Driving through Deutschland

Hi everyone!

I'm so sorry I have been so neglectful about posting. I was writing a Hausarbeit for school (yuck) and then we had Pfinkst Pause (no classes for a week) and my parents came to visit! It was great having them here and I really enjoyed showing them Freiburg, but anyway, lets get right to the good stuff:

We didn't just stay in Freiburg for their week long visit. We drove to Salzburg and Munich where we met up with Josi's family. Vacationing with my parents was a nice change, because now I could go out to eat, rather than living off of Nutella sandwiches, or stay in a hotel instead of a 10 bunk hostel room. 

On our trip we drove from Freiburg to Salzburg then to Munich and back to Freiburg. There was no reason to add to the already difficult task of driving through a foreign country, so we chose to take a GPS with us. Dagmar, as we fondly named the GPS, took us on great routes through southern germany, winding around roads through the Black Forest and the Alps. She did try and trick us a few times though. Once she changed our destination entirely (or maybe that was Mom), and she sent us through so many round-a-bouts my head was spinning. 

We stopped in Lindau on the way, a town on the beautiful lake Constance. And other than that though the drive was really scenic, but pretty normal. 

I'm afraid I'm forgetting something though..... There was one more thing about the drive. Getting through Salzburg to our hotel was a bit of an adventure. After Dagmar sent us in circles for half an hour (that was fun) we found our hotel on a tiny little one way street. As we pulled up to the hotel to drop off our luggage we noticed there was construction at the end of the street and the only path to get through it was about the width of a large sidewalk. Marieanne, the hotel manager insisted that we could drive our car through this narrow path and then around the corner to get to the parking lot. Granted, we were driving a VW Golf, which is not very wide, but to anyone who was watching us (and at this point there were quite a few) there was no way that car was fitting between the construction fence and stone building without losing a bit of paint.

After watching us line it up a few times, Marieanne's dad came out to help and moved the construction fence entirely. I don't know how my dad was able to get through with only inches to spare on each side of the car, a growing group of onlookers, and my mom and I on the verge of tears from laughing so hard at the insanity of the situation. 

But it didn't end there. After making it through the alley, we turned on to a pedestrian street. Now, in my experience, PEDESTRIAN street means no cars, but once again Marieanne insisted that this was the right way. So after dodging people on that street for a while we finally made it to the parking lot. We never moved the car again until we left Salzburg. 

More to come! Sorry this Blog is a little picture-less. I was far too busy laughing to take any pictures. But I'll write more about my trip soon (including what we actually did on the trip).

Bye!

Fun times in Freiburg

Hi everyone!
I realize that last week's post about classes wasn't exactly uplifting, and it was completely devoid of pictures, so this week I thought I would tell you all about the fun things to do in Freiburg! Starting with:

Eating Gelato

So simple I know, but gelato is amazing (and I couldn't in good conscience write another post without mentioning food). Unlike in the US where a "serving" is almost too big to eat by yourself, you can get three scoops and still want more. Plus at around 80 cents a scoop its really affordable. There are a lot of times when I'm just walking around the city and can't resist getting a scoop or two. You can also find very unique flavors: Lemon basil with strawberries, papaya, cantaloupe, chocolate ginger, pear...and the list goes on. I don't think I've gone a week without eating gelato at least once.


Winning at Bingo


There are restaurants all around the city that host different events. Some times its trivia, or just meal specials, but last week we found bingo. And I WON! That probably was the best part. On any given day there's always something going on if you want to spend the evening out. From Karaoke to celtic dancing lessons to really cheap movies, you can do it all.

Speaking of movies, the most recent one I saw was "Friendship" ( I know the name sounds ridiculous) and it was so good! Its a german movie, but if you can find it with subtitles, or speak german, you should watch it! Four or five nights a week the university hosts movie events where you can watch a movie for 1.50 Euros and bring your own snacks.

