The Peace After The Storm

Now that my journey through Berlin and Europe is over I feel it appropriate to take a few minutes to reflect on my experience.

I spent 4 months or 111 days on foreign soil. Mostly in Germany but there were many other places I visited. Amsterdam, Holland. Barcelona, Spain. Paris, France. Geneva, Switzerland. Prague, Czech Republic. Those are five of the worlds major cities which I managed to visit during my travels, four of them in only 10 days time. Then all the cities that I visited in Germany; Dessau, Hamburg, Potsdam, Wolfsburg, Essen, Cologne, Munich, Düsseldorf, Dresden, Bernau, Eberswalde, and of course Berlin. All in all I think sixteen cities in 4 months time is pretty special. Its something I will never do again in my entire life for that length of time.

I began this trip in the hotel room in Boston dreading leaving my family, girlfriend, life and everything behind to go to a strange place. But I couldn't be happier I went. I'm actually a little upset that its over. There was still so many things that I wanted to do. It was absolutely very difficult to be gone for that long. I missed everyone so much. But the things I learned and just the shear amount of culture I was exposed to makes it all worth it.

I said in the first post that I was not excited and I hoped landing in London was going to make everything feel better but at the time it didn't. I put on a smile and went on with it. The first two weeks were difficult but it got easier. I finally assimilated into life in Germany and although I missed everyone I learned to really enjoy life in Europe. In many ways it's better than American life. I could definitely see myself living in Europe at some point but who knows what the future holds. So life went on and I became good at German and settled in. Then before we knew it we had to leave. Back to America and back to really life. So in one sense I'm still a little upset about this trip but its for the opposite reason. I'm very happy to be home but I wish going back were easier.

Everything I learned while abroad will apply to my everyday life. From general politeness, to being accepting of foreigners, to all of the architecture facts I can handle, and so many different cultures. I loved Germany and can't wait to go back. I still have to visit Stuttgart and Frankfurt and then the many other European cities. Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Rome, London, Dublin, Budapest, Istanbul, Helsinki, Athens and many more along the way. That may take me a few trips but I would love to hit all of the countries in Western Europe and eventually start doing the Eastern Block and maybe even Moscow. These are ambitious dreams but I hope to accomplish them. For now I can only look back on my four months with fond memories. It was the best experience of my life and I'm sad to see it go. For now it's back to normality and school in Boston. Not as exotic as Berlin but still pretty good.

Thanks to everyone who read this and I'm very happy to have an audience who enjoys my work. Good bye for now and thanks again.

For the final time

-Phil

Pinch Me it's Time To Present

Wednesday was our final critique for our projects. We spent the previous week building models and preparing drawings to show a panel of four critics. Well I was able to finish a day early and took the entire day tuesday to just really refine everything and make sure my presentation was in the order I wanted to present it. So we get to presentation day. As a group we presented our plan for the urban design of our project. This entails how our project reacts and how the urban technique we employed was fulfilled on the site. This was presented to all 10 critics and they weren't too pleased with our scheme because they said that it didn't look like we carried it out intentionally. So the presentations proceeded from there and they all went alright. No ones went bad but no one had a great one either. Needless to say I was nervous. I had not had a good critique in a long time and especially since my teacher and I had been butting heads the whole semester nervous was an understatement. I pulled myself together and presented like a champ. One of the best performances I have put up in a while. But then it happened. I needed to pinch myself. Roger one of the tough critics says "Your project is quite interesting, it works, and I really like it." I almost passed out. I half expected to hear my name being called and the other students trying to wake me up telling me it was my turn to present. But it was real! They loved my project and told me that they had to find something wrong with it just so I wouldn't get too excited. Well it was too late for that I was beaming and I don't think I've stopped yet.

Then at night we went over to café Bilder Buch for our reception. It was like the series finale of a sitcom. All of the old characters get to come back for one final hurrah. Most of our tour guides from the semester were there, all of the critics we had and local architects we met, researched or had any contact with during the semester. I spoke to my teacher and thanked her for kicking my ass the whole semester and told her how appreciative I was. Then I spoke to Roger for a while and got his individual take on my project. It was a nice evening and we had a lot of fun and were very glad to be done with semester and of course excited to return home on Saturday

Culture Shock

Friday was a hell of a day.

The morning started off with us going on a trip to Sachsenhausen. Sachsenhausen is the closest concentration camp to Berlin. While it was a work camp and not a death camp toward the end of the war it was used for mass killings. It is in the middle of a town now which in itself is a very strange thing. But as you approach the former walls there are blocks with name of the camp running across them every so many feet. Once you walk on to the grounds there is this eerie feeling. The sun was shinning and it was a beautiful day but something just didn't feel right standing there. Our tour guide was great and very knowledgable as he walked us around the entirety of the complex. Our first task was to walk down the camp road and through the main gate. We were informed this was the same path that the prisoners would come down when they were being taken into the camp. The gate and the guard houses in the camp are all still original but there are only two barracks left since the Soviets knocked them all down. But once you pass through that gate it feels as if your whole world changes. There is such a heavy feeling that right where you are standing some 300,000 people marched through on their way to work and possibly die. The camp is organized in a triangle with the main guard tower at the base to watch over all the barracks which were radially arranged. From the gate we walked over to the two reconstructed barracks to go inside. Here at these barracks lies another layer of history. They were reconstructed in the 60s when the camp became a memorial but then in the 1990's a group of Neo-Nazis came and attempted to burn them down. The walls still bare the char of the flames and its a further reminder that there is still prejudice in the world. Walking through the flame scarred barracks into the rooms that are laid out in the same fashion they were when the camp was operational was quite strange. The description on every room was the name of the room and then how people were tortured in it. Bedroom: Jews were smothered with sheets, Bathroom: Jews were drowned in foot basins. It may have been overkill but it was still very uneasy. From there we went to the real serious part of the camp. Known as Station Z because it was the Crematorium and the "Doctors" where they killed and cremated the bodies. It was Station Z because most people entered through Tower A and left through Station Z. We were able to walk in to the bunker where they lined people up to be shot. We stood against the same wall countless others stood against face to face with death. Then we were taken in to the "Doctors" office. Only the foundation remains but they rooms are still there. We saw the room where after being examined by the "Doctor" the people would go to be shot. One small room probably 3x3 where the blood of over 2,000 people was spilled. Right next to where we standing lives were taken on a daily basis. It was enough to make you ill if you thought about it. You learn about all this stuff in school but it honestly doesn't carry the same impact unless you basically stand in the shoes of those people.

We we got back from Sachsenhausen and were off the rest of our cultural roller coaster of a day. We were seeing a show at the Berlin Philharmonie. The Berlin Philharmonie is one of the most famous buildings in the world designed by Hans Scharoun and houses one of the most famous Orchestras in the world. Before he show Casey, Rob, and I were sitting enjoying a beer at the Sony Center when a bachelor party goer decided to strip down to his skivvies and attempt to swim across the fountain and he ate it as soon as he touched the fountain and then promptyl removed by security. We then found our way into the hall and into our seats. Our seats were great especially since there isn't a bad seat and they were only 10€. The show was made up of three Nordic pieces; a warm up and two longer pieces each with four movements. It was spectacular. I didn't fancy myself much of a fan of orchestral music but in that hall with that Orchestra it was awesome. It was a nice way to brighten our spirits after a depressing day at Sachsenhausen. So now its on the final week before the my final critique. Time to buckle down and get done.

