¡Saludos desde Sevilla! : Beer, Brats, and Schnitzel!

Hey everyone! I'm unfortunately back at home in boring ole Wisco now :( I have to admit, the adjustment back has been pretty intense. The blinding open spaces, the food that isn't fresh, people dressed in cut-offs, socks and sandals, and skorts...ohh America how different you look with new eyes! I miss Europe already :( The good news is that I got to see all of my friends and family after being gone for 4.5 months! Boy did I miss everyone!

Because of how busy my last month and a half were in Europe, I got really really behind on my blog! I am now going to slowly try to catch up on the last bit of my time in Spain, as well as my travels after the program. I figured I started this thing, I am going to finish it!

Munich Day 1

To start where we left off...I went to Germany!! Over my Spring Break in the middle of April, I went to Germany and the Czech Republic with my good friend, Sarah.

Munich was a blast. The German culture there reminded me so much of home, it was great! The food was the same, the weather was the same, and the citizen's love of beer was the same! The only difference was the buildings. There were beautiful churches (like everywhere in Europe) and random majestic buildings everywhere!

Random Beautiful Church

Random Majestic Building

One thing I loved about Munich were all of the clothing stores selling lederhosen! The traditional dresses were so cute, Sarah and I just had to try them on!

The souvenir shops were pretty neat too. Beer steins and cuckoo clocks were being sold everywhere!

The Marienplatz was the main square in Munich that housed the....

New Town Hall

Old Town Hall

Glockenspiel

Every day at 11 am the Glockenspiel chimes and puts on a lengthy show with creepy figures rotating around! It was awesome!!

That night we had a delicious German dinner of Apfelschorle (apple soda), pretzels, potato salad, and schnitzel!! The Munich Schnitzel was a breaded, deep-fried piece of super tender pork with horse radish sauce on it! It was super good, but super expensive!!

Munich Day 2

The next day in Munich was a great learning experience, but was a little difficult to get through. We took a tour of a concentration camp in Dachau (a town outside of Munich), which was the first camp opened in Germany in 1933. It used to be a munitions factory during WWI, but was changed into a labor camp for political prisoners and later for Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, and asocials (criminals). Even if we have all learned about the horrific events of the Holocaust in school, we aren't pushed to actually think and feel for each of the individual victims and their families. This trip to the camp allowed us to actually see the conditions the prisoners lived in alongside their real stories of who they were before and during their imprisonment. They were doctors, teachers, fathers, sisters. They had hobbies, aspirations, and a normal everyday life. Their whole world was turned upside down, and this tour made it all too real. I feel it is important to share this experience with everyone. It is important to learn more about this subject and educate others, so we all remember the terrible events that occurred not even a century ago and prevent it from ever happening again.

Walking into the camp the door reads, "Arbeit Macht Frei" which translates as, "Work makes you free." The prisoners were told that if the workers worked hard enough they would eventually be let free. Instead, it just worked them faster towards death.

A very gray landscape

The tour guide was very informative and told us many heroic as well as horrific stories of the victims in the concentration camp. I They destroyed all of the barracks except had one reconstructed to display how the prisoners lived. Squished into these tight beds, sometimes 500 in a room mean for 25.

The bunker with the cells for "special prisoners."

A picture of "No Man's Land." The open space between the camp and freedom, where anyone would be easily spotted by the guard towers.

This next building was the hardest part for me. The first room was where they undressed and put their clothes in a place to get sterilized. They then moved on to the "showers" where they were killed. The next room contained ovens.

The tour ended with a very peaceful walk through the memorial garden path. It was a very reflective, beautiful walk that reminded you of the beauty of each life before it was taken to this awful place.

On a lighter note, we met someone famous in our tour group! The famous comedian, Gilbert Gottfried! You may know him as the voice of Iago in Aladdin or as the voice of Digit in Cyberchase.

Also, because of my obsession with German food I dedicate this picture to the BEST BRAT IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!! Just moments before I discovered its greatness.

