Berlin

We've spent the past 3 days in Berlin and gotten our Euro worth. Between memorials, plazas, museums, etc... I have to say it's the veal sausage and schnitzel that won my heart. These people know how to eat and drink. Here are just a few moments with us.

Flag of Germany

Jaime and Matt at Reichstag

Daniel and Kristina at Monument to Murdered Jews

Silent Void - Jewish Museum installation

Jaime at Monument to Murdered Jews

New National Gallery

Off to Berlin

Everyone's here. We are are off to Berlin. Eine Zwei Drei!

NEWS

This is our last weekend of school here in Denmark. Our studio project is due at 22:00 Sunday. After that we have one exam this coming friday and then we are off. The places we will visit (in order)

• Berlin
• Prague
• Munich
• Venice
• Rome
• Milan
• Zurich
• Lausanne
• Paris
• Hamburg

We fly back May 31. YAY!

Grab Your Hammer and Sickle - It's a party!!!

So our time here is rapidly coming to its conclusion. That doesn't mean we have stopped stumbling upon new adventures. For example, yesterday, Daniel and I attended a communist rally/music festival. It was held in the park about 2 minutes from our apartment. While we missed the speeches and march - all in Danish I'm sure - we managed to make it to the music festival part, which ended up being a huge party. The music was widespread, ranging from reggae to techno. Everyone was in good spirits. The entire Danish police force was out in full fatigues... all 75 of them. Andy got a half meter sausage. That's 19.48 inches for those using the imperial system of measurement. Needless to say, it was a big frank.

Please note this is not Andy, nor anyone we know. 

I merely pulled this off the internet for a better representation

 of what a half meter hotdog looks like.

Other news, two weeks left! Then we are making a small detour around Europe on our way home to the states, barring any catastrophic Icelandic volcano eruptions.

In the words of Karl Marx, "Stay classy Workers of the world."

No, but really. Hope all is well with everyone!

p.s. - Daniel is really enjoying being the Communist Party's newest Youth Member!!

Crazy Day

This morning when I woke up it was raining. 2 hours later is was snowing heavily. I went to get my hair cut and it started hailing. Now the sun is shining behind a blue sky. What a crazy day of weather.

Feed your computer so it doesn't grow a mouth and try to eat your hand like this.

You like my hair cut?

Spring Break 2010

I'm sorry it has been so long - to the handful of people who actually read this blog.

I will try to make a really quick brief of what happened over spring break in Switzerland and this past week in CPH. I had an amazing time in Switzerland. Daniel's family hosted and they couldn't have been nicer. David, Patti, and Matthew: if you are reading this I just want to say thank you again for everything.

• FRIDAY - Daniel and I were up at 5:15 am to get to our 8:30 flight. I don't know if everyone is aware, but I hate flying. Part of this is a fear of flying and part of this is the whole process - getting to the airport 2 hours before a 1.5 hour flight, being filed through security like a herd of cows and losing all rights as a human being until cleared, waiting until the flight boards while awkwardly profiling who else is on your flight (don't want to sit next to that baby, etc), boarding a general admission style seating arrangement - move to the back people, honestly, then the whole flying thing and the reverse process out of the plane. I will say that EasyJet is awesome though. They have new aircrafts and don't mess around when it comes to being on time. On the way there Daniel grabbed a seat up front and I went to the back where I had 3 seats all to myself. I took a nap and woke up when we were descending. Daniel's uncle, David, and his cousin, Matthew, were waiting when we got our luggage and exited the airport. The rest of the day we spent walking around Lausanne with everyone. 

Lake Geneva and the Alps

• SATURDAY - The guys got up early Saturday and drove to Bern. It was about an hour drive and the scenery is amazing. We walked around the city, went to a market, saw the main cathedral, and then went to see the Bear Pit. Bern is known for its bears. They house a few of them on the edge of the river bank right in the middle of the city. Einstein's house is actually in bern. There is a window with him in it (it's black and white cardboard cut out). After that we drove on to Interlaken, which is quite literally a piece of land that is interlocked between two lakes. There were paragliders up on the mountain ridges. This town was pretty touristy and we were pretty tired from the day of walking so we hopped back in the car for the night. On the way back Daniel spotted the Paul Klee Museum design by Renzo Piano that we had intended on seeing but forgot. It was about to rain, but we pulled over and got some shots. Unfortunately it had just closed for the day.

