Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Best Wurst City

A week and a half ago, as if we hadn't spent enough weekends in a row traveling, I headed off to Berlin with Sinsky. We flew EasyJet, my first time on the ubiquitous airline of Europe, and landed at Berlin's Schoenefeld Airport. An easy train trip to the city, and bam, we're at our hostel right off of Warshaurer Strasse, in the former East Berlin.

Having been prepared by excellent advice from friends who had previously studied in/traveled to Berlin, we set off on our weekend with a list of things to accomplish: be they climb the tower of the Reichstag, see the history museum, eat a curry wurst (there's a story there, just wait), and drink good German beer.

We ended up doing almost everything we had hoped to do, starting with seeing the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery. It's a pretty cool sight--a 1km length of wall right on the river now devoted to graffiti art and expression. We found a little hang out area behind the wall where we bought a pint and my furst bratwurst. It was mainly the artist types hanging out, and we kind of stood out since we were neither making out nor nursing our illegitimate baby.

Of the other tourist sights, the Reichstag was a highlight, with a great view of the whole city from the modern glass dome of the German Parliament Building. The Jewish History Museum and the German History Museum were both excellent, as well. The Jewish Museum had a few well-done artistic spaces that try to express the feelings about the tragic past. One, a 30-meter tall empty concrete tower with just a slit of light entering through the roof was an interesting experience. The German History Museum was also phenomenal. So good, in fact, we went twice. The first time we went we only made it around the first floor, which depicts events after the First World War. The exhibit on the depression, growth of the Nazi party, road to war, the Holocaust, the Soviet occupation and life under communism were all absolutely fascinating. My main response to the treatment of the Holocaust was that it was very moving, although alienated "the Germans" as if they were a different nation, much as we would imagine seeing in Washington, DC.

My parents were convinced that I would feel uncomfortable in Germany, surrounded by a language that from a young age has been associated with the Holocaust. I actually found this to not be the case whatsoever, and within a short time had come to take a liking to the city of Berlin its people, and after another day, even the language (some Yiddish mis-translations notwithstanding).

In typical Dan-hates-feeling-like-a-tourist-style, we went on Saturday afternoon to a CouchSurfing.net meetup at a park, and sat on blankets with the twenty or so others, some locals, some ex-pats, and other travelers from mostly English-speaking countries. There we met Nick, who, lo and behold, was staying in our same hostel in the room next to ours. We ended up spending most of the next two days with him.

We checked out some bars in the nightlife areas that had been recommended to us, and although we found some winners, we had a constant sensation of being almost at the right street, but not quite. Perhaps we were really just on the wrong block, or maybe Berlin just needs another year or two before it is truly a great bar city. We went to one club on Saturday night, on the 12th floor, and danced the night away to German electro music. Quite a sight.

On Sunday we met up with another CouchSurfer, Bastian, from northwest Germany. He was a great guy, and we had a good dinner followed by a few enjoyable hours sipping beers on the side of the river. There were lots of parks in the city and no shortage of trees, and it really made the city feel quaint. Both East- and West-Berlin had this phenomenon, and indeed, we hardly noticed much difference between the two.

Our flight Monday departed at 1:50pm, and having printed our boarding passes already, we decided to take our time after the History Museum and walk along the river to the new main train station. A bit out of our way, the train to the airport passed through there as well by our hostel, and Kalani had recommended the walk. We got to the sprawling, $4 billion station at 12:15pm, and saw that the next S9 to Shoenefeld left at 12:21. However, we were hungry and had yet to taste a currywurst, which is apparently the street food of choice. The fooderies in the station were all to corporate for this vender-type food, but across the street a stand caught my eye. In a moment of truth, Sinsky decided that we're going for it, so naturally we missed the train. Upon returning to the station, we saw that the next train arrived at 12:41pm. Now six stops further from the airport than our hostel, we had no real idea how long the train would take, and if you know me, you can imagine how I felt. If you know my dad, you know he would have had a pulmonary embolism right there. Anyway, the train arrived at the airport at 1:26pm, and we made our flight with 10 minutes to spare. Next time, though, I'm packing Valium.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Zeehandellampoons's European Vacation

Just as Mallory and Molly were leaving, my mom, dad and sister were all en route to Barcelona for a week of European family fun. Air travel nightmares notwithstanding, we were all united by Monday and had three days to spend in Barcelona.

