Say Cheese.

We spent the day fighting the weather. We left our apartment at 9 this morning. The room was cool, so we knew the day would be, but we didn't know how wet we would become. We met Walt and Judy outside the Parc de Buttes Chaumant. It is the park in the city that Napolean workedto get through. It was a pretty neat park one with a lot of history. Apparently executions used to take place there and gallows were a permanent thing. Later the site was used as a gypsum quarry. Today the park is like fairyland. There is a tall hill that has a temple situated in the best of areas. There is also a grotto inside a cave through which a river flows from on high. It was here that the rain started. I had an umbrella, so it wasnt too bad and we walked through the rest of the park with few cameras and sketchbooks out of their bags.

We then took the metro as a class to Le Parc de la Villette. It was built in 1989 and was a very interesting location study. The park is built on a series of rooms and has several buildings for different activities including music, sports and theatre. There were severel themed "rooms" and many different types of play equipment. On one lawn sits what looks like a giants bycycle was buried in the area. At the end of the park Andie took a joy ride down a very long, wet slide and unable to stop, found the large puddle at the bottom, and everyone of us with our cameras running.

Short time left, short blog.


I limboed my way out of a kiss from a hobo yesterday. Ewwww

Food is the Reason for Travel

Yesterday we took our saturday on a little pilgrimage. We woke up early and took a 45 minute train to the small town of Giverny. Giverny is the home town of Claude Monet. The whole town has embraced the art of impressionism, because of him, and tourism because of him as well. When we got there, I felt as though I was coming home, well kinda. When we got out of the bus, there was a fragrance in the air that pulled me back 10 years and 10,000 miles ago. Among the trees that were planted in the town were roses. The self same roses that volunteer their blooms every spring in the green woods of Connecticut.
We walked to Monet's restored garden and traversed through it. We stopped to smell the roses more then a substantial handful of times. The main part of the garden is filled with blooming poppies and roses right now. It is at the tale end of the peonies, though the blooms that are left make up for the loss. We then walked under the road that has grown since Claude's time and finally saw the pond I imagined so many years ago back in first grade with Mrs. Mahoney. Though the bridge looks different and the edges of the water have a different contour, I could imagine a bearded man sitting in his rowboat with a paint brush. Some of the lilies were blooming and added the the image.

The garden was worth while but there was a severe age gap in the visitors. Either they were students, or they were retired americans who spent more time talking about their own gardens than looking at what was around them.

Today Mary and I fled the country. For 7 hours. We took the morning train to Brussels and spent the day there. We walked through the main tourist parts of the city and walked through the larger city parks. The best thing of the trip was the waffles. I would have to say, a single bite would have made the trip worth it. They were soft and moist with a carmelized glaze. MMmmm. So good. We also split a serving of escargot from a cart. They were good too, and very salty. The prices were better in Brussels than they are here in Paris so the shopping was good, or would have been good were it not Sunday. I suppose had it not been, I would have found the ever elusive boots I have been looking for. I did however find a nice leather dress shoe for less than 25 euro. It started raining only when we got back to Paris, so I suppose the weather held out for our trip and hopefullly will for tomorrow as well.

The Golden Arch

We went to two museums today on our open museum class day. We started at the D'orsay a museum that is little known but with alot behind it. The building is an old refurbished train station and the results are pretty neat. There were works by many well knoen artists like Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Van Gogh and many others. I even saw Whistler's mom. We stayed there until noon, ate lunch, then headed to the Louvre. We saw all the main things in the Louvre including Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. They were as you would expect them to be, better than the print and larger than life. After about 8 hours of museuming we decided to leave. When we came up from the lower floors of the Louvre we found the sky opened up in a brownish grey. There were rain drops the size of golf balls falling from the sky and there was lightning flashing simultaneously with the thunder. We held up under the outdoor awning until the green light, then sprinted through the rain to the other side of the street. There we stood under a covered walk. We thought of our options of finding indoors eating areas. At the end of the walk was our savior, an old friend in fact. Good old Ronald McDonald and his golden arches flashed at us through the dreary rain. We ate there, sat there for an hour and a half journalling and waiting for the rain to ebb. It was good.