Oktoberfest In April

Our last trip before the end of the semester was to München (Munich). We have been wanting to go since the beginning but found the time now since while we were there it was Starkbierzeit which in German translates to Strong Beer Time or Strong Beer Fest as it is now know. So we set off on our Bavarian adventure with our seven hour train ride. Unfortunately my train ride was the ride from hell. I sat next to a girl who smelled like she had rolled around in Tacobell that someone had thrown up. I was nauseous for the 4 hours she was next to me. Also on the train was the screaming baby who's mother found it hysterical to just let her daughter scream. So after that we finally arrived in Munich and settled into our hostel. We took a walk down MarrienPlatz and down toward the Oktoberfest grounds just to check em out. Me and Rob and Casey went to go meet my friend Kevin who's been in Munich for over a year now so he could show us around and we could hangout with him. We went and grabbed a beer and caught up while we waited for Blake, Kyle and Blake's friend Will. We met up with them and went over to a Beer Garden to have some traditional Bavarian food and our first taste of Starkbier. It has a slight spicy flavor and is very very dark. We enjoyed our meal and went to experience some of the local nightlife before retiring to bed.

The next morning we wake up and get out of the Hostel as fast as possible and after a pain in the ass we finally make it to the other hostel. After that we headed over to the famous 1972 Olympic Stadium. It was incredible place. A huge Olympic campus with a pool complex, and soccer stadium and a large pond in the middle. The roof of the stadium is like a cloth draped over some columns. It was a gorgeous day and we hung out and walked around. We were even able to get cheap boats to rent to go out on the lake. After that we made it back to the hostel and got changed to get ready to go to the festival grounds. The festival was like everything I could have imagined. There was at least 3000 people there. They served the beer in 1L pitchers that were ceramic for the purpose of banging them together when you "Prost" which is german for cheers. We really enjoyed ourselves. Especially when we went inside the hall and there were another 2000 people standing on table and singing along while a band played Beatles music. It was a great time. We tried afterward to sneak out the mugs we were drinking out of but after hopping fences and sneaking through gaps we were foiled and pretty much tackled by guards. Happy but slightly disappointed we headed back to our room to catch some much needed Z's. We all said good bye and made it to the train the next morning with no problem. The train ride was cake. No screaming children or unbathed adults. For our last trip it was amazing and I only have three German cities that I still want to go to; Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Hanover but those will have to wait until next time.

Will There Be A Future?

I'm going to use this blog post a rant. Our Seminar class deals with issues of sustainability and climate change, both architecturally, socially and politically. In the past weeks we have seen charts and graphs and many depressing statistics about how we are reaching the "tipping point". The tipping point is the point at which all the damage we have inflicted on the planet becomes irreversible and there is nothing we can do to slow down the process that will make an impact. We have also seen examples of architects and planners who are trying to change this. Both in their designs and writings these people believe that we have not come too far and we can live comfortably without destroying the planet in the process.

Here in Germany the idea of a sustainable lifestyle is paramount. Recycling is encouraged, buildings don't use air condition or heating, and there are solar or photovoltaic cells everywhere. Germans live very comfortable loves too. They don't suffer in the Summer or the Winter. They understand that fossil fuels and the waste of energy is lead to the eventual demise of our own society.

So what is understood here is not even accepted as fact in America. If you were building and office building in New York and you said for reasons of energy efficiency I plan on leaving out the HVAC systems you would be laughed out of the city. But that is because Americans don't understand proper building techniques like it seems most of the rest of the world does. If a building is properly insulated on all sides and there allowed adequate room for cross ventilation on all floors they building won't need to run air conditioning except for hot days and won't need heating except for bitter cold days. Then if the building is made from a thermal mass, ie: concrete, it won't require heat at all. Concrete draws heat from its surroundings, like office workers and electronics and then at night can be cooled down through the use of ventilation and will cool the building the next day through the same means. Also radiant heat can be used to heat building too. This heat is usually in the floor in most American cities but that is extremely inefficient. If you have radiant heat in the floor when it is being emitted if you are sitting on a bed or chair or desk you will not feel any heat because you are in what's called a radiant shadow. So the structure between you and the floor is absorbing the heat before you can. Having it in th ceiling like all European buildings that employ it is much more effective. Since radiant heat is not air driven it doesn't only rise. It spreads evenly. so since there is less furniture on the ceiling of buildings there is no radiant shadow.

There are plenty of other techniques that majority of Americans are ignorant to. And it isn't just designers its politicians too. Although my political leaning is left our president is equally as ignorant to the sustainable issue too. They cut funding from schools and infrastructure that research these technologies and will not fund companies that are already developing the technology. John Boehner is equally as stupid on this fact. Saying that he " not believe it has been proven that CO2 is harmful to the atmosphere" sighting that the CO2 we exhale can't be that harmful because its in our body. he then adds that when cows "do what they do" the CO2 they release can't be harmful either. This infuriates me that an elected politician can be so naive and stupid about basic information. 1st its been proven by scientists that CO2 is harmful to the atmosphere. 2nd our exhalation isn't harmful because it is immediately absorbed by plants. 3rd cows release methane which is up to 4X as harmful as CO2. Now maybe he's playing stupid for political gain but either way it forces me to lose a lot of faith in our government. They play on the minds of the ignorant and purposely retard the countries progress forward.

America has all the resources to develop a new source of energy or something beneficial to a sustainable future. If they ever did it would provide such an economic boost and revolutionize energy production and transportation for ever. Revenue would be generated like wild since new companies would pop up, old oil companies would adapt new business models for this technology and there would be plenty of healthy competition. But ignorant politicians like Mr. Boehner and President Obama refuse to think that this is their problem. Truthfully it's not their problem its mine. My generation is going to have to deal with the ensuing planetary crisis. I just wish more people would see this and educate themselves and make informed decisions and maybe create enough noise so that the politicians have no choice but to act. If rebels in every middle eastern country can organize and execute a revolt via Facebook we should be able to reach our politicians some how.

We only get one planet and we need to save it.

Insert Cliché Czech/Check Joke Here

So This past weekend we had a trip to Prague in the Czech Republic and then to Dresden back in Germany. We arrived in Prague after about a 5 hour train ride. Prague is absolutely beautiful. Without a doubt my favorite city in Europe. Unfortunately Czech is the most screwed up language that we've encountered thus far. And not nearly enough people speak English for the tourist destination Prague is.

initially we walked around and just explored some the local works of Czech Cubism as direct reaction to the Modern Movement in the Czech Republic. Prague is a beautiful city because it is not the typical Roman city with temples and classical buildings nor is it the Gothic town with large cathedrals with spires and sharp edges. Prague is a purely medieval town. There is the Prague castle and tons of old medieval fragments from the bridges, tunnels and clock tower. When one walks through Prague all of the Orange roofs and old medieval buildings give this quaint feel to this bustling urban area. We were staying at the Czech Inn which is funny in itself. But it was a really nice place and probably the nicest hostel we've stayed in.

