Darmstadt 10k

By Gerard Tyrrell

           My first independently planned trip in Germany was a 10k race in Darmstadt. Over the summer, a friend of mine from home who currently studies in Berlin had told me about the first time he ran this race, two years ago when he was living with a host family in Darmstadt. He wanted to run it again this year. Because I was going to be in Heidelberg, we made plans to meet up, stay with his old host family and make a weekend trip for the race. We’d arrive in Darmstadt on Friday, run the 10k on Saturday, and then on Sunday we could travel around the city and hang out. Everything seemed perfect: Darmstadt wasn’t too far from Heidelberg, we’d have a place to stay, we’d get to hang out for a weekend, and I’d be running my first official 10k in another country. As an avid runner, I was particularly excited by this opportunity, and in addition I hadn’t seen my friend much since he moved to Berlin so I was excited to be able to hang out and catch up.

            However, things did not go exactly as smoothly as planned. Shortly before arriving in Germany, I realized my study abroad program had three planned excursions the same weekend that I had planned to stay in Darmstadt for the 10k. As I looked through the semester calendar in disbelief at how many other open weekends we had, I was frustrated that the one weekend that I made plans for had not one, not two, but three excursions. However, I was determined to make this race work and I saw a small window of opportunity; we had our trip to Frankfurt on Friday and trips to Schwetzingen Palace and Speyer on Sunday, but Saturday, the actual day of the 10k, was still free. Frankfurt is not too far from Darmstadt, and I thought that maybe I could go on the excursion to Frankfurt, and afterwards go from there straight to Darmstadt. Then I’d travel back to Heidelberg Saturday night after the race so that I’d be able to make it to our 8:00 am departure to Schwetzingen Palace on Sunday morning. Sure, I’d be reducing my weekend in Darmstadt to only one day and cramming four trips into three days, but that was my best option.

            After a long day in Frankfurt, I split up from the group to go find the Frankfurt train station. As I grabbed my bag and got off the bus, I couldn’t help but question how much I wanted to do this. Here I was, fatigued and finding my way alone in an unfamiliar city to the train station, while everyone else got to relax on the bus and enjoy a peaceful ride back to Heidelberg. However, I knew it’d be well worth it the end, and so I took a deep breath and made my way to the train station. Eventually I met up with my friend, and he introduced me to his host family. I was instantly taken back by their warmth and kindness, which was well appreciated after a long day. I could tell that they were intent on making it a nice, albeit short stay for me: I was delighted to receive home cooked meals, and the family showed me around their city Saturday morning and afternoon before the race. It had a very interesting history, and I was surprised to learn that Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Tsarina of Russia, was born in this little, unassuming city. I was so appreciative of their hospitality that the race seemed more like just another part of the trip rather than the main highlight.

            I learned a lot from this trip. First of all, I learned to stick with my plans and try to make them work even when circumstances aren’t exactly the most cooperative. Even though I was totally exhausted by the end of the weekend, I was still so glad to have had that experience. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’m currently looking into running another 10k before I leave. I also really enjoyed meeting and spending time with the host family. Not only did this increase my knowledge of German culture, but provided a great opportunity for me to practice my German language skills, which is a huge goal of mine during while studying abroad.

Sources

Gelardi, Julia. (2005). Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria.             New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 5.

What to Say about Italy!

By Neel Desai

 Oh, do I have a lot to say about Italy. It was absolutely amazing. It surely was different than Germany, and that made me miss Heidelberg. I had some really great experiences, but also many that made me skeptical of Italy. I met some really great and helpful people, but also a handful of not so friendly people. Overall, it was an experience of a lifetime and I learned some great things about myself, history, and a new culture.

