Come Sail Away With E: Germany.....Guten Tag!

Guten Tag all!

Greetings (from a couple of weeks ago at this point) from Germany! Germany was a cool place and different than what I expected. I pictured it kind of old and run down but in fact it was really modern, clean and a nice place to visit.

For half the time we were in the country, my hallmate and I travelled to Berlin. Her teaching assistant from University of Virginia moved back to her home country and offered for us to stay in her apartment in Berlin. What a treat! I did not realize that when they say “flats” are tiny in Europe, they are not kidding! The bedroom was the same room as the living room, office and dining room.

Our hostess, Elina, served us a beautiful German breakfast before we headed out for the day. I have been craving crème cheese and finally had some with some nice fresh-baked bread! Tons of fresh fruit too as well as “breakfast” juice, as she called it. Just a vitamin fruit drink that was tasty.

We found a free walking tour of the city to check out the graffiti of the city. In Berlin, graffiti is embraced and while I think it is illegal, people sneak onto buildings all the time and put their work up there for all to see. Some of the art is only up for a couple of months due to weathering. I could not imagine doing all that work just to have it destroyed shortly after!

The Berlin Wall was cool to see, especially all the art on there. We were able to cross it with such ease as compared to how it was just 20 years or so when my parents were there visiting. Our guide told us one story of a lawyer who had his practice on one side of the wall and his family on the other side. Somehow he was able to zipline over the wall with his children hanging onto each leg and managing to cross to the other side to stay with them. Amazing!

My authentic meal was spaetzle which was amazing, just looked like cow brains.

Back in Hamburg, our port, I visited Miniatur Wunderland – this place was INCREDIBLE! For those of you who are familiar with it, picture Roadside America with a handful of floors. It was a miniature “museum” with scenes from around the world. Words cannot even describe it, I am so glad I decided on going. It was funny seeing the depiction of America. I saw sights that I’ve never even been to in the States such as Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. But NYC was not there! They definitely need to add that. But it was incredible seeing the detail and it was evident how much hard work was put into making it as great as it was. I admire those artists for taking so much time and their attentiveness to detail!

Later that day, I saw……Der Konig der Lowen! The Lion King in German!!!! It was phenomenal. Thankfully, I have seen the movie enough times that I knew what was going on for the most part and was only lost on occasion. I bought the CD and it’s fascinating listening to it. The music sounds the same and being able to understand it while it’s in German is really cool. (Man, how many times have I used the word cool in this entry HAHA).

Germany was a great couple of days with a lot of travel that wore me out, but I’m thrilled I was able to experience the things I did! =D