Kräuter

If you've ever been to Germany, you might have noticed their obsession with Kräuter. It is written everywhere and they put it on everything. I'm still not even 100% sure what it is.
The other thing about Germans is that they are very literal. One time we went out to eat and Jon wanted to order schnitzel with Kräuter butter, but he wasn't sure what it was, so he asked the waitress.
She laughed and said, "Butter...mit Kräuter..."
According to my German/English dictionary, Kräuter is defined as herbs, but it doesn't get any more specific than that. I've had Kräuterbutter, Kräuter salad dressing, cheese with Kräuter, and the other day when I went to buy toothpaste, I had to try the Kräuter kind, made by Crest. Really? Kräuter flavored toothpaste? Where does the line get drawn here?

Munich

Ok, so I know that I was going to write about Munich yesterday, but it was TOO HOT in Freiburg, and Germans don't believe in air conditioning, so I spent most of the day trying to keep cool, which meant not having the hot computer on my lap.

I had such an awesome time in Munich, it was a great weekend spent with great people. We left in the morning on Thursday and decided to go there the cheap way, which means all regional trains. We had to stop and switch trains a bunch of times, the coolest place being in Ulm, which is right on the border of Bavaria. We had an hour wait there and found out it was home to the biggest church tower in the world, so we went to check it out. It was pretty awesome, but we ended up missing our connection. Also a fun fact: Ulm is the birthplace of Albert Einstein!

We finally arrived in Munich hot and tired. The eight of us checked into our hostel and then went straight to the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in the world, for a traditional German dinner. I got bockwurst with sauerkraut. I have lived in Germany for 3 months but I am still not a fan of sauerkraut, grosssss. We headed back after dinner because we were too exhausted to go anywhere else.

Being in one hostel room with 7 other people is totally ridiculous and totally hilarious. Since we all knew each other, it was non-stop joking and ripping on each other. The only problem with our room is that there was only one bathroom! Since I wake up so early, I was put in charge of getting people moving in the morning. On average, it took us between 2.5 and 3 hours every morning to get ready, since some people are sloooow movers. It was hilarious though trying to figure out who the sleep talkers, snorers, and loud sighers were, and frightening when the person on the bunk above you moved!

The next morning when we all did manage to get up and moving, we went to explore the city. We saw 3 different churches (Europe is all churches if you haven't realized by now, and maybe a castle or 2 thrown in for good measure) and went to the Marienplatz to see the world famous Glockenspiel chime at 11:00. It was slightly disappointing, but definitely something we couldn't miss while we were there.

In the afternoon we split up. Some of us wanted to go to the concentration camp Dachau, and some people wanted to stay behind. I decided to go. Dachau was the only concentration camp open during the entire war from 1933-1945 and was one of the worst labor camps during this time. Upon arrival, there was a path that led up to the main gates which read Arbeit macht Frei (work will set you free) and all the prisoners saw as they entered the camp. Some American tourists decided it would be cool to shut themselves inside the prison gates and have people take pictures of them stuck inside a concentration camp, which I found to be totally classless and kind of disgusting. Anyway, inside there was a big courtyard where the prisoners had to line up every day for roll call and stand for hours and hours. I visited the inside of a bunker where hundreds of people were crammed into tiny little beds, a really large and extensive museum that told the entire history of the camp, and the crematorium/gas chambers which was the most chilling part of the concentration camp. Most of Dachau was burned down after the war ended, but there were still the foundations of all the bunkers where the thousands of prisoners
were kept. The whole experience was very moving and I'm glad I decided to go and learn more about the darker side of the country I'm studying in.