So Saturday morning it was up early for our 9 hour walking tour of Prague. It was a gorgeous day so it was spectacular. We walked all through the streets. Through tight alleys and wide green spaces. We eventually made it up to the Prague Castle which is more of a Baroque fortress but is beautiful anyway. Our tour guide Milosh (Me-low-sh) was very knowledgable and pretty much sounded like he was the original planner of the city. We walked down from the castle with the sun still beaming over toward the Lenon Wall. On the way I passed my first Lock Bridge and search frantically for a place with a lock that I could lock on there but to no avail. Just beyond that was the Lenon Wall. This amazing thing is a wall that was graffitied after John Lenon was shot with an anti communist message and has since become the only wall in Prague where you can legally graffiti and write whatever you want on it. There are layers upon layers of history on there. Right on the other side of the wall is where a tree where Mozart sat to compose some of his earlier music.Some of the other attractions we visited in Prague are St. Charles bridge the beautiful medieval bridge and the Dancing House by Frank Gehry. The it was time to experience Prague's nightlife. I'd relate here if I was legally allowed to but certain factors may prohibit me.

The Next morning it was up even earlier because we had a tour of Adolf Loos' Villa Müller. It was a pretty cool place although very boring from the outside. It was organized so that from the central stair you could see into all the rooms of the house at once. This technique is called Raumplan. After that I spent the afternoon searching for a padlock only to be alerted that it is padlock to lock it on the bridge without the other person there. So we all headed back to the Hostel and hopped a train to Dresden.

We got into Dresden late and went to grab some food then went over to a local Irish pub for some live Irish music, Guinness and Cider. After enjoying ourselves there it was off to bed to be up early especially since the clocks went ahead.

So the day in Dresden was led by our man Helmut. He took us all around the city and described us his time living in Dresden as a youngster. He recalled to us the first time he heard rock music since it was banned in East Germany. He said "it was better than the first sex, not that that's particularly good anyway but it was incredible to hear rock music." The rest of our day preceded seeing many of Dresden's church and other buildings that were destroyed by allied bombing or narrowly survived. It was at lunch that I was talking with Helmut about some of the communist era buildings and he said something very profound. We were talking about how these buildings were supposed to be "permanent" but he said "what is permanence in the scale of a few hundred years of the life of men". This resonated with me for a second and made me realize how special every opportunity I have and every person in my life is and how fast I could lose it all. Nothing is permanent but it doesn't matter as long as you enjoy the time you have. Our final stop in Dresden was a Synagogue built where one was burnt down by the Nazis on November 9th. It was a magnificent space but they did not have enough yarmulke for all the men so we had to walk in with scarves and handkerchiefs and anything else available on our heads. The space was very serene and perfect for contemplation. But we had no time as we had to run back to the HBF to catch our train back to Berlin.

We got in at 9:30 exhausted from a long and action packed weekend.

Down and Dirty in the Studio

So the past week has been stress packed days. Trying to get a design down to be able to present at the midterm critique. The added pressure of only having 5 weeks left makes a suitable design all the more important. Well after emailing my teacher I actually got some positive feedback and proceeded as planned. The weekend of Friday and saturday was filled with full days in the studio modeling and late nights working on drawings and unwinding. Working tirelessly on minimal sleep I finally produced all of the required drawings and models and put together a presentation I was confident in at around 5pm sunday night. This was great it gave me a chance to kick back grab a beer and unwind before Monday morning when I had to present to 4 critics. After enjoying a meal, a beer, and a movie I decided to go to sleep and get some good Z's before the critique. I slept soundly and woke up on Monday morning anxious to see if I had actually produced something worthwhile for my teacher. I nervously watched the first three students and then it was my turn. I got up there and put on a good show. They weren't sold on my design but the idea were there and I was showing promise. No scowls from my professor and no tirades. She smiled, backed me up on somethings, and looked genuinely satisfied. I felt happy and contently watched the rest of my colleagues present, some better than others. So that night we wanted to celebrate but everyone was too tired and I still was not feeling good. We grabbed a few beers and a cigar and relaxed on our balcony until our neighbor across the street told us he was calling the cops. We promptly went inside and watched a movie before settling into bed for the night.

Tuesday morning we had to meet Jan our history professor at 8:20 for a tour of the Kultur Forum which has two buildings by Hans Scharoun and one by Mies Van Der Rohe. We toured the Stadtsbibliotheke (City Library) and the Berlin Philharmonie both by Scharoun and walked around the Neue Naticional Gallerie (New National Gallery) by Mies for the majority of the day. I'm not a huge fan of Mies buildings they are so simple they bore me. But the Scharoun buildings were awesome and I'm definitely excited to go back to the Philharmonie and see the Berlin Philharmonic play. After that we were scheduled for another tour through our "culture" class which was another repeat tour so me and my sickness decided to skip it.

After that tour we were supposed to meet the professors again to go to a presentation at a firm. The firm Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler was incredible. The internationally famous Eike Roswag gave us the presentation on how he and his firm of civil engineers and architects are striving to create sustainable buildings from earth construction. Earth Construction is using natural materials like mud and adobe to create structures that because of the moisture exchange of the material do not require HVAC systems. It was incredible. He goes to under developed countries and takes their historic tribal forms and readapts them into a more modern and sustainable architecture. It was incredible to actually see some one who does all of these projects as a volunteer. So nice to see some one so genuinely committed to bettering the world. The two and half hour presentation and after period had my attention the whole time. It was honestly life changing. I'm inspired now to do amazing things and hopefully use my architecture to change the world someday.

Tomorrow we head of to Prague until Saturday and then Dresden until Sunday on our final program sponsored trip. And then in two weeks the guys and I head to Munich for our last travels of the semester. Time is winding down here and I feel like I have learned so much in these short months than i my entire time at school.

Check back soon for the Prague/Dresden edition

Stay Classy Followers and Thank you for your continued reading

A Slow Week before the Rush

Nothing special in the last two weeks since coming back from Spring Break. Just trying to re-assimilate in the sense of normal life that we have here. Starting to work again on my studio project and actually create something that my teacher likes. I've been struggling with the constraints of our site and it has really been a challenge this far for me. I definitely have a much more optimistic and airy take on architecture then my teacher does. She just wants to pack as much building on the site as possible. I've been forced to conform and try to create something interesting but I feel as if my creativity has been put in a stranglehold. But hopefully I can get past it with at least a mutual respect. With about 6 weeks left the end is in sight. In another 3 weeks we start finals and from there its all a straight shot til then end. We have a few remaining trips including two planned ones to Prague and Dresden. Then one more trip that we planned to Munich for the Starkbierzeit festival. I'm looking forward to all of those things but I'm looking forward to finishing up. I don't think I could stay in Germany to much longer. Its very gray and dreary and the sun doesn't come out enough to argue otherwise. Check back soon for an update on my studio midterm then my trip to Prague.