Festivals and Markets


Everyday in the city center there is a huge fresh produce market. Its also a great place to get a Käsewurst if you're hungry. There's a smaller Market two days a week for all the local produce and baked goods. Every month there's a flea market, and a few weeks ago there was even a Medieval market! Like I said, there's always stuff going on.

Last weekend was the stone carving festival. I can hear you saying it : "Stone carving festival??" Yes. It was really cool. Stone carvers from all over the world come to this festival to show off their skills. These craftsmen are actually needed quite a bit in Europe, because all of the old gothic buildings that need restoring, still have all the stone carving done by hand. Some of the stone work was pretty spectacular. At the end of the festival, there was a huge auction to buy the pieces.

If you're interested in something a little more fast-paced, carnivals are also not too hard to find. I have to say, I think the rides at carnivals are a little scarier in europe. There are no signs telling people with heart conditions not to ride, or that you shouldn't ride if your pregnant. How are people going to know not to ride if they have these conditions? The rides also go on forever. I swear we were on one for a good ten minutes. Every time I thought it was going to slow down, it just did another loop.

Well there you have it. Some fun things to do in Freiburg. Until next post!
Kate

Let's get down to business

Well, I'm not sure how interesting this will be, but people keep asking me, so I suppose I should post about it. Classes in Freiburg....GO!

An overview:
I'm going to go ahead and say it. Yes. Classes are hard. Now, whether they are hard in general I don't think I can fully say, but because German is my second language, that about quadruples the difficulty level for me. Lectures seem to be very similar to those in the US, except that they are all 90 minutes, usually don't have a powerpoint, and the majority of the students actually do the reading to prepare class. Oh, I forgot, and they don't have any required work throughout the semester, just a GIGANTIC paper and a 45 minute presentation, or just a final exam at the end of the semester. I guess they aren't really that similar after all. But there are professors. And lectures.

For the diligent student, this is great. You can work on two things for a class the entire semester and make them amazing. For the procrastinating student, this doesn't quite work. For american students, who are used to assignments throughout the semester, lots of deadlines and tests; this is a little difficult to get used to.

My classes:

I am taking five classes, all in German.

1. German History after WWII - with all american students
2. Immigration in Germany - with all international students
3. Writing Practice in German - with all international students
4. Knights of the Middle Ages - with all german students
5. Something like philosophy - with american students, germans students, and some senior citizens

2,3, and 4 are all only one day a week for 90 minutes. 1and 5 are two days a week, but all of these classes are on Tuesday and Wednesday. It has been so great to have the free time during the week to brush up on my German, prepare for class, and start writing papers. 

I often wonder what it would be like to take these courses in English. Because I think they're all interesting, but also because my understanding ranges from 90% - 10% depending on the topic and the professor, so they would definitely be even more interesting if I understood more of what was going on. In addition, if you want to take notes on the lecture, choose wisely on what you write down. You may very well be confused about whats being said for the next 10 minutes and miss something more important than what you decided to write down.

Anybody ready to study abroad yet? I know I'm painting such a great picture. But really, though I was overwhelmed for the first two weeks of classes, and I still, on occasion (or maybe daily basis), wonder what on earth I've gotten myself into, I really am enjoying the challenge and adventure of it all. I continue to realize how gutsy studying abroad is, especially when your classes are not in english.

So there you have it! The whole reason I'm here: to study, and have a great time, in this sunny little town in Germany.

Until next post,

Kate

Amsterdam

I know its been a while, but classes started last week so I've been getting myself organized.
My last trip before classes was to Amsterdam. Its an awesome city to visit in the spring when all the tulips are in bloom! We went just at the right time too. It was peak tulip season and we spent almost an entire day at a garden north of Amsterdam calling every flower our new favorite. There were so many colors and varieties we couldn't keep them straight. I now have an entire album of screen saver pictures from this garden. Most of which involve fun close up camera settings!

