Bonn: The Gummy Bear Expedition

A couple weeks ago, Joseph informed me of the Haribo Gummy Bear Factory in Bonn. So, I googled it. I found a million and one reasons to go. There were yelp reviews, youtube videos, articles, and blog posts. With every single review and picture, I found a new reason to go. I couldn’t come to Germany and not go there. The internet won me over.

yelp review

So two weekends ago, a few of us traveled to Bonn, Germany for the sole reason of visiting the Haribo Factory Store, and it was a magical experience. I don’t think my writing could ever do the store any justice. It’s a good thing that pictures are worth a thousand words.

Bavaria Expedition: Bamberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber

When I first found out that I was spending my summer in Europe, I wanted to go everywhere. My last visit to Europe as an eight year old left me with limited memories and a whole lot of awkward family photos. Despite knowing that it was not feasible, I came to Germany wanting to travel all over Europe. After arriving in Germany, I realized that…Germany – there are so many beautiful cities to see in Germany. Since then, I’ve spent a good majority of my weekends exploring Germany.

The weekend after our Berlin trip, a few of us had decided to go on a “Bavaria Expedition.” After talking to a lot of my lab-mates about traveling within Germany, they had all suggested cities in Bavaria. We picked two cities: Bamberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Bamberg: It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz. Its historic city center is listed UNESCO world heritage site.

Our first stop was Bamberg. With my slight obsession for Venice, all I really wanted to see in Bamberg was Klein-Venediga, which is a colony of picturesque fishermen’s homes from the 19th century along one side of the river. A trip is not complete without going the wrong direction and/or getting lost for quite some time. In our attempts to find Klein-Venedig, we found a graffiti wall with some pretty interesting graffiti. But we did it – we found Klein-Venedig, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

“I’m free” – Bamberg Graffiti Wall

Klein-Venedig

We then visited the Bamberg Cathedral, which holds the tombs of emperor Henry II and Pope Clement II. I was very fascinated by the architecture of the cathedral. It was beautiful, like most cathedrals I’ve seen here, but it was different. Usually, I’m pretty decent at figuring out the style a building has been constructed in, but I was having a hard time trying to pin down a style for this one. Later, I looked it up and learned that due to the long construction process of this cathedral, several styles were used in different parts of the cathedral, in particular, Romanesque and Gothic.

Bamberg Cathedral

Heading back to the train station, we came across this little…antique bookstore. We initially went inside for postcards and other souvenirs, but towards the back of the store, we found a bookstore. It was a bookstore worth mentioning.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: It is a well-preserved medieval old town located in Franconia. From late Middles Ages to 1803, Rothenburg was a Free Imperial City.

Our next stop was Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Most of the people I had talked to around here told me to make sure that I went to Rothenburg for it’s historical importance and beauty. It was described to me as “Germany’s Fairy-Tale Town.” Our first destination was the Rothenburg Town Walls. We walked most of the way around the walls getting a good overview of the little town. Brief history lesson: During World War II, Rothenburg’s medieval town walls were destroyed and the mayor of the town asked for donations from town citizens and visitors to rebuild the wall to its former glory. The wall in its entirety, approx. 3 km long, is covered in plaques to honor people who made the donations.

Walking along the Rothenburg Town Walls

While walking along the Town Walls, we discovered the Spital Bastion. Disclaimer: I didn’t actually know what it was called until five seconds ago. Stepping into the bastion was like stepping back to a medieval time. It was a very elaborate tower/gate, and certainly had its mystical charm with wheeled canons.

After our little medieval adventure, we wandered around the town a little, going into random shops. We finally stopped for a traditional Franconian dinner. As wonderful as the food was, the service…not so much. We ended up having to wait over 40 minutes for the waiter to bring our check after asking him multiple times. While we were waiting, we went through my coin purse (a coin purse is very useful in Europe) to see if I had enough pennies to equal 1 EUR. Turns out, I did. So we left the restaurant an abundance of pennies.

We then stopped to get the famous Rotheburg Schneeballsb  before heading back to the train station.