Sure, Take The Spare iPad To The Alps

Spring Break Destination 4 - Geneva, Switzerland

So we landed in Geneva without a problem to be greeted happily by John. A family friend of Casey's who was gracious enough to allow us to stay with him the two nights we were in town. John does quite well for himself and lives in a gorgeous house about 15 minutes outside of Geneva.

On the way to his house from the airport he showed us around Geneva. We passed the headquarters of almost every world organization and of course the United Nations building. Geneva is a magnificent city. It sits on the Swiss side of lake Geneva directly across from France. Switzerland is a very cool place in general because there is tremendous influence from French, German, and Italian culture being it is bordered by all those countries. We found that most of the people speak those three languages along with English.

So once at his house he introduced us to his wife who was very nice and accommodating to us and even offered us a lunch. He set us up in bedrooms for Casey and Ashley and the downstairs living room for me Kyle and Rob. He gave us a quick history of the house and showed us how to work the TV and even let us use his spare iPad at our leisure. The house was gorgeous inside and out and had an incredible view of France just across the expanse of Lake Geneva. We all settled in and his son Max came home and told us he would take us into Geneva tonight and show us a good time. Being we had a few hours we decided to take a dip in the house's beautiful indoor swimming pool and hot tub. We relaxed and swam for about 2 hours until it was time to get ready. John loaned us 400 Swiss Francs and said we could pay him back in Euros before we left. So off we went with Max into Geneva to his favorite bar. We stopped at Mcdonalds for dinner and had 11 Franc Big Macs. Now everything in Switzerland is really expensive. The Franc is relatively close to the dollar so our 11 Franc meal was about $13. So there's your comparison $13 for a standard Big Mac meal. We went to Max's favorite bar from there and something strange happened. The drinking age in Switzerland like most of Europe is 16 for beer 18 for Liquor, Max is 17, and said they don't really ID anywhere so 14 and 15 year olds are drinking too. But at this bar was all kids from Max's school. The 5 of us all 20 or 21 were the oldest people in the bar! It was a real trip to see high schoolers in a bar ordering drinks and hanging out. There wasn't much happening there since it was the Junior Snow Ball so Max took us on a walking tour through Geneva and showed us some his other hangouts while we asked him questions about Swiss life and he asked us about American life. We went back pretty early because we had decided since we were there to go on an excursion to the Alps the next morning.

So we woke up at 7 to get dressed and get on the 8:50 train to Gstaat. Gstaat is small town way up on the Alps tucked in between a bunch mountains. We paid 80 Francs for a panoramic train to shuttle us fro the 3 hour ride. The trip up was beautiful though. The train slowly spiraled around the lake and up high into the mountains. The sky was a beautiful blue and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. It got clearer and clearer the higher we went and the mountains became bluer and more snowy. Small towns popped up and passed by as we journeyed ever higher into the snowy wonderland. Finally we arrived in Gstaat and were taken aback by the wonder of this place. This small sheltered town tucked away high up in the mountains. Undisturbed nature in harmony with humanity. There was a small and delicious chocolate bakery up there two which we thoroughly enjoyed its contents. We walked around and had lunch for about 3 hours before catching the train back and having beautiful views as the sun set on Lake Geneva. We made it back to John's and he insisted on treating us to pizza. We all ate happily and relaxed in the pool again before getting ready for bed. Our spring break closing we all drifted happily to sleep dreading the 4:30am wake up to make it to the airport for our 7am flight. So as I waxed into dream land I looked back on all the fun we had the past two weeks and how this is a story I will tell over and over again for the rest of my life. Five countries in two weeks is an impressive feat for an experienced traveller but the 4 of us managed to half ass our way around Europe with minimal hiccups like pros.

We groggily stumbled out of the house and got to the airport and were greeted by a hefty line of people waiting to check bags at 6am. We cut our flight pretty close and decided to run to the terminal only to find the people barely beginning the boarding process but hey who minds a 5 minute sprint at 6:45 in the morning. We boarded the plane back to Berlin and kissed our spring break good bye. A week of adventure, fun, and memories coming to close as the plane nosed up and left the runway. Five of slept peacefully on the plane probably wondering what the rest of the time in Berlin would be like and reflecting on the fun we had with each other over the past two weeks.

We arrived back in Berlin with beautiful weather, sunshine, and new hope….

Spanish! What A Relief. Oh Wait You Speak Catalan!?

Spring Break Destination 3 - Barcelona, Spain

We got to Barcelona a little after 11 and were able to get to our hostel without a problem. But when we arrived we encountered another problem. On one of the beds just hanging out was one bed bug. This may be the grossest and worst possible thing to ever find. We promptly went downstairs and told the clerk what we found and she played dumb like she had no clue what a bed bug was. We wouldn't let up and she changed our room for us. So after that near brush with death we thoroughly search the next room and found no traces of infestation. We went and ate since we were again starving and again found out we were in a very expensive part of Europe. The next morning we woke up and decided to bang out all of the architecturally relevant sites we wanted to see in one day. Our first stop after having brunch was the Casa Mila by Antoni Gaudi. It is an apartment complex that he designed in the early 1900s that has this really cool façade and courtyards. It is supposed to look like one of the mountains that surround Barcelona. It was awesome from the outside and we got some cool pictures from the gift shop of the courtyard. We didn't go in because there was no student discount and they wanted €13 just to go in. So we decided to walk to the next Gaudi work the Sagrada Familia. It was such a beautiful day we were all so happy to feel the sun and have airy and happy people around us. We were all sweating in the 60 degree weather while the Barcelonians were all bundled up. The Sagrada is a huge church started by Gaudi in 1892 and is still not finished. It is supposed to have 18 Spires. One for Jesus, one for Mary, 12 for the apostles, and 4 for the evangelical saints. Right now about 10 of the spires are completed. It is still incredible to look at. The whole façade tells the story of the nativity in stone relief carvings that run around the building. There is an awesome public oasis right next to it too. It was a little pond lined with trees and rocks and benches for people to sit. We could not have been happier to sit and look at this building while basking in the warmth of the sunlight. We then decided instead of seeing the last thing we wanted we'd walk down to the beach. THe beach was magnificent. The sand was a chocolate brown color and whole perimeter was lined with palm trees. Me and Casey ran down the water and plopped our feet into the Mediterranean Sea which was freezing cold. We sat on rock jetty just admiring the beach and again soaking up as much sun as possible. We had a beer on the beach and played in the jungle gym before going back to the hotel for siesta. We woke up and went to meet Kyle's friend who is studying there. We got dinner and then we were going to meet her and go out later on to a club on the beach. I unfortunately didn't make it anywhere. Apparently the tap water in Barcelona is not okay to drink because it is salty and I having had 2 water bottles full of tap water had the biggest headache in the entire world. I was in so much pain I blacked out and don't remember the guys leaving. Well after sleeping it off we all woke up the next morning and had to check out of the Hostel since Annie and Ashely were joining us for he last 2 days. So once the girls finally arrived we still couldn't check back in so we went over to the Park Guell, again by Gaudi is a massive public park with live music, vendors, and performers. The park was beautiful it was set well above the actual city and there was a point at the top that offered a view over all the trees in the park and allowed you to look back out over the city and up into the mountains west of Barcelona. Then after you walk down and around a path you come out into this public space were all of the vendor and performers were. They were selling Spanish glass necklaces, magnets, fans, and all other kinds of trinkets. The weather was still nice even though some clouds were starting to roll in we enjoyed a nice walk around the park.

