game. This was made even more difficult considering Bremen had been playing terribly for the first half of the season and could barely score. But luck and history may have been on Bremen’s side as their best player, Max Kruse, was returning from an injury and the game was at home, and Bremen had not lost at home in this tournament since April 13th, 1988!!!! (This year they lost to Bayer Leverkusen in Leverkusen so the record streak continues)

It may not be the biggest, but it’s ours… Weserstadion

Right from the beginning the game was intense, Hoffenheim were clearly the better team but they couldn’t seem to get through Bremen’s defense. Bremen was more physical than Hoffenheim though and a bit taller as a team and they were getting a few chances from corner kicks. After a particularly relentless attack from Hoffenheim, Bremen earned a corner and completely against the flow of the game Bremen scored! Considering most fans imagined their home winning streak to come to an end the entire stadium went nuts! It was pretty cold already for late October but the beer shower that everyone received from the fans in the second deck couldn’t have felt any better! Now Bremen just had to stand their ground for the rest of the game. With the stellar play of the goalkeeper and with their attackers helping out the defenders, Bremen were able to completely shut down Hoffenheim and when the official blew his whistle the celebrations began!

Final whistle celebrations!

I had never been to a game so intense and passionate and you could see how much the upset meant to everyone in the stadium, even though it was only the final 16 teams it was still a huge win for the club and city that quite frankly hasn’t had much to cheer for in a long time. Bremen used to be one of the best clubs in the country and for years competed, and fought toe to toe with Bayern Munich. Now, things aren’t so glamorous, but the games are still incredibly exciting and when the teams pulls off a big win the fans don’t take it for granted and they celebrate as if it would be the last big win they’ll ever have. The players ran over to the Ostkurve and sung with the fans “Wir sind Werder Bremen” (we are Werder Bremen) which is one of the club’s anthems so to speak. It was a great night and I couldn’t stop thanking Tina and Mirko for making it happen, I am really fortunate to have such amazing friends all over the globe.

Wir Sind Werder Bremen! (excuse my singing haha)

A few days later I was going on another adventure of sorts, something I had never tried before. I had a 4 day weekend and I was going to be camping in my car in Switzerland! I found out a week earlier that I could actually fit a single mattress in the back of my Ford hatchback if I put the back seats down. There was plenty of room for the mattress as well as places to store toiletries, a water jug, a small camp stove, camping gear and clothes for the weekend. I had mapped out the trip and I was anxious to get started.

As it was almost a 10 hour drive from Bremen to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland I knew I had to divide the trip up into two parts. After work on Friday I planned to drive as far as possible and hopefully end up somewhere near Strasbourg, France. Where I would spend Saturday morning and afternoon exploring the city before departing in the evening to arrive in Lauterbrunnen, where I would spend the night and Sunday and Monday before driving the entire way back Tuesday. Should be interesting… let the adventure begin!!

After work ended on Friday I got my car all filled up with gas and headed out. The drive was honestly very smooth, I was able to put about 3 or 4 hours behind me right away without encountering any traffic whatsoever which is really rare on Fridays. I paused just past Frankfurt to get a small bite to eat before continuing on. I passed the Maginot Line on the German/France border that night around 9:00 and found a car park that had wifi and plenty of places to park about 30 minutes outside of Strasbourg. The first night sleeping in my car was a little interesting to say the least but it wasn’t uncomfortable and I never felt unsafe, I had my pepper spray just in case!

Walking through Strasbourg

When I woke up the next morning I drove the rest of the way into Strasbourg. I hadn’t done much research on the city but I planned on just enjoying a nice French lunch before getting on my way. Pretty quickly I realized how beautiful the city was and I really wished I had planned to stay longer! I got lunch right under the cathedral and had a hot chocolate to warm myself up before spending a bit more time wandering through the city. Before I knew it though, I had to get back to my car as the daylight hours were running down and so was my parking meter…

Strasbourg Cathedral

The drive the rest of the way into Switzerland was smooth sailing and stunning. The mountains seemed to just pop up around a corner, one minute they were out of sight and the next they were right on top of me! I was blown away by the scenery and wondered how it could get any better… Then I arrived in Lauterbrunnen around 6:00 and I wasn’t sure what to even do.. I had heard that the town was partly the inspiration behind “Rivendell” the elvish town in Lord of the Rings surrounded by waterfalls and I immediately saw why.. The town is tiny and hidden in a valley between two cliffs with waterfalls cascading on both sides. I was glued to my windshield looking everywhere I could as my car navigated the narrow streets to my camping ground. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

First views driving into Lauterbrunnen…

After being directed to my camping spot (right next to the river with a pasture of cows and their bells ringing right on the other side) I walked right back into town. I found a small Swiss restaurant and took a seat near a tv showing tennis (Roger Federer was playing of course). I asked the waitress what her favorite Swiss dish was and she told me to get the raclette, so I did! I wasn’t sure what to expect except a bit of cheese. I wasn’t ready for a plate full of cheese.. When it arrived I almost laughed out loud, it was a plate with almost an inch thick of cheese topped with 5 potatoes, some full onions and two small pickles… It was delicious and the start of my cheese binge for the weekend. After the meal I sat out on their heated patio and watched Federer play. I met some college students from the University of Tennessee that had just arrived that day also and we all had a few beers and shared our plans for the weekend.

 

Swiss dinner… cheese.

The following day I woke up bright and early with plans to travel to a series of waterfalls that lay inside of the cliffs, called Trümmelbachfälle. I had heard it was a good activity when the weather wasn’t so nice as it was all completely inside the rock face anyway. As I pulled up to the waterfalls, all I could see was what looked like the entrance to a mine shaft, just a cave in the cliff face with metal doors and an old rickety lift inside. The lift took us up about halfway and we had to hike the rest. Once inside, it reminded me of the “Mines of Moria” from Lord of the Rings.. It was almost a little poetic, the walkway for the humans, carved by the humans side by side with the pathway for the water, carved by the water. It was a great way to spend the afternoon but before long I was craving more cheese and headed back to the village where I had another amazing dinner and my first taste of fondue!

Trümmelbachfälle

The final day in Switzerland I wanted to see the mountains.. “I want to see mountains Gandalf… mountains..” I bought a gondola ticket and soon enough, I was weaving my way out of the valley on a series of gondolas. The first, from Lauterbrunnen to Gimmelwald, than Gimmelwald to Mürren, Mürren to Birg, and Birg to Piz Gloria on the Schilthorn summit at almost 10,000 ft.

The final gondola, Birg to Piz Gloria

Piz Gloria is located directly on the Schilthorn peak in the Bernese Alps region, and it’s jokingly referred to as “the skyline of Switzerland.” It’s only accessible by gondola and houses a rotating restaurant, observation platform, and James Bond museum. James Bond museum? Yes, a James Bond museum. The Schilthorn peak was actually the filming location of the evil lair in the James Bond film “On her Majesty’s Secret Service” that came out in 1969. The name “Piz Gloria” comes from the movie, and it was the name of the mountain top lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. In the movie, the location is set near St. Moritz where Romansh is spoken and the word “Piz” is a Romansh term for mountain peak. But, in real life, the actually mountain peak is in the Bernese Oberland, where Romansh is not spoken, so the name is somewhat meaningless.

Bond… James Bond

In fact, the producers helped pay for the construction of the structure, as it had stalled, so that in return they could use it in their film. Because of this they even paid for a helicopter pad to be built on the peak as well. The museum is interesting in itself also. Plenty of film props, fun facts, film clips and information about the filming locations of all of the James Bond movies throughout the years.

“Skyline of Switzerland”

 

But besides that nifty little tidbit, Piz Gloria was stunning, and while below the clouds the weather was miserable, above them, the views were otherworldly. I was also able to snag a seat next to the window in the rotating restaurant and had a slightly overpriced meal, but it was tough to argue with the views available. I ate something called Schwingerhörnli or Alpine Wrestler’s pasta. Schwingen is a national sport of Switzerland and it is a sport created by farmers in the mountains and it’s essentially wrestling in lederhosen… apparently. Anyway, the pasta was delicious and the beer was cold so I enjoyed my lunch completely.

Birg from Piz

On the gondola to Birg

Following this, I grudgingly headed for the gondola back down, I stopped at Birg to do what they called the “thrill walk,” which was a walkway bolted to the side of the steep peak. It wasn’t so terrible, as the walkway was firm and stable, but there were a few “fun spots” where you could walk a tightrope over a net, through a chainlink tunnel or across a glass floor. All of these were terrifying as the ground below you was so far away you lost it in the clouds… I sucked it up because I couldn’t imagine ever coming back and my fomo (Fear Of Missing Out) kicked in. I smiled for a few pictures before jumping back on the sturdy walkway.

First steps out on the “Thrill walk”

Not looking down…

Terrifying but what a view..

And with that completed, I headed all the way back down into the valley. I had another dinner of straight cheese and a few Swiss beers, before buying some chocolate and a small cowbell as a souvenir so that I could always remember the gentle “tinging” that filled up the valley as the cows moved around their pastures. It’s a beautiful sound and almost impossible to describe… What a place.. I am considering returning to Lauterbrunnen in the summer as there are a few more things I wanted to try there but didn’t get a chance too, but we will see where the road takes me!

Bye for now Switzerland!

It’s really special to me to have such amazing friends and to be able to take these incredible adventures, even if they are a little bit silly or goofy at times or that I have to sleep in my car next to a field of cows haha.  It’s all about the little things and those little things mean the world to me.  But on that note Auf Wiedersehen and I will talk to you again soon!

My “home” for the weekend 🙂

First of all, I’d like to start by apologizing for the very long absence in my blogs. I went back to the States in December following my last blog and since I’ve returned I’ve had problem after problem with my computer and a mean bout of laziness. But, now I finally have my act together and will hopefully start pumping out a few blogs because I have a LOT of catching up to do! First on the agenda of catching up is my family’s trip to Barcelona, way back in October!

Barcelona’s beautiful coastline from Park Guell

It had been almost 5 months since I had been able to see everyone, the last time being in May when I returned for my mom’s birthday and my friend Garrett’s wedding. I was lucky enough that time that Alicia had come down with Russell so that I could see him then as well, and I was extra lucky this time because Russell was making his first overseas flight and I would get to see him in Spain! But first… I would have to get to Spain as well, and as usual when I travel lately, nothing seems to go quite right.

My flight to Barcelona was supposed to leave Friday after work, I would fly to Munich first and then on to Barcelona from there. I got to the airport on time, went to check in, and was informed that “your flight to Munich was well overbooked and a few passengers would have to take a different flight.” I should have guessed how that would have turned out, and sure enough, an hour later I was informed that I would not be able to fly on that flight to Munich due to the overbooking during Oktoberfest. But, the very nice lady at the desk informed me that they could fly me to Frankfurt instead. Not Frankfurt to Barcelona, just Frankfurt… After a little while though, Lufthansa realized that Frankfurt was in fact not Barcelona and that that option would not work… But, we soon worked out a flight the following morning (in 1st class) that would have me to Barcelona around lunch time. All is well that ends well.

Fast forwarding a bit now, I had just landed in Barcelona and called my parents to double check the plan to get from the airport to the Airbnb that they had rented. They informed me that the lady who owned the Airbnb had actually scheduled us a private pick up at the airport and that there would be someone waiting for me with my name on a piece of paper. At that moment, I was actually standing looking at the line of drivers looking for their pick ups and there was only about 10 of them. Most of them worked for a travel agency from Asia and then 3 or 4 had Spanish names on them. Not a single Vince… I waited around as some drivers were still showing up, hoping to see “Vince” on one of their papers.. But with each passing minute it became harder and harder to see them as the concourse was filling up with what seemed like 500 flights from Asia… I became curious about how they were all going to fit into the 5 drivers cars or buses and I unfortunately didn’t get to stick around long enough to find out as I saw a driver with a name card that said “Vicente” on it and I decided that was close enough and took it. Either he had my name wrong or there was a very disappointed Vicente at Barcelona airport that day.

 

My driver was actually a very nice man, he didn’t speak much English which I expected and understood, but he knew where the address was and soon enough we were on our way. He tried talking to me in Spanish multiple times and I tried to remember what little high school Spanish I “learned” but all I could remember was, “no hablo Espanol.” He must have been thinking, “what kind of Vicente doesn’t speak Spanish?” Oh well, eventually we arrived at the Airbnb where my parents were waiting and we were able to catch up for an hour before Alicia, Andrew and the Russellman showed up.

He’s the star of the show these days (rightfully so) and we were all excited to see them. Once they arrived we all sat around for the afternoon catching up, sharing some stories and pictures of what we’ve all been up too. We had some lunch and saw on the news that interestingly enough that very next day was the Catalan Referendum on Independence. Of course, after months of planning our trip, it lines up perfectly with that, but it turned out to be a pretty neat experience. That night we went out on our street to get dinner, I was excited to try some tapas and seafood in Barcelona for sure. I can’t remember what I had for every meal as it has all blurred into a fantastic memory of spicy potatoes, prawns, steak, paella, sangria, and Estrella. But that night we all went to bed happy ready to take on whatever Barcelona had in store for us over the next week!

