The Break, Day 2: Berlin

At 9 I woke up, eager to plan my day and experience as much of Berlin as I could. From my Fodor's guide I made a "short" list of about 8-9 things I wanted to see.

Because I didn't have the foresight to bring a few blank sheets of paper (if I wasn't going to plan my trip beforehand) I wrote all my itineraries on the back of a German handout my teacher gave me, with the name and place of her daughter's restaurant in Berlin. It was called 'Alt Wien' but I couldn't find the place on the maps I looked at so I never found it, unfortunately.

For the first day I went to the Tiergarten, Brandenburg Tor, the Neue Nationalgalerie, and the Gemäldegalerie. It was all incredible!



A cool statue outside the Hauptbahnhof where I got breakfast.



The Reichstag.

The Tiergarten is so large, I walked around on some of the paths for over an hour and a half and I think I saw maybe 40% of the park. I walked down to the center where there is a big statue / monument but it was being repaired, so I couldn't see it.





I actually wandered past the Brandenburg Tor on one edge of the Tiergarten. It was exciting being at a famous monument that I've seen many pictures of.



I loved all the galleries I got to see in Berlin! I didn't get through all of the Gemäldegalerie before I had to go, but I hope to see the rest of it next time I go to Berlin for the Mahler 2 concert in late October. Room after room of masterpieces was almost too much to handle. Here are some of my favorite pictures. They might be slightly fuzzy because you can't use flash in the museums for obvious reasons.



Drei Pferde II, by Franz Marc



Nacht über Deutschland, by Horst Stempel



Der Wald, by Edvard Munch



Der Kaufmann Georg Gisze, by Hans Holbein d. J.

I left the Gemäldegalerie a little early (5:30ish and they close at 6) so I could get back to my room and change for the Berlin Philharmonic concert. I had wandered around and found the Philharmonie so I thought I could remember how to get there and save a few Euros by walking instead of figuring out the public transportation system of Berlin, which appears to involve calculus at first glance.

I started out the right direction but forgot which way I should bear in order to make a straight line. I started to panic around 7:40 and thought I had wasted 70 Euros for this ticket when I found a cab who took me there. I salute you, cab driver man, for some sick driving in order to get me there as soon as possible. So I didn't save any money on transportation, but oh well, I thought.

I got my ticket at the box office and tried to go in. The ticket reader showed an error, though. "This ticket is for tomorrow." I was told. Shamefully I remembered I had bought a ticket for Sunday, not Saturday, and I walked back to my hotel.

I didn't want to waste the night and I thought that if I were to go out this break, Berlin would by far have the best night life. From my Fodor's Guide I picked a cool jazz club called B-Flat. Cute, right? I went out but I remember going back to my room because I forgot something. At least twice during my time in Berlin I had to buy food or a drink in order to break a bigger bill before I could buy rail tickets. I was always like 10 cents short, it was frustrating. But once you figure out how the system works, Berlin's public transportation system is fantastic.



B Flat was super cool and I managed to snag a stool at the bar. I got a menu and picked a drink at random, because I never drink anything and have no idea what's what. I ordered a Mai Tai because it sounded familiar and was expensive and I had only had a big bill like a 20. I always feel bad paying for cheap stuff with huge bills.

I really regret not bringing my microtrack with me because this little band was incredible. I had a really good time. I even introduced myself to the couple sitting next to me because they were speaking English. Turns out they were from Britain, 'on holiday.'

After a few hours I left and made my way back to my room.

The Break: Day 1

Sorry I haven't posted anything since I got back to Wien, it was a busy week of first classes. I like all of my professors and I think my classes will really engage me and help me grow intellectually, so I'm excited for that. (less excited for 100 pages of reading a week for my Mahler class, but hopefully it won't be quite that much on average. When reading includes philosophy there's only so much you can read at one sitting before you have to take a break.)

I traveled for 10 days, and wrote a good deal in my journal (it is a moleskine and the cover broke away from the spine after like 2 days) each day so I figure a post for each day is easy and adequate.

I took +1400 pictures so I will be able to illustrate my stories fully, which was my goal. I would have run out of room on my camera if I hadn't brought a 2nd SD card. I didn't bring my computer so I couldn't upload them and then make more room on my camera.

