Technical Difficulties February 27, 2009

Hello all,
I know you are probably wondering why in the world does Brooke have a blog if she is never going to put up pictures. It just so happens that this week, we are without Internet at our apartment. The German Internet company we used was bought out, so during the switch of providers, we lost internet for 1 1/2 week. In addition, we are unable to access blogs or emails in school because those websites are all blocked. Due to these technical difficulty, there are no pictures of Spain or of Heidelberg. I apologize and will try to get photos up ASAP when our Internet returns. (and, YES, it has been a LONG week!!!)

Danke…shit…gracias! February 18, 2009

Traveling from country to country also means traveling from language to language, something we have not mastered yet!  As we were walking through Parc de la Cuitadella, a goregous park with lots of lush walkways and fountains, a woman who was stolling along stopped and began talking to us in Spanish.  We explained that we only knew a little Spanish, un poco!  She slowed her speech and began to draw a map in the dirt with her foot to tell us all the sights to see, including some hidden “muy concido” local churches that tourists don’t normally get to see!  It was an amazing experience to have someone speaking  a different language and be able to understand everything they are saying…so maybe those 4 years of Spanish did pay off in the end!  She was so kind and willing to stay with us, speaking her simplified Spanish, just so we could experience the Barcelona that she loved.  As she left, Nichole, wanting to say Thank you, said “Danke…Shit!…Gracias”  Luckily, the lady did not understand English, but did understnad the final thank you that we gave her!  We spent the next 5 minutes laughing about our inability to switch languages, even with the few words we know.

We continued on the path the lady had drawn out for us and entered the Olympic arena.  In case you didn’t know, Barcelona hosted the Games in 1992.  The stadium is on top of yet another mountain, which overlooks Barcelona and is a great vantage point to see the city!  Nearby is the magic fountain, a fountain that lights up and is HUGE and the National Museum, which is of course, an architectural beauty.  It was a great little hike and we TRULY enjoyed the people, like our Spanish lady, that God sent our way to make it a more comfortable, authentic experience.

Mosaics, Mosaics Everywhere!

Sunday, we decided to visit all the sights.  Let me first tell you about Gaudi.  Antonio Gaudi is a famous artist who loved nature and used curving lines and mosaics to capture nature’s beauty in a lot of his work.  That man LOVED his mosaics!  Park Guell, a park on the top of a mountain, is his most famous work in Spain.  It was originally commissioned as a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy, but has since become a popular spot for tourists.  Getting to the park makes you wonder if it is even worth it.  After 2 escalator rides, yes they have outdoor escalators, we had to walk a STEEP 3 block hill.  Really, it was more like a wall than a hill!   (I’m not exaggerating at all)  But, it was worth the workout and we got in our daily exercise.  The entrance is crazy full of mosaics, including two towers, fountains, and a larger-than-life lizard to greet all the visitors.  We made our way up to the most famous part of Park Guell, the mosaic bench that snakes around a look-out point in a near complete circle.  Musicians and street vendors fill the pathways; when the police come, the vendors grab their wares and run, only to come back a short time later when the police have left.  Quite an interesting site to see!  We meet a vendor that sold jewelry made of gems and metal.  She offered to let us pick out our gems and design and she would make it right then.  So, of course, we picked our gems and designs and watched her make our necklace and rings right in less than 5 minutes with only a pliers to help her.  It was very interesting and made us feel that we had gotten the true Barcelona experience.  There were also tunnels and columns carved out of the rocks, which created amazing aucoustic settings for the musicians who played there!  We also met 2 ladies in their 60s who were taking a girls trip and celebrating their 50th cruise, that’s right 50th cruise!  I can only say, that I hope to be as active as them when I am their age!

Barcelona-La Rambla & La Boqueria

So, Barcelona was the choice city for our 3-day President’s Weekend trip! We really just wanted to mark another country off our map! Nichole and I left Sulzbach on Saturday morning to fly to Barcelona, Spain. We made it there with no trouble, even managing to take the metro line from the airport to our hostel without any problems…aren’t you all impressed with my new travel skills!  Our hostel, Hello BCN, was extremely nice and upbeat and near Las Ramblas, the most famous street in Spain.  It is 1 km of outdoor shopping, entertainment, and cafes.  There are street performers, which are interesting and really know how to work the crowd, and artisans selling everything from jewelry to paintings to scarves.  It is a facinating place to people watch!  This is also where we had the pleasure of experiencing our first Doner, a tortilla with meat inside which you then fill with your choice of toppings (look at the pictures for a more accurate picture).  Along Las Ramblas, there is also an outdoor food market called La Boqueria.  The market started as a central trade place for farmers from all areas and continues to be one of the best outdoor markets in Spain.  Brilliantly colored fruits and vegetables were piled high enticing everyone who passed to stop.  Next came the nuts, candies, and chocolates laid out on tables.  Then came the meats; poultry, beef, and pork; usually hanging from the ceiling by the hoof, waited to be cut fresh from the hoof and taken home to be cooked.  Finally, we hit the smell of the fish section and were surrounded by crab, lobster, shrimp, and fish of every kind laying on beds of ice with their glassy eyes looking right at you.  It is so much more than an outdoor supermarket; it is the freshest food you can find anywhere and what an experience!  The colors and smells were so vibrant that I could have spent the entire day just wandering through the market.  Finally, we headed back to our hostel where we met some students who were studying abroad in Ireland.  We spent the rest of the night playing cards and getting to know our new friends: Maura, Erin, Kelly, and Julia.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber February 8, 2009