Tomorrow we are going to Monet's garden in Giverny, lets hope the rain holds out.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate's Life for Me

Yesterday morning we met for class just down the street from our apartment at the Arch De Triomphe. We climbed to the top of it and got to actually be able to see the 12 radiating avenues from its rotary, rather than just visualise. Though it was hazy, we could see for a very long ways down to the new part of the cities. It would be a pretty phenomenal sight to see an army marching down one of those avenues. Atleast four have walked under the Arch itself, ours having done so twice.

We then walked down the Second Priciest Real Estate in the world, the Champs E'Lysee. I bought a croissant.:) The latter part of the road is embraced by a series of trees including, oak, sycamore, linden and chestnut. That way as we walked, we could find ourselves some shade. We ended our long trek, a couple hours later at the Jardin de Tuileries. A garden that is near the Louvre and outside of one of Mairie Medici's Palaces. We spent some time there showing Walt our skectchbook progress and discussing our plans for the weekend. After we left walt, some of us seperated to go to the Parque de Citroen, like the car. It is a park that resuses the spaces and frames of the old factory to create a series of rooms. Personally, i found the park intriguing. It set off my curiosity as you go through it room by room.

After the park, we headed back to the Champs E'lysee to buy dinner. I got a small salad, and then we met with most of the rest of our class, including Walt and Judy, to get in line for Pirates of the Caribe* World's End. Yes. the movie was released last night, more than a day before it is at home. So, Haha. It was a great movie, there will be no dissapointment. Also, if you plan to go see it, stay past the movie credits, its a must!

This morning we met for class to walk around the city once again from garden to garden. The first place we went was the Place De Vosgues, the earliest designed plaza in known history. It was supposedly the prototype of every city-square built there after and was started by King Louis XIII(13). Also, Victor Hugo, the author, lived there.

We then walked to the Promenade Plantee a linear garden that was planted over the path of an old city railroad. It was a pleasant walk and the array of foilage used was wide. I would call the space almost delicate, considering it used to be a railway, but it is the only elevated garden in the world(supposedly).

We finished the day at Parque Di Verce. My favorite part of it was the lumbering young great dane trying to play with the small mutts in the park. He was a nice looking dane and came up to his owners chest, as she was smallm even for a Parisan. When she had him leave he was very upset and stood at the bottom of a large staircase until she was almost out of sight. Only then, with just three bounds, did he catch up to her. Back to the park itself, it was next to a stadium that had grass for walls...ask for pictures when i get back, they explain better. The park was built as a series of rooms that are to be used for different things. There was the English Pastoral Area, where we found the dane, the Rose Garden, the educational garden, for the children, and the pool area, where there were turtles and koi. The whole garden was surrounded by expensive apartments and at the end was a nice little shopping area with a really nice sweet shop with delicious biscuits that hopefully will find there way back to the states when i buy them again.

30 days Till Home (yeah, Im getting homesick)

Yesterday, t
he first day of class, we met Walt and his wife Judy at Notre Dame. I must say, disney and hollywood have ruined me for its splendor. That or all the other catholic cathedrals I have seen on the trip. WE did not go inside, but instead walked to a memorial of the resistance of WWII. WE then walked to the Garden De Luxenbourg and spent quite awhile talking over what we had done in the past 7 weeks. Walt gave us ample time to sketch and I got to finally start to break in my new journal. That is really all we did the first day.

Last night we met up with classmates at about 11 pm at the arc de triumph. We walked to towards the Eiffel tower and waited there at the Trocadero, taking pictures of the uplit tower. At midnight we got our reward. The tower becomes what people call a standing firework. It started to twinkle. The entire thing is rigged with thousands on flash bulbs that go off for about 5 minutes at 12 and 1 am. It was what Sahoko calls phenomenal and we got many, many pictures of the occasion.