My first introduction to the wonderful world of tapas!

On our first full day in Barcelona, my dad and I had actually been lucky enough to get our hands on some FC Barcelona tickets and I was very excited for the opportunity to get to go to Barcelona’s famed stadium, the “Camp Nou,” and to watch the best player in the world now and arguably in history Leo Messi. On the very same day, the Catalan Referendum was taking place. As we watched the news in our airbnb reports started to come in about Madrid Police raiding the poling places and attacking would be voters. Just before the Referendum was set to take place it was deemed illegal by the Government and no matter the results, the Spanish Government would not recognize an independent Catalonian State. Yet, that didn’t stop voters still attempting to make their voices heard. We didn’t see any riots personally, and from what I could tell from the Spanish news in Barcelona there were no riots, there just seemed to be peaceful protests and the Madrid Police’s overly aggressive attempts to shut it all down.

Locals showing support for Catalan Independence

While this was all going down, my dad and I were on our way to the game. When we arrived we saw an unusual amount of people standing around outside of the stadium, I thought this was a bit odd, but as I had never been to a game in Spain I thought that maybe there was a rule about when the stadium could legally open its gates for the fans. With an hour to go until game time, I began to realize that something was indeed off about the entire situation and luckily I was able to connect to wifi and see if there was any news. There were reports stating that in response to the aggressive behavior of the Madrid Police and Spanish Government, FC Barcelona was going to not play their game that afternoon in protest. As the game time drew nearer photos began to be leaked online of the players warming up inside an empty stadium, and with about 20 minutes to go before kick off, an announcement was made that the game would indeed be played… behind closed doors, in an empty stadium. My dad and I hurried out of there in case anything started with the 100,000+ fans that were just denied entry into the stadium, luckily though nothing did.

Fans stuck outside of the Camp Nou..

I personally didn’t understand the motive to play the game behind closed doors. I understand why Barcelona wanted to protest the game and not play as a response to the Government and show their solidarity to the Catalonian people. But playing behind closed doors just takes away something those very same Catalonians love and live for. Whatever their reasons were, Barcelona went on to win the game and Messi scored 2 goals which I got to watch from our living room with a cold Estrella in my hand.

It’s tough to get a good photo with all the construction equipment…

The following day, we planned to go straight to La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona’s famous half-finished cathedral, designed by Antoni Gaudi himself, or, as my dad called it, el Sangria Famila. My mom made sure we were all ready to leave to make our tour reservation at 11, shouting may or may not have been involved to get all 6 of us out and into two taxis. We arrived just in time though and got in the long line waiting to get in, even with a reservation. When we got to the front the man took our tickets for the reservation and said “you’re early, these tickets are for 1:00…” We all got a good laugh at that at my mom’s expense but it turned out to be nice, as we were less rushed and we had time to go across the street and have some lunch and a pitcher of sangria in the shadow of Gaudi’s church.

 

Laughing off our delay with some sangria

When our time came back around to go into the church it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The theme it seems for the entire cathedral was nature and the earth and all of its beings, along with a massive tree of life above your head as you walk through the doors (see the picture a few paragraphs above). The massive columns inside the cathedral were designed to look like trees, with their branches holding up the ceiling, while colorful fruits and birds topped the spires around the church. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to visit some amazing cathedrals around Europe, but this was something else. While it was incredibly stunning and visually overwhelming it didn’t really have a “cathedral” vibe to it. Don’t get me wrong, we were all speechless at the sheer size, and intricate details on every single surface, but it felt more like a piece of modern art than a house of worship.

Insane details inside La Sagrada Familia

Nevertheless, we thought it was unbelievable, and with the “proposed” finish date placed way off in 2030 or so, I made a mental note that I needed to see it completed. But… considering they’ve been working on it since 1882 and aren’t even halfway through, I don’t think it’s going to be finished by 2030.  Here is a photo of what is completed so far and what still needs to be completed!

Much work to be done…

As we woke up the next morning, news came in that Catalonia had indeed voted for independence and that the entire city of Barcelona was going to go on strike in protest against the Madrid government. We decided not to try to do too much this day and we took a walk up “las ramblas” to do a bit of window shopping and see La Catedral de Barcelona. The weather was a bit overcast so we soon found ourselves pulling off the main drag a bit to grab a bite to eat. We found a small pizza place and it turned out to be quite good! But the really exciting part of lunch was just beginning.. About halfway through our meal, a few protesters started to make their way past us… then another group, and another and soon it had grown into a massive sprawl of Catalonians with flags and signs, peacefully protesting and marching as one, and it was really great to be able to witness that first hand.

Catalonians marching after voting for their Independence

The Catalonians really impressed me with how they handled the referendum and response by the Spanish Government.  There wasn’t violence or rioting, besides what the Spanish media reported, there were just peaceful protests and a few strikes… The city of Barcelona and the people that call it home still continued on in its usual happy fashion, they didn’t let the governments response get them down.  It really was a neat experience to be able to witness, even if it was just from an outside perspective for a week.

 

Dancing in the streets

That night we had reservations to a restaurant down by the beach, that luckily wasn’t participating in the city-wide strike. It was known for its paella and I had put off ordering it the first few days in anticipation of this restaurant. We ordered some small tapas for the table before the main course arrived. I think we had some calamari, ceviche and fresh tuna to start before the main dish arrived…. The waiters needed a cart to get our Paella dish to the table…. A CART! A massive pan full of vegetables and rice and spices was placed in the middle of all of us and we were all given a serving spoon and that was that… It was an unreal amount of food and even though we just ordered for 5 it could have served 10. It was incredible and well worth the few days wait I had given myself.

Pure joy at our massive pan of Paella..

The following day, we visited both the Basilica de Santa Maria Del Mar and Santa Maria del Pi (Saint Mary of the Sea and Pine) and again explored La Catedral de Barcelona a bit more in depth. We got to meet the geese in the courtyard behind the church and then shop a bit on Las Ramblas. Russell was well behaved in all of the churches and was a trooper as we pushed him along in the stroller or carried him throughout the city.

 

Catedral de Barcelona

At this point, I was beginning to be a bit of a wiz with the tapas. I knew which were my favorite and which to stay away from, I realized that I loved the prawns but unfortunately they were too much work to eat compared to how tasty they were.. There is a fine line in my mind of how tasty something is compared to how much work it takes to eat “said item” and the prawns tiptoed just beyond that line and I had to cut them out of my tapas regimen. On the other hand, the patatas bravas (spicy potatoes) were becoming a hit with Andrew and I, we seemed to order them every meal at this point. Besides the food, I really liked sangria and my dad and I were enjoying the Spanish beer as well, Estrella was great, as well as a local beer called Moritz.  Honestly, I hadn’t tasted anything I didn’t like, and every meal was looked forward too, more so than usual.

Estrella and some Spanish style pizza

That night we celebrated my birthday, which was pretty special. Even though it was a month early, I really appreciated everyone traveling so far to see me. I was given a few shirts and button downs and allowed to choose the restaurant for dinner. For some reason, I was feeling like Italian, so we searched and found the number 1 Italian restaurant in Barcelona according to tripadvisor and made a reservation. It wasn’t much more than a tiny store front restaurant but the food was possibly the best we had our entire trip. I ordered a caprese salad to start and when the dish came we all realized how much trouble we were in. Each dish was big enough to almost serve 2 people… and that was just the appetizer. It was delicious though and I ate the entire dish, next up was penne arrabbiata, which is my absolute favorite pasta. I was in heaven, the dish had a mountain of pasta on it and it was absolutely a birthday dinner to remember. In fact, we all enjoyed it so much that we returned to eat here again on our final night in Barcelona!

A taste of the architecture and nature combined in Park Guell

On our second to last day we had a pretty busy schedule! First on our agenda was a visit to Park Guell, the “park”/residence of Barcelona’s favorite architect Antoni Gaudi. He completely designed the park, from the structures inside to the walkways, benches and foliage. It was his vision and his residence that he viewed as a merge between nature and civilization. It was really different from anything we’ve ever seen before, similar to La Sagrada Familia, and I’m sure much of Gaudi’s other works as well. The park provided some fantastic views of Barcelona and the city’s Mediterranean coastline. We wanted to be able to visit the famous colorful benches that overlook the city, but found that there was a line to visit them. Apparently you needed to reserve a time-slot to even view the benches and that only a limited amount are allowed to visit them every 15 minutes. The next available slot wasn’t for another 6 hours and as we could see from a distance that they were completely under construction (for restoration I assume) it didn’t seem worth the wait, let alone the money… But it doesn’t surprise me that there would be a charge to be able to see the benches up close even though they were being worked on, considering Barcelona’s main tourist attraction is a half finished Cathedral… Oh well, I bought a small print and saw them from a distance, as far as I am concerned that’s checked off the list.

Really bummed we couldn’t go down to the benches.. but close enough! (you can see la Sagrada Familia in the background and just how massive it is compared to the rest of the city!)

After this, my dad and I hopped on a tour bus and returned to FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou for a stadium tour, as we didn’t even get to go into the stadium the last time. The tour of the stadium was fantastic, the Camp Nou is the largest stadium in mainland Europe, fitting 100,000 fans into the stadium. We were able to walk out the tunnel that the players use as well as sit on the “benches” were the teams sit during the game. I say “benches” but each seat was a leather bucket seat that would be incredibly comfortable to watch a game from.

“More than a Club”

Along with the stadium tour we were allowed to tour the museum and trophy room as well. FC Barcelona has won so much in their history and their trophy room didn’t seem large enough to contain all of their “silverware”, and because of this there were random trophies spread across the stadium along the tour. The main trophies in the tour were Barcelona’s Champions League trophies… All 5 of them lined up and gleaming under the spotlights. Only Real Madrid and AC Milan have won more Champions League trophies than Barcelona with 12 and 7 respectively, and it was the first time I was able to lay my eyes on the Cup first hand.

Barcelona’s 5 Champions League Trophies

They also had a replica that you could stand next to and have your picture taken with, but the lighting in the room wasn’t very “photo friendly.” As well as the club trophies, the trophy room also housed all of Leo Messi’s “Balon d’Or’s,” or, the “World Player of the Year Trophy.” Again, there were 5 of them, tied for most for any one player in history. He is tied of course with Cristiano Ronaldo. Along with winning the trophy 5 times, Messi has also finished 2nd in the voting 5 times and 3rd once.. He finished 3rd in 2007 and every year since either him or Cristiano Ronaldo have won the trophy. Incredible..

1 of Messi’s 5 Ballon d’Or’s

That night, Alicia, Andrew and I all reserved a place at an “escape room.” I had been bugging them about it all week and they finally gave in. We reserved a place in a “secret agent” style room and we weren’t sure what to expect. We went to the adress and knocked on the door.. No answer at first and then knocked again.. The door swung open and a man with a heavy Catalan accent says “Are you de asians???” We were all taken aback a bit and we weren’t sure what to say, he repeated himself and again I thought I heard “are you the asians??” I looked at Alicia and Andrew who weren’t saying anything and I kinda stuttered out, “no, we’re not asian…” To this he responds “no! The asians!” And at this point Alicia and Andrew are laughing uncontrollably behind me and I still have no idea what he is trying to say as I was pretty confident I wasn’t asian. Just as he is about to close the door he tries again and very slowly says, “are you the agents?” And FINALLY we understood what he was saying and we all were relieved to be let into the building after that misunderstanding..

The rooms were a large puzzle and we had 60 minutes to solve it, we were all given our secret agent ID’s (Alicia was Svetlana, I was Gregov and Andrew was…. Natalia) and we were given the task of hacking a computer before poisonous gas was released… or something.. I honestly can’t remember because we were all laughing through the entire hour. From abandoning Alicia in the first room when Andrew and I found the key to unlock the second room, to me being scared to crawl through a small hole into a dark room to Andrew tripping and diving across the room as he crawled back out of that same hole. Unfortunately due to ur ridiculous-ness we ended up needing a couple of hints to be able to finish but just over time… Agents, Svetlana, Gregov and Natalia weren’t the best team, but we did have a lot of fun. We laughed the entire way back to the apartment and it was definitely a fun time.

 

On our final day in Barcelona we did some shopping and headed down to the beach, this was Russell’s first ever trip to the beach, and the lucky dog got to do it in Barcelona! While shopping we picked Russell up a Leo Messi jersey as well felt it was only appropriate in Barcelona. Russell actually seems to have a bit of a knack for soccer and has quite the leg on him! We had some drinks in the shade and a great lunch before heading back and having a quiet afternoon as a family playing with Russell and relaxing before dinner, which as I said earlier was back at our new favorite Italian restaurant.

 

Russell Messi(ck)’s first beach trip!

It was such a great week and it absolutely flew by, luckily the next time I would be seeing these guys was only two months later for Christmas! It meant so much to me that everyone came out to Europe for my birthday and that we got to explore another part of Europe as a family, just like we did in England, Italy, Germany and Austria. And this time we got to include two “new” members of our family in Andrew and Russell. These trips with my family are always my favorites, as they really leave a lasting impression on the places we have been. I don’t believe it is a coincidence that my favorite places in Europe are all places I have been with my family. London, Rome, Munich and of course Salzburg. These were all first, family vacations and those memories we made in those cities make me just as happy as any memories I have made in the past two years in Europe, and now I get to add Barcelona to that list. I am so lucky and grateful for this amazing family that I am a part of and I can’t wait until we’re all back in the same country finally and visiting each other isn’t too difficult! But, until than, Auf Wiedersehen!