I didn't book my flights early enough so it took me a long time to find flights for prices I could suffer through. I decided that A) It's worth paying to fly to be able to spend more time seeing the cities I wanted to rather than sitting on trains for hours a day and B) Since I wanted to see the Austrian Alps and Salzburg I should just fly from Berlin to Salzburg and then I wouldn't have to take an unnecessary long train ride across Austria from Wien.

I didn't book my hostels until a few days before I left, and only a place in Berlin and Salzburg. More planning would have made my life a little easier and less stressed, but I'm proud of myself for being able just figure things out as I went along. I took my Fodor's guides for Germany and Austria, 4 outfits including some dress clothes for the Berlin Phil. concert, a towel, umbrella, iPod, chargers and adapters, my Microtrack, my two cameras and miscellaneous items. I was hoping to carry it on the plane but it was too heavy 11 kg = 24.25 lbs. approx. I don't think they charged extra to check it though, luckily.

My flight for Berlin left at 9 so I said bye to Oliver and left around 6. I was worried because I couldn't figure out how to print my boarding pass online (or at the kiosk at the airport, since I don't remember receiving a check in number) so I waited in line with my passport. There weren't any problems and I grabbed a chicken sandwich before my flight left. I like flying within Europe because security checks, at least in Wien, were at each gate before boarding, and you didn't have to take off your shoes so it went a lot faster. I got in to Berlin around 10:30 and after some trouble bought a bus ticket and found the right bus to the Hauptbahnhof.

I was flustered and wasn't sure what to look for so I got off a few stops early. Looking at the bus stop map I considered walking the rest of the way but getting lost in Berlin at night with my 24 lbs. bag didn't appeal to me, so I waited for the next bus. After the bus stop, which luckily was the Hauptbahnhof and not some random stop I'd have to search for, I had no idea where my hotel was. I was a little stressed but I had a number to call if I couldn't find it, so I didn't worry a lot.

Arriving at the Hauptbahnhof, which is humongous, I wandered through the building. By luck I came across a pamphlet for my hotel. This didn't end up being a huge deal because although it reminded me what street I was looking for, I went out the other side of the Hauptbahnhof and my hotel was practically next door, so I would have found it.





A sight for sore eyes.

I checked in and after about 5 minutes I figured out that you have to put your key card in a little slot on the wall in order to turn on the lights. I unpacked a little, wrote in my journal, and crashed.

Berlin by 10:40

My flight leaves at 9:20 tonight. I am almost packed (my clothes are drying on the rack) and I am super pumped / nervous. I decided to leave my computer behind, because of its size and weight and I don't want it to be stolen. I went to Libro just now and bought a notebook and some small binders for class when I return, and I also got a bigger moleskine. It shall be my diary for all my travels this semester.

One important change is that I decided to visit Zell am See and Heiligenblut instead of the Salzkammergut (lake district: Gosau, Hallstatt, Altsee) because they are further away. Hopefully I can see the lake district over a weekend or two later this year.

I booked my hotels in Berlin (today - Monday) and Salzburg (Monday - Wednesday) after my German intensive final this morning. After that I don't know. I will write down as many directions and plans as I can before I have to leave, and then I'll just go with the flow.

I know there's a train from Salzburg to Zell am See, and that's about as far as planning has gone. It's going to be an adventure for sure. I am very excited and I will post again when I return home to Wien!

Berlin and Salzkammergut

I booked my plane tickets to Berlin and Salzburg yesterday! I forget exactly how much it cost but it was more expensive than I was hoping. It's the fees that kill you.

Our German intensive class final is Friday at 10:00, and my plane leaves at 20:00 or around there.

I bought a ticket to see the Berlin Philharmonic on Sunday. They are performing Coro by Berio, and Pulcinella by Stravinsky. AND I got a ticket to the Mahler 2 concert on Oktober 30! A bunch of friends are also going so we may travel together, by overnight train rather than fly. They are also looking into couch-surfing and I think that could be fun.

