Looking for Freedom

This year is a big year in Germany for many reasons (Weltmeisters!  Whaddup!), one of the biggest reasons being the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Originally I didn’t really think anything of it as far as celebrating, but then the Tuesday before the anniversary Susanna texted me and was like, would you want to come to Berlin with me and Gabby this weekend?  It was a whirlwind spontaneous trip, but probably one of the most fun and memorable weekends I’ve had so far.

When someone who says this invites you to go to Berlin with them for the weekend (or to do anything with them ever), you don’t say no.

 

We left Dortmund at 8 am on Saturday morning, and due to lots of traffic jams didn’t make it there until 3 pm.  But we were greeted by sunshine and a city filled with really fantastic energy.  We stored our luggage in the Alexanderplatz Bahnhof and off we went.

How we feel about Deutsche Bahn strikes, insane traffic, and questionable music choices

 

After lunch/dinner in Nikolaiviertel we walked down Unter den Linden to the center of the action: the Brandenburg Gate.  The city had giant screens posted along the old border showing scenes from the building of the wall and those from the night of November 9, 1989.  They also set up a “Lichtgrenze” – a huge light-up balloon installation – to show where the Berlin wall used to stand.  At the Brandenburg Gate, different organizations were giving out a ton of free swag, and the west side of the gate had a huge stage with musical acts going.  We walked along the Grenze past the Holocaust memorial toward Checkpoint Charlie.

Source (this page has a couple of nice videos showing different parts of the Lichtgrenze)

Party Time at Brandenburg Gate

Other side of the gate, and our first glimpse at the Lichtgrenze

Holocaust Memorial

First Gluhwein of the season at Potsdamer Platz

Checkpoint Charlie

 

We were insanely lucky that our hostel was only a block away from the East Side Gallery, so day two of our Berlin weekend began at 9 as we cruised along the east side of the wall.  I’d never been there before, and I’d never been particularly keen to see it, but I’m so glad we went!  It’s such a cool art installation, and we were very lucky that we went so early in the day, because there were minimal crowds that we had to navigate through!

One of my favorite murals

It’s famous

These two…

Shenanigans

After the East Side Gallery we had breakfast in the Kreuzberg district (seeing any repeat patterns from my last Berlin trip?).  No longer hangry, we went back to Unter den Linden to visit the Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle’s temporary Contemporary African Art exhibit.  It was a small exhibit that mostly dealt with cultural perceptions and differences that the artist encountered moving from Benin to the Netherlands.   It was relateable and interactive, and I’m glad we were able to catch the exhibit before it left Germany.

Breakfast at Bateau Ivre

The Meschac Gaba exhibit included a library

 

Our last stop was Angry Chicken in Kreuzberg.  Some Aussies we met in the hostel Saturday night recommended it, and they definitely knew what they were talking about.  It’s a tiny little joint on Oranienstrasse but their food is outta this world.  Noms.

By the time we were done eating, it was time to head back west to the Ruhrgebiet.  We spent just a little over 24 hours in Berlin, but it was amazing to see how much the country has changed since reunification.  It was also amazing to see how abrupt and disruptive the wall was (not to mention the oppression it represented).  Usually you’re kind of conscious of where the wall stood, but seeing the lichtgrenze in places like the middle of the road helped to put a few things in perspective.  Not to mention the lichtgrenze was totally fluid; you could just jump from one side of the balloons to the other like people two decades ago could’ve only imagined.

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For further reading, here are a few articles on Germany 25 years after the fall:
Washington Post on the continuing divide between East and West
Time: Germany’s Wall that Didn’t Fall
Washington Post: Walls still standing
Washington Post: Three Generations Reflect on the Wall
Buzzfeed: Germans who love the Hoff (NRW makes an impressive showing, and my own beloved Bochum is represented at number 13!)

