As I mentioned during my early morning post from yesterday (I've been taking notes from one of those "get things done in the morning to be more successful" books), yesterday we visited Deutsche Bahn and the German history museum. Deutsche Bahn was a great visit, in a beautiful building. A nice mid-level finance type executive gave us the rundown on the company and their strategies for being more sustainable by 2020. I could not have been more proud of my students, since they did research projects on each of the companies before we left. Their research really informed all of us about what to expect with each visit. So, although some of the information was new, I think everyone gets more out of the visits when we go in knowing something about what they will be telling us.
After the business visit, we headed by bus to the German History Museum. Although it was interesting, I have been a bit tired and was ready to head back to the hotel. After some brief rest and catch-up on email, I was able to walk with our Berlin coordinator, Eve to a restaurant and enjoy a nice chat and some delicious food. She was fantastic as a guide. She was prompt and thorough, but felt it absolutely necessary that the students learn to get around the city on their own. It was just the right balance of helping them find their way and giving them the independence to get around on their own.
After our late afternoon dinner, I read a book (a rarity), since outside there was a festival. Normally, I would attend a festival right outside the hotel, but it was not really my kind of festival. First of all, it is not against the law to drink beer in the street, so all the festival-goers buy beer and carry it with them down the street. This equals quite a few intoxicated people crunching through broken glass. The grocery store nearby literally took 20 minutes to get through the line, because so many people were buying single bottles of beer to carry around. These young folks with lots of piercings and 80's clothes, were fairly loud throughout the night (again, thanks to Jeff for the noise cancelling headhphones - they are a lifesaver since I was on the 1st floor and right on the street). This morning, I even had two lovely people singing a "Hallelujah" song offkey right outside my streetfront, 1st floor window at 6:00 AM. Delightful. One of the students had it right when he suggested I should have dumped some cold water on them outside my window. But, I was already awake and just trying to get out of bed, so actually, it was quite a funny scene...two incredibly drunk people singing a song I couldn't understand (except for the hallelujah parts) outside my window.
This morning, we had a fairly early checkout and headed for the train. We took a DB passenger train straight from Berlin to Hamburg. It took just over and hour and a half. Hamburg is a really beautiful city, and we are just next to a university in a quieter part of town. But, the public transportation is nearby and very clean and navigable. We arrived and explored the town for a bite to eat. I had take out Indian food from the local mall, since food courts are a relatively young establishment in Germany. Then, I had some gelato, which was amazing as always. After lunch, we explored the city centers, and saw some beautiful buildings and areas. This evening we took a harbor tour, which is not really not my primary interest on the trip...but, it was interesting to see all the cargo ships and the pollution problems in the harbor.
Germany is playing Greece tonight in some sort of soccer finals, so it is a big deal here. I can even hear the celebration (I think that's it anyway) here in my room far, far away from the city center. These fans are seriously devoted. I watched part of the game over a nice, quiet dinner, and then came back to do my first bit of laundry. It is now hanging up on my new handy clothesline I bought for the trip. I look like a legit traveler with all those clothes hanging across my bathroom.
So far, I am really enjoying Germany. Berlin is great, because it is a cultural hodge-podge and people are very tolerant of tourists, even large groups of loud Americans. Hamburg is a beautiful harbor city, and is incredibly clean. I definitely plan to return for a visit, and hopefully bring Jeff back next time. Tomorrow we're off to Airbus to tour the plant here. Should be another day full of adventures before heading to Frankfurt on Sunday.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Berlin, City of Curry Wurst
I just had a delicious breakfast, and still have an hour before we meet our coordinator, so what better time to catch up travel reflections. I would like to notify the Hampton Inn that after visiting Europe again, my breakfast "bar" expectations are quite high. This morning I had nutella toast and just about any fruit you could imagine, even cherries, mango, and very fresh strawberries. It was fantastic. If you're a meat/savory stuff eater for breakfast, they also have a great meat and cheese selection. Unfortunately, unlike a Hampton Inn or Best Western, there were no Texas shaped waffles. That is a little disappointing.