 

Where do I even begin!! Oktoberfest is out of this world…  Back in September, I travelled down to Munich with my friend Catie from Bremen to meet up with my cousins Rob and his wife Jess, and Samantha and her brand new fiancé Geoff.  Joining us was were two of Rob and Jess’ friends Dave and his wife Steph. The day we arrived we didn’t have much planned except a good hearty German dinner and after, some beers as a group at Hofbräuhaus to all get to know each other before the real party began the next day.

Schneider Weisse Brauhaus

Rob made the dinner reservations for the 6 of us at a place called Schneider Weisse Bräuhaus which is just outside of the altstadt of Munich and right around the corner from the famous Glockenspiel. Samantha and Geoff were on a little day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle that afternoon and wouldn’t be back until later that evening so we planned to just meet up with them after dinner. The restaurant Rob found was great and as we weren’t entirely sure on what we wanted to eat (except for Dave who was 100% sure that he wanted wiener schnitzel) we decided to get a bunch of plates and we’d just try everything as a group. We ordered some sausage platters with all kinds of Bavarian wursts, a duck platter and of course 3 plates of Wiener Schnitzel, as well as some boiled potatoes a few potato dumplings, sauerkraut and potato salad.

Eventually, I got a message from Samantha saying that her and Geoff had somehow snagged a table at Hofbrauhaus! I’m not sure how they did it as Hofbrauhaus is normally pretty busy on a regular basis and I was positive that during Oktoberfest the place was going to be packed… But sure enough she had found us a table big enough to fit everyone and we settled down with our first litres of the weekend. After a few hours though we headed back to our beds so we could get a good sleep to prepare for the fun day ahead, but not before a souvenir or two were smuggled out of the hall..

Before I get into the fun though I want to explain just a bit of what Oktoberfest is all about. The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 and was actually a wedding celebration for the Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig) to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen (say that 5 times fast). The citizens of Munich were invited for partying and fun in the fields outside of the city gates.  The celebrations went on for a couple of weeks and people came from all around the region to observe the occasion. The party and wedding were so entertaining that a year later people were invited back to continue drinking and singing with their fellow Germans, and thus a tradition was born. For over 200 years now, people have been coming back to the famous Theresienwiese (Therese’s Fields) grounds to celebrate Oktoberfest (the exact same location for 200 years), except now, instead of just Bavarians, the grounds welcome millions of people every year from all corners of the globe.

Oktoberfest in all it’s glory

The next morning we woke up bright and early (11 for me) ready for the day.  I put on my lederhosen and did my warm up stretches and sang a couple of scales to prepare myself for many “ein prosits,” and “ziggy zaggys,” as well as a few “sweet carolines.” As Catie and I walked into the park I felt like I had a decent idea of what to expect after going to Frühlingsfest in 2016 (which is like Oktoberfest, just in April), I thought it would be like that just a bit bigger. I was kind of right… I just didn’t realise how much bigger it was going to be…

When you hear people talking about “the tents” at Oktoberfest you think of big outdoor tents that you can put up and take down with ease… That couldn’t be farther from the truth… “The tents” are more massive buildings than tents… They’re made of steel and wood and each one can house at least 3,000 people, actually if I had to estimate I’d say it’s probably closer to around 5,000. AND THERE ARE 14 OF THEM!!

The crowds lined up between the “tents”

Each tent is home to it’s own traditional Bavarian beer. The only breweries allowed to have their beer at Oktoberfest are Hofbräu, Paulaner, Löwenbräu, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, and Spaten. Yet each brewery has 2 or 3 tents each, and Hacker-Pschorr splits into two tents of “Hacker Bräu” and “Pschorr Bräu.” The biggest and busiest tents belong to Hofbräu and Löwenbräu as they are the most well known worldwide of the big Bavarian breweries. Each tent has it’s own unique style or flair and if I could, I would have tried to see all of them. But because the grounds or so busy we were only able to get into 4 of them and we were only able to get seats at 3 of those (Paulaner, Pschorr-Bräu, and Spaten)!

Löwenbräu-Festhalle (unfortunately we couldn’t find a table here)

Our first day at the grounds we all met up and tried to get into the Löwenbräu-Festhalle tent but as I just said, it was so incredibly crowded that we couldn’t even find a place to sit! We had heard the it was one of the most popular tents though so we left to hopefully find a table in another. We were lucky enough that across the street at the Paulaner tent (Armbrustschützen-Festhalle) we could squeeze in next to some nice French guys and before long we all had our first Oktoberfest liters in our hands.

Armbrustschützen-Festhalle (one of Paulaner’s tents)

After a liter or two we headed out to explore more of the tents and we were lucky to be able to get into the Pschorr Bräu (Pschorr-Bräurosl) tent as well. We had another few beers and spent some more time catching up and sharing stories before we decided to check out the grounds a bit more. We were told to check out something called the teufelsrad, or “devil’s wheel.” The teufelsrad was just a smooth, conical shaped, spinning disk on the ground that everyone tried to stay on as long as possible. The last person to slide off would be the winner. We watched as they called up children, boys, girls, drunk men and tipsy teenagers.. It was pretty entertaining for awhile.

Without further ado… here is the teufelsrad

We walked to the different vendors, and bought bratwurst, pretzels, and all kinds of sweets and german treats. We got a bit to eat for dinner and once finished, guess what… We headed back to the tents for our “after dinner beers.” We headed this time to a tent run by Spaten, called the “Ochsenbraterei.” It had come highly recommended by a family friend of Catie’s and while it wasn’t one of the bigger tents it had it’s own unique flavor and style and we figured we’d be able to grab a table. Unfortunately it was so busy we ended up walking around for 10+ minutes or so inside trying to see if anyone would let us share but there just wasn’t any room anywhere! Until finally the girls found a table upstairs on the balcony that two old german men had reserved and when we asked if we could share with them, they smiled and told us we could have the entire table!!! We seriously could not have found a better table, we could look down over the crowds and still be a part of the action but we had our own space to breathe as well, so nice of those two men. Rob pulled out a deck of cards while I ordered a few pretzels and we began to play some card games with our beers as we ate, sang, and were merry.

 

What a table for our first night!!

It was a great end to our first day at Oktoberfest, we had a few more beers, played some games and finally, when we were all “beered out” we went outside to ride a final ride or two before we all made our way home for a good night’s rest. Unfortunately Rob and Jess would not be able to meet up with us on the 2nd day, so we had to say goodbye to those two… 😦

Thanks for meeting up Rob and Jess! (excuse the selfie)

We had heard that, on Saturdays, the park is the busiest, which makes complete sense, but I don’t think any of us were ready for just how busy. Normally, you can walk in and out of the tents to see the atmosphere and maybe grab a table, and when things begin to get too crowded, the security guards at the doors close off the entrances and only allow those who’ve reserved a table inside go inside. This probably starts happening around 6 or 7 normally as the night begins to get started. Well, Catie, Dave, Steph and I arrived at the grounds at 2:00 and they had already begun to regulate who can go in and out of the tents… We tried to get into a couple of different tents but all were the same! Luckily each tent also has an outdoor biergarten as well, but as those were already full we were beginning to get nervous about whether or not we’d be able to find a table for the 4 of us, not to mention the addition of Sam and Geoff later in the afternoon once it got REALLY busy.

Our table that we monopolised Saturday… Plus the lady at the end of the table.

We walked around and around until Catie and Steph were able to squeeze onto the end of a table outside of the Ochsenbraterie again. Dave and Steph had actually found out that, to be able to order beer you have to be sitting down at a table, after that you can stand up and walk around and as long as you’re not in the way nobody will really say anything. So, with the girls able to order beers Dave and I hovered and continued to scan the biergarten for people that looked to be about to stand up and leave so we could grab their seats. But, AGAIN we got incredibly lucky and the group at the table that allowed Catie and Steph to squeeze in, told us that they would actually be leaving and we could have their seats!! We were thrilled but also knew that we got really lucky and that if we abandoned these seats at all today we would probably not be able to get another table anywhere else in the park. And we were right, as when I went to go to the bathroom I walked by the entrance to the biergarten and found it entirely roped off!

The “line” to get into the Biergarten outside of Ochsenbraterei

As the day went on we were able to capture two more seats at our table for when Sam and Geoff arrived and we anchored down for the long haul. Beers were drunken (drinken? drunked? dranked?), songs were sung, and massive ox sandwiches (ochsensemmel) were eaten.. I can’t say enough about that sandwich… It was so good I actually ordered a second one a few hours later!! It’s what the Ochsenbraterei is known for, and along the inside of the massive tent they have a huge kitchen roasting multiple oxen (boxen) for their sandwiches. It was absolutely delicious. All in all it was a fantastic afternoon in the beautiful Bavarian weather. The day could not have gone any better, and when Sam and Geoff arrived around 6 we had spots for them to join us at our table.

Me and my love (ochsensemmel)

We stayed at our table until about 8 or so that night, when we decided to get a little daring… It was time to try and sneak into the tent. We tried one entrance and said we all had to go to the bathroom, and we were turned away…  We tried a different entrance and said we had a reservation, hoping they’d just let us in and not double check, no luck.. We went around the back of the tent and tried “the bathroom” line again and as this was strike 3, we thought we were out.  But, we tried one more entrance and to our surprise the guard didn’t even try and stop us, Catie walked right past him, I followed and soon enough all 6 of us were inside without even a sideways glance from the security guard…

Singing “Sweet Caroline”

The atmosphere inside the tent was completely different than the night before. The band was playing, people were on the tables dancing and singing and the place was absolutely PACKED with people! It didn’t look like people were really sticking to tables at this point so we just asked a group that seemed about our age if we could sit with them to order our beers before heading off into the crowds, and they ended up just making room for us to join and to drink with them! Being inside one of the big tents on a Saturday night at Oktoberfest is one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had. Everybody is happy, and everyone is your friend. It doesn’t matter if you speak German, English, Spanish or Italian. Everyone is there to cheer you on if you want to stand on the table and chug your beer, or sing “sweet caroline” with you at the top of your lungs. I am now a firm believer that Oktoberfest is the key to World Peace.  Let’s just gather the world leaders, (Trump, Putin, Merkel, May, Un…. etc etc) make them all wear lederhosen, put them in the middle of Oktoberfest with a couple of liters each and I’m sure in no time they’ll all be singing happily, just like we were (hopefully).

But… All great things come to an end and soon enough the hall began to empty out as everyone slowly began their slightly wobbly walks home (some more wobbly than others).

It was so great being able to meet up with my cousins Rob and Sam as well as Jess and Geoff who is soon to be part of the family as well. Dave and Steph were so much fun also and I’m so glad they could join us, because at Oktoberfest it really is “the more the merrier.” It was a great atmosphere and everyone got along perfectly, not to mention everyone looked great in their traditional outfits, and of course Rob rocked his feather like he was born for that hat! And now, I just have one question… When do we start planning our trip for next year?? Until next time!!

PROST und AUF WIEDERSEHEN!!!!

 

 

Immer wieder Österreich

Before I begin, I just wanted to say I am sorry for the delay but I will be pumping out a couple blogs over the next few weeks. I ran into computer issues a few weeks ago and just got it all fixed and working again! After this post, I am done with updating you all on my Summer and we only have Oktoberfest, my family trip to Spain, and my trip to Switzerland until we are all caught up.

Family photo in Köln

I have to admit, my summer this year in Germany has been pretty slow… For June, July and August I didn’t have much planned as I had to save most of my vacation days for my family’s visit and my trip home in December and my moolah for a vacation or two in September, and November! But about a month after all of my Gamecock friends left Europe, I got some news from my friend George, that he was doing a trip around Europe with his cousin, Billy, and would be going right through Bremen! I had met George studying abroad last year in Salzburg and he had been in Europe for almost a 3 weeks already at his family reunion in Scotland with the Clan Mclean. I told them they were free to crash in Bremen for a few nights before we all headed to Köln together for a fun weekend there.

If you go to Germany and don’t have a liter of beer, did you really go to Germany?

I picked the two up from the Hauptbahnhof and like I did for my friends from South Carolina, I immediately took them to the biergartens along the Weser in the Schlachte. The weather was typical of Bremen that day (grey and a little wet), so the main benches were all closed off but we found a seat under an umbrella as it wasn’t too busy. We all caught up and I let them tell me about the family reunion, the kilts, the clans, their travels along their trip so far to Dublin, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam and where they were headed next. I knew that Köln was next on the agenda and I would be joining them for that, along with Salzburg in a few weeks but I wasn’t sure what else they had planned.

 

What is life without a kebab?