Although I was anxious to show them my life here in Barcelona, we spent our first day on a wine tour outside of the city in a village about an hour away. Charles, the director of my program, also happens to run a day-trip company, and was our guide for the day. The tour was really interesting, and we learned all about corking cava (Catalan champagne). The key to bottling the cava is maintaining the bottle inverted with the temporary cap, and then very quickly popping the cap (causing a familiar explosion) and stopping the liquid from escaping with a finger. This process removes the yeast (nicknamed "la madre" or "mother"), and along with it almost a full glass's worth of cava escapes within the first second. We all were relatively successful at not losing too much, although my mom accidentally righted the bottle before letting out the mother and mixed it back in, requiring another two weeks of inversion to let it settle out. Also, interestingly, those mushroom-shaped champagne corks actually begin their lives as perfect cylinders. Crazy.

The next few days consisted of my doing my best to show them the city's finest, including purchasing a new wardrobe at the giant Zara (one of three on the same street), seeing the entire city from the beautiful vista of MontJuic, and having lunch at a sidewalk bar-restaurant consisting of bocadillos with tortilla de patata. They also took a Jewish tour of the city on Wednesday while I was in class, which was apparently pretty interesting. I didn't know the city even had Jews.

Prague, however, had lots of Jews. Jews that lived there pre-WWII, and Jews from Long Island, NY, that flock there for beautiful May weekends. We flew as a family to Prague on Thursday to make the week in Europe a little more interesting (and thanks to 30Eur tickets from Clickair). It was interesting to compare weekend getaways with the family to those with friends, since rather than staying in a hostel we had a nice hotel, and rather than eating food from street vendors we ate at nice restaurants.

Prague itself was packed with tourists. We toured the castle, the old town square, and did a little exploring around the old city, but pretty much the only Czech people that I saw were in some way related to the tourism industry. One interesting moment, however, was when we happened upon a demonstration in Old Town Square by the emergency services department. They were simulating a rescue from a wrecked car, and ended up using the jaws of life to take the car completely apart.

The Jewish history of Prague is fascinating. They alternated falling into and out of favor with the ruling authorities, but for the most part maintained a thriving community for hundreds of years. One of the largest communities of pre-war Europe, the Jewish quarter now contains a multi-building museum of four synagogues and a large (12,000 grave) cemetery. Due to space shortages, successive generations buried their dead in new layers above previous layers, replacing all tombstones on top of the new layer. The result is extremely densely packed head stones, by the thousands. One of the synagogues was converted to a Holocaust memorial, and had the names, towns, birth dates, and yartzheits of all of the Czech Republic's Jewish community that perished in the war. It also contained a moving exhibition of the artwork from children in the Terezin ghetto.

We spent a full day visiting Terezin, about an hour outside of Prague. Unlike the average concentration camp, this ghetto was used as a means of propaganda by the Nazis, and looked more like a small town than a camp. The one time the Red Cross actually visited it, they spent two hours in a jeep, didn't acutally walk into any buildings, and two more hours having lunch. Needless to say thousands died in the camp (more from disease and undernourishment than murder), although most were deported to Auschwitz and murdered there.

Eating in Prague was delicious, thanks to being with my family. Apparently duck and lamb are the Czech delicacies, and the duck especially was excellent. The cheapest pint of beer I found was around $1, and the underground bars were more or less as I had heard. Despite repeated attempts, no one on CouchSurfing was able to meet up with me and my sister, so I didn't meet any locals, although in a city like Prague there are probably too many requests for the few interested locals.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

My stab at a Barcelona visitor guide

Ok, here's a basic guide to this city. My old roommate from Philly, Jordan, is coming in and I'm going to be out of town, so I started writing some tips for what he should do. I got on a roll, and decided to make it super good and then post it on my blog.