So far I have been a little lacking in my motivation to keep up with a travel log this trip. I'm going to blame it on the 7 hour time difference. The jet lag made me do it - or not do it in this case. Overall, things are going really well, and we have visited two beautiful cities. Yesterday we visited Schworer Haus KG, a company that makes prefabricated homes and bathrooms. Since their prefab bathroom facility is near Berlin, that's the one we were able to visit. It was a really interesting visit, and I learned a lot about how prefabricated home units or particular rooms are thought up and constructed. What really interested me is that fact that these things are full of tile, and they rarely experience any damage during the transportation process.
Once we wrapped up at the prefab bathroom facility, we came back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat. I tried a curry wurst, since apparently those are popular fare in Berlin (sold at every "fine" food stand in the city). You would think that since I am pretty sure I ate a pigeon burger in Amsterdam several years ago that I would be a bit more leery of something like a curry wurst from a stand, but...the stand did look clean, and it is in a permanent position close to our hotel. It was actually very good, and I learned how to order curry wurst (without skin), with bread and a Fanta. I was very proud of myself, since asking "with bread" was a complete guess, and I heard the German man behind me order it the same way. So, moral of this story is that I am very food motivated when it comes to learning...as if that is any real surprise to anyone who knows me very well.
After a quick bite, we took the tram by our hotel (Berlin is extremely navigable by the way), to the Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss Brauerei (Brewery). The tour was much like any beer/liquor production facility tour. They did let us watch the bottling process, which is always fun. Here, they still do bottle deposits, so if you take your glass beer bottle back to the store, you get money. Seeing the washers at the plant was interesting. Germans in general tend to be very conscientious about waste, so recycling is just a part of everyday life. The brewery gave a tasting, and offered us 3 beer samples. We're not talking a normal tasting here...3 full size beers. I had one. It was a wheat beer/grapefruit juice mix, and was very refreshing. It would be great for a hot summer day. Since it was in the 60's and raining here yesterday, the hot Italian food for dinner was actually more appealing than an ice cold beer. Berlin has lots of different kinds of restaurants. There are few "traditional" German ones, so although eating Italian food (or Vietnamese food, or falafel) in Germany may sound odd, it's pretty normal in Berlin.
Since I was lazy yesterday, I didn't really describe a lot about one of my favorite parts of the day Tuesday...dinner. We visited that great German restaurant with the schnitzel. If I ever had a restaurant, I would envision it to look something like that. It has old wood floors, and rough wood paneling halfway up the walls. It was decorated with all kinds of weird old yard-sale-esque trinkets. It also had a "mounted" disco pig on the wall (a pig head made of a disco ball), I guess to represent all the pork they serve everyday. Although it was a bit out of place with the rustic look, I would say that it added a little "whimsy" to the place. One of my favorite parts was that none of the plates matched, but every piece was some kind of secondhand China. Needless to say, it had a lot of character, but it worked the "farmhouse" look very well.
Today we're off to visit Deutsche Bahn and a German Historical Museum. Then I have class. I'm sure the students must be thrilled. Tomorrow we head to Hamburg by train. More adventures to come now that I am feeling slightly more rest/motivated!
So far I have been a little lacking in my motivation to keep up with a travel log this trip. I'm going to blame it on the 7 hour time difference. The jet lag made me do it - or not do it in this case. Overall, things are going really well, and we have visited two beautiful cities. Yesterday we visited Schworer Haus KG, a company that makes prefabricated homes and bathrooms. Since their prefab bathroom facility is near Berlin, that's the one we were able to visit. It was a really interesting visit, and I learned a lot about how prefabricated home units or particular rooms are thought up and constructed. What really interested me is that fact that these things are full of tile, and they rarely experience any damage during the transportation process.