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Translation of German words:
a. Little Venice
b. Snowballs

Berlin: Day Two

We woke up Sunday morning with the realization that we only had a couple hours left in Berlin and a long list of things to do. A few of us had decided to venture out to Berlin-Grunewald to visit the Grunewald forest. The Grunewald is a 3,000 hectares German forest.

Despite all the art and culture, Grunewald was my favorite thing about Berlin. We walked through the woods for a couple hours – it was relaxing; it was beautiful. I wanted to spend all day there, but alas, art calls.

Alex and I went back to the Museum Island. We couldn’t come to Berlin and not see the bust of Queen Nefertiti. On our way to the Neuesa Museum, we stopped by Berlin’s Art Market – it certainly lived up to my expectations of a good Art Market.

The Neues Museum is the epitome of neoclassical architecture. The building itself was breathtaking. The exhibits included Egyptian, Prehistory, and Early History collections. I went to the Neues Museum for two reasons: 1) the iconic bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, and 2) Berliner Goldhut.

Quick Art History lessons:
1) Nefertiti, literally meaning “the beautiful one has come,” was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Not only was Nefertiti one of the most important women of the ancient world, but also the icon of feminine beauty. Her bust is an icon of Ancient Egypt and is one of the most copied works in history. Approximately 100 years ago, her bust was discovered by a German archeological team, and since then has been kept at several locations in Germany. Along with being a symbol for Egypt, Nefertiti’s bust is now also a symbol for Berlin. Conclusion: Queen Nefertiti’s bust is a big deal.
2) Berlin’s Gold Hat is a Late Bronze Age artifact made of thin gold leaf. The hat served as the insignia of deities/priests in regards to the sun cult that was widespread in Central Europe around the time.

The exhibit for Queen Nefertiti’s bust was something most of us were very moved by. More than being captivated by this beautiful art piece that Alex and I had both studied in our respective Art History classes, we were more moved by the piece next to it. There was a replica of Nefertiti’s bust. Along with it, there was a description in Braille. They created a version of Nefertiti that you didn’t have to see – a version that you could touch, and feel her beauty just the same. The fact that someone thought about replicating Nefertiti’s head for blind people is…incredible. Art is about more than just seeing, it’s about feeling.

Berliner Goldhut

We left the Museum Island and we were on our way to meet up with everyone when I got a phone call from Melody and Joseph. “Come here. You have to see this,” they said. They refused to tell me what it was, other than, it was something that I must see. So we went to Melody and Joseph and they took me to a tower…OF RITTER CHOCOLATE. UT Austin’s Tower got nothin’ on a Ritter chocolate tower. Side note: they recorded my reaction.

After seeing that delicious tower and realizing there was nothing else I could see in Berlin that day that would beat a Ritter chocolate tower, we went to Checkpoint Charlie and then headed to the bus station. Six hours later, we were back in Würzburg.

Checkpoint Charlie

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Translation of German words:
a. New
b. Berlin Gold Hat

Berlin: Day One

Berlin. When you think of Germany, that’s usually the first city that crosses one’s mind. Everyone I talked to about Germany, said “make sure you go to Berlin.” Berlin, being an art hub, quickly moved to the top of my list of cities that I had to go to while in Germany.

So, we went to Berlin for two days. It was not enough. I was so tempted to buy another train ticket and stay there longer, even if it was only a couple more hours. If I could go back, I would go back.

We got there late Friday night, exhausted and starving. Berlin is a contender for best kebab in the world, and conveniently, there was a dönera place right next to our hostel. So after checking into our hostel, we got döner kebabs – delicious döner kebabs. They were, hands down, better than any döner kebab I’ve had in Würzburg. In our two days in Berlin, we went there at least three times. With the intentions of starting our Saturday early, we called it a night.

Good food, good company

For the eight of us, we had booked an 8 person room. However, there were ten beds. It’s not something we paid attention to. We just thought, “oh hey, we have two extra beds.” We woke up fairly early the next morning and while we were getting ready, two French guys walked in our room. They were confused about why we were up at 6 in the morning getting ready in their room. We were confused about why there were walking into our room at 6 in the morning. Turns out, we didn’t have two extra beds. They belonged to the French guys who came back after a long hard night of partying. They went to sleep. We went to explore.