But tulips were only one day. We took a tour of the city, ate indonesian - the traditional dutch food, avoided the red light district, visited the Anne Frank house, ate some gouda, tried on clogs, and went to some great street markets.  Amsterdam is not very big, so it gave us a chance to go up and down many of the canal streets. Thanks to our tour guide, I now know lots of things about the canals:

1. They are recirculated three times a week and therefore don't smell (like in Venice - our guide was proud to say)
2. 10,000 bike a year are dragged out of the canals (math time: thats 27.4 every day!)

Well apparently I only know two things about the canals. But they are really pretty and give the whole city a very tranquil feeling.

Because Queens Day was coming up there were carnivals everywhere. Our favorite had very tall swings, and from the top you could see all around the city. This carnival was where we first experienced Joppie sauce. I know you all were waiting for me to talk about food. Joppie sauce is sort of like honey mustard. Sort of. I really don't know how to describe it, but it is a french fry dipping sauce, and is really really tasty. As were the fries.

With all these trips I was very glad to finally be back in Freiburg for a while. Even if that did mean starting classes. In total, I was in Freiburg for 8 days during the month of April. Fortunately, now I will have lots of time to enjoy the city! Well, unless I'm studying.

I promise I will post again soon!

Italian Adventures Pt. II

 Ok so on to the next part of our journey, ROME!

I think I was a little surprised by all the hustle and bustle when we got to Rome. After visiting the sleepy towns of Cinque Terre, it just seemed crazy. Partially because it was. Traffic in Rome was terrifying. Mopeds, cars and trucks all squished together on tiny streets. I'm surprised I only saw one little fender-bender. To add to the chaos, the mopeds drive through stopped traffic to get to the front of a huge line of cars. When the light changes, its like Marokart. Everyone darts and weaves to make sure they get to the finish line fastest.

Besides the tourists everywhere, and the crazy traffic, Rome is a great city that you just can't passover on a trip through Italy. The colosseum, forum, and palatino are all beautiful. Its hard to imagine that people actually fought to the death in the colosseum, walked through the market streets of the forum, or lived in a great Palace on Palatino hill during the time of the Roman empire. We also visited the Vatican and marveled at St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. We took the the stairs to the top of St. Peter's dome, which gave us a great view of the Vatican, as well as Rome.

Though I know I usually spend at least a paragraph talking about food, nothing about the food in Rome is coming to mind. Of course it was great. Pasta, pizza and focaccia are awesome, and there was this great little place by our hostel that was really good as long as you didn't want the tuna surprise. However, there was nothing as amazing as the gelato we got in Florence, our final stop before returning to Germany.

It honestly makes me drool thinking about it. It was absolutely the best gelato I have ever eaten. After doing the math, we figured out that between two of us, in the three days we were in Florence, we could get three scoops a day and try every flavor. Sadly that dream went down the drain when it was closed on Monday, but we still managed to go back more than once. The chocolate was so rich it was like eating cold melted chocolate. The coffee was the perfect balance of coffee and sweetness that is so hard to master. The passion fruit was incredible. The ginger was amazing. I mean there really was not a single flavor that didn't make me want to eat only gelato for the rest of my life. Even the peanut butter, which is not a flavor of gelato I would ever think to get.

Besides gelato, Florence is a cute little italian town, full of renaissance architecture and street markets. We visited the Accademia and saw Michelangelo's David, the Doumo, and many many churches. Sadly after 9 days of picture taking, my camera battery died. I wasn't able to capture much of the city, but all the more reason for you to visit yourself! Then you can really experience haggling prices with street vendors and walking by the river at dusk. 

I just got back from the Netherlands yesterday, so be sure to check back for another post very soon. In the mean time, classes will be starting on Monday which will be very interesting to say the least. I hope I haven't forgotten all my German during this month. 

Until next post,

                 Kate

Italian Adventures!

I'm finally back from my 12 day tour of Italy and because there's just so much to talk about I'm going to make TWO posts.