Getting here:
When you land at Barcelona, walk out to the curb and look for signs for the blue and yellow Aerobus. Everyone else is probably taking the same thing,and there will probably be a line forming at the bus stop. Don't worry if the line is long, buses come frequently. Feel free to buy a ticket at the kiosk, or you can buy it directly from the driver. The cost is 3,90 each way ("solo ida"), or you could buy a round trip ("ida y vuelta") for a little less than twice that. The bus goes (after 3 or 4 stops, 25-30 min) to Placa Catalunya, where basically everyone will get off. This is the center of the city, with the old city "Ciutat Vella" just below the plaza and the new part "L'Eixample" (pronouced Lay-shamp-lah") above.

Touristy stuff:
  • Passeig de Gracia is one of Barcelona's most famous streets, and walking up you'll pass designer stores, two famous Gaudi houses, and countless tourists. Definitely walk up and down it at least once during your time. I live right at the top of the famous part (just above Ave. Diagonal), about 20-25 minutes walk from Placa Catalunya.
  • The Rambla is another major pedestrian avenue in Barcelona and extends from the opposite corner of Placa Catalunya as the bus. (It starts just to the right of the Hard Rock Cafe). It will probably be swarmed, but is still fun to walk around. Expect to see tacky street performers, and live birds for sale (I'm not sure to whom).
  • Sagrada familia: famous Gaudi (~1900 architect, big deal in Barcelona) church. I'm not sure going inside is worth the money, much of the cool stuff can be seen from walking around. Metro: "Sagrada Familia". If you do go inside, you'll see a giant construction sight and an underground museum.
  • Parc Guell: Huge Gaudi park full of weird architecture. Will probably be very busy on Sunday, but is open and free at all times (most everything else is closed on Sunday). Take the bus #24 from anywhere on Passeig de Gracia right to the park (get on going away from Placa Catalunya).
  • Fortaleza de Mont Juic: Mont Juic is a big hill just southwest of the city. The fort is at the very top, and offers stunning panoramas of the city. Take a taxi there (~10 eur, make sure the driver understands you want to go to the fortaleza), and take the cable car back down to the metro station. Also free, although the cable car is like 5 more euros.
  • Art museums: Two of note are the Picasso museum and the Miro museum. The Picasso one is more of his early stuff so it won't be what you'd expect. Still pretty good though. The Miro museum is right by the metro stop on top of Mont Juic, and showcases the life's work of this Barcelonian artist. He's a little post-cubist and experimental, so lots of different types of modern art to be seen.
Nightlife:

My favorite part of town is known as the Born. If you're looking at a map, its at the bottom of the old city just to the right of Via Laietana (a vertical avenue). Take the metro to Jaume I (pronounced Jou-mah pree-may), and walk down Carrer de la Argenteria which extends from the metro stairway diagonally. My best advice is for you to walk down some alleys, get a little lost, and turn around whenever you hit a road with actual cars on it. In this area you will find some real gems of tapas restaurants, bars, and shopping boutiques (closed after 9).

Bars close around 2 or 3, and if you want to go to a dance club, don't show up before 2. I'm no expert on the clubs, so consult a real guide if you want to go dancing.