I showed them all through the altstadt and the Schnoor like I did the previous month, I now had a routine down now for visitors! Luckily, the next day was nice (for a few hours) so that they didn’t have to experience rainy Bremen every single day, and we took advantage of it by going down to the river and having a bratwurst and pretzel. We planned out when and where we’d go in Köln and found out that that weekend was actually the weekend of some sort of fireworks festival. The hostels were decently pricey, so we decided to stay the Friday night in Bremen instead and drive down to Köln on Saturday morning and I would only stay a night there before returning Sunday. George was pretty knowledgeable of the city as he had lived there for a few months previously so I was confident he could show me all I needed to see in 24 hours. On our last night in Bremen I was able to get together some German friends for a night of bowling, beer and kebabs. It was a nice goodbye to rainy Bremen for the guys and we all got a good sleep to prep for the drive the next morning.

A master bowler at work..

The drive and the check-in to our hostel were pretty uneventful, and luckily, both were quick and easy. I had been to Köln before but only for a soccer game last Spring and I didn’t get a chance to explore the city at all. I was really excited to see the cathedral as I had heard it was incredible. I have had trains go through the city as well and the main train station in Köln sits almost directly in the shadow of the massive Kölner Dom, so I had seen it briefly as I had passed through a time or two. But, nothing can really prepare you for the size of it until you’re standing on its steps staring up at it. For a time, the Kölner Dom was actually the tallest building in the world upon it’s completion in 1880 through 1884! And it’s easy to believe as you’re squinting up at the towers, it’s absolutely massive.

I tried my best to get the Dom in one shot, but I didn’t have enough space… (but I got that guys bald spot)

There were people everywhere as well as everyone had come into the city for the fireworks that weekend, it was so busy and hot that I was beginning to get a little bit claustrophobic, but George knowing the city led us through the crowds to a place he knew of for lunch. We settled in and we all ordered a beer to relax and cool down and to my surprise the waitress brought us some of the tiniest beers I had ever seen.. It was only .2 liters!! She put mine down in front of me and all I could do was sit there and stare at it.. What was I supposed to do with this?? After getting used to the liters and half-liters in North Germany and Bavaria, I felt like I had been given a kiddie cup! I wasn’t the only one either, Billy looked confused as well until George explained. In Köln, the style of beer is Kölsch, and the head (the white foam at the top) disappears more quickly then other styles of beer. So, to make sure there is always a nice layer of foam they serve their beer in tiny glasses and the waiters and waitresses are constantly walking around with a tray full of beers to replace the ones you have finished A bonus to this system is that your beer is always cold! With the big liter mugs, normally by the end your beer isn’t as cold as you would like it to be, just because it takes so long to drink it, but with the .2 liter glasses, you don’t have this problem. The waiters and waitresses leave a piece of paper on every table and when they put down a new round of beers, they make a check mark to keep track of how many they’ve put down. I got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Our afternoon chill-zone

After lunch we moved locations and found a cool restaurant with a table right next to an open window where we could talk to all of the party-goers out on the street, as well as trade and buy gifts from those who were selling them for bachelor and bachelorette parties. In Germany it is a tradition for those in the bachelor or bachelorette party to dress up in a fun theme and gather up and sell cheap little items, toys and little airplane bottles of booze to raise money to pay for their drinking that night, as well as to completely embarrass the one getting married at the same time. Köln is a very popular destination for bachelor parties in Germany and the city was full of groups that weekend with the festival, so it was a blast being able to sit back with our tiny beers, and watch the fun chaos out in the streets and square for the rest of the afternoon until the sun went down. And when we were finally ready to leave our perfect spot, we headed down to the Rhyne, crossed out onto the bridges with the crowds and watched as fireworks lit up the Kölner Dom and the night sky. A good end to a great week.

 

The next week flew by until my flight to Salzburg to meet back up with George and Billy (I know Salzburg twice in two months… I can’t help it!). My flight got in late but my hostel was only a quick taxi ride from the airport and a short walk to the bars where the boys said to meet them. I was a little ahead of schedule when I found them at O’malleys Pub (in my last blog post I mentioned how it was a favorite of our study abroad group). We didn’t stay too long as George had been kind enough not to have a käsekrainer (an Austrian sausage with cheese in it) until I arrived. So after an hour or two there we headed to our wurst cart and introduced Billy the best sausage ever invented. There’s nothing like a good wurst at midnight in Salzburg before heading back to sleep.

The next two days were very low-key, we planned on hiking Untersberg, the largest mountain in the Salzburg area but we didn’t get to it until Sunday morning. The weather Saturday was beautiful but we got a late start on the day and while we should have climbed Untersberg that day we pushed it off and toured the gardens, and the fortress. We got some great exercise walking around the city until our feet seemed to lead us off to Augustiner.. Shocker.. This was Billy’s first time here so we had to make sure he got the full experience. We had dinner, and a few beers and spent the rest of the evening sharing travel stories, joking about hostels, people and experiences, both good and bad.

 

Cozy Augustiner

That’s what makes travelling so fun for me. It’s not always as perfect as the pictures we see in magazines or on the internet. Actually it almost rarely is perfect these days. People are everywhere and whether you like it or not, sometimes you’re going to have a crappy experience or the view from some remote location you spent hundreds of dollars to get to, will be hidden in awful weather or overrun with people. But the last year has taught me it’s not so much about that rare moment when everything comes together and you get the perfect view or get to have the experience of a lifetime, it’s more about the travels themselves and sharing those experiences with others and interacting with those around you that make them special.

View from our cable car

That was the case for most of the next day, as we woke up to climb Untersberg and found Salzburg covered in a nice layer of fog. We decided to save time and just take the cable car up the mountain. It didn’t take you all the way to the top and you still had a bit of work left over to get to the summit so it wasn’t entirely cheating. We were surprised however by the temperature when we got off of the gondola! We had been comfortable in the city wearing a shirt and pants or possibly long sleeves, but when we got to the top we were freezing! It had to be 20 degrees colder up there then in the city in the valley below. We should have expected this, but it gave us a reason to get a bowl of goulash at the restaurant at the top of the lift for lunch before we started our hike.

 

Into the mist..

The hike was fantastic, and at times the clouds would part and we could see all of the shades of green in the valleys below. I had looked at Untersberg for months and always wanted to get to the top but never actually got around to it as our guides in our program said it was very dangerous if the snow and ice hadn’t melted away yet, and the snow and ice hung around until our final week there. When we finally reached the top, we were gifted with a beautiful view of both Austria and Bavaria Unfortunately, Salzburg and the fortress were both hiding in the fog still (just another reason to go back and do it all again I guess haha) but the rest of the views were breathtaking and worth the ride up and subsequent hike. But before long, we had to start our descent back into the fog so I could catch my flight, we stopped at a small cabin on the way down to grab a hearty lunch and a final Stiegl together before I said my goodbyes to the boys. It had been a great few weeks hopping around Germany and Austria with them, and we definitely made plans to catch up when I move back to the states.

 

ADRIAAAANN!! YO ADRIANN I DID ITTT!

I don’t know if I’ll get back to Salzburg in the next year or so before I return to America, and if I don’t, who knows how long it will be until I return.. I’d like to think I will, but there are so many places in this world that I don’t want to miss out on seeing, and while I love Salzburg, I think that this view from the top of Untersberg wouldn’t be too terrible of a final memory from this beautiful place that has left me with so many special memories over the past year and a half. So for now, it looks to be “so long, and farewell” to you Salzburg.

Vielen dank für alles Österreich, es war wunderbar….

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Or… you know, I could go back again another weekend because I have no self-control! AUF WIEDERSEHEN MEINE FREUNDE!

The Fortress from Mirabell Gardens

Before I begin with this, I just want to say that we are almost all caught up, I have this post and then one final post covering my Summer (which was pretty quiet) before we are back to present day! I will have lots to write about after this next week when I go to Oktoberfest and meet up with my cousins Rob and his wife Jess and Samantha and her brand new fiancé Geoff!

Let’s jump right back in! A few weeks ago, I left you on our final night in Budapest, my friends and I were all sitting on the banks of the Danube taking in the beauty of the city one last time, while all eagerly awaiting the train to Salzburg in the morning. The ride was pretty simple as it was a direct shot straight from Budapest to Salzburg so we were able to arrive around noon.  I could barely wait to get off the train as this was the first time I was able to return to Salzburg since studying abroad last Spring and living in that beautiful city for 4 months.

Our hostel up on the cliffs of “Monchsberg”

I had found a hostel online that I had actually never heard of when I was living there, but the reviews were great and from the photos it looked to have a beautiful view of the fortress (festung hohensalzburg) and the alt Stadt. When we got to it, we were blown away.  “Stadtalm Naturfreundhaus” sat up on “Monchsberg,” which is the hill that curves around the alt Stadt, as well as the hill that the fortress sits on top of. We were perched right on the lip of the cliffs that drops straight down into the town, and we had an incredible view of Salzburg and the surrounding areas, it was great to be back.

After checking in, we went down to the hostel patio, which was also a restaurant for those that wanted to hike up for the view. We expected it to be somewhat expensive but when we checked the menu we were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty reasonable and we settled in for lunch. I made sure to order some gulashsuppe and wienerschnitzel and we relaxed the afternoon away surrounded by the Austrian alps and the bells of the churches.

Not bad for a hostel front porch eh?

That night, we met up with Sam’s sister Maddie, who by complete coincidence was enrolled in the exact same study abroad program that I was in last year. Unfortunately for her, it was her last week in Salzburg, and I remember just how tough it was. That feeling of wanting to do everything you had not had a chance to do yet in Salzburg, but still making sure that you did well on your finals so that you didn’t return to school without any course credits.. It wasn’t fun final few weeks. But besides all of that Megan and a few of her friends met up with us at Augustiner that night so we could show Sam, Chloe, Zack and Josh our favourite beer hall in the world.

First night in Salzburg at Augustiner!

Everyone loves Augustiner, we all got our liter beers, sat outside in the open air biergarten, found our own table and settled in for the next few hours, it was deja vu all over again. A few minutes in, Zack saw an old Austrian man walk by with a trey piled high with food. He had chicken, bratwurst, ham and potatoes and before we knew it Zack was off, it was the most excited I had seen him so far on the trip. Sure enough, a few minutes later, he returned with his own trey loaded down and dug in, and we were all quick to follow suit and get our own dinners. It was so great being back in Salzburg, and it was fun talking to the new students in Salzburg, joking about our favorite kebab joints, or wurst carts, as well as our favorite bars or places in the city.

 

O’Malley’s with Sam’s sister, Maddie, and the new AIFS students

When Augustiner closed around 11 we headed to O’Malley’s, which was my classmates’ favorite Irish bar in the city last year. We would go there every every week for “student night” and karaoke and completely take over the place. It was great reliving some memories there!

Oh how I missed you O’Malleys…

After a fantastic first night we made our way back to our hostel, normally to get up and down from Monchsberg we would take “the lift,” which is just an elevator that runs straight up inside of the cliff face. But, there were three problems we had to deal with. The first problem was that the lift goes up into a modern art museum and the lift and museum stop operating at midnight, and as it was just past midnight at this point, we knew we had a bit of a hike ahead of us up Monchsberg. The second problem was that there are only “two” real paths up Monchsberg from the alt Stadt (I say “two” because there are a few more trails that run through some residents’ private property). And the third problem was that, we were nowhere near either starting point for both paths, one starts at Augustiner, about a kilometre up the river and the other is at the base of the fortress on the opposite side of the alt Stadt from us. We knew we had to pick one route though and we eventually started our “hike” up by the fortress.

Soon enough though the hiking got easier as we got to the top of the hill, but once up there, we got a bit turned around. I never realised how much was actually on top of Monchsberg while living there, (homes, more smaller castles, fortress walls) all confusing us, and it didn’t help that it was pitch black and we weren’t functioning at 100%. We were beginning to entertain the idea of sleeping under the stars since we couldn’t seem to find our way back and it was such a beautiful night, but eventually we saw a sign pointing us towards our hostel and we returned safe and sound. We learned our lesson that night, and made a mental note to be back at “the lift” before it closed for the rest of the week.

Once we got back, Sam, Chloe and I decided to grab a few glasses of water and sit out in the fresh night air and look out over the city. We must have sat out there and talked for three hours before heading to bed, nobody wanted to call an end to our first night and both Sam and Chloe realised why I was so crazy about this city.

Dom du Salzburg

The next day, we toured the city more in depth, we went to the Dom du Salzburg, explored more of the alt Stadt, saw Mozart’s birth house, and walked through the cemetery that inspired the director of “The Sound of Music” as well as a few filming locations. After this we grabbed some lunch, which again consisted of some Austrian favourites like wienerschnitzel and hearty goulash, before heading up to the fortress. Unfortunately, Zack and Josh were both feeling a bit under the weather that morning, and they had spent the first half of the day in our hostel room recovering, by the time we got to the fortress though they seemed to be feeling a bit better and met up with us there.

The fortress has a small cafe on the backside of it that gives you an incredible view of the valleys and mountains, primarily Untersberg, which straddles the Austrian and German border, the “Sound of Music” house, and also somewhere in the alps in that direction is the location Hitler’s Berghof and the Eagle’s nest. But at the moment we were back in full relaxation mode, which honestly for me is what Salzburg is perfect for. Our waiter brought us some warm pretzels and we ordered a few Stiegls and took in the views. I had forgotten how much time we spent “lounging” last Spring. But, with the views that Salzburg has around every corner it’s hard not to just want to sit down and take it all in.

