Berlin

So June is a jam packed month for me.

The first weekend of June was Stustaculum. The second weekend of June I was in Berlin. The third weekend of June I was in Oslo. The last weekend of June I am going to be in Prague. Rough life.

So this blog is about Berlin, as the title says. One day I am going to title a blog that has nothing to do with the contents just to mess with you guys.

Blake, Libby, and I took a trip to Berlin from June 11-14. It was originally supposed to be 8 of us, but a ton of people dropped out, but we were like whatever we are still going. We had all visited Berlin before, so we decided that it would basically just be a trip to take it easy and relax.

We got on an 1130 pm bus in Munich to Berlin Thursday night. We arrived in Berlin at 7 am. The ride actually wasn't bad because I just slept the whole time, with exception when we stopped at the rest stop around 3am, and I bought gummie bears and twix, and then proceeded to pass back out.

When we arrived we just went over to the Bundestag and Brandenburg Gate area and went in search for coffee. We found this nice little street cafe and just chilled and drank coffee. I also brought rum and spiked everyones' coffee at like 830 am. When in Berlin I guess.

This bird kept landing on my water and drinking out of it. Got a pretty cool action shot of him taking off

Bundestag

Brandenburg Gate

Checkpoint Charlie

A memorial outside the Bundestag

Some Berlin Wall stuff in a shopping mall

Berlin is famous for its mascot, the bear. You see him everywhere. Here he is inside the US embassy

The parking lot where Hitler had his bunker and committed suicide during the final days of the war

Riding the Berlin Ubahn

After coffee we walked around some more and ended up at Alexanderplatz. There was an African Festival happening there for some reason, which featured live music, dancing, african cuisine, and drinks. The weather was beautiful so we decided to just hang there. I got some sprite mixed with lime and vodka, which hit the spot on a hot day, and for food I got zebra, kangaroo, and samosa. The kangaroo and zebra came on a stick, like a kabob. It was actually delicious. Really well seasoned and the kangaroo was really tender. The zebra was really chewy, but oh well, it was still good.

Eating zebra or kangaroo

Some cool dishware at the African festival 

After this we ended up walking over to this place we were told about where you pay a couple euros and get to do a wine tasting and eat some pasta, soup, and bread. That was a good time and was delicious. Along the way, we ran into the Berlin wall memorial, which was cool because it was something I didn't get to see last time I was in Berlin and wanted to this time.

The Berlin Wall

The memorial to those killed trying to cross the wall

We also went to the Ampelmann store. The Ampelmann is the little green dude that is on the pedestrian crossing lights. So the guy that tells you if you can cross the street or not. He is really famous in Berlin because the one Berlin uses was used in east Berlin, and when the wall fell they continued to use him, also in west Berlin. So there is a little store completely dedicated to this guy and you can buy a ton of stuff in his form, for example, Libby bought him as a wine opener and wine cork.

Blake at the Ampelmann store

David Hasselhoff signed this wall. Has anyone figured out why the Germans love him so much yet?

The next day we went to an ice cream festival. It was really cool It was in an old Berlin factory with no roof and there were a ton of ice cream stands and even a pool and sand where people were eating, drinking, swimming, and tanning. It was an unexpected find, but definitely really cool.

The ice cream festival

After the festival we went to the Olympic Stadium, which housed the 1936 Olympic Games. If you can remember, the last time I was in Berlin I tried to go here, but got there too late so it was closed. This time though, it was not, so we got to go inside. It was pretty crazy to see. It is very big, and is actually pretty cool looking. They honored the Germans in all the games in the years past who won medals the building was grand. It was really neat. It also started pouring while we were there, one of the most insane storms that I have seen in an while, but thankfully the stadium has a glass covering over the seating now, so we were protected.

Olympic Stadium

Inside the stadium

The pool

The bell that was hanging in the Olympic Tower

Complete with a swastika

Names of the winners of different events during the 1936 Olympics. Jesse Owens was famous for being an African-American athlete who went to Berlin and stole at the show at an even supposed to demonstrate Aryan supremacy. You can see his name several times here

That night we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner and it was amazing. I had some lamb, and everyone was happy with their meal. We then met up with one of Libby's high school friends and got drinks and then went to a club. It was a really good time.

The next day we woke up and went to a brunch buffet. That is my jam. We had bread, yogurt, granola, cheeses,  eggs, bacon and coffee, all for only 9 bucks. I had like 3 plates and it was amazing. We then went to this place called Mustafa's, which is supposed to have the best Doener in Berlin. We each got one and it was definitely the best Doener I have had in Germany. Would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Berlin. You do have to wait in line for a while though since it is so famous, but it is worth it.

