I have a little less than 2 weeks before I go back home to San Francisco. It's been a crazy journey this past month and a half as I've traveled all over the place. Here's a quick run-down:
Things I'm glad to have experienced:
* Traveled to many places in Switzerland, Germany and France. England is going to be the last stop.
* Learned a lot about the world of Human Rights from an idealist and a realistic perspective.
* Met people from all over the world. Now, I have friends in the Philippines, Cote D'ivoire, Costa Rica and even Georgia (the country, not the state!).
* Eaten some really amazing pastries. HAHA
* Weird European keyboards. :shrug:
* Gotten challenged to step out of my comfort zone more than ever and to reexamine myself and my life from a more global perspective.
Things I miss from home:
* My bed.
* My family
* Asian food.
* My friends.
I'm off to Paris tomorrow to meet Joanna. I'm really looking forward to spending time with a familiar face and good friend from home. I promise to have pictures up soon. Hope you all are well!
July 27, 2008
July 21, 2008
European Adventures Day 43
So this past weekend, we went on a wine tour of Alsace (the region that Strasbourg is located in). The drive was beautiful with views of fields, castles and small towns along the way. We hit several small towns with Colmar being the largest of them.
Side story: So my friend gave me a 4GB SD card for my camera and I switched to that for this weekend. However, when I came home, I realized that the card does NOT work on any of the things I've tried (transfer cable from camera, SD drives in computers, a flash drive for SD cards...). So I cannot get my pictures off of the card. :( I'm really sad but hopefully it'll work when I get home and get to use my own cord for my camera. So I'm sorry for the lack of pictures for this post.
All the towns were very distinctively "Alsacian" with a unique sense of architecture and, of course, with many wine tasting opportunities. Here's a sample:
I promise that it really does look like that. (My friend Alyssa took that.)
It'll keep it short since there are no visuals but just know that I came away with two small bottles of wine and a better appreciation of the Alsace region of France. It was lots of fun to wander and explore these towns with new friends and admire the very old (think from the 1500s) buildings that have been kept in pristine condition. I'll try to update this with more pictures later ;).
Side story: So my friend gave me a 4GB SD card for my camera and I switched to that for this weekend. However, when I came home, I realized that the card does NOT work on any of the things I've tried (transfer cable from camera, SD drives in computers, a flash drive for SD cards...). So I cannot get my pictures off of the card. :( I'm really sad but hopefully it'll work when I get home and get to use my own cord for my camera. So I'm sorry for the lack of pictures for this post.
All the towns were very distinctively "Alsacian" with a unique sense of architecture and, of course, with many wine tasting opportunities. Here's a sample:
I promise that it really does look like that. (My friend Alyssa took that.)
It'll keep it short since there are no visuals but just know that I came away with two small bottles of wine and a better appreciation of the Alsace region of France. It was lots of fun to wander and explore these towns with new friends and admire the very old (think from the 1500s) buildings that have been kept in pristine condition. I'll try to update this with more pictures later ;).
July 15, 2008
European Adventures Day 36
This weekend, someone came up with the brilliant idea to rent cars and drive to some small towns in Germany’s black forest (it was only about 1 ½ hour away). We got two cars at the train station and set off on our adventure. The first town we hit was Freiburg which had a cool little farmer’s market deal going on at the town center. We walked around a bit, grabbed some sausage sandwiches and admired the goods on sale.
This is one of several flower stands. They all had gorgeous flowers and I really wanted to buy some but of course they wouldn’t keep for the journey ahead.
We then headed out again after a quick Starbucks stop (the first for everyone since being in Europe) and made our way to a small town named St. Margen. We found a small path that was recommended by Rick Steves and headed into the forest.
Definitely surrounded by green everywhere.
Along the path into the forest, we saw fields where there were just cows everywhere. In the background is the little town of St. Margen.
We hiked for about an hour and a half and soaked in the natural surroundings. Before we left, we all took a picture with the German cow in town. There was a lady parked right behind it while we were taking pictures and laughing at the way we posed.
