Czech This Out!

Hey everyone! It’s been a while!

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been swamped with work, being sick, and field trips. As a result, I have a lot to catch up on, seeing as how my last post was about the Alps trip the first week of this month.

First I’d like to give a shout out to the Minnesota Nivens. It’s great to hear from you all! I’m glad you like my blog posts. To answer Charlotte, Patrick and Michael’s question about how I could drink that beer, my answer is “slowly.” The same applies for the other 2 liters I drank, but don’t tell my mother about them…

So, the semester has started to pick up, with lots of papers, tests and the like. I’m trying to keep a cool demeanor about them. It’s just kind of hard when your curriculum involves taking field trips to three of the most beautiful cities in the world: Budapest, Krakow and Prague. But more on those in a bit. In between the Alps trip and the Eastern Europe trip, we played soccer against the IES staff. There were 2 student teams and 1 staff team. We greatly underestimated the staff’s skills, as both student teams lost to the staff. I guess that’s what happens when you play against people who have been playing soccer their whole lives. Here’s a picture of us playing. I’m on the far right.

Now, for our Eastern European excursion. On October 14^th we flew from Stuttgart to Budapest, Hungary. My first impression was “wow, what a goofy-looking language.” The Hungarian language is unlike any other in central/eastern Europe; it is a Finno-Ugric language surrounded by mostly Slavic-speaking countries. As for Budapest, it is quite a remarkable city. Budapest used to be two cities, one on each side of the Danube. The western part was called “Buda,” and can you guess the eastern part’s name? Yes, that’s right, “Pest.” Our first academic meeting took place in the Hungarian Parliament Building, by far one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen.

It was built in the 19^th century in neo-Gothic style. Inside, the place looks like a palace! There’s grand staircases, crown jewels, and even a gold-leaf covered senate chamber. Here’s a few pictures.

The rest of the city is quite remarkable as well. A lot of parts were under construction, evincing Hungary’s forward looking, ambitious nature as a player on the world stage. There are lots of statues all over the city, paying homage to great Hungarian heroes such as Lajos Kossuth, who fought for Hungarian independence in the 1848 revolution, and Imre Nagy, whose statue stands in Martyrs’ Square. He vehemently opposed the Soviet Union and was killed in 1958.

Getting around Budapest was quite easy. There are extensive subway and tram lines. I found the subway to be particularly cool. All the trains were fairly old and loud, and did not offer the light-as-air rides most trams offer nowadays. Frankly, they sounded like diesel engines. But the most interesting thing about the Budapest subway was the Soviet placard found on each car. I have no idea what this means, but you can see the letters “CCCP” at the bottom.

Just a little bit of a throwback, no?

The city at night is absolutely gorgeous. All the bridges are lit up, as are the main roads alongside the Danube River.

Our next stop was Krakow, the “royal capital” of Poland. Unfortunately my camera batteries died so I don’t have quite as many pictures from Krakow, but I can assure you that it’s a beautiful city.

My favorite parts were Rynek Główny, the main square, and Wawel, the old castle. Krakow was substantially smaller compared to Budapest and Prague (at least the parts we were in), but its character more than made up for its size. Our hotel was situated about 15 minutes away from the main square, in an area with a distinct urban character. People walked around with expressions on their faces as if they always had somewhere to go, similar to Philly or NYC. The older town was gorgeous, though, with cobblestoned streets and a beautiful walk along the Vistula River. Green slopes down from Wawel led to a pathway right alongside the river. We had dinner at a Polish pub and ate pierogies. One of the coolest things we saw in Krakow was a troupe of fire-dancers, who soaked ropes and staves in kerosene, lit them on fire, and then danced along to intense drumming. Kudos to my friend Alex for taking this picture.

The next stop was Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration camps. Frankly, I’d rather not talk about my experience there in this blog, but I will say that it was the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

We took a bus ride from Poland to the Czech Republic, which lasted about 8 hours. It really wasn’t that bad. We played lots of games and even watched “The Sound of Music.” Don’t expect a film review here.

Our last stop was Prague, one of my favorite cities in the world.

Karlov Most (Charles Bridge) over the Vltava River.

I had been to Prague once before. I celebrated New Year’s Day 2005 in Prague’s Old Town Square. I was so excited to revisit the city after 3 years. We stayed about 10 minutes away from Wenceslas Square, the New Town’s main square, at the top of which sits the National Museum. We were given the most free time in Prague, which we all made liberal use of. I went back to some of my favorite spots, such as Old Town Square and the John Lennon Wall.

The John Lennon Wall is a wall in the town below Prague Castle on which someone spray-painted a memorial to John Lennon after he died, and people began adding their own messages of peace, love, and Beatles-stuff. It grew to be a huge graffiti wall.

Prague Castle is a remarkable area.

I had been there before, but still reveled in the great structures such as St. Vitus cathedral, a beautiful example of Gothic architecture. Two friends and I decided to wander around a bit, and we found our way to several parks and public gardens near the castle. I had never been to these before, so it was nice to discover a new place.

Now, Prague is renowned for its night-life, so of course I basked in it.

Rather than go into detail, I’ll just summarize: we went to a club that was 5-stories tall, with different floors for different kinds of music (oldies was our favorite; everything from “Rock Around the Clock” to “Billy Jean” and “Macarena”). We danced until 4AM and then called it a night (or did we call it a morning?). It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Sadly, we had to return to Freiburg the next Sunday. Not that Freiburg is a bad place, we just have work and stuff like that in Freiburg.

So it’s been an uneventful week since the big field trip, aside from a class trip we took to Alsace yesterday. We visited two forts, one from the 19^th century and one from right before World War I. Here’s a picture of the artillery battery at Kaiser-Wilhelm-II-Fest.

