Thanksgiving in Berlin

Well I'm on my recent bount of insomnia, but hopefully that will remedy itself out soon. For about three days I wasn't going to bed before 5 and the past two or three have been nothing before 3. It's already 2:15 now and I'm wide awake and have to get up for class at 8. We'll see what happens.

But more importantly is that it is Thanksgiving and it's the first time I'll be away from home for the holiday. I'll miss mom's cooking, of course, but we're all attempting to make the most of it now. A nice chunk of our program is planning Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, sides, and hot cider. Yeah, basically we're awesome.

For some reason I suppose I like the idea of sadmasochism, knowing that I have to get sleep, I'm exhausted and yet I'm awake writing. I don't know what it is. Ok, well I will write more, I want to write more and yet I won't. Nothing coherent is coming out. Nothing makes sense.

Pictures of Thanksgiving to come if I don't put the procrastination off too much...considering there's still something I want to say about Vienna.

Amy RSVPs to Thanksgiving Potluck

COUNT ME IN! but dont expect me to bring anything... at all... I'm purely just going to show up and shove the food into my mouth and then leave without even saying thank you.. basically the usual amy-mode-of-operation.  

but really, what should i bring? just tell me and i can do whatever!!

Facebook guessing game

This is what we do on a cold night in Berlin.

Open up the laptop, pull up Facebook play the "Guess Who"

What happened tonight:

Pessimistic Description is read

Lily: Ew, I don't like this person, it must be ******

Some Pre-Thanksgiving Treats

Well, I know that I should be writing more and I've promised more particularly from break, but aside from my own procrastination, the internet I'm using here just plain sucks. I'll just say that plain and simple. It sucks.

So instead I'll give you this. Avoid the videos and find the PETA propaganda your entertainment source.

PETA Cooking Mama

Backpacking: Vienna Part 2

This is really Day 3 of Vienna. I know, I'm missing an entire day of stuff that I did in Vienna, but that's something that requires me to write a little more extensively. Perhaps my most eventful day in Vienna came the day after Halloween and the day I was to leave Vienna. I told myself that I would hit as many things as possible before my bus that evening. 

So the agenda the following:

Hit the Danube

Get to Schönbrunn Palace

Eat Original Sacher Torte at the Sacher Café

I did it all in the day. The enormous backpack was left behind at the hostel and I forced my laptop in my crappy little backpack so that I was assured it wouldn't get stolen in the luggage room. Maybe not the best idea for my shoulder, but done nonetheless.

So not a lot to say. The Danube was not as grand as I thought it would be. The Spree in Berlin, the Seine in Paris, and the Rhein in Cologne are all significantly more impressive. I suppose that's the test of time right there or maybe I just didn't see a nice area of the Danube. I'm pretty sure I just saw a little crappy area of it. Oops. I don't know. So here's to you, Strauss.

I had ventured (a few times) near Hofburg Palace just because it was in walking distance to a few other historical things and it was quite touristy so it was easy to walk around. Unfortunately, I didn't check out more of Hofburg as I told myself I would get to Schönbrunn. Hofburg was not too far from the Herrengasse stop on the U3 and walking distance to Stephansdom, which was under construction. I, of course, didn't go inside, but oh well. If I had more time in Vienna and was less exhausted, I'm sure I would have actually looked at things more intimately.

So the big thing of the day was going to Schönbrunn, which I didn't really think too much about until I actually got there. I couldn't help but feel as if I was getting back to my family roots. Granted, I'm not some kind of royal descendent, but my family does come from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and this was the palace that housed the royal family during the time my family had been living in the area. That alone was a pretty interesting thing to see. And again, I didn't go inside, but spent plenty of time exploring the grounds of the Palace, which I think was actually prettier and more appealing than the Palace itself. I would guess that I walked along most of the grounds seeing the pieces that were added including the Gloriette structure and the Roman Ruin.