What a great city to spend a day in!  Yesterday, Nichole and I set out for Rothenburg (pronounce Wroten/burg) not knowing quite what to expect.  Everyone had told us it was a great place to visit and we should DEFINITELY make a day for it.  When we got off the train, it seemed like any other town.  There was a Kaufland (supermarket) and NKD (clothes-like Rue 21) and some Gaushauses (hotels).  Little did we know that by turning one corner, we would be entering medieval times!  After about 5 blocks of walking, we ran into the largest stone wall that I have ever seen.  It had towers, arches, cobblestone streets, and horse-drawn carriages.  It was like stepping into a time machine!  The wall is one of the few still completely intact in Europe- it surrounds old town and not much has changed since it was built!  The streets, which cars drive down, are still made of cobblestone, the stores still have old-fashioned signs hanging above their doorways, meats hang in the windows of butcher shops, and the smell of bakery treats fills the air from all the bakeries!  One speciality of Rothenburg is Sneeballs.  The were originally designed to resemble snowballs and be a bakery treat for both the wealthy and the common man.  They are a little like a hardened funnel cake wrapped into a ball with powdered sugar on top-not bad, but I prefer the chocolate covered ones!

Nichole and I spent the day walking in and out of shops filled with pottery, dolls, steins, wooden crafts, and amazingly-unique jewelry!  The shops were so quaint and the store owners were so nice and interested in hearing about our trip.  After enjoying our morning shopping and poking around town, we decided it was time to conquer the wall!  So, we climbed up into the wall and walked the walk that medieval soldiers once made!  It was creepy and fun and surreal (I know I keep using that word, but I just can’t believe we walked in a medieval wall!)  We pretended to be soldiers scouting for incoming enemy troops through the tiny slits of windows!  We hung from the rafters holding the wooden roof up and pretended to have a secret meeting in a hollowed out corner of the wall (yes, we really are that dorky).  Finally, we ended our day with a trip to Kathe Wohlfahrt-the largest Christmas store I have ever seen in my entire life!  It’s like a Hallmark on serious steroids!  An animated town-full of stuffed-animals preparing the town for Christmas, ornaments of every kind, trees hitting the ceiling, lights galore…a little kids paradise!  It was FABULOUS!!  I, being the lover of all things Christmas lights related, was stunned to silence!  It was great!

The day a success, we headed to the train station.  Unfortunately, we missed a connecting train in Ansbach on the way home and ended up getting home an hour later than expected.  To comfort ourselves, we got a bottle of wine, some European chocolate (I’ll bring some home for you all!), and a movie.  Overall, a FANTASTIC girls day!!!!

Living the family history… February 4, 2009

Dad-This one’s for you!

Generations and generations ago, Great Great Grandpa Frericks frequented the breuhauses of Germany.  True to Frericks fashion and not to be outdone by any other man, he consumed his fair share of Liters of beer!  At the end of the night, friends often had to carry him outside and put him on his horse.  How did they accomplish this you ask?  Well, German ingenuity comes through again.  A special higher-than-usual step was placed on the outside corner of brewhouses.  Thus, Great great Grandpa Frericks was pulled onto the stoop, then placed atop his horse before the horse was sent home.  As we left the Hafbrauhaus, I jumped onto a step and my tour guide quickly informed me of the reason behind the step.  I burst into laughter and told him the story of my Great Great Grandpa Frericks.  So, I guess you could say, I’m definitely a true German and a true Frericks!!!!

Lederhosen

Mark- This is all for you!

Lederhosen- the choice attire for all German males.  Do any of us really know the reason behind these fashionable pants that later inspired the bermuda short with tights look?  Well, I’m here to tell you.  Lederhosen were invented in the time beer halls became popular.  As the only spot for males (sorry ladies, you’re not invited) to be males, breuhauses became overcrowded.  So overcrowded that men were afraid to get up to go outside to the bathroom (this was pre indoor plumbing) because they would lose their seat.  Their friends, after Liters of beer, were not nice enough to save their seats.  In true manly fashion, they solved the problem themselves by inventing a flap which they could flip down, whip it out, and relieve themselves, all from the comfort of their seat.  Most carried walking sticks so they could aim for the stick and prevent splatter on friends legs.  Although I’m not sure why peeing inside was okay, but splattering is not.  Guess that’s a man for you! 

