School Trip Berlin and Prague

Ok, I will try to update as best as possible starting from the beginning of our school Berlin trip.

Berlin:

From Saturday September 27th to Tuesday September 30th.

On our first day in Berlin our class met with an urban planner named Christian Hajer. He took us on a tour around Berlin to show us some garden projects, parks, post war architecture styles, and parts of the Berlin Wall. It was extremely interesting to be in a city with such a unique history. For dinner we went to Der Kartoffelkeller (The Potato Cellar)... YUMMM!

The next day we toured the Berlin Olympic Arena, then we went to a building by Le Corbouser, an architect who tried to build using human proportions.

The last full day in Berlin was very different. We got to go to a waste water treatment plant that was renovated into a ecological design testing facility. Then we went to the top of Potsdamer Platz, which is a tall tower that overlooks Berlin. After that we went to a few other research facilities including one on green roofing.

Tuesday was our last morning in Berlin before we left for Prague, so we had some free time. I decieded to go to the Brandenburg Gate and The Holocaust Museum. It is strange that not even 20 years ago people would get shot by trying to walk under the Brandenburg Gate to West Berlin. Also, the Museum was so powerfully done. It was difficult to see, but I am glad I went. I really enjoyed Berlin overall. It is very similar to New York with the architecture, culture, and overall pace.

Prague:

Tuesday Evening September 30th to Friday October 3rd

We arrived in Prague very late on Tuesday, so we had a group dinner at the hotel and then went to bed. My first impression of Prague was: Why are we here, its so desolate! This soon changed.

Wednesday morning we had our first guided tour. Once we came to the central part of Prague the entire architectual style changed. The buildings are beautiful! We walked through the city "golden cross", the Jewish Quarter, the town square, and then saw the Charles Bridge that connects new town and old town Prague together. Wednesday afternoon we had some free time, so I went to see the Frank Gehry building, the Dancing House. It was so beautiful. Then I went to Hotel Europa to get a cup of coffee with some of my studio mates. This Hotel Cafe is designed to look like the Titanic's dining room. It was spectacular, but the coffee was expensive. Then we had a group dinner at teh Pilsener Restaurant which was so much fun. There was music, and traditional Czech food.

On Thursday, we had another guided tour accross the Charles Bridge and into old town. It is hard to explain old town so I will make sure to add many pictures. We had the entire afternoon off again, so I went to the flea market, and a few other stores. It was freezing in Prague so I bought some well needed gloves. We ended our stay here with a Puppet show of Don Giovanni at the National Puppet Theather. It was so much fun to watch a puppet opera. I really did love the beauty of Prague, but the culture is so much different than what I am used to. Also the Czech language and currency is much more confusing than in the places I have visited in Western Europe.

Friday was a travel day. We got back into Cologne at 2:10pm, and then I left for my 10 day break at 6pm! Only a few hours to get ready.

It's already getting late here, so I will continue my travel update (Italy & Greece) tomorrow.

Berlin and Prague update

I can't write a long entry, but I just wanted to mention that I am currently in Prague for my last night, and earlier this week I was in the Berlin! Both of these cities are beautiful. We came with the whole class, and had some time to sketch, have "class", and tour. I say "class" because it doesn't feel like class, but I am learning so much from our discussions, sketch time, and small photography experiments which are hard to explain so I will try to do that later. I miss everyone, and along with everyone in my class, I am starting to refer to Bonn Germany as home... I guess I am getting well acclimated there.

My next adventure starts tomorrow night. We are off for our 10 day break, and I am going to Italy and Greece with 3 friends. I should have alot of updates on Berlin, Prague, Venice, Rome, Naples, Milan, Athens, and Santorini when I get back.

Update

I haven't had much time on my hands to update. I am on a school computer, so I will upload pictures later.

Here is a brief overview of what has been going on the past week and a half:

Wednesday the 17th we had our second tour of Cologne which explained the history of the churches and Roman structures throughout the city.

Thursday we went to Aachen, Germany which is an important city because it was home to Charlemagne. Aachen was built around hot sulfur springs, which was a main draw for people with rheumatism (like Charlemagne). The city is full of history, and pride. It was beautiful. After our tour, my classmate Devon, and I went to one of the famous spas of Aachen and had a glorious time relaxing in the saunas.

Along with 8 other people I left Aachen to go to Amsterdam. We spent our weekend in Amsterdam, which was interesting. Amsterdam is a beautiful city that is also extreamly dirty. We went to the Anne Frank House, which was moving to say the least. Then we went on our own planned out walking tour of the city to save money. We ended up seeing almost everything from the train station to the outer rings of canals. That was really beautiful.

This Monday, the 22nd, our class had a tour of Brühl Germany which is located between here and Cologne. It was also the location for the kings hunting grounds. After lunch we came to Cologne and got a personal tour of the excavated area under the Cologne cathedral. This showed the site of the roman church and each church that procceded it until the gothich cathedral was finished.

I have really had to be going a mile a minute with all the projects and tours we have had. I apoligize if it takes me a while to respond to emails, but I do enjoy reading them.