5 Fulbrighters, 3 Countries, 1 Weekend

For Laura’s last weekend in the Ruhrpott, she, Susanna, Claire, Gabby, and myself made a little trip to the edge of Germany.  We based ourselves in Aachen, right at the corner of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Maastricht’s Vrijthof Square

 

First up on the three country tour was Maastricht, the birthplace of the European Union.  We got there early afternoon, and spent most of the day taking in the sites (churches, lots of churches).  Highlights include the Treasury at Sint Servaasbasiliek (SO MANY RELICS) the Star of the Sea shrine at the Basilica of Our Lady.  My favorite place in Maastricht, however, is the Boekhandel Dominicanen, a 700 year old church-turned-bookstore (it appears on lists like this one).  The first floor is new stuff, but the upper levels are all used and antique books.  At first it appears that it’s a run-of-the-mill used bookstore, and then you pass a cabinet where the books are first editions from centuries ago that cost a cool 500 euro.  They had a pretty decent collection of English books, too.  Needless to say, we were there a long time.

Boekhandel Dominicanen

 

We started the next day at Aachen Cathedral for mass.  That cathedral.  Y’all.  One of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen.  Absolutely exquisite.  I would go back at the drop of a hat.

Just one view in the Aachen Cathedral

 

After mass we went to brunch close to the cathedral and attacked that all-you-can-eat brunch buffet like nobody’s business.  Then it was on the bus to Vaals, a city on the Netherlands side of the border and the starting point for our hike to the Dreiländereck (“three country corner”).  The hike was lovely (albeit somewhat confusing – it took us a while to get on the right path!), and the view from the hill into Belgium was gorgeous.  We didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time exploring Aachen, but it’s such a cool city, and I’m looking forward to going back, maybe for some Christmas markets!

Gettin in on that three country action

 

Little Happenings: There are Trees in the Ruhrpott!

Unfortunately for us, train strikes prevented any faraway adventures the last weekend of fall break.  That’s ok, though, because that meant we had more time to explore Bochum and the surrounding areas.

I haven’t really described Bochum a lot, but for now let me tell you that it’s not what anyone would describe as scenic.  It’s in the middle of the Ruhrgebiet (that’s the Ruhr River Valley, affectionately called the Ruhrpott and infamous for being the heart of German industry), a huge area crammed with lots of people (check out number 17 on Vox’s Maps that Explain the Global Economy)  and the region itself is kind of known for being less green and more gray.

Lucky for us, Susanna’s roommate knew of a place that actually was more green than gray: the Kemnader See, just to the south of Bochum (well, a 30 minute bus ride south of Bochum) directly on the Ruhr River.  It’s got tons of bike paths and trees and grass and you can see hills and it was just really lovely.  Susanna, her roommate, myself, and Laura, a Fulbrighter visiting from Rhineland-Pfalz on her fall break, spent a Sunday afternoon walking along the river, enjoying the late fall sunshine and breathing in a little bit of fresh air.

Taking a break from that city life

 

Herbstferien Part 3: Weekend in Lille

For the last big adventure of fall break, I headed across the border for a weekend in France.  My friend Lisa is living and working in Paris now, and we got to know each other as interns for the same project for WorldDenver while we were both going to grad school at DU.  Lisa and I had been talking back and forth trying to decide where to go for our weekend away, and I’m so glad we settled on Lille.  As soon as we started exploring, I fell in love.  It’s a big city that feels like a little college town.  The proximity to Belgium is evident in the food, the architecture, and the beer, but it’s still definitely France.  And trust me, with that combo, everyone wins.

After dropping our luggage at the hostel Saturday morning, we headed into Vieux Lille to grab coffee, escape the rain, and strategize our weekend.

After that, we headed through the rain towards Palais des Beaux-Arts via the Grand Place.

The Palais des Beaux-Arts was awesome!  I’m pretty sure that I read somewhere that it’s France’s second largest museum and the largest outside of Paris.  But it was actually extremely manageable.  We spent about two hours there and were able to see works from the ancient Egyptians all the way up to the well-known 20th century stuff.  My favorites were probably some of the van Goghs and a few sculptures by Rodin. (Just an aside, if you’re ever in Paris, you should go to the Rodin museum.  The collection is amazing and the gardens are beautiful.)

After the museum we walked up to the citadel, which is actually just a giant park with a zoo(and a mysterious government building to which we were denied access) and then wound our way back to the city center and went shopping around the Grand Place, checked out some churches, and took a little break to sip some beer in the afternoon sun.  Everywhere I turned, there was some beautiful view, and the pictures just don’t do it justice.

Transformed! Look at the Grand Place without all those dreary gray clouds.

Heaven is this cheese shop a few blocks from the Grand Place. Look at the cheese. Respect the cheese. Love the cheese.