Since I am going back to Berlin, I figured I would spend the majority of my break in Salzkammergut, Austria's lake district. I am flying from Berlin to Salzburg, and will spend at least a day there, probably two. Then I'll take the train out to Gosau and Hallstätt and the Altsee. I'm still pretty flexible about where exactly I'm going.

Also, I just registered for classes and these are the courses I am in:

German - Elementary II (in the same class as during intensive, but we have a new teacher)
Performance Workshop
Mahler
Cross Cultural Philosophy
The Classical Symphony

I REALLY wanted to get into Vienna, Past and Present, but it is still full. Oh well.

That's all for now, after a class meeting at 18:00 I'm going to find a place to Skype around town, since I'm not sure if I would run up a bill by video Skyping at my apartment.

Tschüss!

Kärntner Kasnudeln (take 2)

My German class went to a Lindt chocolate factory yesterday. We got to the train station and left at 10:05. The trip was about an hour, and though we didn't go over the Semmering Pass as we expected it was still a good trip. We were a pretty loud group of Americans, but oh well, it was fun. The chocolate was delicious and for lunch I tried chicken liver at the local restaurant by the train station.



It was interesting. I could eat it again I guess but it wasn't my favorite.

After a brief nap and trip to Spar to get regular, non-hard boiled eggs, I practiced for about 45 minutes and was ready to try to make this dinner again.

So with an actual egg, I put the ingredients together for the dough and mixed it. The blob rested for half an hour in the bottom of one of our pots. It was too wet so I added more flour. I wish I had had saran wrap or something to spread the dough out on. I sprinkled some flour on the oven baking sheet we have.



Raw egg is not appetizing. I realized that I didn't save the egg white of the first egg I mixed into the dough, and I needed egg white later to seal the dumplings. So I got a 2nd one out, saved the egg white in a glass, and swallowed the yolk. Ehh.

So it took me about an hour to realize that I needed a lot more flour, and I still don't think I added enough. It started looking like a ball of dough that I recognize on cooking shows. We don't have a rolling pin here so I spread the dough out with my hands and then grabbed the nearest rolling pin shaped object in the kitchen, which was my Sprite bottle.



The potato cheese filling, i.e. the only thing edible I cooked.

Problems started when cutting the dough with a knife was very messy. The dough was still too sticky and wasn't cut easily. I eventually formed 9 of the ugliest looking circular dough pancakes I have ever seen. I then realized that I had roughly 4 times more filling than I could stuff in the dumplings.

I put a dollop of filling on each "circle" and spread the egg white I saved around the edges with my fingers. I folded the dough over and sealed them up. Looking back I wish I had only done half so I could try to fix my mistakes.



I dropped in 4 of my dumplings into boiling water and took the first one out after about 12 minutes. I spit it up immediately. The dough was practically uncooked. I waited a few minutes before trying each of the others, and they progressively got less inedible. But it was undoubtedly a failure in terms of producing something I could eat. Not even a lot of butter would have saved them.



Sadly, I threw them out and washed up my dishes. My dinner, which had taken almost 4 hours because I have never worked with dough before and was half-assing the entire process (and I spent some time talking online with friends, too) turned out to only consist of way too much filling. After the mashed potatoes I made the other night when I couldn't finish attempting the recipe because of hard-boiled eggs, I was not too pleased eating all that filling.

Our kitchen smelled of undercooked dough and failure.

Tonight I made pasta and it was delicious. I have no idea what kind of cheese I bought, either.

Kärntner Kasnudeln

So Wien is celebrating the U-Bahn being open 24 hours (on the weekends, I think) by teaming up with a bunch of clubs around town. You could print a ticket online for free that allowed you into any of the (I think) 35 clubs for free. By the time I tried to get to IES to print one out, they were 'sold out' so to speak. Oh well, no big deal, I'm not one for the clubs (IE - until last week I had never been clubbing).

Instead I decided to try to cook my first Austrian meal - Kärntner Kasnudeln.



That's what I'm shooting for. A potato and cheese filled potsticker variation. More like pierogies, I think.

I went to Spar and somehow managed to find all the ingredients (I think, I could have totally bought the wrong things). It took me forever to find Sour Creme. I got out right before they closed and took the tram back to my neighborhood. I translated the directions from my little Austrian cookbook to the best of my ability. So here goes.