Cinque Terre

Happy faces packing for our hike

We started our journey in Cinque Terre, an area on the north west coast of Italy with 5 small fishing towns connected by trains and hiking trails. It was absolutely amazing. Our first night was spent in Levanto, the city just north of Cinque Terre where we were really excited to try our hand at camping. Though it seemed like a good idea at the time, I'm not sure its an experience I want to repeat. Though we did borrow a tent from a friend, we only had two sleeping bags for four people. I don't know how good your math is, but even with two measly fleece blankets, all that really adds up to is: not quite warm enough. Clearly we didn't think that one all the way through until it was too late, but the good news is that it was only for one night, and we did enjoy chatting and giggling late into the night about the ridiculous the situation.

After a great night of sleep in the tent we hiked into the first town in Cinque Terre: Monterosso. It was an amazing three hour hike with beautiful views of the Italian coast. Though the terrain was rather rugged and we had packs that must have weighed 1000 pounds, it was probably one of my favorite experiences of the whole trip and now I have beastly leg muscles.

Up the stairs we go!

We stayed in Riomaggiore, the southern most town of Cinque Terre. We spent our days hiking up the hilly trails, visiting all the towns, and relaxing on the rocky coast.

Before heading to Rome we spent the night in La Spezia, a cute little town, but not a tourist destination. There was great shopping and this delicious frozen yogurt place. We only stayed one night, but went to the yogurt place twice for a melted dark chocolate and strawberry covered treat. From La Spezia we were off to Rome!

Visiting Berlin and Prague was amazing! I don't know how to fit everything into one post, but I'll make sure to hit the high points.

I got to Berlin on Thursday and spent time sight seeing. We hit all the high points on our tour but I must say my favorite parts of Berlin involved eating. After visiting the Holocaust Memorial and museum, Brandenburger Tor and the Berlin wall we explored one of the northern sections of Berlin. It was filled with unique little shops and thrift stores and one of the best Vietnamese restaurants. ever. It was like Com Dunwoody on steroids. Maybe it was the familiarity that made it so good, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Holocaust memorial

Friday we went to the Turkish market and ate these spinach and cheese filled fried-flat-bread-things. So tasty. The market was also really interesting. A mix of hand crafts, fabrics, breads, meats (including chicken livers and hearts. yum.) olives, cheeses and other stands all along one street of the Turkish district.

It has become a bit of a tradition here in Freiburg to have Dönner Donnerstag. In english: Turkish gyro Thursday. It sounds much better in German. Even though we were in Berlin, and it was Friday, we kept up the tradition.

This dönner was different than the traditional, with the addition of roasted veggies, and herb bread. Every bite was a little different and always delicious.

Then we took the late afternoon to Prague for the second leg of our adventure. When we got to the main train station, though we had a little trouble adjusting to the language, we made it through the subway to our street. Well, what we thought was our street. It took about half an hour to really figure out where we were going. We finally got streets Jansky and Janska figured out, and made it to our hostel, but they were overbooked. Though there was a brief panic that the streets of Prague might be our hostel for the night,  they said we had been moved to the suite in the four star hotel up the street. We didn't have any problems after that.

Prague was BEAUTIFUL. Every building was unique and full of history that I still don't fully understand.  We spent a lot of time just wandering through the streets. The Prague Castle is a huge area on a hill overlooking Prague. The main building there is not the castle, its the St. Vitus Cathedral, which can be seen from across the river in the Old Town

 

In every city there is some specialty that can't be found anywhere else and in Prague it was trdelniks. Its dough rapped around a big metal rolling pin that is then baked and doused in nuts and cinnamon sugar. They also make really good telescopes.

After four days in Prague, it was back to Freiburg on the night train. Twelve hours on a train is just about as fun as it sounds. Overall it was a great trip and the perfect start to April. In two days I'll be leaving to go to Cinque Terre, the starting point for our tour through Italy. I'll also check out Rome and Florence, possibly Venice as well.

Arrivederci!