Strange little note about food in Europe is that street food is a lot different than what we're used to in New York. Perhaps it's just me, but I can't help but feel more like I'm absorbing a culture when I experience the street food. There isn't a grimy sense like one gets from the street food in New York and to see locals eating it too is a sense of relief. As I've seen in a lot of European cities there are people often roasting chestnuts and in Austria they have huge roasters that look like big tin barrels. They're usually roasting chestnuts, potato puffers, and wedges. So for about 2 or 3 Euro I got some potato wedges with garlic sauce...and as horrible as it is to say this was probably one of the best things I ate on break. And of course, as disgustingly full as I was I still said that I'd get Sacher Torte. Hey, those were the only things I ate that day except for some coffee.

So the Sacher Café is not too far from where I had originally started near Hofburg. It's a little bit more of a walk from there, but the Café is located next to the Stadtsoper. So I took the U-bahn to the Stadtsoper, but of course why not stop at the bathroom...the opera toilet.

And the wonderful Original Sacher Torte at the Sacher Café. Not too far from the Stadtsoper. I blush to say that I couldn't finish this. Pathetic, I know. I was still full from those cheap potatoes. Damn it, carbs!! Warum?!? But delicious nonetheless and worth the rather touristy visit to it.

And then came the 10 hour bus journey back to Berlin. Drove through the Czech Republic, stopped by German border control and arrived back to Berlin close to 5:30 in the morning. AWESOME.

Backpacking: Vienna Part 1

So here goes the continued belated posts of what my two-week break was like. Anyway, after heading from the gray and rain of Stuttgart, I got on a train to Vienna. Two transfers to go along with that: Munich and Salzburg. Funny that I've been to both of them. The thing you have to remember about taking Deutsche Bahn or any other European train (maybe with the exception of the French) is that the transfers happen quickly. You might think that transfer are like airports especially considering how big the trains are and how they really are used on such long distance journeys like planes. But of course, this is not the case. You get off of your train and you have to more or less sprint to the train in hopes that it won't leave without you. The seven and a half hour journey to Vienna was great. In fact, I feel as if anytime I head to Austria, there's something very nice and relaxed about it and I just feel incredibly comfortable.

So Stuttgart to Munich:

It was snowing a bit when I left Stuttgart and about 45 minutes or so into the trip, there was snow covering wherever we were passing through in Germany. Beautiful.

I sat near a grandmother, her daughter, and two grandchildren (one boy and one girl) as well as another woman with her two kids as well. Strangely enough the behaviour of children that usually drives me nuts, didn't bother me much at all. Maybe it was the fact that I was sitting in first class (fuck yeah, I said it) or that the train was empty enough that there was no a claustrophobic feeling at all. I slipped on headphones and found myself slipping in and out of sleep pretty easily. But even when I did wake up, they were simply just nice people surrounding me. I ended up making conversation with the older woman particularly because of my shoulder was killing me and I asked if she had aspirin. She didn't, but offered me some muscle cream, which I thankfully took. It helped and I smelled like a very strong Bengay for the rest of the trip.

And of course, conversation about politics was made. Obama, I said, simply. She and her daughter were happy enough to hear that and we talked a little more about American and world politics. They told me that they had relatives in the States (in Texas) and I gave them my card, saying that if they ever come to NYC, they should let me know. Before leaving I made two rings out of US dollar bills for the kids. The mother enjoyed the kitschiness more so than her kids, so that was fine.

I think the best part of my travels was definately the conversations that I was able to make along the way. btw the conversations were in German. Surprising, I know.

I have to say that I am a bit surprised by the fact that I seemed to be able to speak for the most part. Once in Austria I transfered to the Austrian train line, paid an extra 15 Euro to sit in business and more or less passed out asleep. Some converstion was made with the two occupants and we joked around for a little bit.

Arrival to my hostel was basically me in a heap of exhaustion and it was already sundown for the most part. The map I got of Vienna basically sucked and left me even more confused particularly when I went out in search of a restaurant. The place I searched for was a bit sketch that I ended up settling for a diner-like place and took in some of the mediocre food. I believe it was called Raimund Café and was located across from the Volktheater. The best thing that night was basically for me just to retire.

Procrastinated photos

I said I'd put them up so here they are:

Paris:

(having trouble uploading more Paris pictures so deal with this crazy opera house)

Paris Opera House

Stuttgart:

Schlossplatz