I just peeled the potatoes and put them in a pot of water to boil. I'm glad to have not cut off my thumb in the process.

Failure. I accidentally bought hard boiled eggs and didn't notice until I had trouble cracking one open. There is no dough without an egg.

Rolling with the punches, I finished mashing the potatoes, added salt and pepper, butter, a dab of sour creme and some sort of cheese similar to cottage cheese. It's practice for the filling for attempt #2. Also, I like boiled eggs. I'm going to get another one now. I'll try the Kasnudeln again tomorrow when I get some eggs.

With this failure I have already tried new things. I have no measuring equipment so cooking will be even more of an adventure. When I cook, which rarely happens, I am very strict with the directions and measurements. I shall learn to guesstimate this semester.

Prater

This morning was wasted. Yesterday I almost completely forgot about my academic adviser meeting at 10:30. I remembered at 10:15. It takes 30 minutes to get to the IES center. It was rough. I hope that fulfills my quota for late days. I haven't found a lot of time to practice since it's against the law to make lots of noise after 10 pm here. So hopefully I can make it my routine to practice in the mornings.

I register for classes Tuesday. I am number 006, but oddly enough we register backwards, starting at 199 or whatever. I really hope to get into this history course, Vienna Past and Present. I am #2 on the waitlist.

After German today I found a bookshop on Kartnerstrasse and found a little Austrian cookbook. Once I translate a few recipes I'll start my cooking adventures. Speaking of books to translate, I also got selected fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the Metamorphosis by Kafka the other day. I'm not even going to bother with Kafka now, but it's one of my favorite short stories so I got it. Reclam is awesome. It felt wrong to buy The Little Prince in German. It was tempting though since it came with a CD.

So I was planning on meeting some friends at the Prater at 4, but they had decided not to go for some reason. Since I was there I decided to explore, but I didn't want to spend a lot if I was just by myself. I'm glad I didn't buy a 39 Euro park ticket. The Prater is enormous and there's a ton of fun rides there! The only one I did today was the Prater Turm (Tower).





At first I was afraid my camera might get flung halfway across the park but once we were at the top (100 meters) the view was so amazing I carefully slipped my camera cord around my wrist and took some pictures.





As most people know, I am generally terrified of heights. And these pictures were not taken when we were swinging quickly. It was a lot of fun, and I plan on going again when I return with friends.

Gloriette

Sunday I went to Schloss Schönbrunn, which is an enormous, beautiful summer palace which the Hapsburgs built in the 18th century. It was a favorite residence of Empress Maria Theresa. There is an entrance to the grounds that I walk past on my way to the Hietzing U-Bahn station. I went in and promptly got turned around. I think my sense of direction is usually adequate, but there were so many things that caught my eye that I turned off to see.

I eventually made my way through to the actual palace. I decided to go up to the palace first and look out over the (main / central) gardens from the terrace.



Schönbrunn



View from the terrace



There were tons of beautiful Greek statues lining the sides as well.





And opposite the palace, below the Gloriette is the Neptune fountain.

The Gloriette is the biggest hill on the grounds. There are two paths that wind their way to the top, where there is a building that looks out over all of Wien. In a lecture on things not to miss in Wien in terms of art and architecture, the professor told us that Maria Theresa used to love to go up to the Gloriette for breakfast. She was a large lady and had to be carried up to the top. Also, she wanted to see some of the animals from the zoo as well, so they would bring out some of the tamer ones. It's an amusing bit of history. That tradition was referenced when people were seeking to set up a cafe at the Gloriette.



For 2 Euro you can climb to the top of the building and the view is breathtaking. Through a little rooftop telescope you can see the Stephansdom, St. Stephen's Cathedral, all the way in the center of the 1st district.



Pictures can't really do it justice.

When I came down I wandered through the cafe and ran into some friends from IES. Tierney, Jenny (who is also from Vanderbilt, in A&S) and Brenna had just ordered drinks. We hung out until we all got to the U-Bahn, where we went our separate ways. It was very fortuitous that I ran into them.

It rained yesterday and today, and I have an afternoon meeting tomorrow following German, but I am hoping to go to the Prater very soon before it gets too cold.