Untersberg from the Fortress

Unfortunately, as we were sitting up there, we saw some dark clouds headed towards us, and we knew that if we wanted to tour the fortress and that we would have to get that in before the rain hit. So we paid our bill, explored the medieval arms museum, learned the history of the fortress and how it was built, and toured the dungeons before the rain picked up and we knew we had to book it back to the hostel. We followed the same route we took the previous night but it was much easier in the daytime to figure out our way home. What we couldn’t see in the dark of night were signs that would have guided us right back to our hostel, we only saw one of those signs the night before, and it would have saved us about an hour of trouble… Oh well, but for the rest of that rainy afternoon, we hunkered down in a cozy booth in the corner of the hostel and watched the rain come down.

Our cozy corner booth (I had an incident with my phone so I had to take this photo from “hotels.com”)

That night, I made sure we all got dinner at Burgerista… “What’s Burgerista” you may ask.. The best burger in the world, that’s what. I am not ashamed of how often our group would eat at Burgerista last year, it actually may be the best burger and fries in Europe and possibly the states. I’m almost positive it’s the only place in Europe that has lemonade and sweet tea also… I mean come on, how great is that.. It was just as glorious as I remembered and while everyone was hesitant at first to have a burger in Austria, they were 100% on board after their first bites.

BURGERISTA!

After dinner, Sam’s sister invited us to a bar (Shamrock was the name… yeah, yeah another Irish pub) where they were all celebrating their final night in Salzburg with some karaoke, I don’t even want to get into my last night in Salzburg as it was full of so many tough goodbyes, but we went and had a great time joking about what songs we would sing, before Sam finally bit the bullet and went and sang “Lola.” Not even joking, it’s one of his favourite songs, and whenever he is in control of the music it comes on without fail.. But as it was getting late and we weren’t keen on missing the lift again, we went to my main man Ali who owns Umut Kebab (formerly Mozart Kebab and my favorite kebab shop in the city) and got a couple of Steigls and headed up to our hostel to finish off the night.

My buddy Ali (best kebab guy in Salzburg!) and Chloe!

The storm that we thought had completely passed through earlier was actually just getting warmed up. Luckily our hostel had four massive square umbrellas outside covering their tables so we could stay outside and out of the rain. Before we knew it, there was practically a monsoon with lightning and thunder lighting up the mountains, it was pretty incredible being able to see the lighting striking out beyond the alps and over Salzburg, it was almost like fireworks. Eventually the storm began to move closer and closer and the wind started to make the umbrellas sway, so we folded them down and made a hasty retreat back to our room before we were all blown away.

Augustiner!

The next two days in Salzburg were again very laid back, and we continued our lounging and relaxing and taking in the city. We spent an afternoon on the banks of the Salzach river and made sure to tour Mirabell Palace and its gardens as well. On our final day, Maddie had a friend visit her, as they would be spending a week touring some other parts of Europe. The length of the trip and living out of hostels was beginning to catch up with us and we were all beginning to become a little travel fatigued. We spent one last night at Augustiner with Sam’s sister and her friend before we were all ready to get some sleep and prepare for the long train ride back to Amsterdam, where we would all spend a night or two before catching our flights (or train in my case) home.

The group on our final night minus Zack

That final night our hostel in Amsterdam wasn’t actually in Amsterdam, it was out on the coast about 30 kilometres from Amsterdam city center. When we arrived at our hostel after our long train ride, we found it packed with people and blaring loud music, with none of us wanting any part of that we decide to head down to the beach and relax on the cool sand away from the noise. It was a great last night for Zack, Josh and Chloe. We all made plans about when we’d all catch up next and where it would be. Once we were sure the noise had died down and most of the party-goers had passed out we returned to our hostel and fell asleep.

The next day was a hard goodbye, I said adios, and watched as their bus took them into the city. However, Sam who’s flight technically didn’t leave for another two days was going to try and see if he could get on an earlier flight out with the rest of the group. I headed into Amsterdam to meet a friend from study abroad who would be going through the city that day with his own group of friends, Dakota! On my way to met Dakota, I got a text from Sam, he wasn’t able to move his flight up and we had an extra day to hang out before he would fly home.

We didn’t do much as we were all exhausted, we grabbed a Heineken with Dakota and met his cool friends from California and talked about their plans for their Summer trip. Where they were going, where they had been, how everyone had been since I had last seen Dakota in South Carolina for (Game)Cocktoberfest. We watched some soccer on tv that night before both of us were falling asleep by 8 and said goodnight after grabbing some Dutch fries.

I ran into my favorite Californian in Amsterdam!

It meant so much to me that my best friends from South Carolina found the time and money to fly all the way to Europe to meet up with me and travel to some of my favorite cities. Friends like that don’t come around very often and I’m thankful for the bonds I’ve made with all of you, from playing hockey in Sam’s apartment my first year at Carolina, playing rocket league with Zack and Josh that first summer living together, and Chloe educating me on my taste of music the entire fall. Thanks so much to all of you for the visit, good luck with your last few semesters at Carolina (Chloe, Sam and Zack) and I’m looking forward to the next adventure with all of you guys as soon as possible! Go Cocks and Auf Wiedersehen!

 

Credits:

Starring…

 

Chloe Schorr

Josh Shipley

Sam Rogers

Zack Hill

Thanks for being the way you all are and for visiting, blessed to have friends like you four in my life!

 

I was going to attempt to include the two weeks of my friends’ visit to Europe into a single post but after writing for a few hours I have decided to divide it up into two parts, Bremen and Budapest in one, and Salzburg and our last days in Amsterdam in the other. So far, only a few hours have past in time since my last post, where I left you, as I was just about to board my flight back to Bremen where I would be meeting up with a few friends for the next 2 weeks. I met all of them while at the University of South Carolina. Sam and Zack I met playing club baseball and who I would eventually end up living with in my last semester at school, Josh I met through Zack while playing co-ed intramural slow pitch softball (which we of course won…), and I met Chloe through my friend Haley who I studied abroad with last year.

Chloe, Sam, Josh and Zack

We had been planning this trip ever since I graduated last December, and we were all so pumped to get started. The plan was originally to do Amsterdam, Bremen, Munich, Budapest and Salzburg, but the budget wouldn’t allow all of that so we crossed out Munich as it was one of the more expensive parts of the trip. My friends actually arrived in Europe while I was still in the states, flying into Amsterdam and as Sam would say they “spent a week there one night.” Actually, Sam arrived a day before everyone else for some reason… Not sure how that kid gets through his day to day life, more on this later. I met up with them Monday afternoon at the Bremen hauptbahnhof and decided that the best way to spend your first afternoon in Germany was at a biergarten on the river with a liter of fresh, German beer. It was a great way to all catch up and for them to tell me all about their first leg of the trip.  It was just like we were all back in Columbia at our little house, drinking beers around the bonfire. Except this time, we weren’t drinking cheap gas station beer, and instead of a bonfire we got to watch the sun go down and the river barges traverse up and down the Weser. It was a good first night, but because I had work in the morning we couldn’t stay out too late.

Sam and Josh with the Bremer Stadtmusikanten and the Schnoor viertel

Over the course of the next week, after I’d finish work I would pick them up from my place and we would head into Bremen or Bremerhaven and explore my region of Germany. Actually on a run one day, Sam discovered a small biergarten back in the moors on the Hamme River called Melchers Hutte. I had seen signs for it and tried to find it before but somehow Sam found it within being here for 48 hours.. Anyway, it’s a great little place and it’s a stop for “torfkahn” (a type of river boat only used in my tiny region of Germany) to take a break and have a beer and a bratwurst before continuing on their journey. So when the weather was nice we’d go there, soak up some sun and have a beer or two before heading into Bremen for the evening. I tried to show them all of the sights and experiences I could here, from the Schnoor (the old fishing quarter), to the Weser Stadion (home of Bundesliga team Werder Bremen), the Bremen Alt Stadt (old town), the Schlachte (biergarten area along the river), german foods (and the occasional kebab), as well as a trip up to Bremerhaven to watch the sunset over the North Sea.

North Sea sunsets in Bremerhaven

The week flew by and on Friday morning I dropped the group off at the train station in Osterholz-Scharmbeck so that they could catch their train to Budapest, where I would be meeting them that night after I got off of work and flew there. The plan seemed simple enough, what could possibly go wrong… No sooner had I dropped them off and arrived at work did I get a text message from Chloe… “Sam missed the train in Bremen… not a joke, he actually missed the train.” I almost didn’t know how to respond… The train from Osterholz-Scharmbeck arrived in Bremen (which isn’t a massive train station, maybe 8 platforms) and had a 15 minute layover before their next train left. How could he have possibly missed his connection.. But sure enough I get a message from Sam, explaining the situation and how he was now taking a bus, yes a BUS, from Bremen, to Budapest.. To put that in perspective, Bremen to Budapest is about 1,150 kilometres, or 750 miles. Which is about the distance from Columbia, SC to New York City…

Sam’s bus route…

My day went as planned, my flights were smooth and easy and I arrived at our airbnb in Budapest around 10:00 that night and I ask what time Sam is getting in. Chloe and Zack tell me “10..” “Oh so he’s probably just arrived, does he know how to get here from the station? Should we wait for him to arrive before going to the bars?” “No Vince, 10:00 am… tomorrow.  He missed a bus on his route.” I couldn’t believe it… But all of our frustration with Sam seemed to fade that night after a few Hungarian beers, and laughing about the 26 hour bus journey he was having to endure and how that would be punishment enough for wandering off for breakfast and to buy earbuds for his music in Bremen instead of catching the train like the rest of the group..

Full moon in Budapest

Oh well, when Sam finally arrived the next morning we bullied him and smacked him around a bit, before telling him to put his bag away, as we were headed into the city. We only had 2 full days in Budapest and we were determined to get the most out of them. We saw the Budapest Parliament, St. Stephens Basilica and the Shoes on the Danube memorial before walking across the river to a great cafe I remembered from last Spring.

Buda Castle and Parliament

I believe it was called Delirium Cafe (I may be wrong about this, because I tried to google to double check and couldn’t find the name anywhere…), and while it had tons of beer choices, I remember it for being the cheapest place to get beers from the “Huyghe Brewery” in Melle, Belgium.  “Huyghe” makes a few different beers, like any other brewery, but their best beer is called “Delirium Tremens.” In Salzburg, a .33L glass of Delirium Tremens costs about 15 euros!! But here in cheap, beautiful, cheap (have I said it was cheap?) Budapest it costs about 2 euros. As my family knows, I love the big Bavarian beers like Augustiner, Paulaner, and Hofbraü and of course my Austrian favourite Stiegl, but the Delirium Tremens is my absolute favourite, not to mention it won “Best Beer in the World” at the World Beer Championships in Chicago, Illinois in 2008 (yes, that’s a thing). It was nice to sit outside, have a few beers, soak in the sun and watch all of the people hustling around in Budapest. But we didn’t spend too much time there as we had plans that night to go to the ruin bars, this time with Sam, which we were all eager for.

Beers across the Danube from the Budapest Parliament

That night we all went to the ruin bars, unfortunately it was raining a bit, and because the ruin bar we were at did not have a roof to cover the main courtyard the night consisted of us trying to stay out of the drizzle as much as possible without giving up our great table we had snagged. Eventually though the rain forced us out and on our walk home, my friend Josh told us about how he had been wanting to try absinthe, real absinthe, not the “knockoff stuff they sell back home.” And we just so happened to be walking past a bar called “Van Gogh’s Absinthe Bar,” so we ducked in to see if they had “the real stuff.”

Preparing our absinthe

After a few minutes of talking to the bartender, we learned that there were two styles of absinthe at the bar, French and Czech. Josh was satisfied that both styles came from bottles that still had the root in the bottom of the absinthe jar (whatever that means), none of the rest of us knew anything about the stuff prior to that night so if Josh was satisfied, we were on board to try it. Zack and Josh tried the Czech style, while Sam and I tried the French style. The French style consisted of dripping cool water over a sugar cube and allowing it to dissolve into your glass with a few ounces of absinthe resting at the bottom. This allowed you to control the strength of your drink, I thought I watered mine down pretty heavily but it still tasted awful.  The Czech style consisted of lighting a brown sugar cube on fire and letting the syrup melting off of it to mix in with the absinthe, which was then stirred together. It also tasted awful.. A lot of show for a lot of nothing, but because we had a few beers before trying the absinthe we were sufficiently inebriated and immediately hailed a cab to take us all home. Besides the fact that the cab driver definitely ripped us off, he dropped us off like a kilometre from our airbnb, but luckily we were able to figure out our way home as a team.. Never going to try absinthe again..

Szechenyi thermal baths in Budapest

The next day we woke up nursing some fierce hangovers and knew that the only cure was a nice mid day soak in the Szchenyi baths. The baths really are one of the best ways to escape the hustle and bustle of Budapest. We spent most of the day relaxing and recovering, and unashamedly eating the most american burger we could find. But, because we had been traveling and walking a lot in the past few days and as we had seen most of what we wanted too of Budapest the previous day we decided to just lounge out in our apartment that day after the baths. We got a quick kebab for dinner and later that night we found a great rooftop bar to watch the sun go down over the city.

