Can I write a side note in the beginning of my blog? Well, I guess it’s my blog, so I’ll do what I want! I’m only a fraction of the neurotic person that Nico described in his entry. Thank you to all of you who still love me :-p
So as most of you reading this know, Nico and I arrived in Berlin on Thursday. As most of you also know, the biggest air-travel catastrophe, ironically with a death-toll of zero, occurred shortly after in the form of this crazy-volcano ash cloud thing By the way, did anyone else think WTF when they saw Eyjafjallajökull as Yahoo’s most popular search item?? That aside, after reading articles like “Mission impossible: Escape from Europe,” I’m beginning to realize how lucky we are to have made it here on time. We arrived around noon (local time) on Thursday and all of Europe’s major airports including Tegel, which is the airport that we landed in Berlin, closed by 6 p m on the same day. People have packed the trains to the brim in an effort to try to catch a flight in Southern Europe or to get to their destination city 20 hours away or further. Cars are being rented out for more than 1,000 Euro for a one way trip to another city. All in all, I’m thankful to be here on solid ground.
Nick described the apartment that we’re in really well. To me, it reminds me of the final scene in Saving Private Ryan, where the two guys station themselves in the apartment that eventually gets blown to smithereens. When we walk out the front door, I feel like it would be all too fitting to hear a Tiger Tank making its way down the street or to see an Ozzie popping it’s ugly head around the corner. But, look at me being stereotypical.
So far Berlin is a trip. We’ve been trying to learn bits and pieces of German since lonely planet lied to us about the number of people who would speak English here. Last night, we watched a few videos on YouTube made by an eccentric German girl in the US. I think I’ve got 1-10, hello, good-bye etc. but I’m still trying to perfect that throaty gagging sound in the back of my throat.
More on sight-seeing later.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Guten Tag!!
So we just arrived in Berlin and made our way to our new (temporary) home. The journey was interesting. We flew here on Jet Airways -- an Indian airline that neither of us had ever heard of, but it was the cheapest option on short notice. We had a connection in Brussels and actually switched to Brussels Airlines for that last bit of the trip. There was some confusion with Jet Airways while we were still at JFK. To be fair, the situation was at least 50% my fault. Knowing that Sam is absolutely terrified of flying these days (and that she will completely freak out if she doesn't have an aisle seat), I put us both down as having an aisle seat preference. In hindsight, I should have known that they would give us both aisle seats. But also in the interest of fairness, who would have known that they would give us aisle seats 12 rows apart? They wouldn't let us change it over the Internet or phone, but when I called I had been told that we could change the seats upon check-in.
Of course, as fate would have it, the woman at the ticket counter (who was very friendly.....a quick shout out to our girl Anita!) told us that we couldn't switch it. She told us that our best bet was to try to switch it on board. At this point, Sam's waterworks swung into full affect and I think it just about pushed Anita to tears as well. She pulled some strings with some dude with a radio and viola -- we had exactly what we needed. In fact, it worked out quite well. I happen to prefer a window seat, but I never get one because Sam will panic if she doesn't have an aisle seat. I've become accustomed to the middle seat. However, on this plane, there were only two seats on the left hand side. So I got my window and she got her aisle and life was good. In related news, Jet Airways was AOK other than the seat glitch. The service on board was extremely friendly. The food was much better than I've gotten on any American airline (as tends to be the case with any non-US airline). There were tons of selections for in-flight entertainment, so I finally got to see The Blind Side on the way here.
When we arrived in Brussels, all of the signs were in English. ALL of them. I've heard that they speak French in Belgium . . . but you wouldn't know it if you looked at the signs and advertisements in the airport. On a side note, we had the friendliest border guard ever who stamped our passports. We got some amazing Belgium chocolate to hold us over too!
The second flight was a much smaller plane, which Sam didn't particularly like, but I think she was too tired to get too upset. I read through my German Phrasebook and Rick Steeve’s Germany guide on that flight (waking Sam up every few minutes to share an interesting tidbit) and I started to get really excited about Germany. It didn't really sink in that Germany is a pretty badass country until I started reading more about it. I hadn't really considered how much of a powerhouse it is for such a small country. Let's start with the cars they produce -- BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche.....then maybe we could talk about scientists/intellectuals like Einstein, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Engels . . . . Then I suppose we could be thankful for Gummi Bears. All from a country the size of Montana. Not too bad. And when you think about how badly they were torn apart twice during the 20th century, they bounced back pretty well.
Speaking of the 20th Century, I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the dark remnants of the past here, too. I think it's going to make what we all learn in history class that much more powerfully meaningful when I see and experience it for myself. I’ll leave my deeper thoughts for when I actually start seeing those places.
I feel like I have a lot more thoughts about Germany in general, but those will come with time.