The next day, we took a two hour train to Neuschwanstein, the castle that Walt Disney based the ones in Disneyworld and Disneyland on. When we got there, we took a bus to the foot of the mountain and then had to hike up to the castle. It was very hot and we were all sweaty. We had to get a guided tour (there is no other option), and we had a 3 or 4 hour wait, so we decided to hike around the gorgeous surrounding area and wandered upon an alpine stream with freezing cold water. We dipped our feet in and immediately felt refreshed. When it was finally time for the tour, some of us decided to do it in English and some chose to do it in German. I chose English and kind of regretted it a little, again because of ridiculous American tourists that think it's ok to bring little kids and let them scream and climb all over everything. The castle itself was actually really interesting. It was built by King Ludwig II and took 17 years before it was complete enough for him to move in. He only lived there for a little more than 100 days before he was mysteriously found dead in a lake in Munich. To this day, no one knows how he died and the castle remained unfinished, but opened to the public only 6 weeks after his death in 1886.

That night, after a terrible train ride home filled with just about every crazy person living in Munich, we met up with Jeff's friend living in the city and she brought us to a restaurant where all the Munich locals eat. I ordered some wieners and they were amazing. I discovered I am also not a fan of potato salad either, though.

In the morning, some of us headed back to Munich, some decided to travel on, and some remained in Munich for the rest of the day. I was part of the crew who headed home early which was kind of a terrible experience filled with long, hot, train rides, OBNOXIOUS children, too many changes, and one train that just didn't show up at all and stranded us at a tiny hick station in the middle-of-nowhere Germany. Coming back to the Freiburg Hauptbahnhof is always an amazing feeling though and we all agreed that there's no place like home.

We Did It

We're amazing!
More on my trip to Munich tomorrow, too exhausted to update tonight!

Freiburg Dancing

Everyone thinks this video is either awesome or really lame.
I think it's awesome. It shows all the cool things in Freiburg.

Always an Adventure

I love how everything in Germany turns into an adventure, whether it's intended to be or not.

Yesterday I needed to go to DHL to pick up a package that I received on Saturday but wasn't around to sign for. I took Jon with me to the next stop down the line on our tram because that's where I thought we were supposed to be, but the only thing we found there was a post office, not a DHL. We checked out the address on the slip and realized we weren't where we were supposed to be. Jon had a public transit map on him and we pulled that out and had to take the tram another stop down and then hop on a 15 minute bus. We ended up in the ghettos of Freiburg, and this DHL actually ended up being a huge machine in the middle of a parking lot! I found a picture of it online so you can get a better idea of what it looked like.

I had to scan the barcode on my slip into the machine, and then enter my name and sign the screen. I pushed a button and all of a sudden one of the gray doors on the right hand side slid open and my package appaeared! It was probably the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.

I had to carry my 8 pound package all the way back into town for adventure #2. On Sunday I was an idiot and not paying attention at the ATM. I meant to put in my card from my bank at home, but instead put in my Deutsche Bank card. I put in the wrong PIN and then tried to take out more money that I had in that account. The result was that the ATM retained my card and told me to contact my bank immediately. Of course this happened on a Sunday so there was nothing I could do until yesterday. The woman behind the counter was very nice though and I explained to her my sitaution in German. Turns out, you can only get your PIN wrong four times IN YOUR LIFE and then they keep your card. I had entered my PIN wrong 3 times in the past 2.5 months I guess so now I'm getting a new card and new PIN sent to me.

And for those wondering, my package contained all delicious American food: pop tarts, Ranch dressing, cheez-its, Ritz crackers, Oreos, Goldfish, etc. AMAZING! :-)

Bonjour from Strasbourg!

Our best video yet:

"Nothing makes you appreciate Germany more than spending the day in France"--Jon Salvilla

Saturday my friends and I took our usual weekend excursion, this time to Strasbourg, France, which was exciting because usually we visit tiny villages and going to a big city was a nice change of pace. We took the train to the border of Germany and then walked into France because it was the cheapest for us. It was kind of weird when we first got there because we didn't have a map and couldn't find the center of the city--we were just wandering down random side streets and as usual, everything was closed. I used the restroom in a weird trailer which was hands down the dirtiest place I have ever relieved myself, but it was FREE, so I can't complain...too much.