It says something about milk. Hahaha
We made our last stop the town of Triburg, which is known for its cuckoo clocks. They were indeed everywhere.
Here’s one of several stores that boasted “1000 clocks”. The bears actually moved and the one on the right climbed up and down that pole.
Not too far away from the store and row of shops was the “Wasserfall” which is supposedly Germany’s tallest. See for yourself.
What do you think?
We grabbed some dinner in Triburg and had a good time just chatting around the table. Afterwards, we hopped back into the cars and headed back to Strasbourg. It was a nice day trip out of the city and some quality time with people. :)
This is one of several flower stands. They all had gorgeous flowers and I really wanted to buy some but of course they wouldn’t keep for the journey ahead.
We then headed out again after a quick Starbucks stop (the first for everyone since being in Europe) and made our way to a small town named St. Margen. We found a small path that was recommended by Rick Steves and headed into the forest.
Definitely surrounded by green everywhere.
Along the path into the forest, we saw fields where there were just cows everywhere. In the background is the little town of St. Margen.
We hiked for about an hour and a half and soaked in the natural surroundings. Before we left, we all took a picture with the German cow in town. There was a lady parked right behind it while we were taking pictures and laughing at the way we posed.
It says something about milk. Hahaha
We made our last stop the town of Triburg, which is known for its cuckoo clocks. They were indeed everywhere.
Here’s one of several stores that boasted “1000 clocks”. The bears actually moved and the one on the right climbed up and down that pole.
Not too far away from the store and row of shops was the “Wasserfall” which is supposedly Germany’s tallest. See for yourself.
What do you think?
We grabbed some dinner in Triburg and had a good time just chatting around the table. Afterwards, we hopped back into the cars and headed back to Strasbourg. It was a nice day trip out of the city and some quality time with people. :)
July 10, 2008
European Adventures Day 30
Day 3:
Flo’s maternal grandmother, aunt and uncle came to visit today so his parents had a large breakfast for everyone. It was 8 people for breakfast since one of Flo’s sisters was home too. It was really nice to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in their beautiful sunroom opening into the garden. And it was definitely a nice spread complete with the traditional Bavarian white sausage “Weisswurst”, sweet Bavarian mustard and a pretzel. It’s supposed to be eaten with a liter of beer but I politely turned it down this time. Hahaha It was too much beer in one weekend for a me who normally barely drinks several a year. But it was definitely very sweet of Flo’s mom to prepare it.
This is a photo of me with Florian’s family (he’s in orange) with his aunt missing since she was taking the picture.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Munich. Not only was the weather very nice for my visit and I got to experience a lot of the city but I had a great personal tour guide with a very sweet family. (Thank you again Flo if you’re reading this!!). His relatives were very friendly and easy to talk to. They kept telling me that San Francisco was the most beautiful city in the States, which I cannot disagree with, and his mom was especially sweet. It left me a great impression of Germany and more specifically of Munich and the Bavarian people. They just seemed so warm, enthusiastic and helpful. I truly believe that Munich is a city I would love to visit again and for sure, one of my favorites so far. It was a great weekend.
Flo’s maternal grandmother, aunt and uncle came to visit today so his parents had a large breakfast for everyone. It was 8 people for breakfast since one of Flo’s sisters was home too. It was really nice to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in their beautiful sunroom opening into the garden. And it was definitely a nice spread complete with the traditional Bavarian white sausage “Weisswurst”, sweet Bavarian mustard and a pretzel. It’s supposed to be eaten with a liter of beer but I politely turned it down this time. Hahaha It was too much beer in one weekend for a me who normally barely drinks several a year. But it was definitely very sweet of Flo’s mom to prepare it.