            First, the trip started in Rome, a beautiful city full of lots of history. The hostel I checked into was basically a hotel, which was a great start to the trip and city. The first day was tiring, so I stayed around the area of my hostel and went to a local restaurant and bakery. Obviously the first thing I had to try in Italy was pizza. It’s hard to explain the difference of regular pizza compared to pizza from Italy, but I guess the best way to say it is that you HAVE to eat pizza from Italy with a fork and a knife. There is a lot of sauce and cheese and basically impossible to pick up at a slice, but that’s what makes it so amazing. Throughout the trip in Rome, I visited the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Vatican City, The Pantheon, St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, and a few more. I was really happy that we were able to see all of these historical sites in the four days we had in Rome. My two favorite events would have to have been being able to see the Pope at the Vatican and Trevi Fountain. Even though I am not Catholic, it was amazing to see a man with so much respect. In the few minutes I was able to see him going around the crowd, I understood why this great man has so much respect. He went throughout the entire crowd, shook hands with viewers, took babies into his arms and blessed them, and spoke to others. He took his time speaking to the people who love and respect him the most. The Trevi Fountain was just something amazing to see and to learn that it was made so many years ago makes it even more amazing. The intricacy in the architecture was something I have never seen before.

            Next, I took a train over to Florence where I stayed in a hostel that was much different than the last in Rome. It was more of a house that had rooms being rented out. The owner was very personable and helped me with my trip planning. The room was not as nice, but the owner made up for it in the helpfulness. While I stayed in Florence I was able to see the Uffizi Gallery, Florence Cathedral, Ponte Vecchio Bridge, a copy of the The David, The Duomo (which was literally a 2 minute walk away), and a few others. I really enjoyed most of the and again learned a lot from each and every one. I really enjoyed seeing the Duomo. It was a clean white Cathedral that the light came perfectly on. I was able to go to the top of it and overlook the entire city. Although the history of Florence was great to see, the one thing that stood out to me the most was a bar that I found. The owner was such a nice guy, the food was absolutely amazing, and he let me taste a least 5 beers from around the world. He had beers from around the world in a showcase and beers from Czech Republic, Germany, USA, and much more on tap. He let me taste all of them to see which I would like the best. Out of the 4 days I stayed in Italy, I had 5 meals from that bar. The owner remembered me after the first day and knew exactly what I wanted to order. He even customized my order to my liking. The owner of the bar is someone who I will never forget and his bar is the most memorable place in Italy.

            Lastly, I made my way to Venice. I was really excited to go, but it really didn’t meet my expectations. It was really cool to see the canal and the water streets, but the buildings were really dirty. It was a bit of a sketchy city and people there took advantage of tourists. Servers at restaurants would try and get anyone walking by to come to eat there, charge extra for “complimentary” bread, and give big bottles of water and soda without asking. I was able to make my way to another Island in Venice called Murano. It was an island for glass making. All the shops there were shops where they blew their own glass. I bought a lot of souvenirs for myself and my family there. I am going to mail it to my family as a surprise. Overall, the experience was great. It was a few downsides, but I learned a lot about how I deal with certain situations and deal with a high stress environment. I’m glad I made a trip to Italy and would love to go back in the future!

2013 Amsterdam Music Festival

By Andrew Hong

The term “international” is often thrown around to describe events or places where many people from different countries are in the same areas.  Despite the ubiquity of that term, it wasn’t until last Saturday (October 19^th), where I felt that I was in a truly international venue – the 2013 Amsterdam Music Festival.  Whenever one travels to a different country, they are not completely in an international zone – in Germany, for instance, the majority of the people we interact with are Germans.  While you may encounter people from other countries, it is most often in an ancillary fashion: they just happen to be traveling in the same country you are in.  At AMF, I had experienced something that I was not expecting, thousands of people from all over the world in one place for a single purpose – to enjoy some of the finest electronic dance music.

            To backtrack somewhat, the Amsterdam Music Festival is primarily a festival for electronic dance music (more commonly referred to as EDM) which had its roots in the disco movement of the 1970s but ended up reaching new heights in the 1980s before finally reaching its widest audience (and large mainstream appeal) in the last ten years.[1]  Additionally, one subgenre of electronic music, trance, was even formed in Germany, with the first examples of the subgenre appearing in Frankfurt in the early 1990s.[2]  More melodic and uplifting than other forms of electronic dance music, trance music is highly popular in Europe – one of the primary reasons why I wanted to go to an electronic music festival in Europe.   While there were a multitude of world-renowned DJs who played a variety of different electronic subgenres, I would certainly rank Dutch producer Armin van Buuren’s trance-centric music set to be my favorite for the entire night.  While other music sets relied on heavy bass and sheer volume to get the crowd excited, Armin van Buuren’s music cut into one’s emotion, giving the music far more depth.