Our first stop was the Berliner Mauerb. Ich bin ein Berliner!c

Next on our list? Museumsinseld. There were two museums in the Museum Island that had been on my “Berlin list” for the longest time – Pergamon Museum and Neues Museum. We first went to the Pergamon Museum, which is subdivided into three collections: Antikensammlunge, Museum für Islamische Kunstf, and Vorderasiatisches Museumg. Having learned about many of the pieces and the museum displays in the Pergamon Museum in my Art History classes, seeing them person single handedly made the entire Berlin trip worth it. Along with the Antiquity Collection (my favorites being: The Pergamon Altar, Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way, Babylon, and Market Gate of Miletus), I was just as excited about the Islamic Art Museum (main displays: Mshatta Facade, and Aleppo Room). This past semester, I took a class on Islamic Art and the Pergamon Museum contained many of the pieces and displays we had spent days discussing. I was one happy camper.

Ishtar Gate

Market Gate of Miletus

The Pergamon Altar

Mshatta facade

Aleppo Room

After lunch, the group split up. While at the Museum Island, I realized that Berlin had a Salvador Dalí Museum. I love Dalí. I had to go. So I did. Alex and I headed to the Salvador Dalí Museum. The exhibition was titled “Come Into My Brain,” and indeed, it was quite an insight into the surrealist mind of the artist himself. The exhibition included his sketchbooks, illustrated books, sculptures, coins, and three-dimensional installations. It was incredible. I repeat: It. Was. Incredible.

“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” – Salvador Dali

We then headed to the Berlinische Galerie – the museum of modern art, architecture, and photography. It was, however, a slight disappointment on the account of all the exhibits being under construction. So we wandered around the city a bit, and met up with everyone else at the Brandenburger Torh.

Brandenburger Tor

This was followed by döners over football. It does not matter where you are – when it’s time for football, it is time for football. Two relatively intense games later, we walked around Open-Air Gas Lantern Museum. We ended the night at Berlin’s Tiergarteni, lying in the grass and gazing at the stars/The Victory Column. It was a pretty perfect moment.

The Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten

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Translation of German words and/or notes:
a. Döner kebab is a Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The dish is also widely known by its Arabic name “shawarma” or the Greek name “gyros”.b. Berlin Wall
c. I am a Berliner
d. Museum Island
e. Antiquity Collection
f. Islamic Art Museum
g. The Middle East Museum
h. Brandenburger Gate
i. Berlin’s largest and most popular inner-city park

Football: A Religion

Growing up in a household where sports is a big deal, football has always been more than just a sport for me. However, I don’t think I ever realized just how much of a big deal it can be. Because of recent occurrences, I have come to the conclusion that football is a religion. At least, for most Germans.

I have learned that World Cup viewing parties are just as important as the World Cup itself. On Tuesday night, a group of us got together to watch the USA v. Belgium match and cheer for USA. I want to take a moment to talk about the USA team and their headers. USA team: use your feet, those headers ain’t working for you. Fun fact: USA’s goalkeeper made the most saves in a match in World Cup history. GO ‘MURICA.

USA v. Belgium viewing party

Accurate representation of all our personalities

My lab-mates had told me that it was very brave of me to support USA during the World Cup, and after USA lost 1-2, I walked into lab Wednesday morning ready to take whatever mockery they were going to hit me with. I went into lab around 9 AM which is usually when most grad students show up. With an exception of one grad student who is currently working on his thesis, no one else was there. We went into lab hoping the others would show up eventually, but until lunch time, it was just us two in the entire Technical Physics department. Every day after lunch, we all drink coffee together in the conference room but considering no one else had showed up, we just decided to have our after-lunch coffee in our office. I was sitting in my office, drinking coffee, and discussing the Germany v. France game with the grad student when three people I work with showed up.

Them: Numa. Why are you here?
Me: …to work? Why I’m at work?
Them: Yes. Why are you at work?
Me: To work. I’m at work to work.