This morning, we met at the end of the Champs del Mar. We talked a little and then we went to go climb the tower. We decided to walk the 700 some stairs instead of taking the elevator, both because it was cheaper and the line was shorter. While some people say the tower is not as big as they expected, the must say this before they climb it. Luckily, there are 3 levels and the final level, you have to take an elevator up to. The last elevator ride seemed as though we might be in tghe tower of terror, springing towards the sky, with a view of the city all around, many of us half expected to feel our stomachs drop as we were let go. While the view is magnificient, it does not do the city of paris justice and makes it seem more like a pile of buildings than a place of history and curiosity. When we climbed back down, we were all tired and we spent time recupperating and learning about the Trocadero. WE then walked past a museum with a living wall of plants and finally ended class for the day on the lawn of Les Invalides, the "Hotel" that Louis the 14th built for veterans of war.

We've walked around since then, and eaten dinner. Now I am in an internet cafe called MIlk. Around me are about 100 other computers. Half of them are filled with boys, sitting in front of Blizzard's Crack, either World of Warcraft or Defense of the Ancients.

Thank You French Cabbie

First let me say that I am indeed in Paris, but before I talk of that, let me start to explain the process of getting here.

The plan was to take the Chunnel across the English Channel. Mary's friend Theresa told us that a ticket should not be a problem and we could leave when ever on Sunday morning. We decided to sleep in and take our time. We left for the station at 11 and entered a very busy Eurostar office. When we got to the head of the line and asked for tickets to Paris, the lady looked at the bookings and could only find 1st class tickets at 150 pounds, or 300 dollars each. As you know, we don't really get a kick out of spend our parents well earned money frivolously, and well I am a cheapskate. We kindly backed out of the order and quickly went in search of an internet cafe in order to try to find another, cheaper way of getting to Paris. We walked about 10 blocks with all of our luggage. Keep in mind that mine is on my back with a last way in of 40 pounds. Unfortuneately every cafe we found was closed because it was sunday. Apparently the only things brits do on sundays is go to church and drink, or both at the same time. WE decided that we would try another option. We went back to the waterloo train station and ended up taking a train to Dover on thye coast. The cliffs in Dover were pristine and white. We evebn got a quick glimpse of the dover castle. It was a gamble that we would be able to catch a ferry, that we couldnt buy a ticket for, but we decided to make the gamble anyway. The ferry we took cost us 6 pounds with our eurail passes and we waited until 6 pm to take it. There were very few people on the ferry, but I have to say, it was quite nice, posh, ritzy, and very worth the price we paid for the ride. The ride was smooth and short. We spent most of the time finishing journals and snacking, since we missed dinner. When we got on the ferry, we had expected to spend the night in the train station in Calais, as we would get there after the last train to Paris. When we got off the train, we walked out of the station and found that the buses had stopped running.

As we were running through our options and coming to the conclusion that we would need a taxi, one pulled up right in front of us. The driver looked decidedly like Mr Clean and he asked if we needed a ride. We said Oui and he helped us with our bags. When we all had climbed in, he asked us where we were headed, we said Paris. The guy knew that the last train out of the main station had left and asked us what we were doing, we said sleeping in the station. The taxi driver would not have that. He used his mobile phone to check things and ended up, with our permission, driving us to a beautiflu rural train station outside of Calais that had a train going to Paris. Thanks to the cabdriver, who was well tipped, we got on the train to paris, having to spend an extra 22 euro for the first class on top of the eurail.

We made it to Paris, got off the train and took a series of metros in order to get into our very small flat near the embassy quarter. But we did, indeed make it to Paris.

London goodbye

Its funny, I have been here 5 days and I really have very little to say about my experiences. I saw the things I needed including Big Ben, the tower of London and the tower bridge. We walked by the Globe Theatre and when to Covett Garden and the main parks of the city. We went shopping in Camden town and went to a pub for cider. As far as my experiences go, London was fun, but its not on my top ten.

I suppose I am an little jaded from all the places i have been, but the red phone booths and double decker buses just dont make the cake for me. The city seems pretty loud and the lack of public rubbish bins makes the city messier than it needs to be.

Some up- If i were to come back to England I would spend most of my time outside of the city, maybe go to Kent and visit Stonehenge, or Cornwall. Though, I must say, being in an English speaking country where they dont look confused when you ask for tap water was a very good thing.

The circus

We walked around today, ate real English lunch and spent the afternoon at Harrods, the department store with the oddest of reputations. It is said if you order anything, they will serve it to you, including elephant meat...atleast back in the day. We then walked around the ritzy, or posh areas of town and through the picadilly circus.