           

The music festival itself was an unbelievable combination of an incredible light show with amazing music – but what impressed me the most was the overall feeling of unity and connectivity I felt with my fellow ravers.  I was in awe about how thousands of people from dozens of different countries would travel all the way to the Netherlands in order to enjoy music together.  Whenever you walked throughout the entire venue, you would hear snatches of conversation in Dutch, German, French and a score of different languages.  On the dance floor itself, many had brought their respective countries’ flags – prompting one of the DJs to ask the crowd which countries everybody was from.  Whenever he stated a country’s name, literally hundreds (thousands in the case of Netherlands) of voices would cheer in response.  The energy of the crowd, coupled with the overall atmosphere of the entire festival, carried me throughout until the night until the early morning – even though I had already spent a long day sightseeing in Amsterdam prior to the festival.  With its unique international atmosphere, astonishing music and its lineup of legendary producers and DJs, the Amsterdam Music Festival was certainly a once in a lifetime experience.

For Video of the event to to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTlzz4yL6X8&list=FLHrIaMw9Wc5PQuS--4j9kXQ&index=4

OR

http://edmchicago.com/dj-mag-awards-amsterdam-music-festival-2013-live-sets/

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[1] http://edmmusicjunkies.com/?page_id=31

[2]  Fassbender, Torsten (2008). The Trance Experience. Knoxville, Tennessee: Sound Org Inc.

Fall Break 2013

By Katherine Moore

My fall break experiences summed up in a word would be incredible.  From the Bavarian Alps the first week to Rome, “The Eternal City”, the second week, I had so many amazing experiences.  They are two vastly different places and of the two areas I liked my time in the Alps the best.  The first week I traveled with my dad to Bavaria and we visited Augsburg, Munich and Garmisch.  The second week I traveled to Rome on my own to meet up with fellow ESC students.  We saw the main attractions like the Colosseum, the Forum, the Vatican City, and even the pope.

            Being in the Alps was amazing, the mountains are breathtaking and the air was so fresh and crisp.  I’m more of an outdoorsy person so being in the mountains reminded me of past camping trips and hikes that I go on at home.  My favorite day was the day I toured the famous castles, Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein, and Linderhof.  The tours were fascinating and the castles were beautiful and more than met my expectations.  Hohenschwangau was the family home and Neuschwanstein and Linderhof were both built by Ludwig II.  The third castle  he built is by Lake Chiemsee.  Of his three castles only his smaller palace, Linderhof, is completed.  Ludwig II was a very interesting character and he met a mysterious end.  He was obsessed with the French monarchs and he was a very anti-social person.  The grounds around all the castles were great for hiking and the landscape is like nothing else I’ve ever seen.  The other part of the trip that I loved was my trip up to the Zugspitze, the tallest peak in Germany.  It was a cloudy day so we couldn’t see much but it was still exciting to say that I was at the top of Germany.  I would definitely go back to that area, so far it has been my favorite place I’ve seen the entire trip.   

            Getting to Rome was an adventure for me and a test of my abilities to be totally independent.  The way it worked out I flew in to Rome a day earlier than the people I was meeting up with.  I was planning on staying the night in a hotel close to the airport so it would be easy to meet everyone the next morning.  This was the first time I had ever traveled to another country on my own so I was very nervous in the days and hours leading up to my departure.  In the end everything went according to plan and I successfully found all my friends.  This experience gave me more confidence in my ability to be an independent adult.  Becoming more independent was one of my goals of studying abroad and traveling to Rome on my own proves how far I’ve come in this area.  I am really proud of myself for planning and managing to make the trip all by myself. 

Once in Rome we went on guided tours of different areas of the city and learned a lot about the history of Rome.  My favorite part of Rome though was seeing the pope.  It was an amazing experience.  I’m Roman Catholic so being able to see the pope, the head of the church, and watch him give a service was out of this world.  I wish my Grandmother could have been there to witness it as well.  She is a very religious person and I know an experience like that would make her so incredibly happy.  One day I hope that I can take her to Rome so she can see the pope in person the way I did.

            During my break I got to see so many new places and learn about new things as well as practice my German and learn to be more independent.  It made me excited about the future adventures I’m going to have in Germany and I feel like I’m many steps closer to achieving my goals.    