For now, I should describe the place where we're staying. We arrived at the airport and we had a smooth taxi ride in a new-smelling car with a luxurious leather interior. Not too shabby. When we pulled up to the apartment in which we are staying for the short term, however, shabby may be a somewhat appropriate word. Actually, maybe I should say that it has "character". That's putting it lightly. I've never seen so much graffiti in my life. If my mom saw the front door, she might be scared. But it seems completely safe and decent.......just different. We're in East Berlin in a very, very, very, old building. We are clearly in East Berlin -- the buildings are kind of drab and cold like you might expect from a formerly-soviet place. The doors are all big, heavy, wooden doors with cold metal knobs. The stairs are wide, wooden, and sturdy. The exteriors of all of the buildings are pretty grey.......and several of the walls in our apartment are unpainted concrete. Did I mention that there is an overwhelming amount of graffiti? I don't mean like one or two things. I mean you open the first door and walk through a corridor covered in paint and then you walk through a small courtyard and then into the building with our apartment and there is graffiti covered every surface as you walk up 4 flights of stairs. There are some funny stickers and things painted on the walls ("Fuck Bush" for one) and what you might expect from a young, artistic, "cultured" crowd. In fact, our contact here was a guy named Armin. The people who live in the apartment we're staying in are already in Africa, so their friend Armin met us with the keys. Sam asked him about good places to eat and whatnot in the area. He mentioned this cafe that is about 50m from the front entrance to our building. He described it as "a really great place to brainstorm". I think that probably describes our neighborhood.
I'm in the cafe right now. It's the strangest cafe I’ve ever seen. It is a hodgepodge of old furniture and wooden crates -- everything looks about 40-50 years old and none of it is in any kind of order. It's just random chairs and loveseats and end tables scattered about without much pattern. There is an elevated landing (about 1 foot higher than the main floor) just wide enough for a loveseat that also has a ladder and a shop vac on it. The paint is peeling from the ceiling....and I think there is a bird behind a cage in the back. More unpainted concrete. The whole place can’t be more than 25' x 12'. It's strange to say the least. Oh, and across from the counter where you order there are fold-down movie-theater type seats (they also look at LEAST 40-50 years old....wooden....). But it's cool. The girl at the counter was very friendly when I told her that I didn't speak German and she spoke English like she came from the US – hardly any accent at all. There is a guy who looks like a French movie director who seemed pissed at me when he came in.....I think I must be sitting in a chair that he likes. He's wearing a pair of dark sunglasses that look like party favors from a young kid's birthday party. The sides are bright pink. He must be at least in his late 40's. He's got bed-head hair (minus the big bald spot) going on with the Jack Nicholson-esque shades. Oh....and now he's in the back talking to the bird. Hahahaha. Strange and interesting. I'm sure Sam and I will sit down here and type and laugh to ourselves a little bit.
Anyway.....that was a little free typing and it got a little long. Sam passed out in the room when we got here. She's going to be so jet lagged -- we essentially didn't sleep last night, but I feel like my clock is already adjusted......Sammy not so much. I'm going to go see if she's woken up yet.....but I expect that she's still passed out. If that's the case, I'm going to go find something to eat because I'm absolutely starving.
Anyway......I'm actually extremely excited to be here in Europe. Part of me felt like I was selling out after having traveled to Latin America -- I feel like Europe is almost a little cliche now. But now that I'm here, I'm extremely excited. I think I'm most interested in seeing where we all came from. Anyway......I'm going to let this go for now. I'll write more later I imagine.....got to remember to type something about my pat-down in Brussels........take care!
Nicholas
Of course, as fate would have it, the woman at the ticket counter (who was very friendly.....a quick shout out to our girl Anita!) told us that we couldn't switch it. She told us that our best bet was to try to switch it on board. At this point, Sam's waterworks swung into full affect and I think it just about pushed Anita to tears as well. She pulled some strings with some dude with a radio and viola -- we had exactly what we needed. In fact, it worked out quite well. I happen to prefer a window seat, but I never get one because Sam will panic if she doesn't have an aisle seat. I've become accustomed to the middle seat. However, on this plane, there were only two seats on the left hand side. So I got my window and she got her aisle and life was good. In related news, Jet Airways was AOK other than the seat glitch. The service on board was extremely friendly. The food was much better than I've gotten on any American airline (as tends to be the case with any non-US airline). There were tons of selections for in-flight entertainment, so I finally got to see The Blind Side on the way here.
When we arrived in Brussels, all of the signs were in English. ALL of them. I've heard that they speak French in Belgium . . . but you wouldn't know it if you looked at the signs and advertisements in the airport. On a side note, we had the friendliest border guard ever who stamped our passports. We got some amazing Belgium chocolate to hold us over too!
The second flight was a much smaller plane, which Sam didn't particularly like, but I think she was too tired to get too upset. I read through my German Phrasebook and Rick Steeve’s Germany guide on that flight (waking Sam up every few minutes to share an interesting tidbit) and I started to get really excited about Germany. It didn't really sink in that Germany is a pretty badass country until I started reading more about it. I hadn't really considered how much of a powerhouse it is for such a small country. Let's start with the cars they produce -- BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche.....then maybe we could talk about scientists/intellectuals like Einstein, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Engels . . . . Then I suppose we could be thankful for Gummi Bears. All from a country the size of Montana. Not too bad. And when you think about how badly they were torn apart twice during the 20th century, they bounced back pretty well.