Best Loo in London

I spent last night on the floor of a womens correctional facility jail cell.

We are in London now and its normal every day rainy weather. We left Bacharachf early, as i stated yesterday and then spent the afternoon in the city of koln, or Cologne, yes, like the scent. We wandered through the shopping districts and climbed the 509 steps up one of the towers of the tall gothic cathedral. We ate our last german dinner there and i had half a rottiserie chicken from one of the country's fast food restaurants. It was delicious. We took the train in to the Koln airport and then flew to Chatwick outside of the main part of London. We got in at about 11 local time and met up with Theresa at the train station.

As i stated earlier, I spent last night on the floor of a womens correctional facility jail cell. Or atleast it was one. The Metropolitan University of London has taken over the facility and made dorm rooms out of the old buildings. Mary's Friend Theresa has kindly let us stay here, in her room, free of charge. Which is a good thing youth hostels even, in london are expensive and the considering pound exchanges for $1.98. We walked a around the city today and saw the eye of london and Big Ben, we were going to the palace, but then it started to rain. Tonight we might watch a movie and eat at home, nice and cheap.

Im Dürstey

Im sorry about not posting any news, but we spent the past four days in a little village along the Rhein River. Its called Bacharach, and there was one internet cafe, with one computer in it. It actually was the elementary schools computer that you could pay 50 cents every 15 minutes to use. In the town of Bacharach, i felt like i was in fairytale-land. The town is nestled at the bottom of a large hill. The hills are covered with vineyards planted vertically down there nearly 80 degree slopes. At the top of the hill sits an old castle. The castle is now used as a youth hostel, but we were told that last time students from CalPOly stayed there, they were crying at Astrids door the next day. So we stayed at a B and B call Pension Im Malerwintel. The inn sat at the end of a path with one of the walls part of the old city wall. The architectural style was all original half wood houses. And with the landscaping it seemed as though we were staying in some Disnez concoction of Salvang mixed with Hobiton. But I loved it. The buidings were crooked and the churches were tall. One of them sat just below the castle and was bombed in a war in the 1800s. The ruins still sit as they did a century ago. As part of our stay, we took a boat ride down the Rhein. WE were on the boat from 10 to 6 and saw many, many castles along the waz. We passed by the Loreley Rock, that the old man told us about way back in Munich, and saw some Roman churches. We got off the boat to take a tour of the Castle of Marksburg. It is considered one of the best preserved castles in Germany and also houses the German historical castle council. Two families still live in part of the church today and have to walk up the tall hill to bring in their groceries as there is no road. Apparently there usedto be a road of sorts, as the gates were built tall enough for a mounted knight to run through. We got to see the armoury, not that any of it was original, and the stables which were used as a torture chamber in the 1800s when the castle served as a prison. Its a little funnz how much the families spent to fortify the castle, they were prepared with cannons and archeryu windows, but were never attacked, one reason the castle still stands as it did.

When we got off the boat, our Anna was there waiting for us. She was ready to play hookey from school so that she could spend thenext couple of days with us. We had an enjoyable German dinner that night.

Yesterday we did very little, as Astrid was checking peoples journalling progress, so Mary and i climbed one of the towers on the hills. We sat up at the tower and sketched both the ruins of the chapel and the castle. We later came back with the rest of the class so that they too could enjoy the view we found. For dinner we went to a small restaurant where I ordered my first full meal of German Mountain Trout. It was delicious and I ate it with a glass of local Reisling (medium dry) from a bottle that Astrid ordered for our table of four. After dinner we went to pack our things and met up with most of the class at the only pub in town. We spent a couple hours just talking and anna taught me a german drinking song, but Im not sure i was being true to the song, as i only had one drink. But anyhow. Viva Colognia!

Sniping Sycamores

Last night we went to a discotek with Astrids cousin Meriam. The club was put inside an old factory building along media island and the interior was quite en vogue, with videos projects on every wall balconies and a floating dancehall. The music was interesting as alot of it was pink floydesque, but techno. In the dance hall they played music like Prince and dance songs from the 70s like Im coming out. There were a few more umm...recent songs played. It was incredibly warm in there, even though the airconditioning was running. I had alot of fun with most of my classmates. We stayed out...cough..cough...pretty late, but Meriam gave me Jackie and Mary a ride home, so we were ok.