Last night in Budapest

After this, we headed to our 2nd escape room of the weekend, we were a little addicted (but not very good) to say the least. And when that was all said and done, we decided to just go down to a small bar on the banks of the Danube and have a few beers and soak in the beauty of Budapest for our last night. Budapest at night is stunning, the way the bridges and buildings lining the river are lit up in golden light really makes for a special sight.

Buda Castle from across the Danube at night

After a few hours, we called it a night, all eagerly awaiting our train ride to Salzburg the next morning (some more then others).  Here, is where I’m going to leave you for part 1 of our eurotrip, next week you’ll hear all about Salzburg! Auf Wiedersehen!

Budapest Keleti Station, my last view of Budapest before Salzburg!

Welcome back everyone, I’m still trying to catch you all up on my recent travels and adventures.  Three weeks ago I left you with my trip to Bruges and the incredibly moving and powerful visit to the Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial in northern France. I meant to post this part of my travels two weeks ago but I had a mishap with my computer and I may or may not have left it with my friends in Cologne for the week (I did)… Oh well, I have it back now and here is part two!

The Last time the entire Rogers and Messick familia were together!

Not long after my trip to Belgium, I returned home, back to Charleston, South Carolina to see my family for the first time since January, almost 5 months prior.  On the agenda for the next week was my mom’s birthday, Mothers’ Day, and my best friend Garrett’s wedding in Atlanta. For those of you that might not know him, Garrett and I have been friends for over 20 years now, going all the way back to pre-k and tee ball (when my dad and Dr. Royster used to coach us).  We’ve stayed close ever since with trips skiing in Colorado, fishing at Tanglewood and Charleston (and Miami), and fun weekends meeting up in Nashville and Winston-Salem.

Charleston, Nashville, Atlanta, Beaver Creek, and Miami

But, being back in Charleston is such a different atmosphere than Europe. The smell of the saltwater in the air and the pluff mud at low tide are things you don’t realise you miss until you’re surrounded by them again. Not to mention all of the things you take for granted until they’re not a part of your daily routine anymore.  Like the great weather, looking for alligators in the ponds, keeping an eye out for dolphins while on the Wando River, and seeing the Ravenel Bridge and the church steeples of downtown Charleston highlighted as the sun goes down.

Can you see the sunshine? Can’t you just feel the moonshine?

I remember the last time I flew home from Europe, I was so sad to be leaving Salzburg and Austria.  At the time, I wasn’t sure when I would ever be able to go back, so even though I was thrilled to see my family again, it was bittersweet having to say goodbye to such an amazing place. But this time, I could just focus on how amazing it will be to see my parents and my Seattle family again, especially my chunky little nephew who I could only see over FaceTime and who was growing so fast!

My favorite nephew

I arrived in Charleston on a Saturday, and had until Wednesday afternoon before I flew to Atlanta for the wedding. It was a great weekend, full of boat rides in the harbor and back up in the marshes. The weather was fantastic all week, as it usually is in Charleston and on Tuesday we had a great birthday dinner for my mom on Shem Creek. Russell, of course was the star of the show as we all love him so much. He had just figured out how to pull himself upright but was still wobbly on his chubby legs. Now, he’s a pro and is just now walking when I FaceTime with Alicia and the family. We also spent some time planning our next family trip to Europe at the end of September, and it looks like we’re going to be headed to Barcelona, Spain and we’re all so excited for that!  But.. before I knew it, my time in Carolina was up and it was time to fly to Atlanta.

Shem Creek, Charleston SC

I flew out Wednesday afternoon, and Garrett picked me up just in time for dinner at the Ponce City Market. We had some beers and some great Chinese food at one of the weirdest tables I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. It looked as though it was some ancient Chinese skee-ball table and our chairs were these massive wooden thrones. All in all, it was pretty bizarre but the food was incredible and we were both stuffed before heading back to his and his soon to be wife’s new apartment and watched our favorite drinking show, “Mountain Monsters.”

If you’ve never seen it, it’s definitely worth the watch just for the laughs and how utterly ridiculous the concept is. It’s a show following a group of over-weight rednecks from West Virginia that attempt to track and capture different “mountain monsters,” such as bigfoot (which apparently has multiple species), wompus beast (looks like a bobcat pretty much), the moth-man, and other myths and legends from the Appalachian Mountains. The show follows the exact same plot line every single episode, the crew drives to some back-woods location, they talk to a “witness,” they do some nighttime reconnaissance where they have an “encounter” that isn’t caught on camera, then they meet another “witness” with a blurry photo or video “proving” the existence of said beast, they then attempt to make a trap to catch it, and at the final nighttime hunt they corner the beast, get it into the trap, but it escapes and they all claim to have “proven” it exists without a single shred of evidence. Add that and a few beers and you end up laughing for a few hours before calling it a night.

The Georgia Aquarium

The next day and a half up until the rehearsal dinner felt like a blur almost.  But the quick run-down is that we picked up the groomsmen, met the bridal party to all catch up and get drinks, then went to the Georgia Aquarium (which is fantastic, the tank in the photo above holds 4 whale sharks, and 3 manta rays among hundreds of others fish), before all heading to the rehearsal dinner Friday night. The food and venue were great and Laura and Garrett (mainly Laura, sorry bud haha) did a fantastic job planning and scheduling everything that weekend. And again, before we knew it, the big day was upon us.

Sean, Demone, Garrett, myself, and Michael ready for rehearsal

The next morning Garrett comes down to the hotel room the groomsmen were sharing, “slightly” hung over from the night before. He hops into one of the beds and requests from his groomsmen, and I quote “an orange Gatorade.. Not a Powerade, a Gatorade, and definitely orange.” Now, this wouldn’t be too big of a deal if we weren’t in Atlanta, home of Coca-Cola, owner of Powerade.. Gatorade practically doesn’t exist in downtown Atlanta. Almost all vending machines, small convenience stores and corner-stores in downtown Atlanta are full of Coke products. The fact that we were also, I don’t know maybe 100 yards from “the World of Coca-Cola” museum didn’t really help our search either. But, being good groomsmen we tracked down a CVS and found some “ORANGE GATORADE” for our buddy.

A few hours later as the the groomsmen were supposed to be getting ready for a pre-wedding photo shoot with the photographer, we had a curveball thrown our way. Garrett remembers (just in time, I might add) that he had left his wedding present for Laura back at her mom’s house in Marietta, about 30 minutes away. Garrett and I race back to Marietta, avoiding Atlanta’s traffic as much as possible (thankfully it was a Saturday), go into Ms. Webreck’s house, find the gift and wrap it (impeccably) before sneaking back out with nobody being the wiser. What we didn’t know, was that we weren’t the only ones rushing around and barely missed the recovery of the bride’s veil from the upstairs closet!

But an afternoon of relaxing and having a few drinks to ease the nerves before the big night had disappeared with zero drinks and zero relaxation and as we got back to the hotel we all knew that we had to get showered and cleaned up and to the venue in about 20 minutes. Luckily, Garrett’s dad and my parents were both staying at the same hotel so Garrett used the shower in his dad’s room, while I ran to my parents’ room. I called them but didn’t get an answer but as luck would have it, the maid was just cleaning the room and I somehow convinced her to let me shower in their room and we all made it to the venue just in time.

Speech-DONE… Time to have some fun!

Overall, the wedding was great, the venue was really neat, the pastor did a wonderful job with the service, the bride and groom looked fantastic, the food was delicious and most importantly everyone got along schwimingly and had a blast. I was honored to be the best man and that I was able to say a few words on such a special occasion. And although giving speeches isn’t exactly my forte, I thought I got down enough of your wedding cocktails (african sundowners) before and during my speech to do a decent job of it before getting a little choked up near the end (it appears I’m beginning to take after my papa in that regard). It was a perfect way to spend my last full day in the states.

The Wedding Party

But before I headed out the next afternoon, I got to eat breakfast and spend some time with my mom and dad for mothers’ day which was really nice. We had a few hours to talk and relax and just like that they had to begin their long drive back to Charleston and I was headed to the airport to get on a flight back to Bremen where in 24 hours I’d be meeting a few friends from University (Sam, Zack, Josh and Chloe) who had started their European vacation earlier in the week in Amsterdam. And while the thought of seeing them the next day definitely cheered me up and gave me something to look forward to I have to admit it was tough saying goodbye to my family and to Garrett and Laura, who are practically family to me now as well.

Not much has changed in 20 years

I’m definitely going to miss all of you and I can not wait until I see my parents at the end of September in Barcelona, and all of my friends again in December when I come back for Christmas.  There is more family I won’t get to see though up in Toronto, and I miss them just as much and hope to get up to the Great White North as soon as possible to give them a squeeze as well.  Until then, thanks for the incredible memories and no matter where I am in the world, I’ll always have y’all and Carolina in my mind. Auf Wiedersehen!

 

I’m still here I promise! After an absence of over two months I am back. I’ve done so much and had so much to write about over the past few months that instead of putting my head down and working on it, I just pushed it off, and with no “deadline” I was free to push it off indefinitely. But anyway, since there is so much to catch everyone up on, I am going to separate this out into a series of 3 posts over the next few weeks. The first post starting all the way back in the end of April and beginning of May when I took a road trip to Bruges, Belgium.

I started off the trip with a 6 hour drive after I got off of work, from Bremen to Bruges.  I was able to drive through northern Germany, the Netherlands and the endless farms in Belgium.  I arrived pretty late to my hostel which was a little outside of the city and decided not to do anything that first night. Instead, I did a little bit of research on what to actually do in Bruges as at that point I had no idea.  I had seen photos of the city and knew how beautiful it was but besides that I had no idea what there really was to do there.  After awhile, I gathered that most of the “to do” items in Bruges were located directly inside of the oldest part of the city, so that’s where I would spend my day.

The “Belfry” in Bruges, Belgium

The old town of Bruges is one of the best kept examples of medieval architecture in Europe. The Belfort was built in 1240 and the town square around it has changed very little over the past few centuries. The canals that cut through Bruges only highlight this as it looks like there hasn’t been a single brick or cobblestone moved in centuries.

As I exited the winding narrow streets of the old town and entered the massive market square I wasn’t sure what to do first. But, as it was nearing lunch time, and I had walked by about 10 small cafes that all smelled amazing and seeing the patrons drinking massive “goblets” of beer I knew what my first stop would be. I found a small restaurant overlooking the main square and got myself a Duvel (one of the more popular Belgian beers). I looked over the menu and decided that I needed to eat local, but I couldn’t decide between the fresh mussels or Flemish rabbit. Luckily, there was another meal waiting for me that night that I could get the mussels at, so I ordered the flemish rabbit stew. It was the first time in my life that I had eaten rabbit so I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I could think of was the scene in Lord of the Rings where Sam is making rabbit stew for Frodo and Smeagle, and Smeagle is cursing him for being the “stupid fat hobbitses” for ruining the rabbits he caught for them. But, of course my stew turned out to be incredible, as well as my beer and it took all of my will power not to order a second bowl of stew with my second beer.

Duvel in Bruges Market Square

After lunch, I didn’t have much of a plan so I started walking, the old town wasn’t very large so I figured I could cover most of it in one day. I walked along the canals, explored the ancient Belfry, ducked into the Belgian chocolate shops and saw everything Bruges had to offer.  The chocolate shops are literally around every corner.  When I first arrived I didn’t have much of a plan to buy too much chocolate but after the 100th shop you don’t really have a choice and I bought a few chocolate covered strawberries to munch on.

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate

I was also able to go to the Basilica of the Holy Blood.  The Basilica was built in the 12th century and it is a catholic church that contains a handkerchief from Thierry of Alsace that he had brought back during the second crusade in 1147 that he claimed was covered in the Holy blood of Jesus Christ.

Basilique du Saint-Sang or Basilica of the Holy Blood

I was also able to go and see Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges sculpture, which is his ONLY work to leave Italy during his lifetime.  Since then, it has had a pretty interesting history.  It has been forcefully removed from Bruges on two accounts.  The first time, by French revolutionaries in 1794 and moved to Paris with a few other works of art, and the second time by Nazi’s in 1944 on their retreat back into Germany.  The sculpture was first returned to Bruges in 1815 after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, and the after its second kidnapping it was discovered in a salt mine in Altaussee, Austria, and it’s recovery was a key feature in the motion picture “Monuments Men.”

Photography of the work wasn’t allowed, but here is a picture from google… Sorry haha

But back to Bruges again, the city was truly fascinating and at times you could lose the crowds in the back alleys of this town and it felt as though you were stepping back in time, no cars, no streetlights, old painted wooden shop signs and the cobblestone streets all made it feel as though it were the mid 1000’s, in the golden age of Bruges, just a tiny bit cleaner and healthier.