Mustafa's

The line for Mustafa's

By this time, we had to go to the bus station for out 5pm bus back to Munich. We arrived in Munich at midnight. The bus ride was fine again because I just slept. It was funny though because they played a Michael Jackson performance on the bus but there was no volume. So you are watching this dude dance his heart out but there is no music, so he just looks like an absolute maniac so it is hilarious.

So there we go. Spiked coffee to Michael Jackson. Berlin is a good time.

General Life and Stustaculum

So now time for a narrative on my general life in Munich lately.

I had forgot to write about this, because it was so long ago and so much has been happening, but Mr Levesque and Colby Roy were leading a class trip for the high school and they actually stopped in Munich, so I got to meet up with them, which was really cool. On a Monday I ran into them on Marienplatz and so Levesque and I went a grabbed a beer at Hofbräuhaus. The next night I took him to this thing called Frühlingsfest,which is basically just like Oktoberfest, only in April and smaller, and not as many tourists. Bayern Munich was playing in the Champions League Playoffs against Portugal, so we got to watch that game in the Augustiner tent, over beers, which was absolutely amazing. Bayern won 6-1 if I remember correctly, and the place was a mad house. It was so cool.

Some friends and I at Frühlingsfest

Left side front to back: Julia, Blake, Eva, Libby, Me

Right side front to back: Gabriel, Ben, Julissa, Allister, Cam

Cam and I are the only old JYMers in this photo, which I just noticed

So yea Frühlingsfest is a good time and it was cool seeing Levesque and Colby.

We have also been doing a lot of sitting around in the English Garden and tanning on the Eisbach, which is a part of the Isar. Basically people bring sports balls, frisbees, food, and beer and we just sit on the river and tan, swim, play, eat, and drink. It has been a lot of fun. I bought this blanket that is just a giant American flag, just to spite the Germans.

Dallas, me and Josh on the riverbank

In the river

Left to right: Libby, Me, Josh, Dallas, Blake, and Tim

As you can tell, you can just stand in the river. The current is also strong enough where you can just lay down in the water and float downstream and eventually get out again. It is a lot of fun and makes for a relaxing day.

The same weekend those photos were taken was this event called Stustaculum. Stustaculum is basically a big music festival that happens right in the courtyard of Studentenstadt, the apartment complex where I live. There is a main stage, with several other stages, tons of food, and of course beer. It lasts 4 days, Wednesday-Saturday, and is a really good time. You basically just sit around, eat drink, talk, and listen to music.

Flammkuchen. Basically a potato and bacon pizza

Entry bracelet to Stustaculum. We have to pay to enter despite the fact that we live here

Stustaculum and the main stage on the right. It was a popular event as you can see

Earlier in the year there was also a street festival on Ludwigstrasse, which stretched from Odeonsplatz to Münchner Freiheit, which is like 2.5km. So it was pretty big. There was music, food, beer, soccer, and all these organizations promoting their causes. It was pretty cool. I watched the soccer because it was super intense. 3 on 3 in a cage. It was awesome.

Soccer in the cage

A live stage

Bratwurst sandwich with mustard

French fries and ketchup. Side note, most of the time you get mayo with fries in Europe, and at first I refused to try it, but it is actually wicked good. Works well with salt, so I was actually disappointed that this place comes with ketchup. This kick of mine started in Brussels, which is known for its fries, where I ate the best fries of my life.

Steak, onion, and mustard sandwich. I went in on food at this event

So that is pretty much it for excitement in terms of general life in Munich lately. It has been a lot of fun. In early July I am taking a test that will give me a language certificate saying what level German I am, so that is cool.

The other day in class we did a beer tasting. We are taking a trip to Prague and you had to guess which beer was the Pilsner and which was the Bavarian beer. I got it right. I tasted the Bavarian beer and just thought "oh yea, that tastes like long nights and regrets" and immediately knew that was the Bavarian. I haven't really had Pilsners so that just tasted foreign.

Bavarian on the left, Pilsner on the right

The blind taste test

Also a couple weeks ago I came in my room, put down my groceries, stood back up and cranked my head of the corner of the door of my cabinet. It immediately started bleeding. A lot. It also stopped bleeding fast, which left me plenty of time to take a picture to freak some people out. It started bleeding so fast that I even had to clean blood up off my cabinets.

It looks bad but really wasn't. When you consider that I had time to stop and take a photo, you realize that it couldn't have been that bad.