This is a photo of me with Florian’s family (he’s in orange) with his aunt missing since she was taking the picture.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Munich. Not only was the weather very nice for my visit and I got to experience a lot of the city but I had a great personal tour guide with a very sweet family. (Thank you again Flo if you’re reading this!!). His relatives were very friendly and easy to talk to. They kept telling me that San Francisco was the most beautiful city in the States, which I cannot disagree with, and his mom was especially sweet. It left me a great impression of Germany and more specifically of Munich and the Bavarian people. They just seemed so warm, enthusiastic and helpful. I truly believe that Munich is a city I would love to visit again and for sure, one of my favorites so far. It was a great weekend.
July 8, 2008
European Adventures Day 29
Day 2:
We woke up a bit late as we got home from the university party late but after some breakfast (which consistent of warm buns with cream cheese, salami, and nutella. hehe), we headed out to the town of Dachau where there existed one of the first concentration camps that the Nazi’s built. As millions of people can tell you, the world was horrified by the extermination of the Jews carried out by Hitler and his Nazis during WWII. We’ve all studied the horrible situation at some point in school and for me, it was a subject I was really interested in starting at a young age. So, it was definitely sobering to go to Dachau and see the camp first hand. The original site had been torn down after the Americans freed it in 1945 but they rebuilt two of the barracks as examples of camp life and turned the main hall into a museum for visitors. It now exists as a memorial to those who lived, suffered and died there.
This is the entrance to the camp. The words on the door say: “To work is to be free” and was the motto that was displayed at all the concentration camps. Note the irony.
The death rate grew too high for the camp in the mid-1930s and they had to build a larger crematorium to handle the bodies. Each of these fit 2-3 bodies at once.
It’s hard to imagine that this tree-lined, gravel path was once the gathering place for the Jewish prisoners where they exchanged information and news during their rare free time. The two buildings are the recreated barracks and the rest are marked with numbers and gravel-filled foundations. Dachau had up to 40,000 people at any given time over a period of 12 years. It’s very sobering to realize that such a serene place now was once a terrible place of death and torture. Visiting the camp really reinforced my desire to help ensure that the motto on a memorial that the motto: “Never again.” is true.
After several hours at Dachau, Florian and I decided to head back into Munich for some more light-hearted excursions. We were hungry so we went to the most famous Biergarten in Munich, the one inside the English Garden called Biergarten Chinesischer Turm. It was a very nice and warm Saturday afternoon so the Biergarten was full of people hanging out under the trees and having beer and lunch.
This is a picture of the crowd. In the middle is the Chinese pagoda that marks the Biergarten Chinesischer Turm. Among the people, there were several bachelor parties going on. The men were clearly drunk and every so often would burst into German folk songs at the top of their lungs, accompanied by pounding on the table. Several of them were also dressed up as a giant pink bunny (groom) and some sort of king (friend?), and went around the tables selling roses to people. I was laughing the whole time. It was a lot of fun.
And this is what we had: Me the pork knuckle and beer mixed with lemonade and Flo the ribs and a liter of normal beer. Not pictured is a plate of tomatoes and mozzarella. Hahaha
After lunch we took a walk around the lake where there were tons of people out on rowboats and paddleboats. It actually reminded me a lot of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. After an hour walk or so, we took the subway to the most famous ice cream shop in Munich...the name of which I forgot (it starts with a S). haha It was only 80 euro cents for a scoop so I got two: scholade-mint and terr
It was still early, so Flo suggested we go see the Olympic stadium. He told me that Munich is trying to bid for the winter games in 2014 because it wants to be the first city to have hosted both the summer and winter games.
Side note: This is one of the stops along the subway ride. It was really cool b/c these silver points came out from the wall of the station and created a cool background. There were also other cool stations: one had a multi-colored wall; another was a rock wall that had blue lighting hitting it and these huge colored lamps (red and yellow) hanging in the middle of the platform. I really like the subway system in Munich: it’s clean, on top and very efficient.