Speaking of the 20th Century, I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the dark remnants of the past here, too. I think it's going to make what we all learn in history class that much more powerfully meaningful when I see and experience it for myself. I’ll leave my deeper thoughts for when I actually start seeing those places.
I feel like I have a lot more thoughts about Germany in general, but those will come with time.
For now, I should describe the place where we're staying. We arrived at the airport and we had a smooth taxi ride in a new-smelling car with a luxurious leather interior. Not too shabby. When we pulled up to the apartment in which we are staying for the short term, however, shabby may be a somewhat appropriate word. Actually, maybe I should say that it has "character". That's putting it lightly. I've never seen so much graffiti in my life. If my mom saw the front door, she might be scared. But it seems completely safe and decent.......just different. We're in East Berlin in a very, very, very, old building. We are clearly in East Berlin -- the buildings are kind of drab and cold like you might expect from a formerly-soviet place. The doors are all big, heavy, wooden doors with cold metal knobs. The stairs are wide, wooden, and sturdy. The exteriors of all of the buildings are pretty grey.......and several of the walls in our apartment are unpainted concrete. Did I mention that there is an overwhelming amount of graffiti? I don't mean like one or two things. I mean you open the first door and walk through a corridor covered in paint and then you walk through a small courtyard and then into the building with our apartment and there is graffiti covered every surface as you walk up 4 flights of stairs. There are some funny stickers and things painted on the walls ("Fuck Bush" for one) and what you might expect from a young, artistic, "cultured" crowd. In fact, our contact here was a guy named Armin. The people who live in the apartment we're staying in are already in Africa, so their friend Armin met us with the keys. Sam asked him about good places to eat and whatnot in the area. He mentioned this cafe that is about 50m from the front entrance to our building. He described it as "a really great place to brainstorm". I think that probably describes our neighborhood.
I'm in the cafe right now. It's the strangest cafe I’ve ever seen. It is a hodgepodge of old furniture and wooden crates -- everything looks about 40-50 years old and none of it is in any kind of order. It's just random chairs and loveseats and end tables scattered about without much pattern. There is an elevated landing (about 1 foot higher than the main floor) just wide enough for a loveseat that also has a ladder and a shop vac on it. The paint is peeling from the ceiling....and I think there is a bird behind a cage in the back. More unpainted concrete. The whole place can’t be more than 25' x 12'. It's strange to say the least. Oh, and across from the counter where you order there are fold-down movie-theater type seats (they also look at LEAST 40-50 years old....wooden....). But it's cool. The girl at the counter was very friendly when I told her that I didn't speak German and she spoke English like she came from the US – hardly any accent at all. There is a guy who looks like a French movie director who seemed pissed at me when he came in.....I think I must be sitting in a chair that he likes. He's wearing a pair of dark sunglasses that look like party favors from a young kid's birthday party. The sides are bright pink. He must be at least in his late 40's. He's got bed-head hair (minus the big bald spot) going on with the Jack Nicholson-esque shades. Oh....and now he's in the back talking to the bird. Hahahaha. Strange and interesting. I'm sure Sam and I will sit down here and type and laugh to ourselves a little bit.
Anyway.....that was a little free typing and it got a little long. Sam passed out in the room when we got here. She's going to be so jet lagged -- we essentially didn't sleep last night, but I feel like my clock is already adjusted......Sammy not so much. I'm going to go see if she's woken up yet.....but I expect that she's still passed out. If that's the case, I'm going to go find something to eat because I'm absolutely starving.
Anyway......I'm actually extremely excited to be here in Europe. Part of me felt like I was selling out after having traveled to Latin America -- I feel like Europe is almost a little cliche now. But now that I'm here, I'm extremely excited. I think I'm most interested in seeing where we all came from. Anyway......I'm going to let this go for now. I'll write more later I imagine.....got to remember to type something about my pat-down in Brussels........take care!
Nicholas
Friday, April 9, 2010
My shoes are coming today!!! I'm in love with these...hopefully I'll get some miles out of these babies.
http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/commerce/?p=PDP&pid=283763&pgid=239442&cid=102201#/?ll=en_US&ct=US&pid=239444&cid=1&pgid=239442&p=PDP
http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/commerce/?p=PDP&pid=283763&pgid=239442&cid=102201#/?ll=en_US&ct=US&pid=239444&cid=1&pgid=239442&p=PDP
Packing!
So, here goes it. The beginning of my *gasp* ....blog.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how to fit a long time into a little backpack. If anyone has any
bueno suggestions that would be awesome.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how to fit a long time into a little backpack. If anyone has any
bueno suggestions that would be awesome.
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