We were dying of starvation and could not find anywhere to eat (although the 2 pizzas for 9.90 at Pizza Hut was extremely tempting) so we ended up walking about a mile back to the one outdoor cafe that we did see open. Jon, being the only person that speaks French, asked for the menu and the waitress seemed annoyed, but we had no idea why. We all picked out what we wanted and Jon placed the order for us. She snapped back in him in French that she already told him there was only one thing on the menu, a weird sandwich with ham, mushy cheese inside, and melted cheese on top of the bread. Ok, but definitely not worth the 4.10 that we had to pay for it, and the attitude of the waitress certainly did not add to our experience, that's for sure.

After lunch, we did manage to find the center of town and realized that Strasbourg is actually a really cool place. We visited the cathedral which was breathtaking, and then went into some gift shops to buy our usual souvenir postcard. In one shop, there was a huge American flag shoved into a corner and Jon did his duty as an American by pulling it out, waving it around a little, and putting it in a more prominent place. The guy working there was not pleased and came over, grabbed it out of his hand, and put it down about 2 feet away. For the rest of the time we were in the store, we were all followed around like we were some kind of criminals. We did find another flag outside though, which Todd epically modeled for the world to see.

We also went to a boulangerie and ordered some French pastries for dessert, and Jon tried to buy some foie gras, but it was 13 euros for just 50 grams. We walked from one end of the city to the other and were totally exhausted when we found the most amazing patch of grass that I have ever laid down on. It was green and perfect; the kind of grass I imagine there to be at places like Fenway Park, and definitely good enough to mention in this blog!

After our sit down, we had to walk all the way back through the city, to the outskirts, then cross the bridge back into Kehl, Germany, take 2 trains back to Freiburg and then the trams back to our respective dorms. It was about a 2 hour walk and a 3.5 hour journey when all was said and done. We were all totally exhausted and I went to bed shortly thereafter. My face was totally sunburned, my legs were killing me, and my feet hurt, but it was all in the name of adventure for another awesome day in Europe!

PS
Strasbourg has some pretty crazy street names....

Only my Two Favorite Cities ON THE PLANET!

Look where I ate dinner!!!


I can't believe that I didn't hear about Cheers Bar Freiburg earlier! They had great student deals. I got schnitzel, french fries, and a salad for only 4,44! The restaurant was set up to look like the bar on the TV show. I didn't take any pictures of that because the entire waitstaff was sitting there. It had more Chicago memorabilia than Boston memorabilia, but I will take it. The food quality was about the same as the Cheers Bar in Boston, ie. not fantastic. Not bad either, though.

Where Our Priorities Are

Next weekend I'm going to München with six of my friends. The past week hasn't been focused on how we're going to get there, where we're going to stay, or what we're going to do, but rather how we're ever going to pull off spelling München with our bodies.

My friends did "Paris" while they were there and I think it came out pretty awesome:
Then there was Basel, which I posted on here before:München, however, poses a problem. We were so excited that there are enough of us to spell it out, but it's not that easy. First of all, there's the issue of the umlaut over the U. None of the letters in "München" have easy, straight lines to imitate. We've literally been discussing this all week, tensions are high already as people are fighting over the "easiest" letters, and insults have been flying. Jon drew up this plan for how we need to pose:

We are still trying to figure out how we're going to get this to work; none of us are that flexible!

How I Decorate

My new favorite thing to do is buy postcards wherever I go. It started when I did my Paris/Rome/Florence trip because it is the cheapest souvenir you can buy, plus I always buy postcards of my favorite places in a city I've been as a memory, since they always look better than any picture you can take. It's also the best way to decorate my room.

Now, whenever we go on our weekend excursions anywhere, we always make sure to buy a postcard to remember the place by. This weekend we're going to Strasbourg, France!
Here is the wall of postcards in my room. Most of these I bought myself, but a few were sent to me. Some of them are kind of crooked, I know. I am working with ghetto .25 cent German tape here! Any donations to my postcard collection would be most appreciated though! ;-)