Metro/bus:
  • When taking the metro, go to any machine and get a "T-10" pass. It should cost 6.90, and is worth 10 rides. More than one person can share it, you just have to pass it back. Also, all metro vending machines have an English option.
  • Metro directions are distinguished by the last stop in each direction. For example, the L1 Fondo goes east, and the L1 Hospital goes west.
  • Buses use the same ticket as the metro. Just stick your ticket in the reader to validate it once you hop on (or twice if two people are sharing the ticket). If you just got off the metro, don't validate it, the transfer is free for the first hour or so.
  • The metro is open until midnight Sunday-Thursday, 2am on Friday night, and all night Saturday night.
Random:
  • Barcelona is in Catalunya, and the people native here speak Catalan. Everyone speaks Spanish, but don't call them Spaniards or they'll be quick to correct you. Catalan is a mixture of mostly Spanish and French, and all the street signs, metro stops, etc are in Catalan.
  • 'X' in Catalan is pronounced "sh", and 'c' in Catalan is pronounced like 's'.
  • Many stores close for siesta, around 2-4pm.
  • Dinner is not eaten before 9pm, 10pm is normal, and 11pm not out of the question.
  • Many restaurants serve a "menu" for lunch. Usually between 8-12 euros, it includes a 3 course meal and house wine. The word for an actual menu with the list of food and prices is "carta".
  • Little supermarkets are a good place to buy things. A 1.5-liter bottle of water should be about 75 cents.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Renovations at home

This is a picture of my old room, care of my parents. When I get home, my new room is going to be on the other side of the house! Super crazy. Goodbye, memories.
Posted by Picasa

Summer Camp Geography

About a week ago (more, now! Gosh I'm slow), Mallory and Molly paid me a visit from beautiful Firenze. Fortunately I had secured a king-size aero mattress from a friend, so I was able to host them in my new apartment which sadly lacks an extra bedroom.

I took them around the town, showing them my favorite spots in the Born for drinks as well as making a home-cooked dinner upon their arrival. Molly happens to have an absolutely fantastic camera, so we went a little crazy with glamor shots. All around the city, and n the Parc de la Ciutadella, we took lots of pictures which Molly posted on her flickr page. We rented a small rowboat for a half hour in the park, having numerous collisions with rowdy Italian teenagers and almost getting decapitated while going under a bridge that was probably not meant to be passed. We also it up the Fundació Joan Miró, a museum dedicated to the Barcelonian artist about whom I am writing my research paper. He's a bit of a crazy dude, so we had fun exploring the art, sculpture and other mixed-medium pieces at the museum.

Coincidentally, earlier last week I received a response from another local on LoQuo to my post about a language exchange. I figured it would be fun for my visitors to meet the new local with me, so I set up lunch with David for Friday. David, a half Swiss, half Catalan 20-year old from a town about 15 miles up the coast from Barcelona, met us for lunch and ended up spending all of Friday, and Saturday afternoon with us. He's a very international guy, having worked at summer camps in both Germany and in the US and speaking six languages fluently (Catalan, Spanish, Swiss German, German, English and French). He's hoping to start hotel management school in Switzerland this August, and wants to hone his already excellent English before starting. Lunch and the afternoon were great, and we ended up walking all around the city together. Afterwards, we headed to the Born for dinner, and after a criss-crossing the area twice, David conceded that he did not, as it turned out, know where he was going. He had mixed up which side of Via Laietana to go to, and I had been right all along. Score one for Dan.

After visiting the Miró museum on Saturday, David picked us up (in a car!) and we headed to the very top of Montjuic, where there is an old fortress that overlooks the city. The view was fantastic, and we would have stayed a little longer if only it hadn't been pouring. Fortunately, David's car was equipped with a giant umbrella and an extra raincoat, but it was still quite a wet expedition.

We met up with Scott and David (roommates) for dinner at a tapas place near Passeig de Gracia, which did not disappoint. I had rabbit, tried jamón for the first time (literally the most typical Catalan food) and went through quite a bit of 5 euro/bottle house wine. Later in conversation, it came up that (Catalan) David had been to a camp in the states, which happened to be in Asheville, North Carolina. Over the course of a few minutes, minds ticked together as we slowly realized the monumental coincidence which was taking place before our eyes. Scott, as well, went to camp in Asheville, and was hoping to meet a local from his camp with whom he had been emailing. David was hoping to meet another American from his camp. Turns out they had attended the same camp, although in alternate years, and had already been emailing eachother to meet up in Barcelona. It took us like ten minutes to comprehend the craziness. Small world!