So what’s next? More schoolwork, yes, but next weekend I’m visiting Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The weekend after that I’m going to London, and then the week after that is our final big academic field trip. This one goes to Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris.

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all.

-Dave

"Ah, Swiss air. You can smell the neutrality." -- Me

WOW!

On Wednesday, we went hiking in the Swiss Alps. I had been to Switzerland once before, but all that trip involved was an hour layover in the Zurich airport and a bar of Toblerone.

I woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning. We had to be at the entrance to our dorm area at 7:50AM to be picked up by the bus, so I scrapped my plans of making bacon and eggs for breakfast, and had a bowl of cereal (which you all should know, bowls of cereal are an institution in my 21-year career as an eater of breakfast). The bus came, and we all clambered on. The bus ride took about 3 hours, and we were dropped off in a parking lot in the town of Grindelwald. Grindelwald is in the Berne canton (roughly equivalent to an American state), which is near the Italian border. We divided into groups, my group being the one to go on the most strenuous hike. We boarded a cog-train bound for Kleine Scheidegg, one of the smaller Alpine mountains. It stands in the shadow of two gargantuan Swiss Alpine mountains, Eiger and Jungfrau.

After about a 20-minute train ride, we began to descend the mountain. Now, I thought Pennsylvania’s countryside had nice views. I thought Tennessee had nice views. Switzerland trumps them all. I have never seen mountains and valleys so beautiful as those of Switzerland. Enormous rock formations, capped with snow, overlook lush, green valleys dotted with villages. Switzerland is probably the most beautiful country I have visited so far. Sure, Italy has ruins and Mediterranean landscapes, but Switzerland’s majesty is untouchable.

Anyways, the hike wasn’t so bad. The first stretch was mostly downhill, which is more difficult than one would think. Gravity forces you to walk faster than a normal pace, and your knees have to absorb the shock of not walking on flat ground. After hiking for what seemed like an hour, we stopped for lunch. After consuming the sandwich I packed for myself, I took in the amazing view of the Grindelwald valley. Meanwhile, people were parachuting off higher cliffs down into the valley. Don’t worry Mom, I don’t plan on going parachuting. Yet.

We resumed the hike, and finally started going uphill. Yes, I’m aware of the paradox of going uphill to hike down a mountain. That’s just how the mountain path is.

It was intense at first, but that might’ve been because my stomach was full of mystery German meat and Holländer cheese.

As the temperature fluctuated, we ascended the mountain path. The landscape changed from rolling hills to rocky climbs, from green forests to steep cliffs. The entire hike, I was astounded by the beauty of the views. Our hike also took us to a glacial canyon, where I filled up my water bottle with cool, delicious glacier water.

We even met some goats along the way.

The return to civilization, illustrated by clotheslines and Spongebob Squarepants balloons, signaled the end of the hike. We had hiked for 5 hours.

Sore, yet imbued with a newfound reverence for nature’s beauty, I boarded the bus back to Germany. Shortly thereafter, I joined the Green Party.

Just kidding.

We returned to Freiburg, and I cooked a small dinner and then went to bed.

Thursday’s classes were interesting, but nothing you all want to hear about. For our Model European Union simulation, I will take on the role of Prime Minister of the Netherlands. My policy areas are security and E.U. enlargement. I also made a boast during one of my poli sci classes, regarding our upcoming soccer game against the IES staff. Our professor, who will be playing goalie, said that he will see me on the soccer field on Sunday. I replied “Yes, I’ll see you on the soccer field…as I’m kicking the ball right past you.” He replied “Ah, okay. For every goal you score, you drop one letter grade. Now, which position do you play?” I said, “Usually midfield, but if my grade depends on it, I’ll play defense.”

Today, we went to Staufen, which, as elaborated by my history professor at Penn State, is “one of those cute little German towns.” She hit the nail right on the head. We took a regional train from Freiburg for about 20 minutes and arrived in Staufen. The weather was very foggy, but it wasn’t particularly cold or rainy. After splitting up into groups, we climbed a hill of grapevines to an 11^th century castle that was built by the dukes of Staufen as a defensive measure. While some people pretended to besiege the castle by climbing up the walls, the rest of us took the easy route by walking through the gate and climbing up the stairs.

We then walked into the town itself, which was like a smaller version of Freiburg. There were a few restaurants, some wine-tasting shops, and a town square (no McDonald’s!). We then learned that it was in Staufen that the historical Faust, the medieval alchemist who sold his soul to the devil, lived and died. At the top of the Rathaus (town hall) there is a footprint, supposedly that of the devil when he came to claim Faust’s soul.

Also while in Staufen, we were assaulted by a gang of 3 children on bikes. They followed us on the tour, yelling and whistling at us, and encircling us with their bikes. Eventually, they warmed up though. They began talking to us and took us to their favorite place in town, the church. We started walking back into the town, and one kid fell off his bike and hit his head. We bought him some chocolate-covered pretzels to cheer him up.

Tomorrow, the student activity coordinator’s country music band is playing in town. I’m quite anxious to see the German take on an American musical style. And Sunday is, of course, the students vs. staff soccer game. I’ll give you a score report, as well as a report of how much or little my grade drops as a result

Also coming up is the second big academic field trip. We are going to Krakow in Poland, Budapest in Hungary, and one of my favorite cities in the world, Prague in the Czech Republic.

I slept poorly last night, so I think I’m going to take a little nap. I hope you have enjoyed this entry.

This is me being excited to be in a field of grapevines, by the way.

A Brief Interlude

I may be in another country, but I can still support my team. Go Phillies!