But after a few hours of wandering and exploring and trying to make room in my stomach for my afternoon snack I knew that it was finally time for my waffle. I had been waiting on this ever since I decided to travel to Belgium and the time had finally come. I walked up to the first waffle shop I could smell and as I was about to get in line… about 20 kids from a field trip got in front of me… Oh how I watched in pain as all of the strawberries and fresh toppings slowly disappeared in front of my eyes onto their ungrateful waffles. But with about 1 child left in front of me the most amazing thing in the world happened. A Belgian girl came out from the back of the shop with a bushel of fresh strawberries and a bowl of fresh whipped cream and began slicing the strawberries right in front of me. All of the kids I guess were a blessing in disguise as they ate all of the ingredients that had been sitting out and got the waffles that had been made previously. Everything on my “just-made” waffle was fresh and new and boy was the wait worth it. I practically speed walked to a bench in the main square and scarfed down my waffle in about 10 seconds… But not before an old eastern Asian lady walked right up in front of me to take my photo. I probably had chocolate sauce all over my face but I didn’t regret a second of it.

Could arguably be the best part of the day…

After this, I returned to my hostel for a quick break before heading back to the square for dinner and another great Belgian beer. I had the mussels that had been on my mind ever since lunch and while they were fantastic and delicious, they didn’t leave the lasting impression on me as the rabbit did. Following dinner I went for another walk as the weather was beautiful and the town was almost entirely empty of tourists. The views were incredible and I could have stayed there for hours, but I had plans bright and early in the morning and needed to call it a night.

Bruges at night..

The next morning a woke up at 7 and began my drive south into France. I realised in Bruges that I was actually only a short drive away from some of the worst fighting of the Great War (World War 1), and I was only about an hour and a half away from Vimy Ridge. As a history major in university studying World War 1, we focused on other battles, such as the Marne, and the Somme. But as a Canadian doing my own research, I read all about Vimy Ridge, and how influential the battle was on the Canadian identity not to mention how technologically advanced the battle was at the time as well. In fact, Vimy Ridge was the first time in history, that a former colony had defeated one of the great European powers on European soil in battle, ever. And it was done by the Canadians in April 1917. Exactly 100 years ago.

Vimy Ridge Battlefield and Memorial

The battle itself showed the true character of the Canadian military. For the first time, all four Canadian divisions were assembled on one battlefield, fighting as one. The plan of attack was to utilise a tactic that was still in it’s infancy and one that had not seen high levels of success yet. The idea was that artillery would fire for 30 minutes, then adjust their aim forward 100 yards, fire for 30 minutes, adjust aim forward 100 yards and so on and so forth, slowly creeping onward.  All the while, the Canadian troops would be advancing as close as possible to the landing shells, using them as cover.

With modern military technology and computers this sounds somewhat simple, but without gps, or wireless communication this all came down to human judgement and timing. The troops in charge of the artillery had to keep an eye on the clock and their aim or risk firing on their own troops and the infantry advancing knew that if they allowed the artillery to get too far ahead of them that they would be sitting ducks for the German machine guns, yet if they advanced too rapidly they would fall victim to their own artillery leading the attack. Once the attack began there was no stopping it, no pausing or readjusting it all depended on meticulous timing, precision and preparation from all 4 divisions. The time was now and when the first troops went up and over the side of the wall they knew they would either end the battle in command of the German stronghold on Vimy Ridge or laying face down in no mans’ land.

View of the Memorial with the still scarred terrain.

As fate would have it, the plan worked brilliantly, and over the course of 4 days the Canadians had not only pushed the Germans from the Ridge but also the surrounding high grounds, as well as capturing invaluable German artillery pieces and freeing the few French towns that were just beyond the ridge. The battle still stands as a great feat of arms, technology and teamwork and became incredibly important in the development of Canada’s national identity. No longer were the soldiers looked on as part of the British military, like the Australians, South Africans and Indians. They were now Canadians, and they could hold their own on the global stage.

Vimy Ridge was the first major victory for the Canadian Corps as a group, that helped them gain more experience, and momentum leading them on for the next year, climaxing in a stretch from August 1918 to November 1918 known as “Canada’s 100 Days.”  During this stretch the Canadian Corps, which consisted of 4 divisions of a total of roughly 100,000 men claimed victories in the Battle of Amiens, 2nd Battle of the Somme, Battle of the Scarpe, Battle of the Canal du Nord, Battle of Cambrai, Battle of the Selle, Battle of Valenciennes, and Mons before the Armistice of November 11th was signed.  In total the 4 Canadian “heavy divisions” engaged and defeated 47 German divisions.  After which Canadian troops garnered the reputation for being one of the toughest, most well-trained fighting forces in the world.

Artillery craters still dominate the landscape

But all of this did not come without a cost, and the Vimy memorial reminds us of that. On the backside of the limestone monument there are 11,285 names and ranks of the Canadians that died or went missing in France during the Great War and whose graves are unknown.  All now, under the watchful eye of the personification of Canada, mourning her dead.

“Canada” mourning her dead

At first when I arrived, and saw this monument, the names of the dead and missing, the pockmarked fields and warning signs, and the final resting places of so many Canadians, so far from their homes. I was saddened by the fact that the park was so empty. More people need to see this place and learn what happened here. But the reality of the situation is that, a lot of people will never get a chance to come here. It’s not easy to access and for the average Canadian, the trip to France and Vimy Ridge is not possible. So for the 11,285 names etched on the monument, most will never know their names or their stories, and their sacrifices will fade into history and all that will be left is a name and rank engraved into the limestone.

A few hours later as I got in my car, preparing myself for the long drive back to Bremen, I had time to think about what I had just witnessed. A small part of me wished that these troops could be moved back to Canada so that their sacrifice could be appreciated properly but that is just not possible. And while the park was well kept and diligently taken care of, I felt like the entire area existed in it’s own bubble and as soon as I were to leave that, the world would go on not knowing what happened here or who made it all possible.

But as I entered the first town just east of the Ridge, I realised I could not have been more wrong. The small town would have been one of, if not the first town that Canadian troops freed from the Germans during the battle. And as I drove up I saw something I did not expect.. a Canadian flag.

Then, as I came around a corner, I saw another one, and then another, and then another. On flag poles, on decks and hanging from windows, almost every home had a Canadian flag displayed somewhere or somehow. It became very clear to me that the monument and park didn’t just exist in it’s own little bubble, here was a town, that after 100 years, still hadn’t forgotten the sacrifice of the Canadian troops and it was obvious what that meant to them.

I stopped and got out of my car at one point and turned, wondering if I could see the ridge from here. Not only, was it plainly visible from the town, but the monument could be seen prominently on the ridge, clearly visible for miles across the flat landscape. It was nice to know that, even if history will forget their names, their actions won’t be forgotten anytime soon in this small region of France.

“Lest we forget“

I’m gonna leave this section and you here for now with the poem “In Flanders Fields” by Canadian soldier, John McCrae, although the poem was written during the 2nd Battle of Ypres in Belgium, I saw it quoted in and around the Vimy Ridge memorial on postcards and photographs.  Expect the next part of my travels to be posted soon, auf Wiedersehen.

 

“In Flanders Fields” 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

 

 

The last few weeks have been a blast here in Germany, I’ve made some great friends, travelled and even joined a local soccer team.  Besides all of that, work and my language skills are improving steadily, which is nice.  My colleagues have been really helpful and have included me in so much, and even though sometimes they give me a little bit of stick for my broken german they’ve made me feel at home here.

Starting off, yes you’ve heard right! I am now a member of the local team in my area, SV Komet Pennigbüttel.  The purple and white pride of our small corner of Germany.  The club is made up of a few teams, from a 32+ team to 18u as well and I think 4 teams of guys around my age that are sorted on ability.  The best of which competes in the 5th level of German soccer (I think).  I have been training with the 2nd team, which is way out of my league, but the guys have been welcoming.  They laugh at “the american” that struggles with the simplest of skills on the soccer field, but as soon as I do something somewhat half-decent, they go nuts for it.  The camaraderie is a blast and even though only a few of the guys speak english, we understand each other pretty well and it’s been a lot of fun getting to know them over a few post-practice beers each week.  I guess sports are sports and teammates are teammates no matter where you are in the world.

Besides playing soccer and work, I’ve still found time to travel, and a few weeks ago I had the incredible opportunity to travel down to Dortmund to watch Germany play England.  The game was special, as it wasn’t just the usual Germany vs England rivalry, but a celebration of one of Germany’s best players over the past 15 years, Lukas Podolski.  That night would be his final game representing his country and the stadium was packed with fans wishing to send him off properly.

Lukas Podolski was born in Poland, but was eligible to choose to play for either Poland or Germany.  He made his first appearance for Germany as a 19 year old after the Polish coach didn’t think he was good enough to make the Polish National team (big mistake).  Since then, he has made 130 appearances for Germany, representing them in 3 World Cups (winning 1 in 2014), 4 Euro Cups, and scoring 49 goals (3rd most ever for the German National team) over this span.  He was even named the 2006 World Cup’s “Best Young Player” over two other guys named Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.  There are plenty of other stats and records but to make a long story short, everyone was feeling the love for “Poldi” as they call him.

The Germans are here!!

I was invited by a friend of a friend I met in Salzburg through AIFS.  Her friend is studying in Prague, and had an extra ticket and as I was only 3 hours from the game I was lucky enough to get an invite, thanks Bekkie and Camy!  I got to the game early to make sure I had time to get in a beer and bratwurst before meeting up with Bekkie and joining the massive crowds pouring into the stadium.  We were fortunate to get to see the team bus pull in as well which was really cool!

Upper deck, but still a fantastic view!

The game was incredible, it was my first game seeing any national teams play and as a big Manchester United fan it was my first chance to see some players from my favourite team like Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard and Chris Smalling.  But the star of the show stole the spotlight late in the second half with a stunning goal from outside the box to break open the scoreless game.

What a goal!!

A few minutes later, he was subbed off to a standing ovation that lasted a good 5 minutes until he came back out off of the bench to wave one final goodbye to the fans.  It was a really great experience to see and it was so cool to see someone end their international career on such a high note.

After this I had a quiet week of work before my first big trip of the year to Paris!  It was definitely a bit of a “rush job” to fit a trip of this magnitude in, without taking any time off of work, but it worked out incredibly.  Luckily for me, we have a great family friend who lives and works in Paris, Lauren Golden, who was gracious enough to let me not only crash at her place, but also spend the day with me Saturday showing me all that Paris had to offer!

Thanks for the incredible day in Paris Lauren!

But, I had to get to Paris first, and even though my work schedule allows us to leave work on Fridays around 2:00 I was still just barely making the last train to Paris for the night.  My travel route had me leaving Osterholz-Scharmbeck at 2:30, and arriving in Paris at 11:00 that night, and what stressed me out the most, was that my final connection only departed Mannheim 10 minutes after my train from Hannover arrived.  And as luck would have it my train from Hannover to Mannheim was 15 minutes late.  I was only extremely stressed as I sprinted through the train station praying for a delay or some divine intervention to hold my final train until I could make it.  And wouldn’t you know it, THAT train was also delayed 10 minutes… whew!  Lucky break..  But the rest of the trip was easy and smooth, especially since I was on a high speed train that got up to over 350kph or around 220mph.  I really wanted to look out the window at that speed, but it was dark outside at that time so unfortunately I couldn’t get to watch the French countryside fly past..

Wonder where Quasimodo is??

Fast forward to the next morning…. Lauren was an incredible host and even though she has a gluten allergy she made sure that there were croissants waiting there for me for breakfast before heading out into the city (already off to a great start).  The first stop on our tour began at Notre-Dame.  As soon as we came around the corner and I first saw the massive cathedral I was blown away.  It’s such a weird feeling, seeing something in-person for the first time, when you’ve already seen it in textbooks, on tv and in movies.  you realise pretty quickly that none of it ever quite did it justice.

Beautiful Notre-Dame

After this we began to make our way across Paris.  I had talked to Alicia the previous night, and she told me a story of when she was able to go to Paris and tour the French countryside with her ensemble in high school and sing in various churches and venues.  She told me how they were able to do an impromptu performance in a small chapel called Sainte-Chapelle, and how every member of her ensemble stood around the edge of the small room and sang a few hymns.  Alicia highly recommended that we make sure to see it, and I was so happy we took her advice because it was unreal.  From the outside, it is a little bit unassuming, but from the inside it is spectacular.  The beautiful stained-glass windows go almost the entire way around the small chapel..

Sainte-Chapelle

After leaving Sainte-Chapelle I was beginning to worry that we had begun our tour of Paris on too much of a high!  Luckily, it was nearing lunch and Lauren had told me of a place just on the other side of the Louvre that had the best hot chocolate in Paris.  Even though we didn’t have time to go through the museum I wanted to see the architecture and the famous glass pyramids outside.

The Louvre

I was beginning to get the idea that everything in Paris is grander in person.. I made a mental note that I needed to get back to Paris to tour the inside of the Louvre.  But for now, it was just time for hot chocolate.  I had been waiting patiently for this moment as Lauren had hyped it up pretty well.  We entered a tea room called Angelina, and Lauren ordered me a chocolate eclair and hot chocolate.  Both were out of this world, the hot chocolate wasn’t so much hot chocolate, but what seemed like pure melted chocolate.. And it was served with a side of freshly whipped cream..  The entire “snack” was amazing.