This morning we woke up tired, and early to head to the train station for a day trip to Schloss Dyck outside of Düsseldorf. We caught a train that took one 1/2 hour, then a 40 min bus follwed by a 20 min bus in the countryside. It was cold, and windy. There were deep gray clouds in the sky, along with leaves flying through the air. Astrid and her cousin met us at the gate. As the bus left, they informed us that the park was closed because of the high winds. Apparently even Germany doesnt want people crushed by a falling tree. We spent some time walking around the area that we were allowed. Astrid wanted us to walk around. Though most people went inside one of the shops, I walked along the paths in the wind. I sat down to draw a view of a modern garden i could see from my perch, only to hear a horrendous splintering. Ok, well, a loud one. A branch fell off of the sycamore tree i was sitting near. The wind was picking up more, so finally, i decided that it would in fact be a good idea to go inside.

Inside the shop they sold apples, honey, juice and other things that smell like fruit farm in the fall (odd considering its spring). I ended up buying a bottle of apple cider and dried apple slices. Mike Hee bought a bottle of Rhubarb juice, and finding it much NOT to his liking let me finish it off. Yum! But wow was it sweet and sour at the same time. We spent a little while longer in the shop waiting for the wind to die down and for our bus to arrive. As we sat on the bench, for a reason unknown, or maybe the harmonica someone had, someone started singing childrens songs like the wheels on the bus, im bringing home a baby bumble bee, and itsy bitsy spider. Its kind of odd, i know, but I guess it helped to warm us up and to pass the time.

Tonight, i was hoping to meet up with a Cal Poly friend Kristin Johnson who is studying her masters here, but that might not work out. We plan to spend the evening with the rest of the class playing cards and singing along with Jeff on the guitar...maybe.

Tommorrow we will head off to Bacharach on the Rhein. It is near the infamous vineyard area.

The Next Generation

So, we went to the city of Duisburg today. It is an industrial city that is trying very hard to become metropolitan. We visited the public park that we have studied in the past, especially in our reuse areas. The Landschaftspark, or lanscape park in Duisburg was constructed out of the old iron and steel mill. It was shut down in 1985 and now sits as a public park for the people of Duisburg.
The original pieces of the mill still stand, and even one is open to explore. There are many different uses found in the site including indoor soccer, concert halls, gardens, playgrounds and rock climbing walls. One of the features they installed to be more green is a giant windmill. It was supposed to aerate the water that is runoff from the rest of the site so that it doesnt go stagnant, but as our tour guide stated Germans like to go big. The windmill is the largest of its kind in the world and took wind too fast. It is broken now, the fin is pushed aside, and the water in the unmoving manmade river below it lies stagnant....oops. It was raining while we were there and the wind from the top of the blasting furnace made it sway in the wind when we were 5 meters in the air on top of it. Oh, also, there is an IKEA that was built on the site where the soil is toxic as if to say "good luck next generation"

Its Springtime for Laura in Germany

Ok, so, I guess you could say that I was more tired than I thought the other day when i wrote, I didn't even know the name of the city i was in. We are currently in Düsseldorf. I guess since I hadnt heard of either of these places before we came to this country, I automatically made them into one. The city sits on the Rhein river and is pretty close to the Netherlands.

Yeah, so the rainy weather of Germany continues, and it is pretty cold.