Walking around Barcelona was amazing. Palm trees and beautiful skies but there was one problem. We still couldn't understand anything. The Barcelonians speak a very strange dialect of spanish called Catalan. It is a weird mix of Spanish and French and as I already covered we know just enough French to piss the French off. But fortunately they understand Spanish and will speak it back to you. So I was able to order food, ask for aspirin, and guide the cabby home at night.

So that night we went to a club on the beach next to the one the guys went to the night before when I was dying from drinking salt water the whole day. It was pretty beat. Weird atmosphere and a lot of old dudes. The music was pretty good so it was fun nonetheless. The next day no one wanted to get up and the maids started wailing on the door around noon time for us to get out. The weather was crappy so no one wanted to move. We finally got out and walked back toward the Sagrada Familia so the girls could see it. We also stopped at every single souvenir on the way to try and find shot glasses for Casey and Christmas Ornaments for me. We spent the whole day looking around for that until we finally caught up for drinks and dinner with Kyle's friend. €3.50 Margaritas and Mojitos at a restaurant that finally suited our budget. We enjoyed ourselves till about 12 then decided to pack in since our flight was at 10 and we'd have to be up and out early. I wish we had been able to go out that night because Afrojack, a favorite DJ of mine, was playing at the club Opium on the water. Some of the guys who were staying an extra night went and said it was awesome.

We departed Friday morning in gorgeous weather again toward our final destination, Geneva.

Six for One Euro - The Cheapest Thing in Paris

Spring Break Destination 2 - Paris, France

So we arrived in Paris at around noon and immediately encountered some trouble because we had no idea how to get to our hotel. We hailed a cab and gave him the address and even he had no idea where the street was. After him driven us around and searching through the map while driving we made it there to 1 Rue Jacquard. The address was 1 because its the only building on the street. The man in the Hotel was very nice and he showed us to our room which was like 4 boatel rooms put together but it smelled like something died in there and they painted over it. So once again we got the hell out of the room as fast as we could. Our first stop was food since we were starving. Now there are a lot of rumors that the French are rude. Well they are mostly true. None of the four of us spoke any french other that Parle Vous Anglais? Which really just pisses them off more. But they all understand English and will talk to one another in English but if you talk to them in English first they will answer you in French and only French. So after managing to eat we headed for the river. We walked down Rue de Rivoli which is a major shopping street in Paris all the way to Notre Dame. The place was free to get into and was amazing inside. The whole place was quite dark with only small pockets of colored light emanating from the many stained glass windows dotting the walls. It had a very sanctified feeling and even I felt the need to sit and close my eyes for a minute and think about my grandparents and how much me being here would mean to them and how much I truly miss them everyday. So after exiting the church and coming back out into the sunlight we made our way to the Louvre. It was awesome to see it in person because I never realized that it was set in this old Roman style pavilion. You turn the corner and this big glass pyramid is in your face. We chose not to go in because they were closing exhibits in 15 minutes. So from there we walked in the rain now for 45 minutes over to the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing to see that in person. It is massive and we walked around underneath it try to take pictures in the pouring rain. We were also getting hassled by vendors running up to us with obviously stolen souvenirs and offering them for €1 or €2 which was about €5 less then the souvenir shops. So we went back to the smell hotel to rest and figure out plans for the night. The next day we slept in and woke up and had some crêpes then made a B line to the Louvre. Our German visas got us in for free and we walked around admiring all of the artwork and got to see the Mona Lisa in all of its 11X17 paper glory. After that we walked over to Charles Garnier's Opera House. This opera house is famous for all of the ballet performances and other performing arts pieces it houses. Then we took the Metro back to the Eiffel and went up to the top. The view from the top was magnificent. You could see the whole city and practically all the way past the city limits. The weather was still gorgeous and the sun was just starting to go down so we grabbed some incredible photos of the landscape and the four of us. We went and got some delicious and well over priced French food and walked back to the Eiffel to grab some night shots. From there we went back wiped out and prepared to depart the next day. The last stop on our sightseeing tour was the Arc d'Triumph and to stop by Shearman and Sterling's office to grab some pictures from their conference room thanks to Alan's friends. We got some nice pictures but elected not to stand under the Arc and just take photos from the street because it was €8 to go under the arc. We went to the bus station to purchase our tickets for the airport which was an hour away, another thing we didn't realize when we booked it.

Boatels, Hookers, and Heineken Oh My!

Spring Break Destination 1 - Amsterdam, Holland

We arrived in Amsterdam at night after a long train ride from Düsseldorf and attempted to find our Boatel. Now for those of you who don't know a boatel is it is a Hostel + Boat = Boatel. Meaning its awful. The boat is about 100ft long and the rooms are 6 x 6. So the four of us packed into this box dropped our stuff and got the hell out of there. The woman was really nice though and she gave us a map of Amsterdam and pointed out some areas to go for good nightlife including the red-light district. So obviously being quite intrigued by the red-light district and since it was on the way to the main drag we elected to walk down it. The commercial breakdown of the area is as follows: Coffee shop, Sex shop, Whore house, Strip club and repeat. It was quite overwhelming to walk down these few blocks. The girls are allowed to tap on the glass and get your attention and they make weird faces at you. Its quite disturbing I guess because its something you really aren't ready for. After that journey we found the main square where there are bunches of clubs and bars. It is very touristy there and you can hear people speaking in almost every language. Fortunately for us almost everyone in Amsterdam spoke English. Thank God because Dutch is such an awful language to try and understand. Since we were on trains the whole day after having a few beers in the bar we decided to go back to Boatel and rest. I think every time I hear or say the word Boatel for the rest of my life I may cringe. So day two comes about and we go and check out of Boatel Zebra and on to the next one since we couldn't get two nights in the same boat. They are sooo popular… We decide to go to the train station and get our train tickets for Paris the following day. Well apparently to pick up train tickets for Paris at the station in Amsterdam you have to go to Brussels. Yea that's right to Brussels. So we ended up having to cancel those and buy new tickets for the 8am train the next morning. Well we finally made it out on the town and our first stop was the Heineken Brewery. It wasn't too expensive and you got three free beers with it and you could talk all the pictures you wanted. We had blast in there. We learned about how its made and why it tastes the way it does and all that fun stuff and the Heineken from the brewery was the best I've ever tasted. From there we went over to the I AMsterdam sign and took all the touristic pictures we possibly could. We ate and went back to the boat to grab a little siesta before the night. So that night we made our way back down to Rembrant Square and went to a nice bar to sit and relax instead of clubbing since I don't much care for going to clubs without my girlfriend. We were trying to get home before it got to late but we lost Rob and Kyle and had to wait for them outside and ended up running into a really nice group of British kids who hung out with us while we waited for Kyle and Rob. So finally made it home and woke up 4 hours later to board a train to Paris