Once we wrapped up at the prefab bathroom facility, we came back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat. I tried a curry wurst, since apparently those are popular fare in Berlin (sold at every "fine" food stand in the city). You would think that since I am pretty sure I ate a pigeon burger in Amsterdam several years ago that I would be a bit more leery of something like a curry wurst from a stand, but...the stand did look clean, and it is in a permanent position close to our hotel. It was actually very good, and I learned how to order curry wurst (without skin), with bread and a Fanta. I was very proud of myself, since asking "with bread" was a complete guess, and I heard the German man behind me order it the same way. So, moral of this story is that I am very food motivated when it comes to learning...as if that is any real surprise to anyone who knows me very well.
After a quick bite, we took the tram by our hotel (Berlin is extremely navigable by the way), to the Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss Brauerei (Brewery). The tour was much like any beer/liquor production facility tour. They did let us watch the bottling process, which is always fun. Here, they still do bottle deposits, so if you take your glass beer bottle back to the store, you get money. Seeing the washers at the plant was interesting. Germans in general tend to be very conscientious about waste, so recycling is just a part of everyday life. The brewery gave a tasting, and offered us 3 beer samples. We're not talking a normal tasting here...3 full size beers. I had one. It was a wheat beer/grapefruit juice mix, and was very refreshing. It would be great for a hot summer day. Since it was in the 60's and raining here yesterday, the hot Italian food for dinner was actually more appealing than an ice cold beer. Berlin has lots of different kinds of restaurants. There are few "traditional" German ones, so although eating Italian food (or Vietnamese food, or falafel) in Germany may sound odd, it's pretty normal in Berlin.
Since I was lazy yesterday, I didn't really describe a lot about one of my favorite parts of the day Tuesday...dinner. We visited that great German restaurant with the schnitzel. If I ever had a restaurant, I would envision it to look something like that. It has old wood floors, and rough wood paneling halfway up the walls. It was decorated with all kinds of weird old yard-sale-esque trinkets. It also had a "mounted" disco pig on the wall (a pig head made of a disco ball), I guess to represent all the pork they serve everyday. Although it was a bit out of place with the rustic look, I would say that it added a little "whimsy" to the place. One of my favorite parts was that none of the plates matched, but every piece was some kind of secondhand China. Needless to say, it had a lot of character, but it worked the "farmhouse" look very well.
Today we're off to visit Deutsche Bahn and a German Historical Museum. Then I have class. I'm sure the students must be thrilled. Tomorrow we head to Hamburg by train. More adventures to come now that I am feeling slightly more rest/motivated!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
We are now in Germany at our first stop in Berlin! During our second day in the Czech Republic, we walked all over the city from the Monastery to the Charles Bridge. To say the least, our legs were aching after several hours of walking, but we saw some fantastic sights along the way. Some of the pictures are now posted on Facebook in an album entitled Praha! I will try to upload some of our photos from Berlin tonight when we get back in from our day of visiting a prefabricated house facility and a brewery (which I anticipate the students will love).
After our 5 hour bus ride from Prague to Berlin, we took a walking tour of Berlin. It was a beautiful day, and Berlin is an incredibly beautiful and walkable city. We saw the government quarter, the "Brandenburger Tor," and the "Checkpoint Charlie." We were also able to visit a portion of the Berlin Wall and the Holocaust Memorial exhibit.
Once we were finished with touring the city, we took public transit back to the hotel. After only getting a little bit lost, we made it back all in one piece and some of us ate dinner at a great little German restaurant. The Schnitzel was delicious, and the waitress was very nice in providing us with a "welcome drink." It was terrible, but we drank it appreciatively anyway.
Our hotel is on a busy street, so the late night revelers were in full force until it began raining. After that, the open window was a bit less sleep disrupting. But, being tired should help me get over the jet lag a bit faster.
On to an exciting day with hopefully an update this evening!
After our 5 hour bus ride from Prague to Berlin, we took a walking tour of Berlin. It was a beautiful day, and Berlin is an incredibly beautiful and walkable city. We saw the government quarter, the "Brandenburger Tor," and the "Checkpoint Charlie." We were also able to visit a portion of the Berlin Wall and the Holocaust Memorial exhibit.