Here are some pictures of the royal palace in Munich that we visited later that afternoon. It was very sad to see signs in almost every room saying, "This room has been rebuilt due to bombing in WWII."

Part of this room was made of all shells!

That evening Sarah and I went to go visit the central park of Munich...the Englischer Garten! It was beautiful! It contained a large field for sport, trails in the trees, and a huge beer garden!

Beer gardens are the best! Tons of yummy food, traditional music, people, and of course beer! I don't like beer though, so mine was half lemonade....shhhh!!

My first beer in Germany!

We met two nice men at the beer garden who invited us to have dinner with them at a local restaurant. One was from the UK working as a Math T.A. and one was a local German who was a professor of Math. They were two nerdy, nice guys so we all got along perfect! It was a night full of great conversation.

Munich Day 3

The last morning in Munich we climbed a church for a gorgeous view, went to the toy museum, and went to the art museum. I will miss you Munich!!

Berlin Day 1

We actually took a train to Prague after Munich and then to Berlin from Prague, but I will skip the Czech Republic for now!

The first thing we did when we got to Berlin was eat at a fast food restaurant called Currywurst Express! It was delicious:)

We started off our day by visiting part of the Berlin Wall. On one side of it was a very long and interesting account of the history of the wall. This part of the trip was again an eye-opening experience walking around the remnants of the past. But what is really incredible to think is that "the past" was only 25 years ago. The affect of the wall still hangs in the air here, something that is constantly in the back of everyone's mind. My 50 year old Berlin taxi driver lived half his life in a completely different world.Again, this is something important to remember.

From there we walked down to Checkpoint Charlie. This was one of the breaks in the wall where regulated items and people could pass from the American sector to the Soviet sector. We also went to the checkpoint charlie museum which was literally wall to wall cover of 12 pt font, hardly anything to look at or touch! It was cool information..but nothing I couldn't just read on the internet or in a book.

The "American" soldiers standing guard...really they were German actors!

On our walk around the city we found the place where Hitler's bunker was where he killed himself. It is now in the middle of a parking lot...

We made our way down to the Holocaust Memorial. It contained a small museum below that was a great experience.

They also had a memorial for the asocials, homosexuals, and gypsies in a beautiful park by the Holocaust Memorial.

The homosexual memorial

The gypsy memorial

The Brandenburg Gate was nearby as well. This is one of the major icons of Germany. It was built in the 18th century as a triumphal arch, but was later partly destroyed in WWII and then isolated in East Berlin during the time of the Berlin Wall. It is now restored and a positive symbol of European peace and unity, as well as a reminder of Germany's dark history.

The Reichstag Building now is where the German parliament meets, but has had many uses throughout history. It has a great view from the clear dome on top! Too bad we had to make reservations beforehand :/

Berlin Day 2

This morning we climbed a skyscraper in the important square, Potsdamer platz. From there we got a great view and a detailed history of the square itself. It was really cool to see the timeline of history of Germany from the perspective of just one major square. Also, this view was awesome and a lot cheaper than the view we could have gotten at the radio tower!

The view is a lot more modern than the views of other European cities. If you think about it, it was destroyed in WWII, not taken care of in East Berlin, and so just recently rebuilt starting in the 90's through the 21st century.

We are on the fastest elevator in Europe! Scary!

I also found this in the square...

After the view we got some falafels and visited the Jewish Museum. I was very pleased with this museum. The exhibits were fun and informative and the place was huge! We had a good time.

Sarah was a great friend tagging along with me to this next museum....the Video Game Museum!!!!!

YAYYYYYY!!!!!! :D

I want to be her!

They had every video game system EVER! (this is just a small snippet!)

A huge joystick!

We then wandered over to Alexander Platz! One of the most famous squares in Berlin, where they tried to bring the traditional German culture alive! I think Munich did it better :p

A beer garden

Kids in Bubbles!!

The cathedral!

We ended the day by walking a million miles to the East Berlin Wall Gallery. The largest standing section of the Berlin Wall with lots of murals with strong statements. It was worth the walk! We also witnessed an improv techno dance party in the grass area by the wall...typical Berlin!