For class yesterday we met Astrid for a walking tour of the city. Her cousin, who is studying to be an attorney walked the whole day with us. We saw the Frank Gehry buildings along the port and walked under the tower. The river is a big part of the city here, as is shopping. There are 7 bridges that cross the Rhein as it wraps around the city, each unique in its own right. We stopped for lunch at a Pub that Astrid has gone to since she was young. Mary and I split an order of ribs, and it was atleast 3 slabs. Mike Hee, on the direction of Astrid ordered a Pork Leg. It waas huge. He ate alot of the meat, then handed the rest around for people to get a sample of the incredibly dilectable meat. I have some great pictures of him holding the bone as he tears off meat. The funny thing is, the best part, according to some was the skin. I did not have any, but then, I dont think that I am a fan of boar hair in my diet. After we were set free we went to do a little shopping. I bought a jacket, for the weather for only 15 euro, and a pair of shoes to replace my poor spoiled and soiled merrell's. After we explored the city a little bit, we met up with most of the rest of the class to go out for Mike Samarippa's birthday. Before we went to dinner, we all met up at their hotel. We had a getogether in Mikes room, where Jeff sang him a song (written especially for Mike)on his newly purchased mini guitar. It also started to storm, pour and little bits of ice fell from the sky. Though "the sun will come out tomorrow", it did not come out yesterday. We walked in the pouring rain to the Hauptbanhof, or train station, only to find the tram would have been faster. We then walked through the downpour again to the tram and finally found the restaurant. All 14 of us sat down together and enjoyed a meal served by very nice people. The food was probably the best Thai I have ever had. For Mikes birthday, the restaurant gave him a slice of Cake, a free cocktail and a bottle of wine in a wine cozy. Though it had not rained since we got to the restaurant, Murphy's says it would start raining when we left. Which it did. It downright poured actually, and the thunder and lightning started up again anew.The tram we had to catch was the last one of the evening and we saw it at the station about a block ahead of us. I must say if I were the tram driver and I saw 14 people sprinting in the rain towards in the deep dark, of a stormy night, I would have driven off too. Oh well, we ended up walking back to the hotel and said good night to the rest of our group and headed home to do sit ups, take showers and go to bed.

This morning we met at the tallest building in the city, the media tower. We were given a tour by a native architect, and her boyfriend, a retired german professor from New Jersey. It was informative, but incredibly dry considering it was raining the whole of class. We were given the afternoon to explore the area, or go to museums. We chose the Picasso museum in the city. I never realised what a primiscuous man he was, nor how many children he had with as many women. Butanyway, his works were pretty neat too, though most of it was work from late in his life. My two favorites, La Guitarista, and Guernica were not there, not that I expected them to be. I got some good sketches of both the work, and the children who were field tripping to the museum. After the museum, we broke up to work on projects and mary and i worked on a transect of the streets in the city. We focused on the pedestrain, tram, bicycle and vehicular traffic through three different streets.

Oh, yeah, its still raining and has been all day.

Tomorrow we are going to Dusburg Nord.

A little place by the Rhein

Ok, so we made it to Bacharach. We havent really seem too much of it because we got in from the train after three, then took a bus to our hotel. After the four of us got settled into our 3 bed room, we went to the laundromat and sat and worked on our homework while our laundry was running. I must say, it will be good to have stiff jeans to put on in the morning. We went to have a light dinner. Mary and I split a small pizza and a bowl of French Onion Soup. Btw, you can tell we are nearing France, as the display style in the food is prominent. Hopefully tonight will be an early night, but I do still have some work I want to get done before tomorrow.

Ohh, hes so Cute!

This morning we went to Berlin Zoo. It was a wonderful day. The zoo sits in the Tier Garten and is surrounded by city buildings on three sides. I have to give them kudos, Berlins zoo really tried to entertain you while you were in the zoo, as opposed to the education factor. The zoo seemed almost like a park because of the old trees that cover all the paths. It was good to see so many animal bablies too. That must mean the animals are happy.:)The best part of the trip was Knut. For those of you who dont know, the baby polar bear Knut has been the topic of animal rights activists of late. His mother decided to stop caring for him while in the zoo, so the keepers took over the care. The crazy activists said that this was wrong and that the keepers should have let him die. Anyway, the word spread and Knut (Newt) is now a famous little man. We spent 1/2 hour waiting in line to see him, but it was really worth it. The keepers took him out for exercise and would play with him like his mother would, teaching him balance, play and pouncing. It was really adorable to see as he is the size of an extremely fat dalmation. After we were ushered away for the next group we walked to see the full grown bears. Lets just say, the bears are very happy and there will be another young cub in the near future...cough...cough.

After the zoo we split up into seperate groups to work on our regional transect studies for Astrid. Mary and I did a comparison of Three places in the city, and their connection to the River Spree. We spent about 3 hours working on it, but got it all finished in time to meet the rest of the group at Potsdamer Platz.