Reference                    
Castle Tourism Center. (2013). The Castles Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Welcome to Hohenschwangau. http://www.hohenschwangau.de

Guided Walking Tour of Berlin

By Emily Cowan

I was absolutely blown away by the energy and excitement that was very apparent in our tour guides face about the lovely city of Berlin. It was one of the first tours I had ever been on in my life that I didn’t want to end. I had the feeling that I was actually in Berlin in the twentieth century by the detailed and fun analysis she gave us each step of the way. It was only my first day in the beautiful city of Berlin while I got the feeling I had already seen it all, and been there for days. Brandenburg Gate, Jewish Memorial, and even the Berlin wall; there is so much history and excitement that is bouncing vibrantly through this city and it was up to you if you could catch it or not.

“Ladies and Gentleman, if you could turn your direction to this abandoned parking lot.” Everything we had the chance to look at was amazing, but a parking lot? I wasn’t really sure where she was going with this one. I look up to see apartments from the 80’s that were apparently built by communist. We weren’t even in the main city center of Berlin anymore. It was just a random neighborhood with a funky smell due to everyone walking their dogs at this parking lot. However it turned into so much more as our tour guide went on explaining what happened over 60 years ago under this parking lot.

Chills flurried down my spins as Hitler’s name came into the picture. Apparently it wasn’t just a normal parking lot after all. It was a parking lot with lots of gruesome and tragic history. As I stood on the gravel, 14 meters below my feet was in fact the place where Hitler’s infamous bunker laid. I couldn’t believe the history rush that came over me standing on top of this parking lot. The tour guide stated how it would be impossible to go down to it because the people of berlin threw all there sewage around the bunker before enclosing it completely. The whole experience of being at this “Historical” place reminded me of my favorite history class in high school, where my teacher taught us all about WW2 especially everything that happened with Hitler. The stories my teacher told me were almost identical to what the tour guide stated. This made it even more eye opening to be standing exactly where so many soldiers stood before me.

 One thing I found strange for a split second was the fact that there was no way of telling that this was the bunker until you look over at a tiny sign the Germans put up when the Olympics came to Berlin in 2006. I soon realized why would they even want to commemorate what had happened here. It goes to show that nothing last forever and that bad can be replaced with a fresh start. No matter where life takes me I will always be able to look back and remember my time in Berlin, learning and growing with the culture and amazing history it has to offer. 

The East Side Gallery

By Brandon Klein

One of my favorite parts of Berlin came in one of the non-structured activities. On the last day in Berlin after we visited Angela Merkel at the Parliament building there were two groups that were splitting off to go explore more in Germany. One went to the Berlin Zoo and the other went to the East Gallery. When making my decision is was rather tough, I didn’t know whether to see a bunch of animals I could see in any zoo or to experience a famous part of Berlin that I might never be able to see again. Surprisingly unlike you may be lead to believe I decided to go to the East Gallery.

            The East Gallery is a section of the Berlin wall that has been preserved and artists from around the world have come to graffiti on it. Since only days after the destruction of most of the wall, people have come to this particular area of preserved wall and painted on it. The “graffiti” (paintings) present on the wall as of now date back only to 2009, and have been done by largely by internationally renowned artists.  Overall the wall has just over 100 paintings by 86 artists and each one is more beautiful or creative than the next. (East Side)

            The East Side Gallery was a great way to spend my last hours in Berlin. Getting to see the transformation of what was once a symbol of exclusion and sadness turned into something so beautiful was great. My favorite part about the gallery was that it was, as the name suggests, on the east side of the wall. I like that they chose the east side over the west side because the side that was made so beautiful was the side that had seen the worst of conditions. I would imagine that going back to that wall years after being liberated from communist Berlin that it would be refreshing to see such a horrible thing that plagued my days, become instead a symbol of hope and accomplishment.

            If not for anything else I can say that the East Side provided for some great photo opportunities. Whether it be the copious pictures I took of the murals alone or the seemingly innumerable amount of picture I posed for, trying to make it seem as if I was actually a part of the painting. My favorite picture that I took however had to be one where I got on the back of Matt Mislan and acted as if I was trying to escape to West Berlin.