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Bicing: Awesome new form of public transport



The City of Barcelona has in the last few months started a new campaign for public transport know as Bicing. They are setting up 100 bike racks at locations all around the city, buying thousands of bikes, and creating a green, traffic reducing and cheap way for tourists and locals alike to get around.

The way it works is that each city-owned Bicing bike rack has a computerized kiosk that reads your Bicing membership card. It automatically unlocks one of the bikes (usually about 20 per station), and you can then take the bike to wherever you wish to go, returning the bike to any of the 100 stations around the city. As a kickoff promotion, one full year's usage is only 6 Eur, with a regular non-promotional price of 24 Eur. Then, the first half an hour of usage is completely free. After that, its 0,30 per half hour up to two hours, and 3 Eur/hour after that.

This is perfect for us to go to our class at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, which otherwise is a 30-minute metro commute away and happens to have a Bicing station right outside. Unfortunately the closest bicing station to our apartment is about a 10-minute walk (with a closer one scheduled to open after we leave in June).

This is one of the coolest innovations in public transport I have heard of in a while, especially in a bike-friendly city such as Barcelona. Maybe other cities around the world will follow soon!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

A lesson in valuable vocabulary

Yesterday in Spanish class, we were watching a video of a popular Spanish sitcom called Camera Cafe. Similar to the office, the entire show is seen through a "hidden camera" at an office coffee machine, and throughout the workday you see the different characters' interactions during their often over-extended breaks. It's pretty corny, but funny.

Anyway, so that we could even have a chance of understanding them, Julia gave us a list of about twenty colloquial phrases that we would hear in the show before watching it. This included get trashed (ir puesto), puke (echar la pota), and laze around (tocarse los huevos).

Now, for those of you that are Spanish speakers, the image conjured up but the last one may not directly correlate to the meaning. We found it really funny to hear our young, sprightly female teacher saying "Oh yeah, I often just hang around playing with my balls."

Also, Spanish TV has no profanity rules. This show is broadcast from 9:30-10pm on most weeknights (dinnertime, the equivalent of 6:30-7pm in the US), yet included this vocab in addition to coño and joder (you can look those up). We had an enlightening conversation about profanity laws, basically realizing that in Spain, there just plain aren't any. None of the locals that we've spoken to on the issue can believe that you can't say "shit" on television in the United States.

On a slightly unrelated note, Julia also mentioned that it's not uncommon in Spain for people, before tests, to take a shot of liquor to loosen their nerves. Come on, tómate un chupito!

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

The new and more "chulo" neighborhood

Yesterday I had the enviable task of moving mine and my two rommates' things from our old apartment to our new one, at Carrer Mozart, 20, in the Gracia neighborhood of Barcelona. Where the old neighborhood was part of the well-planned, wide-streeted Eixample area, Gracia is a web of narrow streets and plazas filled with a young crowd of bar-going, cafe-frequenting, music-playing locals. Magda, my art history teacher, called the area "muy chulo" which basically translates to "cool".

Just as I arrived, I already ran into people going in and out of my building that seemed far more promising than the over-60 crowd of our old place. Good thing they were there, because I had three huge suitcases, four bags of groceries, one laptop, a pile of clothes on hangers, and a box full of all the other crap I couldn't throw anywhere else. Two Polish girls helped me carry the stuff up the three flights of narrow stairs.

The apartment itself is great. The bathroom has a huge tub, and the kitchen came complete with a microwave and a dishwasher. Two of the bedrooms have no windows and have double beds that basically fill each, and the third bedroom has a single bed, a wall of windows and its own bathroom.

Although there aren't six supermarkets within a stone's throw of the apartment, there are lots of little shops and after a little wandering I found a huge market with stalls selling fresh produce, meat and seafood. The commute to school (and the cooler sections of the old city) is significantly longer, about a 30 minute walk, but hopefully we find lots of fun bars around here that make walking to the Born and Bari Gotic areas less important.