Walking around Amsterdam was incredible. The whole city is built around canals. Each building is brick of different colors and they are all so different. But this difference allows them to fit together. Even though we didn't get great weather the city was still awesome. Regardless of all of the "offerings" the city has walking around and in between all the canals was gorgeous especially at night when they are all lit up and full of people. Amsterdam is very cool that it is scaled to the pedestrian. All the streets are very narrow on the interior of the city and the buildings are no more than 5 stories high and most roads are inaccessible by car except for the ring highway outside of the city. But we only had two days there and it was on to Paris.

The Coaled Hard Facts About Biodomes

Mandatory Spring Break Day 4-5: Essen, Herne, Köln P2

So for day 4 an even earlier train awaited us from the hostel. From there we were to journey to Essen to see an old coal mining facility which has been redeveloped since its closure into two museums and the rest of the grounds in being transformed into offices and residences.

It was pretty cool to be there. We got a tour of the Coal Facility and learned how everything worked. The plant itself was extremely modern when it was active and it produced a significant amount of coal for Germany. There are also three architecturally significant building there as well. The main coal plant was turned into a museum of the Ruhr Valley and was designed by Rem Koolhaus. Getting into this building was really cool because there is an escalator that goes up 35m. Then inside the building at the entrance to the museum there is a stair that is all lined with orange neon lights that supposed to represent the molten coal being moved down the shaft. The museum itself is pretty cool too it has a bunch of stuff from historic animals that were there to contemporary photos taken by Ruhr residents. The second museum which we didn't make it to was designed by Norman Foster and was in the former steam plant. It now houses contemporary design projects. The third significant building is a university building by the japanese firm Sanne. It is a four story box with huge windows punched into it. fairly uninteresting and seemingly underused. So after that we decided to head home and on the way back to city center there is a beautiful Philharmonie by Alvar Alto. We attempted to get in by using some classic lines like its our last day in Germany and we are architecture students and all that jazz. But we just walked around and drooled up against the glass an took pictures.

The next day which put us on a 7:45am train was a trip to the small town of Herne where there is essentially a biodome. A climate controlled glass box that has palm trees and a little river running through it. It houses civic functions and even a few buildings for students. It was designed in the late 90s so being as efficient as it is was quite an accomplishment as it paved the way for Germany's green initiative. After having spent half the day there we chose to go back to Köln to see the Peter Zumthor museum that was closed on Tuesday. It was incredible how sculptural this museum was. It was built on the ruins of a 19th century church which was built on the ruins of a Roman Church. There is actually a point where you get to walk through the Ruins and its a really cool experience.

So from there it was off to break. Four of us sitting in the hauptbahnhof in Düsseldorf waiting to board our train to Amsterdam

Chocolate Scented Cologne

Mandatory Spring Break Day 3: Köln (Cologne)

So day two began with a 9:49 train ride to Cologne or Köln to the Germans. It took about 25 minutes to get there. Cologne is famous for having one of the most visited buildings in the world The Dom. It is a huge cathedral that is strikingly taller than anything else around it. When we got out of the Hauptbahnhof it was right in front of us. It must be 600 hundred feet tall. It is a gigantic Gothic style cathedral with huge spires and an incredible interior. Words can not describe just how massive this thing really was. Its such an incredible structure that it was the only thing to remain standing in Cologne after WWII because the entire city was destroyed. After enjoying the Cathedral for about an hour we went into a contemporary art Museum and enjoyed work by Andy Warhol and other pop and modern artists.

Cologne sits directly on the Rhein River and the shore is dotted with beautiful bridges and shops. The walk down along the river was very nice and we passed by some pretty cool buildings on the way there by some old favorites like Terrani. We were on route to another Sauerbruch and Hutton building when along our side emerges the Cologne Lindt Chocolate Museum. Obviously we petitioned our professors to stop and thy were more than happy to oblige. We decided against the tour and opted to just sit in the café and enjoy some delicious chocolate cake and hot chocolate. Thus after thoroughly enjoying some chocolate we continued on to the S&H building which was very similar to their others; brightly colored and insanely energy efficient. From there we trekked to a local architects firm for a tour of their office. Then dinner and we caught a train home.

The People's Wagon

Mandatory Spring Break Day 1 & 2: Wolfsburg

In Wolfsburg there really is nothing. There is a science museum called the Phaeno Center by Zaha Hadid an Iraqi architect and it is really cool. It looks like a space ship landed on this site in the middle of Wolfsburg. The building is very cool and houses a bunch of neat exhibits which we of course got to play with.

There is the first Volkswagon factory in Germany is there. Its very cool. There is a little city attached to it meant to promote all the VW products called the Autostadt or Car City. There are separate pavilions for some of the VW products. There is a Lamborghini, Audi, VW, and Sezt. The Lamborghini one was incredibly disappointing. Lots of smoke and sounds and one car attached to the wall that did nothing. The Volkswagon pavilion had a weird simulator which was just a big advertisement for VW. The Sezt one was strange and they only have a few cars to show. The Audi one by far was the most incredible one. Got to check out the newest R8 sit in it and cheek out all the features. There was then at the other end of the Autostadt a museum of the history of cars. In it was a replica of the Model T and other original cars. Mostly VW cars there were 1st generation VW's and Audi's, old Bugatti's and even some american cars like an El Dorado. The Autostadt was a little disappointing as it turned out to be just a giant VW advertisement.

The last thing noting in Wolfsburg was the Hostel. The Jungenherbergen. The cost was 3E so that right away is not a good start. The rooms smelled like urine and the bathrooms were not attached to the rooms. Between being small and the place being smelly I was all too excited to get out of there.

The trying to get on the train to Düsseldorf was an adventure in itself. The trains here like to come in two cars and split at one station. So us being near the back of the train we were supposed to be in wagon 22 but the trains went from 35-45 until we realized that there were two trains. So all 27 of us including professors sprinted with seconds to go toward the other train bags in hand. The last of us jumped on just as it started to pull away as a few others ended up in first class and had to come to where we were at the first stop before the train split.

Happy to be out of Wolfsburg and on to Düsseldorf we checked out the bar strip which is what the city is famous for. Obviously not very happening on a Monday it was still pretty cool.

