"May Term 2013" Days 6-11

 

Whoa! I know, right? Two posts in two days? Don't worry, it probably won't happen again.

May 5-7 - Spend most of May 5 on the train, sad to have said good-bye to Iga. Chug into Wittenberg, Germany mid-afternoon and find my college advisor, Dr. Kleinhans and her May Term class touring the Luther Garden. Spend the next two days wandering Wittenberg with the class and Christian from Colleg Wittenberg, eating, shopping, visiting. Tour the Lutherhaus and Melanchthonhaus. Stay in the youth hostel next to the Castle Church.





Wartburg College group in the Luther Garten

Castle Church



Castle Church doors - 95 Theses!



 







Corpus Christi Chapel where we joined the "Christus
Bruderschaft Selbitz" (Lutheran nuns) for Evening Prayer



Jewish Memorial - response to the Judensau
["The city of Wittenberg contains a Judensau from 1305, on the façade of the Stadkirche, the church where Martin Luther preached.  It portrays a rabbi who looks under the sow's tail, and other Jews drinking from its teats.  An inscription reads 'Rabini Shem hamphoras,' gibberish which presumably bastardizes 'shem ha-meforasch'.  The sculpture is one of the last remaining examples in Germany of 'medieval Jew baiting.'  In 1988, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Kristallnacht, debate sprung up about the monument, which resulted in the addition of a sculpture recognizing that during the Holocaust six million Jews were murdered 'under the sign of the cross'." (Wikipedia)]



Katharina Von Bora, Dr. Kleinhans and me
outside the Lutherhaus



May 8 - I leave Wittenberg early, hopping on a train that will take me to the Czech Republic. I find my way (several trains and an unexpected bus trip later) to the adorable little town Český Krumlov.  Here I met Mandy (something about flying around the world to meet up with a friend from Minnesota??) and her research partner.  We explore Krumlov in the rain, discover gardens, some cute touristy shops, and some amazing food (beer). My journal reminds me that I had eaten nothing that day, until supper, except a Black Espresso Magnum bar (to die for!) and a Snickers. And we got "flashed" by a drunk dude making no attempt to hide anything peeing no-hands-style in the street outside a bar. "Thanks for telling me not to look."

 



Mandy and me!

 

Oh, and some logs. Can't forget the log story. As we are wandering through gardens, we come upon a couple giant hollow logs just sitting there. Of course we decide we must climb in them. In my excitement, something happens and BAM! I'm on my face in the mud puddle. Don't worry, my feet went so high my new shoes stayed clean.

Logs!

Good thing this was my clean outfit.

We drive back to Mandy's place where Mandy and Joey pack up their bird stuff and we crash.

May 9 - Basically a travel day with a bit of time to explore once in Vienna. Back in German speaking territory, I reflect on how much I appreciate the little bit of German skills I have. I pay a small fortune for an amazing Cordon Bleu and a Coke before I get very lost in the dark trying to find my way back to the world's coolest hostel: WOMBATS!

St Stephan's Cathedral

 



"Monument against War and Fascism"



Wombat's hostel.

 

Wombat's kitten.

Coming up next: The Grand Finale!
Pax.

"May Term 2013" Days 2-6

It's been almost 2 months since my trip to Europe and I haven't done any blogging since the first incident in the Eugene airport. Several times I have tried to sit down and write out what happened each day, what I saw, what was interesting, what was funny, and what didn't go as planned. Yet, for whatever reason it's not working. I will give a brief overview of my itinerary and share some of the highlights.
 
[April 29 - Airplanes. See previous post for the beginning of a crazy trip.]
 
April 30 - Land in Frankfurt, catch connecting flight to Vienna. Take bus (under-the-table transaction, I believe) to Budapest and meet Teagan.
 

May 1 - It's May 1. Duh, right? But that means not much is open for the EU holiday. In 8 1/2 hours of exploring on foot, I saw:   
 


Liberty Bridge

Chain Bridge, Air Show, and Országház (Parliament)

Szent Ivlán-barlang (Saint Ivan's Cave)
Now Occupied by the Pauline Order of monks.

Looking up...the path to the Citadella

Promenade along the Danube



Buda Castle from the Danube's Promenade

More air show over the Danube and Parliament

Matthias Fountain

Szabdság Szobor (Liberty Statue)

Budavári Labirintus
(Underground Labyrinth, Buda Castle)




















 



At the end of the day, I spend some time with Teagan and buy a train ticket to Dresden online.

May 2 - 4:00a.m. Taxi driver shows up to take me to the train station where I find out that the ticked I purchased online was for a train that did not exist. Ticket says, "NO REFUNDS" so I buy a new ticket and sit at the train station for 2 hours. New train crosses Slovakia and drops me off in Warsaw, Poland in the middle of the night. I dare not stray too far from the train station, but a walk around the block reveals some neat buildings.

Warsaw Central Station

Palace of Culture and Science

Short on time, I try to get a ticket from the machine to Gorzów. Machine won't take my credit card. Very nice lady at customer service desk gives me a ticket. "What time does this train leave?" Answer, "1800." My reply, "But it's 18:02." Then I get sent to a different service desk. On the way, I decide to try the ticket machine again. This time it works. Only I the ticket I buy is to somewhere that looks a lot like "Gorzów", but is indeed, not Gorzów. Should have just gone to the other desk. Eventually, I end up with a ticket to, yes, Gorzów that departs at 23:20. 
 

I think this was a mall...

May 3 - I arrive in Gorzów at 6:30a.m. and Iga meets me at the station shortly after. Uffda. Iga, her family, and I hang out, chatting and eating. Go for a walk in the woods to find a lake. I think we found it. Iga and I argue about dressage. I crash on the chair-bed at 9:00, never to notice everyone else jabbering away around me, going to bed, or getting up in the morning. Thirteen hours later everyone is sitting around jabbering just like when I went to sleep. SLEEEEEEEP. It's been a while.





Looking for the lake.

May 4 - Zoo and flower shop adventure. Iga, her mom, sister-in-law, and I look at critters of all sorts and play on the playground where I proceed to miss the swing Iga is on and sit in the dirt. Wipeout #1 of the trip.

 




How can you resist the urge to snuggle this?

 

 

Enough for tonight.
Pax.