Once we were finished with touring the city, we took public transit back to the hotel. After only getting a little bit lost, we made it back all in one piece and some of us ate dinner at a great little German restaurant. The Schnitzel was delicious, and the waitress was very nice in providing us with a "welcome drink." It was terrible, but we drank it appreciatively anyway.
Our hotel is on a busy street, so the late night revelers were in full force until it began raining. After that, the open window was a bit less sleep disrupting. But, being tired should help me get over the jet lag a bit faster.
On to an exciting day with hopefully an update this evening!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
iPad Picture Upload = Fail
Sorry for the lack of pictures, folks. I can't seem to upload them on them to the blog with the iPad, so I will put some on my FB page, and you can see them there. Today was a beautiful day in Prague. I had a great night's sleep...so far my body clock seems to be ok with the adjustment. I'll let you know on night 3 how that goes since typically it takes a few days for the jet lag to start keeping me awake. Everyone in our group seems to be doing well and getting along. We'll also see how that goes by day 3!
At breakfast this morning, I met a high school German teacher and her daughter from South Bend, IN. The little girl wants to go to Purdue, so I got to chat about Indiana with them. They were here with a high school tour group, which I do not envy in the least.
After a really nice breakfast in the hotel, we joined our tour guide Petr for a walking tour of Prague. He is pretty much a huge deal (he has been highlighted by Rick Steves and the Wall Street Journal), but is very nice and helpful. We visited the Jewish Quarter, which was very interesting. Since Petr apparenty has connections (or more likey is just very good at being a tour guide) we had tickets and got to skip past the 2 hour wait into the museums and synagogue. The buildings were beautiful, but the history is sobering. After our 3 1/2 hour tour, we stopped for lunch and then came back to the hotel for a rest and a short class meeting. Then I spent a couple of hours grading papers - thrilling.
Tonight was our welcome dinner since we arrived late last night. We ate at a medieval looking sort of place where they served Chicken Cordon Bleu in gravy with fries. It was good, but the beef cheeks and potato croquettes last night were my favorite so far. The conversation at dinner, however, was very entertaining. Petr is a really knowledgeable and interesting fellow, who seems to have lived 100 lives already. If you ever come to Prague and are planning to hire a private tour guide, he really knows his history and is very nice. I would highly recommend him.
Tomorrow we'll be visiting Ernst and Young, so that should be an interesting stop. In the afternoon, we'll go to the Prague Castle. Hopefully I can get some good photo opps there (which I will post to FB).
Off to sleep (hopefully)!
At breakfast this morning, I met a high school German teacher and her daughter from South Bend, IN. The little girl wants to go to Purdue, so I got to chat about Indiana with them. They were here with a high school tour group, which I do not envy in the least.
After a really nice breakfast in the hotel, we joined our tour guide Petr for a walking tour of Prague. He is pretty much a huge deal (he has been highlighted by Rick Steves and the Wall Street Journal), but is very nice and helpful. We visited the Jewish Quarter, which was very interesting. Since Petr apparenty has connections (or more likey is just very good at being a tour guide) we had tickets and got to skip past the 2 hour wait into the museums and synagogue. The buildings were beautiful, but the history is sobering. After our 3 1/2 hour tour, we stopped for lunch and then came back to the hotel for a rest and a short class meeting. Then I spent a couple of hours grading papers - thrilling.
Tonight was our welcome dinner since we arrived late last night. We ate at a medieval looking sort of place where they served Chicken Cordon Bleu in gravy with fries. It was good, but the beef cheeks and potato croquettes last night were my favorite so far. The conversation at dinner, however, was very entertaining. Petr is a really knowledgeable and interesting fellow, who seems to have lived 100 lives already. If you ever come to Prague and are planning to hire a private tour guide, he really knows his history and is very nice. I would highly recommend him.
Tomorrow we'll be visiting Ernst and Young, so that should be an interesting stop. In the afternoon, we'll go to the Prague Castle. Hopefully I can get some good photo opps there (which I will post to FB).