Paul Klee Museum - Renzo Piano

• SUNDAY - was Easter. We went to Easter Mass at the Heering's local church. When we got back they had Easter baskets for all of us, which Matthew proceeded to finish that day. After a little while we had been talking about skiing on Monday and Tuesday, so we went to check out some of the slopes to make sure there would be optimal conditions. 
• MONDAY - we to Zermatt. It was awesome. I was snowboarding while Daniel and David were skiing. We had a view of the Matterhorn all day long. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I only fell a couple hundred times, but that was to be expected for I haven't been on a snowboard since high school. I didn't kill anyone or myself, but my tail bone is still quite sore. We ate lunch practically on the Matterhorn itself. The picture will have to suffice. I am the one sporting the throwback outfit. It was really warm.

Yummy - Goulash

What's that Cyclops? No, you can't use your powers to get in front of the lift line!

About 13000 ft. You can see Italy.

Watching kids do front flips.

• TUESDAY - recovery day. We were suppose to go skiing again but I couldn't take that abuse again. Instead we went to Chateau du Chillon. It's a castle in Montreux, about 20 minutes from the Heering's apartment. It was beautiful. 

Looking out a window

• WEDNESDAY - to put it simply - Daniel and I got lost. We started in Lausanne... 10km later of walking up hill both ways we found the train station home. It was a nice day full of exercise. Funny thing, Switzerland has public drinking fountains much like Rome. I would stop at everyone we passed and fill up my water bottle. Daniel still thinks I was drinking bird poop water. 

NO BOOMBOX!!!!!

• THURSDAY - we went to Luzern. Very nice place with delicious food. Within 5 minutes of the city center you could see the Chapel Bridge, the Modern Art Museum, a Calatrava designed train station, and eat delicious veal sausage with onion sauce and hash brown potatoes. That sums up what we did. We also went to the old wall and lookout towers that protected the city. Before we went home Matthew and I got a tradition Geman Pretzel (Bretzel). It made the ride home only that much more enjoyable. 

Chapel Bridge - one of the oldest wooden bridges in Europe

• FRIDAY - David and Matthew went skiing. Daniel worked on his portfolio, and I watched movies all day long. It was nice
• SATURDAY - we went to Basel. This was one of my favorite cities. Daniel and I have been wanting to see one building in particular - the Signal Box, designed by Herzog and de Meuron. The rest of the city was equally as impressive. We had lunch on the river and watched a barge squeeze through a historic bridge by just meters. This city was too big for just one day, but we got to see a lot.

Signal Box - Herzog + de Meuron

• SUNDAY - relax day
• MONDAY - we flew home.

Well, that very quickly sums up what we did over spring break. I have to go finish my project now...

80s Themed Spring Break

Alright folks, this spring break the music on the blog will be nothing but 80s music. You are welcome. So now you can quietly take your guilty pleasure with all of these classics. If there are any songs that you simply must have on here just comment and I'll put them on. 


Daniel and I are going to Switzerland and you know what that means!!! Fun fact time.


Switzerland

• The CHF1,000 bill is the highest denomination note in the world.
• The average Swiss eats 23 lbs of chocolate per year compared to the 11.7 lbs consumed by each American annually.
• Most homes have bunkers, a result of Cold War concerns about nuclear war.
• James Bond's mother is Swiss.
• The popular typeface "Helvetica" was created in Switzerland and is named after the country's Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica.
• Some 60% of Switzerland's electricity is produced by hydroelectric power.
• The song "Smoke on the Water" is about the smoke from a casino fire when Frank Zappa burned down a casino in Montreux.
• Swiss army knives are red so they can be seen i the snow.
• There are no Mosques in Switerland.
• Holes in Swiss cheese are caused by carbon dioxide gas given off by the bacteria and also provide flavor and fermentation. Fondue was originally a peasant meal that used up old bread and cheese.