It was incredible. We went to see the Blue Man Group and at half the price of the US. Yes, the self same ones as those in the Pentium Three Processor comercial from so long ago. The show was great, though we didnt understand some jokes, as they were in German. I was really appreciative of the fact that the show is about interaction with the audience. Well, that and drums, pipes and paint. I smiled the whole time. After the show we walked into the lobby and the band from the show was in there. They looked a little bummed, and I went up to them to thank them for an awesome show. They smiled, suprised that an American would be there and posed for a picture that I took of Andie. I stood around for a little longer and got a picture with one of the Blue Men. It was fun, and I recommend it to anyone, as long as you dont hate drums. ;)

Rose flavored gelato is delicious.

500 to 1

We technically were not supposed to have class today, it was scheduled as a museum day, but our tour guide the other day changed that. He offered us an opportunity we could not refuse. He opened up the citys building that contains a model of the entire city. The thing filled an entire room and was easily< 30 by 40 feet. The awesome thing about it was that all the building, about half, that were in wood were built in the last 15 years. It was what the man called a working model as they add to it everytime they put in another building.

After the tour we were released to go off an explore a museum for the day. We decided to go to the Bauhaus Archives, as we are students of architecture. It was pretty small, but I was really interested in the innovative design thoughts these people had way back in the 30s. I also found it funny, that their design style, which they hoped would be for the masses, is now found, quite frequently in you everydaz hospital waiting room. Yup, they were all about efficiency. I also liked the many photos of great danes that one of the students bred and sold to fund the school. After we skecthed for a while we walked to the museum island where we never actually went into a museum, though we did sit out on the lawn and sketch the Berlin Dome and the people that surround the other buildings.

We walked to dinner and ate pretty good Thai food, especially for the price. Tomorrow we will go to the zoo and spend the day finishing up projects for Astrid before we head to Düsseldorf on Tuesday.

Frederick looks a lot like George.

Ok, so the town of Potsdam has confirmed it. I like Berlin. Potsdam is a town...of 300,000 that is made up of very rich people. It was originally built by the dutch settlers in the 1700s, showing that germans immigrants were much more posh than America's. Anyway, we went to Frederick the Great's Palace in the city. Its a small castle that sits on a small lot....yeah...right. The castle is huge, long and accompanied by 3 others. They all sit on a lot of land that is about 720 acres...just a small backyard, right? We spent the day walking through the park and sketching the many arranged views of the tiered and english pastoral gardens. One thing I have to ask though, is...why have grass if it wont be sat on? I was annoyed that I got kicked off the grass while sketching by some overzealous wannabe bicycle CIA guy. One of the neat things about the park is a single windmill that sits next to the Oragery. Apparently it belonged to a miller who lived on the site before the castle was built. The man was able to convince Frederick to let him stay on the site, and his windmill still sits there today. I wish I could explain about the day, but how can someone explain the vast beauty of an expansive green real life painting?


Long Day, short Entry.

German thoughts so far

Ok, so I did not know what to expect from this northern country. But, if I did i would say it has thus far exceded my expectations. The people here are much nicer then any of them were in Italy and it is so much cleaner. I suppose as of the places we have been to I would most likely live here in Berlin. Though therre is an extreme surplus of designers here so i couldnt find a job. Its just that, though the city is extremely old, there are so many new and fascinating things to do here. New buildings to see.

The funny thing is how many people here think I am German. Many times when we walk into a store, or a new place as a group, people know we are american. When my friends go off alone, they know they are american. With me though, as long as I dont say anything but hallo, they think i am German and are incredibly nice to me. Maybe though, they just think I am some Finlander who doesnt speak the language, though I can live with that.

I guess I never paid enough attention in history class. I just never realised how much a part of the last 50 years of german history the US had a hand in. No wonder the country seems the least foreign to me.

Check point Charlie was cool, I got Brandon a postcard.

Gutten Tag

First let me say, anything i type in here will probably be severly incorrect in terms of the spelling. German is a difficult language to learn, but i am sure even more difficult to spell.

