Germany update!
So....I'm now settled down in Dresden, and thus far the trip could not possibly have been better! We started out in Frankfurt, ate dinner and sampled Apfelweinschorle, a local specialty that's apple wine with sparkling water mixed in. Explored the city on foot, saw some cool bridges and neat churches. 2nd day was spent in Mainz, where I saw the St. Stefanskirche, which is a gothic church, but since the windows got blown out in the 2nd world war, Marc Chagall was commissioned to make the rest of the windows. Absolutely GORGEOUS! I <3 Marc Chagall.
After leaving Frankfurt and Mainz, we travelled to Weimar, home of the Weimar republic, and Weimar Classicism. Beautiful little town. Every time you turn the corner, you see a statue or home of writers and musicians like Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Bach, or Liszt. Amazing. But then you walk less than a block away and see Hotel Elephant, where Hitler gave one of his most famous speeches. And less than 15 minutes away is Buchenwald....a concentration camp. I'm not even going to try to describe it....I don't think it can be described. You just have to see it.
After Weimar came Berlin, where we spent 2 days. I got to meet up with my friend Mathias, who studied in the US for a year when I was in High School, and he showed me around the city, which was really fun. Favorite sights: The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, the Jewish Museum, KaDeWe (the biggest department store in Europe), and definitely Definitely DEFINITELY the Brandenburg Gate (although, seriously, if you ever go, see it at night! It's gorgeous at night!) I saw it 3 times as it was relatively near my hotel, and each was a different experience. The first time was in the middle of the day, with tons of people there, the second was at night, which was GORGEOUS, and the third was about 7:40 am on Sunday morning, when absolutely nobody was there. I actually have a picture of the gate with nobody in it. Cool, but not as cool as seeing it at night.
After Berlin, we came to Dresden. I now have full internet access, and as such will hopefully be able to post more regularly and thus avoid the monster post of doom like this one.
til then, Tschuss!
After leaving Frankfurt and Mainz, we travelled to Weimar, home of the Weimar republic, and Weimar Classicism. Beautiful little town. Every time you turn the corner, you see a statue or home of writers and musicians like Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Bach, or Liszt. Amazing. But then you walk less than a block away and see Hotel Elephant, where Hitler gave one of his most famous speeches. And less than 15 minutes away is Buchenwald....a concentration camp. I'm not even going to try to describe it....I don't think it can be described. You just have to see it.
After Weimar came Berlin, where we spent 2 days. I got to meet up with my friend Mathias, who studied in the US for a year when I was in High School, and he showed me around the city, which was really fun. Favorite sights: The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, the Jewish Museum, KaDeWe (the biggest department store in Europe), and definitely Definitely DEFINITELY the Brandenburg Gate (although, seriously, if you ever go, see it at night! It's gorgeous at night!) I saw it 3 times as it was relatively near my hotel, and each was a different experience. The first time was in the middle of the day, with tons of people there, the second was at night, which was GORGEOUS, and the third was about 7:40 am on Sunday morning, when absolutely nobody was there. I actually have a picture of the gate with nobody in it. Cool, but not as cool as seeing it at night.
After Berlin, we came to Dresden. I now have full internet access, and as such will hopefully be able to post more regularly and thus avoid the monster post of doom like this one.
til then, Tschuss!