Off to sleep (hopefully)!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Yesterday I woke up on an airplane over the Atlantic Ocean. This morning I woke up in Prague. That's a pretty exciting start to the week. The trip here was relatively uneventful. Everyone made both the original and connecting flights, and all but two bags made it here to Prague with us. Hopefully those folks' bags will make it here today.
We are in the Falkensteiner Hotel, and just from our ride in, Prague appears to be a beautiful city. I tried beef cheeks last night during a late dinner, and will have to say that they were absolutely delicious. Tonight we will have our welcome dinner, and will eat some traditional Czech food. The guide said that traditional Czech food is heavy - I love it already.
So, nothing too exciting to report thus far, but I'm sure that today's tours and exploration of the city will hold some interesting stories to share.
We are in the Falkensteiner Hotel, and just from our ride in, Prague appears to be a beautiful city. I tried beef cheeks last night during a late dinner, and will have to say that they were absolutely delicious. Tonight we will have our welcome dinner, and will eat some traditional Czech food. The guide said that traditional Czech food is heavy - I love it already.
So, nothing too exciting to report thus far, but I'm sure that today's tours and exploration of the city will hold some interesting stories to share.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Reflections from 17 Days in South America
I'm back home in Corinth and unpacked from my adventures. The bottles of wine are in the wine rack, the souvenirs are mostly handed out, and the mate tea cup and straw have made their way to my "world travels" shelf. Of course, after all that traveling my immune system broke down and I got a little sick, but that's no real surprise, to me anyway. While recovering, I thought I would take time to reflect and share some of the major observations I made throughout the trip.
1. International travel is all about being flexible. It's fairly likely that most things won't go to plan, and that has to be ok. Control freaks (like me), you have to just say, ok today the universe is in charge and I'm just going to go with it. I might not eat lunch exactly at noon or the scheduled time...my flight might get cancelled and leave me with another full day in a beautiful city...my room might not be ready at exactly 3:00 PM. Flexibility is key to keeping everyone happy.
2. Lines don't really seem to work all that well in the countries we visited. I think lines are more or less a suggestion to folks in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Lines seem to work a little better for ticket counters and grocery stores, but for entering/boarding anything, like the plane or a ferry, it's just pretty much a free for all...whoever can push to the front, wins.
3. A friendly smile, hello, and asking how the customs agent is doing, tends to make your life easier in general. Although you may be exhausted from travel, I can assure you, those ladies and gentlemen working security and customs, appreciate you being nice and kind and patient, even when you feel like they're taking unnecessary measures. When we came back to the US, I had a guy even mention that he appreciated seeing someone who was nice and smiling. My bag didn't get dumped out and searched. Coincidence - probably not.
4. People appreciate you making an effort to at least minimally speak their language when visiting their country. "Thank you" and "I'm sorry" or "Excuse me" are really important words to know. Taking this trip has greatly moved learning Spanish up the priority list for me. It's a beautiful, useful language to know, and since I plan to visit South America again as soon as possible (preferably with Jeff in tow), it will come in handy.
5. A place where your purse has to be velcroed to the chair is a fine place to visit but not a place I'd want to live. During our "going away dinner" in Rio at a Brazilian steakhouse, the ladies of the group had hung our purses on our chairs since we were seated well into the restaurant. The waiters came by, took a piece of velcro and wrapped it around our purse straps, so purse snatchers couldn't grab them and run. I suppose if you live with it long enough, things like that become a part of everyday life. For someone who grew up not freaking out if doors went unlocked or if keys got left in the ignition, it's a bit of a shock. In the other places we visited, I was conscious of keeping my purse/bag safe, but the danger of having it taken didn't feel quite so "real" as when someone is strapping it down.
It was so exciting visiting new places, and putting another continent on my travels list. Thus far, I have greatly enjoyed all my travels, but there is something special about the countries I visited this summer. Maybe it's the empanadas, or the wine, or the tango music, or the beauty of snow-capped Andes when it's 60 degrees in Santiago...I don't really know. But, it's something anyone who loves to travel should experience.
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