The Outside World, Love and the Beauty of Death

So since about tuesday of last week, when I made my last blog post, I have been essentially trapped in the studio. So I've been feeling very much like I'm back in Boston. But after the whole weekend and the weekend I produced 11 slides for presentation and 2 models. Feeling accomplished I went into the critique confidently. Even though my teacher didn't email me back until the night before the critique about a question I had. So finally Valentine's Day rolls around and I'm ready to present then head home for a romanic Skype date with the beautiful Erica. Well things don't really go as planned. The whole time I'm presenting my professor is scowling at me and she comments that we talked about things that they were critiquing. But that's fine she can scowl because I plan on showing her up. The best part of the day was I got to be the slide guy for everyones presentation. I clicked through all the presentations like a champ. But after 25 people and 8 hours I finally made it home to have my date. Unfortunately Stonybrook had to interrupt but its alright when miss Erica is a successful nurse I'll have someone to take care of me.

So there was an optional trip this morning that turned out to be not so optional. After everyone except for a few of us partied their faces off last night couldn't make it due to hangovers. The "optional" trip was to a crematorium just outside of Berlin. It was a really cool building and the partner of the firm that designed it gave us a guided walk around inside the building. We walked all through the mourning rooms but weren't allowed to go down into the actual crematorium section. But it was an interesting building because a crematorium is a touchy building typology to build in Germany…. they have a reputation. The building deals a lot with the feeling of loss and light and rebirth. But this build was pretty awesome so I'm happy we went. I took plenty of pictures too.

Soggy Burgers and Live Girls

Hamburg & Hafen City

So our stop this week brings us North of Berlin to Hamburg. Possibly the windiest and rainiest city in Germany. So it rained from the moment we stepped off the train until we arrived back in Berlin on Sunday. Hamburg is pretty awesome though. Expensive. But awesome. Hamburg is really cool that in its lower district called Hafen City (Harbor City) is being completely redesigned and an entirely new city is being built there. The whole area is under construction. Its quite cool to see a city actually being built. It makes me think how people felt when New York or Boston was built up. It's going to be finished in 2030 so I'm already planing a return trip. We walked for two and half hours probably more in the pouring rain just to see the proposed sites of all of these buildings and a few that were under construction or already finished. The Elfphilharmonie is probably the most interesting building in the whole design. It's a huge opera house with a hotel apartments and a mall. The design is so sick. I can't even explain it so just google it, it's a masterpiece of engineering.

Now lets get to the real part of this story the nightlife in Hamburg. So finally we completed our search for German food, since apparently Berlin has food from everywhere but Germany. So we walked into this seemingly little stone bar but little couldn't have been more wrong. Probably 100 meters deep this place was just lined with picnic benches filled with people all drinking beer and singing beer songs. Heaven? Maybe. We were seated toward the back where we promptly ordered drinks. They brought us a small 10L keg which was filled with beer brewed in the restaurant. Heaven? Maybe. The guy brought out a steak and a hammer and physically tapped the keg in front of us. Then the waitress comes and the menu has 3 items. A German buffet, a sausage platter, or an assorted German meat dish. Heaven? Yes, yes I think so. The food was delicious and the beer was better and we left quite satisfied.

The next night our exploits got even more local. Hamburg is famous for the Reeperbahn. The Reeperbahn is a famous redlight district in Hamburg. An it lived up to the hype. The establishments on the street are as follows: Casino, Strip Club, Bar, Sex Shop, Nightclub, or any combination of the five for the entirety of the 1/2 KM long block. It was slightly overwhelming and the amount of people there was incredible. It was what I imagine the strip in Las Vegas to be like. Any bar we went to on the strip or down a side street had girls dancing on the bar (fully clothed thank God or I'd have an angry miss Erica). The other crazy thing that happened the night before whilst looking for a bar was getting screamed at by a hooker. Which apparently when a girl just hanging out by herself with an umbrella is a signal for "I'm Working." So she's something to us in German and starts walking towards us so we pick up the pace and start saying "Nein Danke" over and over.

Craziness ensued the whole weekend between kids throwing up in front of me on the train, scary hookers, and pouring rain coming back to normally crazy Berlin seemed like a nice change of pace.

But Hamburg is definitely worth going back to when Hafen City is finished... preferably in August when it's not rainy.

A Free Education, a Concrete Block, and a Terrarium

The past week was fairly uneventful aside from our Wednesday trip to the Free University of Berlin and our Friday trip to Dessau. The Frei Universitat Berlin is famous for being the first library founded in West Germany after the wall went up. The university still free to this day but houses an incredible Library by our friend Lord Norman Foster who's also responsible for the Reichstag (go back a few posts to get that description). The library there is so cool. Its three concrete plates attached by two piers. Encompassing this structure is a bubble like shell that functions to provide and regulate the temperature. Like most of Foster's buildings its extremely eco-friendly. it doesn't require and heating or cooling for 60% of the year

Dessau was one of the first cities in Germany to allow the Nazis to come to power. But more famous than that is the Bauhaus (Bow-House). Built by Walter Gropius it embodies the functionalism in Germany. Some of the most famous architects taught there but oddly enough not one student ever achieved any acclaim. So what is the Bauhaus really. Honestly after learning about now for three semesters in a row I don't know. Its a collection of world famous architects who taught artists and architects that never really amounted to anything. And all these people just designed the ugliest crap from blinding lights to odd shaped chairs. Actually being there was really cool though. Since we've been force fed this building for so long seeing it and walking through it was pretty awesome. But also slightly disappointing because its just like four concrete blocks with relatively no purpose anymore. This influential architectural building that produced no one and achieves nothing spectacular.

The other building we saw was awesome though. By Sauerbruch & Hutton it is called the UBA which is the German acronym for their Environmental Office. You walk into this glass outer shell and you still feel outside because the whole mass of the building is still in front of you. This building is extremely eco-efficient and is better explained through pictures. The building uses recycled glass as soil and incorporates water and other features to give a natural feeling but all with a purpose to serve the ecosystem the building maintains.

Other than that I'm getting by here still adapting to cultural changes and getting accustomed to daily life. And attempting to speak German. I still miss everyone especially miss Erica but at least I get to talk to her almost daily.

Going Green and Coming Up Short

So last night I began to work on my studio project which is being designed to be a green building. Something the Berliners are big into. They are also crazily into recycling. There's pails for green glass, brown glass, and clear glass. Theres paper and compost and non-recylable trash. Its a little tough to keep it all straight. Its definitely a huge cultural difference here. People are actually encouraged to recycle because on all glass bottles the return for recycling it can be almost 25 to 33 cents. Its odd here how recycling and being efficient isn't seen as going above and beyond like it is in America, its seen as a daily and normal routine.

So the other part of this story is about the Jets. The game was at 12:30am CET and ended just before 4am. So my roommate casey (him being a Steelers fan) and I decided to stream the game on our computers on our crappy internet connection. So we huddled around my computer and watched, me agonizingly for two quarters then triumphantly for one. Then as the fourth quarter started the internet application sent us a message that we reached our data limit and proceed to shut down. So both of us huddled in front of ESPN.com watching the time tick down and continue to guess what happened. Unfortunately it was not to be for the Jets and going to be at 4am was even more bitter.