So this is the Olympic lake, Swimhalle (yes, German for Swim Hall), and the Olympic tower of the 1972 Munich games. (I’m pretty proud of this picture by the way). The building to the right of the tower shaped like an engine is the BMW headquarters in Munich. Cool huh?
As you can see, it was getting late so we just headed home and called it a night. More on the last day later. :)
We woke up a bit late as we got home from the university party late but after some breakfast (which consistent of warm buns with cream cheese, salami, and nutella. hehe), we headed out to the town of Dachau where there existed one of the first concentration camps that the Nazi’s built. As millions of people can tell you, the world was horrified by the extermination of the Jews carried out by Hitler and his Nazis during WWII. We’ve all studied the horrible situation at some point in school and for me, it was a subject I was really interested in starting at a young age. So, it was definitely sobering to go to Dachau and see the camp first hand. The original site had been torn down after the Americans freed it in 1945 but they rebuilt two of the barracks as examples of camp life and turned the main hall into a museum for visitors. It now exists as a memorial to those who lived, suffered and died there.
This is the entrance to the camp. The words on the door say: “To work is to be free” and was the motto that was displayed at all the concentration camps. Note the irony.
The death rate grew too high for the camp in the mid-1930s and they had to build a larger crematorium to handle the bodies. Each of these fit 2-3 bodies at once.
It’s hard to imagine that this tree-lined, gravel path was once the gathering place for the Jewish prisoners where they exchanged information and news during their rare free time. The two buildings are the recreated barracks and the rest are marked with numbers and gravel-filled foundations. Dachau had up to 40,000 people at any given time over a period of 12 years. It’s very sobering to realize that such a serene place now was once a terrible place of death and torture. Visiting the camp really reinforced my desire to help ensure that the motto on a memorial that the motto: “Never again.” is true.
After several hours at Dachau, Florian and I decided to head back into Munich for some more light-hearted excursions. We were hungry so we went to the most famous Biergarten in Munich, the one inside the English Garden called Biergarten Chinesischer Turm. It was a very nice and warm Saturday afternoon so the Biergarten was full of people hanging out under the trees and having beer and lunch.
This is a picture of the crowd. In the middle is the Chinese pagoda that marks the Biergarten Chinesischer Turm. Among the people, there were several bachelor parties going on. The men were clearly drunk and every so often would burst into German folk songs at the top of their lungs, accompanied by pounding on the table. Several of them were also dressed up as a giant pink bunny (groom) and some sort of king (friend?), and went around the tables selling roses to people. I was laughing the whole time. It was a lot of fun.
And this is what we had: Me the pork knuckle and beer mixed with lemonade and Flo the ribs and a liter of normal beer. Not pictured is a plate of tomatoes and mozzarella. Hahaha
After lunch we took a walk around the lake where there were tons of people out on rowboats and paddleboats. It actually reminded me a lot of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. After an hour walk or so, we took the subway to the most famous ice cream shop in Munich...the name of which I forgot (it starts with a S). haha It was only 80 euro cents for a scoop so I got two: scholade-mint and terr
It was still early, so Flo suggested we go see the Olympic stadium. He told me that Munich is trying to bid for the winter games in 2014 because it wants to be the first city to have hosted both the summer and winter games.
Side note: This is one of the stops along the subway ride. It was really cool b/c these silver points came out from the wall of the station and created a cool background. There were also other cool stations: one had a multi-colored wall; another was a rock wall that had blue lighting hitting it and these huge colored lamps (red and yellow) hanging in the middle of the platform. I really like the subway system in Munich: it’s clean, on top and very efficient.
So this is the Olympic lake, Swimhalle (yes, German for Swim Hall), and the Olympic tower of the 1972 Munich games. (I’m pretty proud of this picture by the way). The building to the right of the tower shaped like an engine is the BMW headquarters in Munich. Cool huh?
As you can see, it was getting late so we just headed home and called it a night. More on the last day later. :)
July 7, 2008
European Adventures Day 28
Hallo! This weekend I went to visit my friend Florian from USF in Munich, his hometown. It was a 3 ½ hour train ride from Strasbourg. It's was a really packed weekend so it will be several posts.