This morning we met early at the Reichstag, or Parliament house. We had to meet early so that we could get in before the crowds and to meet our tourguides of the day. The tour was done by a company found on guiding-architects.net that will give you an in depth tour of particluar european cities through the eyes of its designers. Anyway, we were given an introduction then headed inside the building to climb up the dome. Its quite a spectacular building that they have rebuilt. The dome is now made of glass with a double helix ramp to climb to the top and to give the structure extra support. In the middle of the floor of the dome you can see straight into the parliament room. Because of the distrust in the government in the past, the citizens now can sit above their government and watch what happens. The government is trying hard to be as transparent as possible and thez even sit in a room of glass, though it is bullet proof and 6 cm thick, you can still see what is happening. The area that we spent the day has all been constructed in the past 15 years and its amazing, even today the large number of cranes standing in the citys skyline.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the conversation about the swiss embassy. Apparently, the swiss embassy is the oldest standing structure in the german government area. It still stands because the custodian who worked there during the wat refused to take cover and would spend the night standing guard and putting out any fires that started in the building. Germany was not happy that switzerland had that building, and that land, so they tried to buy it. They tried protests, but switz. would not give in. Today, the embassy stands, tall proud, old and swiss.

We walked along the former path of the berlin wall and passed by some neat new buildings. One of them was really quite fantastic. If you looked inside, you saw that the floor was sunken in and quite shiny. If you backed up from the windows you would start to see the reflection of the river in the glass. You would then realise that the building was designed to look as though there were a swimming pool inside that the employees were walking across.

We went back to the Pariser Platz and went inside the Frank Gehry building. It was pretty neat I suppose, but the structure inside looked like a giant whale. Though I do hear its óne of the most famous buildings in germany. We also went in the art academy building and got to climb to the top and look over the plaza. As we were there, many police cars came by and helped people out of a limo. We learned later that it was infact members of the Finnish Parliament or something who were going to stay at the same hotel from which Michael Jackson hung out his baby. Anyway, it was really neat seeing the drastic changes in the space of such a short period of time.

We went to lunch at a mexican place called cancun. Mary and I shared a quesadilla and as a table we split nachos. I was glad to find that the nachos actually had cheese on them this time. It was good food, and less than 4 euro after the split.

We met up at Checkpoint Charlie. Some of us took a curcuituous path to get there and ended up walking by an outdoor museum of the wall. We then headed to the Jewish Museum and I spent the rest of the afternoon getting basically depressed from the experience, but what else would you expect. There was one room in particular that moved me. It had a steel floor that was covered entirely in 2 inch thick steel faces. The designer made it so that when you walked across it, it was as though you heard chains moving, people falling. It was completely experiential and hard to make one understand when they havent been there.

We then went back to our area of town and got pizza at the place next to our hostel. Its good food and cheap, at 2.50 for a personal pizza. Tomorrow, we will go to Potsdam and spend the day in the southern area of Berlin.

Spree

Ok, so, I cant type much as i am supposed to meet people here soon. I am in Berlin and we made it safely on the train overnight. We got to our hostel which is right across from the train station and napped and walked around our part of the city for the day.
For class this morning we went to the Brandenburg Gate. It was integrated into the former Berlin wall. there are still pieces of the wall to be found in the city. After the Tor, we walked to the Holocaust Memorial that was built three years ago and brought in 10000 people per day. It covers an entire city block and is bascially a site of prisms set in a grid. Their heights vary, thereby makijng you feel small and alone when walking through it. The fact that some columns are sinking and leaning adds to the effect. The concrete that was pored has an anti spray paint glaze to keep off tagging. apparently the company that makes the stuff tested it on the prisoners in the holocaust so therefore donated all of it in atonement. we went to many other places and saw the TierGarten and other parks around it. We spent lunch time at the Sony Center, which is actually a beautiful building and apparently is amazing to see at night, I will find out later. At the end of the afternoon we went on a boat ride through the city on the Spree. Its amazing to see all the architectural modifications the city has done in the short time since reunification. Astrid said there are parts of the city that she doesn't recognize from just 4 years ago. The ride was fun and calming after all the walking of the day.
Sorry for the short post, maybe i will add more tomorrow.