Puetzchen's Markt & Sleep

This past Friday was the first day of Bonn's Puetzchen's Markt which is a large 5 day long fair. Our group went on the opening day to see all the rides, vendors, food, and music. It was alot of fun, but expensive and very exhausting. After two rides and some food I was ready to join the A.I.B. group in the big "beer tent". There they had bands playing, and people dressed in tradtional German lederhosen serving drink and food. We learned alot of German songs. It was an interesting night, but I went home early because I had a sore throat.

The next two days, I spent sick in bed with the Flu or something like it. I had a small fever. My host family checked on me and brought me tea every time I woke up. They are really nice. Today I am feeling much better, and I am just spending time working on homework and plans for weekend trips.

Trier, Germany

Today we visited Trier Germany. It is a very interesting city because it is thought to be the oldest city in Germany. It was founded by Celtics before the Romans built a more structured city. We went to a garden exhibit first to see the gardens that the different "sister" cities of Trier donated. The one that was close to home was donated by Carter and Burgess, a landscape architecture firm in Fort Worth Texas! It was very well done and had a statue of a longhorn in the middle. The British style garden had apple trees that we could all eat from so we had some apples as a snack before getting on the bus again.

The bus tour was difficult to follow because it was a foggy day, which was a disappointment to us all. Then we walked around town to make some sketches, but it started to rain very hard and we had to stop. The best part of the day was when we went to a vinyard and had a tour and wine tasting.

That pretty much summed up our day. I will lhave to scan in my sketches to show you what we have been working on here.

Getting to feel at "home"

I have been in Bonn for a bit over 2 weeks now and I am just now feeling at "home" here. It is nice to be staying in Bonn as a home base because the city is so full of culture and international awareness (since the Germany U.N. building is here). I really am getting to know my way around town and around the public transportation system, which is much more confusing than the one in College Station. This week has gone by SO fast.

Monday we had class and German lessons. Then in the evening we all went to one of the concerts for the Beethoven Festival. Beethoven was born in Bonn so every September Bonn has a month long festival to celebrate their most famous "son". For this festival famous musician's come from all over the world to play Beethoven's music. The program we are with got us all tickets to one of the concerts on Monday. It was the French National Orchestra, and it was moving. We all enjoyed the music. It is just inspiring to be able to walk down the same streets as such a genius. There first piece was Beethoven's 8th symphony, but I am not sure what the second piece was.

On Tuesday, we had class and then Marck Mueckenheim, an amazing German Architect, came to teach us about the history of German Architecture. We will have him come speak a few more times for the German Culture/History class I am taking. Then I just spent time walking about Bonn with friends.

Today, Wednesday, was like a dream. We visited Cologne as a class. I had already gone with friends to look around, but we had the first of 3 tours of the city. We toured the cathedral (St. Peter and Mary's Cathedral) which is the most Gothic Cathedral ever built. I have a bunch of pictures but I only put a few in this post. The first is of the burial place of the three wise men. They originally were located in Palestine, but moved a few times before being given to Cologne as a gift. The second picture is of the oldest stained glass in the Cathedral. All the glass and interior were kept safe during WWII by being removed and placed in bunkers. This glass shows the different bible stories which was important because the majority of people couldn't read or write, and the pictures helped explain the stories. The next picture is one of the 3 organs located in the cathedral. This organ is so powerful that it is only played during organ concerts. The last picture is of a part of the cathdral that was lazer cleaned. It took 2 years to clean this with a lazer because it could only clean one square millimeter at a time. We also looked at the anceient ruins left in Cologne, and traces of the changes from development of the city.

Tomorrow I get the pleasure of going to Trier for the entire day. Our class will be touring what is thought to be the oldest city in Germany. I am excited!

Pilgrims, and Germans

So to catch you up to date...

Wednesday we had classes, and then I went to an authentic German restaurant with some friends to have some yummy traditional food. It was delicious to say the least. I had a turkey steak with pineapple, a salad, and fries. Ok, my food wasn't "traditional" German, but it sounded to good to pass up.

Thursday we had class which included a "field study" assignment of walking around town and drawing things that caught our eye. It was so much fun. We all are excited about our field study class now. I am going to have some great sketches when this semester is over! Then we went on a guided English tour to the House of Germany History, which was amazing.

We don't have class on Fridays so some of my friends and I went to Cologne or (Koln in German) to see the Cathedral and the Chocolate Museum. The Cathedral is so aw inspiring that I can't even began to explain its beauty. Then the Chocolate Museum was a blast too. We ended the night with the University "pub crawl" to find all the college hang outs. It was alot of fun, but rainy so most of us went home early.

Saturday I spent time reading, working on homework, doing laundry, and just relaxing with my host family. They had some friends over so Martha made and fresh apple pie (using the apples from her garden... YUM). I got in a long conversation with them about America and our culture compaired to Germany. It was a fun discussion.

NOW finally, Today we went on a 10 mile hike/walk on part of the St. James pilgrimage. It started in Euskirchen and ended in Bad Munstereifel. The St. James pilgrimage is one of the 3 pilgrimages that is said to forgive sins by walking it. I am very sore now, but it was worth it. We stoped at a few churches along the way and learned about their importnace to the pilgrams who used to hike all the way to spain. People still do this. The entire trip is from Jerusalem to Northern Spain. It has become a craze again very recently to go on these pilgrimages. There are signs along the way for you to follow.

Now I am at home, about to crawl in bed and try to get enough sleep for tomorrow.