            Overall I loved my trip to Berlin. From the tour of Berlin, to the tour of the German Parliament it is safe to say that I had a great time. Ending the trip with an excursion to the East Side Gallery could not have been any more perfect. This excursion brought me one step closer to accomplishing my goal of seeing as much as possible while abroad. Taking the initiative to see something that I otherwise would not have been required to see is something that I hope to continue in the future, making the most of my experience.

Bibliography

East Side Gallery Berlin. (n.d.). East Side Gallery Berlin. Retrieved October 28, 2013, from http://www.eastsidegallery-berlin.de/

Going to Paris While You're Here?

Here's what Spring 2013 student, Jessica Lozano, had to say about visiting Paris on her own, 

 Paris . . .

Our weekend to Paris was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had so much fun and I loved being back in Paris for at least a weekend. When we first got there, it was a little inconvenient. We arrived to the hotel we had booked but it was a very bad hotel. We couldn’t stay there so we started to look for any other hotel that was available. We ended up in an Ibis, which was a lot better than the first one. Once we got to the Ibis and checked in and settled down, we went to eat because we were starving. We headed to Champs Elysees to have some lunch there and just walk around. We shopped a little but then it began to rain so we had to head back to the hotel. Our plan was to nap for a while and then go out at night, but we were tired so we just stayed in and slept. The next day we woke up early for breakfast and to try to make the most out of the day because we only had Saturday. We headed to Champs Elysees again and walked to the Eiffel Tower. We bought tickets for a hop-on hop-off that took us to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We went in there and saw how amazing it was. There was mass happening so it was hard because we had to be quiet but it was very beautiful. The weather was not really great so we didn’t really like the buses because of how cold and rainy it was. Gladys really wanted to go to a bookstore called “Shakespeare and Company” where she wanted to stay in forever. We went with her for a while but then we headed back to continue our tour. We went to the Eiffel tour again but didn’t climb it because of the waiting time. We just took many pictures. After that we went by the Louvre but nobody wanted to go in since it was going to take a long time to see so we just took pictured outside of it. We also went to the love bridge, which is where couple put a lock on the bridge and promise to love each other forever. I thought it was very romantic and loved the idea. It started raining again so we had to take a taxi back to the hotel. It was very funny because the taxi driver told Shane that he looked like Matt Damon and told us that we should get married, that we would make a good couple. We both thought it was awkward. We got to the hotel and we napped for a while. By the time we woke up we realized it was too late to actually go out, but we wanted to see Paris by night so we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower just to look at it at night. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was already off and everything was closed so we just headed back to the hotel. We slept because on Sunday we had great plans. We woke up on Sunday very early, ready for our last day in Paris. We had breakfast and headed out. We went to Versailles. Versailles was the most amazing thing ever. The gardens and the palace are so grand that words cannot even begin to explain their beauty. Besides all that, the day was very sunny and beautiful. WE got so lucky to have such great weather in Paris during this time, because we were told that it had been raining all week and that it was going to continue raining all the next week. We saw the Versailles gardens and that’s what I loved the most. I had already gone to Versailles but I really wanted to go again because I went in the winter and the flowers weren’t there and it was very restricted because of the cold. I think that now that I went it was way better because it was sunny and it was just beautiful. I really enjoyed this trip and even though it didn’t start out very good, the rest was perfect. Throughout the whole trip I kept saying this one quote that I feel that it summarizes out trip: “We will always have Paris”. 

Impressions of Heidelberg

by Kristine Garza, one of the students who came to visit in March, 2012

I visited Heidelberg, Germany with a class for Spring Break 2012 and it was the most beautiful, enlightening, and amazing experience I’ve ever had. The few days I spent in Heidelberg were too short to even begin to discover everything this beautiful city had to offer. I absolutely loved the accessibility of everything from walking down Haupstrasse to hopping on the tram to take a stroll on the Philsophenweg. The experience was so awesome especially meeting German natives and learning the differences in our cultures just by having a simple conversation. The food was delicious and exciting to experiment along with the different types of drinks. Overall it was an amazing experience and has squashed any previous fear I had of studying or visiting abroad. I am studying International Business and currently a senior MBA student so I may not be able to spend a semester abroad but if I had a chance I would definitely visit Germany again. 

Kristine Garza and Louisa Espinoza (Sitting overlooking Heidelberg on Philosopher’s Way)