Now time to write about some trips

Nick's Visit

So yea I went to Salzburg, see last blog. I think I just chilled between that. Went to this thing called Uni-Fest which was a great time. It was a massive club on an island in Munich, to which the students of the Munich Universities were invited, which comes to like 100,000 people. I have no idea how many people were actually there, but it was a ton. Definitely a night to remember.

Nick Gilbert came to visit me from May 20-27 (I think?) It was his first time in Europe, so that was exciting. The 20th was a Wednesday. That night we had to go to a JYM event that some JYMers had organized. Basically, since our program is through Wayne State University in Detroit, they thought it would be a good idea to get some Detroit artists (no one famous) to come to Munich and do stuff. The general consensus among JYMers is that this was not a good idea, and was a general waste of time. I personally don't care for artists or Detroit, but there was free beer, so we will call it a wash.

Thursday night we had to go to another one of these events, which included alright music and terrible poetry readings. For me the highlight was when one of the poets said "I'm gonna read a couple of poems, and then if the crowd wants I'll read 'We want our city back' after that" Two people out of the crowd of 50 went "Whoop" and she said "Ok, I will, by popular demand"

Since when is 2 people by popular demand? Imagine all the things that would go wrong with in the world if 2 people always meant "popular demand."

So I don't care for artists or Detroit, and this event didn't feature free beer, so we will not call that one a wash.

Sorry Nick.

If I remember correctly Nick and I went to the aircraft museum here in Munich Thursday during the day. It was't interesting. They didn't have any particularly fascinating/abnormal aircraft.

Friday was a good day. We went to Stuttgart, which you may remember from earlier blogs is the home of Porsche and Mercedes. Nick wanted to see them, and I have no problem with going back there because it was really cool and who hates looking at nice cars?

Me with the Porsche 918 Spyder. Fastest production car around the Nürburgring

License plate of the 918. Stuttgart, Nürburgring, 918

Written on the back of the 918. 6:57 lap time

Nick outside Mercedes

Inside Mercedes

This could have been useful in Maine this winter I hear

Nick with the 300 sl

Nick with the 918

Saturday we took a trip out to Obersalzburg and Berchtesgaden, Germany. If you are enthusiast (I hate that word) of World War II, then you will probably recognize these names as the old stomping grounds of Nazi big wigs. It is tucked away in the Alps, about 5 minutes from Austria and features some breathtaking views (so I hear). I wouldn't know because when we were there it was snowing and cloudy, on the 23 of May. Good times.

So we went out there to visit Hitler's Eagle's Nest, which a 50th birthday present to Hitler and features a gold elevator through the center of the mountain to arrive into the house.

Entry to the elevator tunnel

Built 1938

Tunnel with the elevator

The door to the elevator. No photos were allowed inside but it was all gold 

We couldn't get a tour of the house because we arrived too late, so we did not get to see much, with exception of a few rooms, one of which is now a restaurant, which we ate at. There is also some history about the building and the area.

The restaurant

Fireplace in the restaurant

Eaglesnest. 1834 Meters

A picture of the eagles nest. You can see how cloudy it was, so we didn't get the famous views the area is famous for, which was unfortunate. I plan to go back.

Nearby is a center that talks all about Obersalzburg and the Eagles Nest. A lot of top Nazis had houses here, including Hermann Göring. If you have seen Band of Brothers, you probably remember Winters seizing the house and letting Nixon go raid the wine cellar. Although the weather was bad, it was still really cool to be able to see. There is a huge underground bunker network underneath this center, which connects a bunch of the Nazi buildings and some of the houses. It was really cool to see and be able to walk through.

Bunker

Bunker

I don't know if this is original or not

Bunker

Bunker

Machine gun holes guarding a staircase

The receiving end of the machine guns

On Sunday we took a trip to Dachau and took a look there. Afterwards we went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. 

Monday we went to the Olympic Stadium, BMW World, and BMW Museum. Those are always cool to see. For dinner we went to Hofbrähaus and went back to Hard Rock for their delicious brownie sundae for dessert. 

Tuesday we got a plant tour of BMW, which was wicked cool. It lasted 2 hours and you walk through the factory and get to see them put together the car. Everything from metal stamping to interior installation, paint, and engine installation. It was really cool and an amazing operation. The robots they have in there are incredible. It was so cool to see. We went to Hard Rock for dinner because that place is amazing and if you say otherwise you're just a liar.

Wednesday he had to hop back on the plane. It was a really good time and it is always nice to see people from back home.