Hope you enjoyed Mark!!!

Legend of the Beer Stein

Everyone in America thinks that beer steins are popular in Germany, that everyone drinks from a stein.  But, we are SO wrong!  Here’s the true story of the Beer Stein.

When Germany entered the war and needed more soldiers, beer steins were the solution.  Because the stein is made of pottery and has a lid on top, you cannot see to the bottom of the glass.  The German army would place coins in the bottom of certain steins.  When possible recruits entered the breuhaus, they had to sit by a stein, chug the beer, and slam down the stein without looking.  If there was a jingling sound when your stein hit the table, you were now a proud (or sullen) member of the German army.  If you didn’t hear anything except the slam of the stein, you were free to go home and free from the burden of war.  Today, Germans drink from Mases, glass mugs that hold 1 L of beer.  Steins are family heirlooms that are usually displayed as a symbol of a grandfather who was in the Army.

Land of Monks and Beer February 3, 2009

Munich- land of monks and beer was our stop for this past weekend.  We left Saturday morning, a cold blustery morning, and arrived in Munich at 9:15am.  Seeing as how we find hostels so quickly (HAHA) we decided it would be best to find our hostel and check in before we went on any adventures.  Luck for us, the hostel was only 2 blocks away and offered a FREE (yes that’s right, FREE) walking tour at 10am!  Perfect timing!  So, we decided to go on a walking tour to learn about the history of Munich.

Our guide was amazing and had all kinds of great stories to tell about the city itself.  Here’s a few things I learned…

1)Munich= “land of monks”  Way back in history, it was called mun-i-ken=land full of monks, then it became munchin=monks.  This is the reason there are 2 different pronunciations, depending on if you are in Germany or the USA!

2) Munich is the only place besides Vatican City that is allowed to fly the flag bearing the Vatican colors.  This is because Munich is such a catholic city!

3) Besides being the most Catholic city in Germany, it is also the beer capital of Germany…ironic that a city full of Catholics is also know for being the center of breweries???

4) German beer is known as being the most pure in the world because of an Act passed in 1517 that says beer can only contain 3 ingredients- water, a starch component, and hops/barley.  (Don’t even ask how many Bud Light contains, you’ll be laughed out of the brewhouse!)

5) Munich was the heart of Hitler’s Nazi movement.  He had headquarters there and lived there for a while during the War.

There was much much more, but as I am not a tour guide nor a history buff, I forgot a lot of it! (sorry)  The tour included walking by the Glokenspiel clock- it’s known for being the most famous clock with moving parts in the world- I must say, it was quite a disappointment after so much hype!  We also passed through the Viktualienarkt.  This was one of the many open air markets in Germany.  It fills the square and I am overwhelmed by how many fresh fruit and flower stands their are; there were literally 6-7 fruit stands in a block and about 5 flower stands.  The flowers were brilliantly colored as were the fruit and I was again struck by how much Germans rely on fresh produce, flowers, and bakery items to brighten their daily life.  Something I hope to practice when I move back to the states!

After the 3-hour tour, our guide offered to take us to a local brewhouse and have some German stew and beer.  We, ready to warm up and try this beer we kept hearing so much about, readily agreed!  At a small pub, we mixed with the locals, ate our stew, and enjoyed a Mas of beer or roughly 1 Liter of beer!  Needless to say, after that we needed a quick nap to prepare ourselves for the night ahead.

Because we had such a great time on the walking tour, we decided a “Beer Challenge Tour” was just what the night had in store!  Jerad, our guide from that morning, again lead us through the streets of Munich, but with a different purpose in mind- to help us experience the best of the brews!  We began our night at the Hofbrauhaus- the Royal brewhouse and the most famous restaurant/brewery in Germany!  It was like a large barn with a om pa pa band and gigantic pretzels and liters and liters of beer!  The atmosphere was great-not a single empty table, music filling the air, workers and patrons dressed in lederhosen and traditional dresses.  I felt like I was truly German.  Our 2nd stop was Augustiner; a smaller breuhaus that lots of locals were drinking.  In fact, right across from us, a group was practicing songs for Carnival in their full Bavarian outfits.  It was probably the most amazing experience I have had in Germany yet! 

The best part of the weekend was the fact that on the Beer Challenge tour, we met 6 student teachers from Heidelburg base!  They are having the same experience as us and we plan to meet often in our travels!  Sunday was a fairly lazy day, considering the long day we had on Saturday!  Nichole and I spent the day re-walking all our tour stops and enjoying all the sights again…its seemed a little like a dream!