“Second breakfast” was a success

After indulging in pure chocolate for a little while we got back on our tour.  I knew in the back of my mind I needed to get in some more walking to work off the chocolate overdose I just went through.  So we headed up the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe.  In the distance the Arc didn’t look too massive but the closer we got, the more the absurd size of the structure really sank in..  We didn’t have time to go up to the top as we still had a busy schedule ahead of us but walking around underneath and seeing the monuments dedicated to the French military throughout the years was really an interesting time.

Arc de Triomphe

After this, Lauren and I hopped back on the Paris metro (all of which I thought was great) and headed out to Montmartre to see Sacré Coeur.  I’ll admit I had not heard much about this basilica before this week, and all my mom had told me about it was that it was “the church with a million steps leading up to it.”  So when we got out of the metro, and weaved our way through the narrow streets up to where they opened up looking up to the church on the hill I was blown away..

Sacré Coeur in Montmartre

The basilica was incredible, it sits on the highest point in the city and from the top you can get an incredible view, and really get a good idea of how massive Paris really is.

The massive sprawl that is Paris

After marvelling at the church for awhile and touring around the inside, we walked around the markets and winding streets, which are packed full of artists and little cafes.  The artists’ works are incredible and if I had the money I probably would have left with 10 of them but luckily I only had about 15 euros on me so I could only choose two small pieces.  But just getting to walk around and take in the atmosphere and the beautiful weather really made the day great.

Montmartre

At this time our dinner reservation was fast approaching so we began the walk down to the restaurant and along the way we passed by the famous Moulin Rouge.  My mom painted a beautiful picture of the Moulin Rouge and ever since I was little I’ve wanted to see it in person.  We weren’t able to go inside but we did stop around the corner to have a drink and people-watch for a bit before dinner.

Couldn’t find Christina Aguilera but still a cool place

Our dinner reservation was at a little restaurant that Lauren knew of called “Petite Fleur.”  All day, I had been craving a bowl of traditional French boeuf bourguignon after I saw it on the menu in the morning. It didn’t disappoint, it was by far the best meal I have had since I arrived here in Europe.  But the real surprise for me was the escargot, I tried them as an appetiser and they were fantastic, not at all slimy and something I would definitely order again!

After gorging ourselves on food and some wine we got back on the metro to go to what I was most excited to see this weekend, the Eiffel Tower.  Instead of seeing it during the day, Lauren had said it was much better at night all lit up.  All day, I could catch glimpses of the tower over the tops of buildings or around the bend of the river.  But the wait was worth it.  Seeing the entire tower for the first time all lit up was the highlight of my trip.

A perfect end to the day

Once I picked my jaw up off the ground, we headed back for the night, I was exhausted, full of great food, and blown away by my first day in Paris. According to Lauren’s phone, over the course of the day we walked 25,000 steps and around 10 miles…  And I needed every single one of those steps it felt like to work off my hot chocolate, and dinner.. No regrets though!

The next morning I wanted to go to a museum before catching my train home.  I had heard great things from one of my dad’s friends about the Hotel des Invalides.  The entire complex was huge and contained numerous exhibits documenting France’s war history as well as the final resting place of Napoleon.

Hotel des Invalides

I can’t say enough about how amazing the museum was.  As a history major who couldn’t get enough about WWI and WWII during University, I was completely captivated.  I could have spent an entire day walking through the various hallways and rooms reading every single piece of information available to me, but unfortunately I had limited time before I had to catch my train..  I had to pick and choose the exhibits I wanted to see most so I spent my time in the medieval arms and WWI/WWII exhibits.  What I was most surprised about though was that as soon as you walk into the main courtyard, there are plaques documenting the military relationship of the United States and France going all the way back to the American Revolution.  The plaques included documented quotes from American generals and George Washington about French General Marquis de Lafayette as well as quotes from French Generals about the American troops and leaders upon their arrival in France during WWI.  All in all, it’s tough to sum up the museum just because of the sheer amount of history inside of it (maps, uniforms, documents, weapons, diagrams, videos) but it is definitely a must see when visiting Paris if this sort of thing really interests you.

Medieval and Samurai armour

Renault FT-17 light tank from the end of WWI (known as the world’s first modern tank, as it’s general layout is still used by modern tanks today)

Varying uniforms from WWI

German and American WWII uniforms

Trench models

Actual taxi used by the French to shuttle troops to the front lines to halt the German advance through Northern France during the Battle of the Marne.

Replicas of German V-1 buzz bomb and American “little boy” atomic bomb

Napoleon Bonaparte’s sarcophagus inside the Dome des Invalides

After finishing up at the museum I began the walk to my train station, but stopped along the way to grab some lunch and enjoy the sights for another few minutes.

How can you beat lunch with this view??

Paris really was mind-blowing.. I feel that in the world there are a handful of cities that, no matter where you turn your head and look, down every alley and around every corner you see something beautiful.  I was lucky enough to live in one of those cities, in Salzburg last year, which really spoiled me as a traveller. Because now, a lot of times, when I travel and find myself in a new city, I tend to start comparing it to Salzburg..  Most of the time that comparison is not very kind to the new city as not much in the world compares to the snowy peaks, and white fortress rising above the steeples in Salzburg.  But Paris was a different case…  The food, the architecture, and the culture really blew me away and I hope I can find time in the future to return to this amazing city.  On that note, Auf Wiedersehen!

Frankfurt from across the Main

Before I get started in on this post I just want to point out a few things about the new layout of my blog.  On the right now I have added a few new items to help keep up with me.  A link to my Instagram, as well as a countdown on my next return to the states and a few songs I enjoy while traveling.  Also, front and center I have included a link to my calendar which I will be updating with trips and other such items.  ALSO, I finally decided on a new title for my blog, “My New Life in northern Germany.”  And lastly, I came up with a logo which I felt really summed up my blog and life for the next 18 months.  Enjoy.

Two weekends ago I was finally able to start sight-seeing again.  It feels so great to get back into the swing of traveling like my classmates and I did last Spring, while studying in Austria.  Waking up early and getting to the train station with my backpack ready for the weekend, brought back a flood of memories of my friends in Salzburg and our cold morning treks to the Hauptbahnhof.  This morning in particular was really, really cold.  There was a light snow in Osterholz-Scharmbeck and I packed myself a thermos full of hot chocolate to enjoy as the german countryside covered in snow whizzing past my train window as I made my way to Frankfurt.

Waiting for me in Frankfurt were my Aunty Fran and Uncle Dan just off their amazing trip to Malta.  It was so great to see some familiar faces again, bonus points as well because I get to hear someone speaking english again also.  As this was my first time in Frankfurt, and because my aunt and uncle were seasoned veterans of the city I followed them around as we walked and talked our way through Frankfurt.  We went by the European Central Bank and stopped into a small restaurant to have a drink before our walk to dinner.

European Central Bank and my Aunty Fran

Now, it had been awhile since I used to walk through European cities every weekend with my buddies but I figured I’d be up to whatever challenge my aunt and uncle had in store for me… I was warned it was a “bit” of a walk… It was a “bit” more then a “bit” to be quite honest…  I’m a little ashamed to say I was a tiny bit tired upon arrival at our restaurant.. But luckily the restaurant at the end of our long walk was amazing.  It was called Gerbermühle, and it had some traditional Hessian food for us to try.

We had some “Handkäse mit Musik” to start.  The dish is a specialty of Frankfurt and it consists of sour-milk cheese that is normally shaped into a ball by hand, hence the name hand=hand, käse=cheese, hand cheese.  It was served with some vinegar, oil, onions and bread and it had a unique taste that was strong but pleasant.  We wondered why it was called “hand cheese with music” when we never heard any music.  We weren’t able to find an answer that night. Luckily, I did some research and found two possible reasons why “mit Musik” is included in the dish’s name.  One very reputable source told me that when foreigners ask, “where the music is,” the usual German response is “die Musik kommt später,” or “the music comes later.”  As in flatulence, thanks to the onions.. Really beautiful Deutschland…  The more likely reason for the “mit Musik” I have discovered, is from the sound of the ceramic containers for the oil and vinegar that is served with dish clinking together musically.  But where is the fun in that…

I had a really nice visit with my aunt and uncle and before I knew it the night was coming to an end and I made my way back to my hostel for the night, ready to wake up early to catch my train back to Osterholz-Scharmbeck.

The following week was my first full week at work and it went well.  I’ve been learning a lot and working on my german language skills but who wants to hear about that.  The following weekend I purchased tickets to yet another soccer game, this time in Köln.  It was FC Köln vs Schalke 04 and while I knew it wasn’t going to be as exciting as the last game I went too, I was still really looking forward to it.

I arrived in Köln earlier in the day in the hopes of being able to see the old cathedral but it was pouring rain and made almost any sight-seeing impossible for me.  I barely even got to get a good look at the cathedral.  I will definitely be coming back though to get a better look, hopefully when the sun is out.  But soon after the time came to make my way to the stadium.  As I got closer I started seeing bars full of fans and supporters drinking their way through the streets towards the stadium.  So, naturally after buying my scarf, I had to join in and try to blend in with everyone.

After a successful hour or two at the bars, and now that I was full of beer and bratwurst, I joined the mass migration of fans marching and waving their red and black flags on their way to the stadium.  We arrived just as the players were exiting the field from their warm-ups.  Before I knew what was happening, the FC Köln mascot (a live goat) was run onto the field and every fan began singing a song they called the “FC Kölne Hymne.”  I’ve noticed at the 3 different stadiums I’ve been able to visit in the past month that every team has their own theme song of sorts.  In Bremen it’s “Lebenslang Grün-Weiß”(life long green and white), in Dortmund it’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” and now in Köln I got to sing along to “FC Kölne Hymne” (FC Köln Anthem) with 50,000 other fans…  And a goat.  Each song has a special meaning to their team and fans and it’s a really cool experience to join in with everyone in an entire stadium to sing it.

RheinEnergieStadion home of FC Köln

The game, started out really fast with FC Schalke scoring in the 2nd minute and Köln coming very close to tying the score moments later but unfortunately the game died down drastically.  The official was really lenient with his foul calls as well, which I really liked as it meant that the players couldn’t just flop down and get a whistle.  So, luckily, the game moved along somewhat well and it was entertaining to watch as the players really started to play harder and rougher as the game went on thanks to the official.  BUT both teams were pretty awful and even though Köln was able to tie it up, the skill level of the game wasn’t very high and when the final whistle blew and the game ended as a 1-1 tie I was more then ready to get back home.

For the next two weeks I made sure to buckle down and focus on work and making sure I made a solid first impression on my employers and colleagues.  I’m still in my training program and for most of those two weeks I worked on a project where I was given a “test blade.”  The “test blade” is made identical to a massive wind turbine rotor blade, except instead of being 80 meters long, it’s only 3 meters long.  My task for the week was to repair it, smooth out the imperfections on it and then properly apply the coatings so that when all was said and done I would be dealing with a rotor blade that could withstand all that mother nature could to throw at it for the next decade.

I can’t say much about the coatings used but at the end of the week I was pretty satisfied with my finished product.  A few imperfections, but overall not a terrible first attempt.

And lastly, this weekend I was able to go see Werder Bremen play again here in Bremen.  I was really looking forward to this game because I feel a better connection to this team then any of the others I have travelled to visit.  At those games I’m just a tourist, but in Bremen I’m a fan, so it was great to go to another game at their stadium where they were playing a team they could probably beat, SV Darmstadt (last in the league).

I took the train into town, walked down to the river where all of the bier gartens are and where all of the fans congregate prior to the games.  I found a great bar and met a group of nice fans and we shared a few beers before starting the walk along the Weser River to the stadium.  The stadium is called the Weserstadion and it is located right along the banks of the river.  It’s not massive but it’s a really neat stadium and when the team plays well it can get really loud.

Werder Bremen (green) vs SV Darmstadt

Luckily, Bremen played really well on Saturday and the stadium was rocking the entire game.  They ended up winning 2-0 thanks to a two goal game from their best player, Max Kruse.

Penalty goal for Max Kruse (sorry the phone was knocked out of my hand)

All in all, it was another fun day in Bremen watching soccer.  The fans here really impress me as the team is going through a rough patch in their clubs history.  As recent as 2004, Bremen won the German League.  Beating the teams many of us know just from Sportscenter such as Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund.  Not only did they win the league, they smashed their competition, AND they won the DFB Pokal, which is a single elimination knockout style tournament that includes the top 64 teams in Germany.

And now, Bremen sits in 14th place in the table, only 2 points away from relegation to the 2 Bundesliga..  Yet, every week the fans still come and sell out the Weserstadion to sing and cheer and to watch their team play (and probably lose).  But, to me that’s really a special atmosphere to go and be a part of as often as possible because now, when Bremen wins the fans enjoy every single second of it, because they know how rare it can be, and how quickly things can change every week or every season.

And on that note, I’m going to call it on this post.  I’m not entirely sure what my plans are for the next month.  I know in April I plan on visiting Paris as well as hopefully Switzerland over my Easter break.  All great things to look forward too, Auf Wiedersehen!