So Cold My Schinkel's Falling Off, But At Least I'm Fashionable

So this was the last week of orientation classes. On monday we start the real schedule and actually have less of a time constricted life. So since being in Germany we've learned that everything in the city was designed or built by Friedrich Schinkel.

So Tuesday we went to the German Parliament. It's called the Reichstag and it is a super historical building which houses the Bundestag (The Parliament). And on the way we passed under the Brandenburg Gate, which is the former medieval gate to the city of Berlin. It is such a cool building. It was designed by Lord Norman Foster and the whole building is almost completely self-sufficient. There is a metallic mirrored core in the middle of a large dome which reflects sunlight in to light the parliamentary chamber and at night reflects the artificial light out to show the people the parliament is there. This building is so energy efficient that it actually powers the near by buildings.

Then Thursday we took an extensive tour through the city visiting a majority of Schinkel's prominent buildings in Berlin. Eventually ending up at the Altes Museum on Museum Island. Schinkel's buildings are magnificent. They all have this Neo-Gothic style with this hint of classicism through proportions and materials. But regardless of all of this when its 20 degrees outside it's not fun when your professor stops and explains the history of each brick outside for 20 minutes.

Also this week was fashion week in Berlin. So on thursday we happened to end up right beside a photo shoot of models and Mercedes'. Needless to say this was a pleasant change from Museums and Churches. The model was like 6'5" and like 95lbs but she was gorgeous. We wanted to go in but 25 twenty-year-olds dressed like eskimos weren't on the guest list or dressed nice enough.

So Friday was another trip to another on of Schinkel's Museums on Museum Island. But these Museums housed some incredible stuff. Since being here I've become quite the artsy type. I have a great appreciation for artwork now. The first one had recreated Babylonian Temples and Islamic artwork like rugs and jewelry. Then the second had incredible amounts of Egyptian relics. Everything from sarcophaguses to mummies it was amazing. The upper floor also contained a history of the world from like the first people up until present day. But unfortunately everyone was starting to whine so we had to go. But a return trip is most definitely planned.

So far even though its freezing here now Berlin is a pretty incredible city.

The Wall, Turkish Food, Internet & Potsdam

So this first week has been much better than I initially thought it would be. Berlin is nice. Its like New York City, its big and dirty and crowded. But everybody speaks German. That's been the most difficult part. Trying to adapt to a new culture and a new language. But thanks to "intensive" German class my German is pretty good.

The Wall:

So on Friday we went to the intersection of Frederichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse. This the intersection in the center of Berlin were the Wall used to divide east and west Germany at Checkpoint Charlie. There is a path on the ground demarcating where the wall once stood so you can almost imagine that there is a physical border. You get an erie feeling standing there. It almost feels as if you are in a piece of history. Its a very ominous feeling and its really very moving. There is another section further down where a large piece of the wall is still standing. This is incredible you can actively feel how the Germans felt. You can really see the pain anguish these people felt from the graffiti on the wall calling for justice and help. I can only imagine what it would have been like to be living there. The other strange feeling you get when you are there is you can still the divide between East and West. The east side has all old concrete communist era housing and looks very tradition and the west side has a McDonald's and a Starbucks. Its an incredible spot where you feel this clash and blending of cultures.

Turkish Food has become my new Taco Bell. It is everywhere but its surprisingly good. All of the places look like a fast food stand but everything is made right in front of you. The blend of fresh vegetables, different sauces and lamb is awesome.

So we finally got internet in our apartment so I can actually be connected to the world, my parents and my wonderful girlfriend.

Finally today we went to Potsdam. Potsdam is one of the most magnificent places I've ever seen. It is a small German town which has a very dutch style. The town is quaint with small buildings and a farmers market. The real incredible part is the 19th Century architecture that is still there. There are castle gates that have survived from the 1800's and other beautiful monuments in the town. Its incredible to be surrounded by such a historical presence. Its something that you can't experience really in America. The we went to one of the many parks around the City. The park which must have been 10 square miles and took seven hours to walk was filled with castle. Formerly a hunting ground for Fredreich the Great the place is just beautiful. everything is on an axis except for the paths between the castles. Just the grounds and the fountain and how there is just so much of a majestic quality all around. There are breathtaking moments when as you're walking up the paths the castles are hidden from you and revealed only when you've almost reached them. The views are beautiful all around and the architecture is equally spectacular. So of the buildings have such a massive scale you feel dwarfed by them. And all of the statues and sculptures make all of the history almost overwhelming. So it has been one the most incredible things I've seen.

I'm going to put all the pictures on the blog via Flickr so look for that soon. And I tried to take touristy pictures not architectural ones.

Traveling Through Time

So the first day was spent almost entirely on airplanes or in airports. The flight from boston a Virgin Atlantic Jet. The flight wasn't bad outside of the Lean Cuisine they served for dinner. The British stewardesses and the Tea and snacks for breakfast felt very authentic. The flight didn't seem as long as the 6 hour travel time promised. When we finally got over land London at 6:55am was gorgeous.

Then the fun started. The flight came in slightly late to London and we only had an hour to make it through security and to the other Terminal.

I, of course, got lost in the Airport with one of my friends and we ended up sprinting through the airport to board the plane to Berlin. The flight to Berlin was uninteresting and I slept. Landing in Germany we broke through the clouds and emerged in a rain and cloudy and bleak stereotypical Germany. They showed to our modest accommodations and left us be.

Hopefully we can get a constant source of internet so I can continue to write these. So far cheap beer and good food are the themes but hopefully some scenery and beautiful buildings will come

The Storm before the Calm

Today I started my travel. D-day to make a bad pun. But I rushed up to Boston to beat the snow that never really came. I'm sitting in a hotel room trying to read a stupid book and wondering about the next 4 months. I ask myself why I can't get as excited about everything as everyone else? I just only hope that I'm pleasantly surprised because right now things just aren't really falling together like I planned. I just have to much time to dwell on everything that isn't and not focus on how great of a time I should have once I'm there. I like to think that when I land in London on Sunday morning my world won't be different. Everything will feel right and I'll board the other plan to Germany among my friends laughing and being excited for the opportunity of a life time. For now hopefully a goodnights rest quells the storm in my mind and calms my nerves. So from now on only post about happy sightings and great adventures. Here goes nothing!

A Final Thank You Parts 1 & 2

Part 1

This being the inaugural post on my blog I figured it should at least have some significance. So with this first post I wanted to thank all of the people I worked with at Schneider Engineering/ACT for making my time there fun. Everyday was different, except for those days filing at streetlighting but I've blocked those out anyway. I hope you guys are following along and will continue to. But thanks for everything and I wish you all well.

Part 2

The next thanks I'd like to extend is to all my friends/family at home. Those who I saw extensively and almost too much in the past 8 months and those who I only saw randomly. I enjoyed all the time we spent together and it made being away from school bearable. You're all important to me and I hope by following along with this we can stay connected even when I'm across the world.

That's the first post. I promise from now on they'll be interesting.