They shook their head as if I had done something terribly wrong by showing up to work, pulled up chairs and sat down next to me. The only thought going on in my head at the time was, “was I fired?” Needless to say, I was freaking out. With a very stern expression on his face, one of the grad students reached into his backpack and pulled out shitty American beer for all of them. He said, “we’re on your side.” I was, of course, as confused as ever.

Them: It doesn’t matter that USA can’t play football. We’re on your side.

It took a good five minutes for me to register what was going on, and I started laughing uncontrollably. My laughter disappointed them. They spent the next 30 minutes explaining to me how football is more than just a game. Football is a lifestyle. Football is a religion. They told me that they were disappointed that in my month here, I haven’t learned that. They said that it doesn’t matter how much I learn about quantum dots or spectroscopy because I can learn all the Physics I want back in Austin. What I can’t learn is the German culture and lifestyle. I can’t learn that football is a religion back in Austin. They told me that they were disappointed that I showed up to work. According to them, I should have taken the day off to mourn the loss of USA. They said they all showed up late to support me in my mourning. They also said that we must trash all the Belgium beer they got on Monday because we must abandon all things Belgium to support USA.

So we did. We trashed beer. We mourned. We chanted. Then, we took rest of the day off.

Happy Fourth of July, y’all. GO ‘MURICA. 

Frankfurt am Main

Hey y’all,

Clearly, I miss Texas, or in particular, saying y’all and tacos. When I arrive back to Austin on August 22nd, please have tacos waiting for me, or I will seriously question our friendship.

Moving on. I know I was supposed to update my blog before Berlin. I know I didn’t update my blog before Berlin. I’m not even going to try and apologize for my lack of updates. Instead, I’m going to mass post to make up for them.

Two weekends ago, Alex and I took a trip to Frankfurt. When people told me that Frankfurt was the Manhattan of Germany, they were not lying. It was oddly comforting to be back in a city where most of the signs are in English. I have a habit of reading everything – road signs, billboards, the ingredient list on chocolate bars, etc. Not being able to understand what I’m reading really bothers me, so seeing signs in a language I understood was probably my favorite part about Frankfurt.

The first thing on our agenda was going on top of the Main Tower, which is a 56-story, 200 meter skyscraper making it the 4th tallest building in Frankfurt. The top of the high-rise building gave a perfect 360 view of the city.

We spent some time wandering around the city for a bit, seeing the famous Opera House, Goethe House, and a beautiful cathedral. Wandering around any city (or in my case, getting lost) has become my favorite way to really experience any place.  Being the ridiculously organized individual I am, I always go with a long list of everything I want to see, but wandering around the city and stumbling upon certain things is surprisingly more enjoyable.

We then made our way to The Zeil, which is the “most profitable shopping street” in the city center of Frankfurt. Anytime I told someone I was going to Frankfurt, their first question was, “to shop?!” My lab-mates and every single Google search recommended going to The Zeil, so we went there. Being someone who doesn’t particularly like malls and/or shopping, I didn’t expect to spend more than five minutes there, but even if it was only for its architecture, the mall left me speechless. We decided that it was probably the size of Rhode Island. If there were more malls like this in Texas, I would be willing to go more.

It’s always hard to go to museums in a day trip, but after hearing and reading such wonderful things about the Frankfurt Museum für Moderne Kunsta, I decided that it was a museum that I had to see, despite the time-crunch. I go to art museums/exhibits very frequently, and I have seen various incredible art exhibits, but The Divine Comedy art exhibit at Frankfurt’s MoMA made it fairly high up my list of “art exhibits that everyone should see.” In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I think I’m going to do a separate post on the art exhibit with some pretty great commentary by Numa.

Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven

After spending entirely too much time at MoMA and realizing that the Farmer’s Market was closed, we headed to the Old Town and the New Town. We ended our day by visiting Eiserner Steg (the Iron Bridge) and the Cider Taverns, making it back to Würzburg just in time to catch the last ten minutes of the Germany v. Ghana game.

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Translation of German words:
a. Museum of Modern Art