Day 1:
After a little bit of a mix-up on the times at the train station, I met him at 2:00pm where he greeted me with a hug and an offer for a genuine Bavarian lunch. And if you know me, I never turn down an offer for food...especially genuine local cuisine.
On the way to the lunch place, we saw the Bavarian district courthouse and being the law nerd that I am, I went in. This is the outside.
A few blocks further, we stopped at the restaurant near the botanical gardens and had some genuine Schnitzel. (Please correct me on the spelling if you can.)
It was a beautiful sight for sore eyes after almost 5 hours without food. And it was definitely yummy fried goodness.
We then walked around the city center where the shops and people were. This is City Hall. Flo said that the clock has figures dancing at several times of the day but we missed the times.
We walked to the top of the tower that was across the street from City Hall and at the top, this view greeted us. It was 360 degrees around but I didn’t get the rest of it. :( I have a video if you want to see it.
After that climb and a bit more walking around, Flo suggested we stop at the famous Schumann’s bar for some drinks. On the way there, we saw this: the Theatiner Kirche (aka. the big yellow church).
Just outside of it was a performance stage and it was being set up for the Bavarian Orchestra’s performance. It was even cooler at night with the lights but alas, we were rushing home so I didn’t get a photo of it at night. And if you were wondering, the drinks were delicious...I had something called the Freitag which was very appropriate as it means “Friday” in German.
We headed home after drinks so I could drop off my stuff. And then we headed back out into the city again b/c there was a huge university party going on. Apparently, it’s a yearly thing where the university opens up and the students throw this huge party for thousands of students. One courtyard sold the drinks and beer, another sold food, and several of the halls were turned into dance rooms with various genres of music. It was very crazy, crowded and lots of fun as I got to know some of Flo’s friends over beers and sausages. It was a great taste of student life in Munich. Makes me wonder why our schools don’t ever think to do something like that.
Danke and stay tuned for the next part.
Day 1:
After a little bit of a mix-up on the times at the train station, I met him at 2:00pm where he greeted me with a hug and an offer for a genuine Bavarian lunch. And if you know me, I never turn down an offer for food...especially genuine local cuisine.
On the way to the lunch place, we saw the Bavarian district courthouse and being the law nerd that I am, I went in. This is the outside.
A few blocks further, we stopped at the restaurant near the botanical gardens and had some genuine Schnitzel. (Please correct me on the spelling if you can.)
It was a beautiful sight for sore eyes after almost 5 hours without food. And it was definitely yummy fried goodness.
We then walked around the city center where the shops and people were. This is City Hall. Flo said that the clock has figures dancing at several times of the day but we missed the times.
We walked to the top of the tower that was across the street from City Hall and at the top, this view greeted us. It was 360 degrees around but I didn’t get the rest of it. :( I have a video if you want to see it.
After that climb and a bit more walking around, Flo suggested we stop at the famous Schumann’s bar for some drinks. On the way there, we saw this: the Theatiner Kirche (aka. the big yellow church).
Just outside of it was a performance stage and it was being set up for the Bavarian Orchestra’s performance. It was even cooler at night with the lights but alas, we were rushing home so I didn’t get a photo of it at night. And if you were wondering, the drinks were delicious...I had something called the Freitag which was very appropriate as it means “Friday” in German.
We headed home after drinks so I could drop off my stuff. And then we headed back out into the city again b/c there was a huge university party going on. Apparently, it’s a yearly thing where the university opens up and the students throw this huge party for thousands of students. One courtyard sold the drinks and beer, another sold food, and several of the halls were turned into dance rooms with various genres of music. It was very crazy, crowded and lots of fun as I got to know some of Flo’s friends over beers and sausages. It was a great taste of student life in Munich. Makes me wonder why our schools don’t ever think to do something like that.
Danke and stay tuned for the next part.
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