I can’t remember the name of this church, and it’s killing me. It was beautiful. This picture does not do it justice.

Inside Lille’s Cathedral. It is very weird and modern on the outside, and on the inside it looks like this.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip, which I shamelessly stole from Lisa’s Instagram

 

We got a recommendation from the hostel to try a place a block or two away for dinner.  Despite the fact that the menu was printed in Comic Sans font, it was legit.  We ordered Welsh, a traditional Lille dish, which turned out to be a slice of bread and a slice of ham in a casserole dish FILLED WITH CHEESE and served with a basket of fries.  After dinner we grabbed a few drinks from a bar towards the city center.  Really, we should’ve gone straight back to the hostel, because when we got back for the night their bar was more popular than most of the other places we saw that night.

Sunday morning we headed straight for the market in Wazemmes.  It’s a really big deal in Lille, and Lisa and I didn’t realize how big.  It is HUGE!  Overwhelming.  And they sell everything.  I mean everything.  It goes on for blocks.  And it felt like the whole town was there.  Everybody.  To say the least, it was nuts. After we grabbed some fruit we decided to take a break from sensory overload and had some coffee accompanied by treats from Aux Merveilleux.  These tiny bits of meringue heaven were so delicate and so unbelievably delectable.  I will never forget them.

After that we went to the zoo and saw red pandas and capybaras (among others), and then we grabbed treats for the train and headed back to Paris.

Liz’s pro travel tip: turn your train ride into a first class experience by packing as much food as possible, and don’t forget plastic cups for your wine.

 

We spent Sunday night cheering on the Broncos at a bar in Bastille.  After that it was back to Bochum to gear back up for school and the real world again.

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Since I basically feel like a Lille evangelist now, here are some great resources that helped us decide where to go and what to see.  Also important to note is that Lisa is a master of the French language, which made our lives much easier.  I think part of Lille’s appeal is that it wasn’t crawling with tourists, but that also means English is spoken less frequently!

About Travel’s Top Attractions in and around Lille
Cultural City Guide from The Telegraph
WikiTravel’s Guide to Lille
UseIt Travel’s Lille Map

 

Herbstferien Part 2: My week on the Bodensee

The Bodensee (aka Lake Constance) is probably one of the most beautiful places in all of Germany.  It’s a great big lake fed by the Rhine and surrounded by Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, not to mention vineyards, forests, Baroque churches, and the Alps.  It was the perfect setting for adventuring away from the Ruhrpott.

Sunday was R&R day, so we slept in and then just went to see the sights of Konstanz.  Konstanz is gorgeous – it escaped bombing during WWII and so all the structures are still originals from, you know, the 12th century.  Add that to the Alpine lake location and it really doesn’t get any better.

The view from the top of one of Konstanz’s churches (Münster, I’m pretty sure)

 

Monday was one of my favorite days of the break.  Susanna and I borrowed a couple of bikes, took a ferry across the lake to Meersburg, and then rode the 10 km trail along the Bodensee to Birnau, a super baroque church surrounded by vineyards.  Baroque churches like this kind of drive me crazy, but in a fun, European novelty kind of way – there’s so much going on, like, where are you even supposed to be looking?  It’s overwhelming.  But anyway, it was great.  Susanna and I had a picnic lunch in front of the church – behind us was that beautiful, pink monstrosity and in front of us were vineyards and trees and lake and sunshine.  Gorgeous.

Our view at lunchtime

Basilika Birnau

 

After our lunch we biked back to Meersburg and strolled around the town for a little bit.  After we met Susanna’s aunt and uncle for dessert, we bought some fresh apples and headed back across the lake for dinner with friends.

Tuesday, Susanna and I caught the bus with her friend Christian to take a hike at Marienschulcht.  Despite the rain that day, our hike was lovely and actually reminded me of being back home in Arkansas.  The ravine and falls are surrounded by forests and it felt just like I was traipsing around in the Ozarks.

Marienschlucht. Pictures don’t do it justice.

 

Wednesday we met back up with Susanna’s aunt and uncle and went on a hike along the upper Danube.  More trees, more wilderness, some fields, some cows, no rain but definitely some mud.  Also, a castle/fortress.  I’m not exactly sure what it’s supposed to be, but here it is.  I’m pretty sure it was 11th century, maybe 12th.  Wednesday’s picnic lunch view was the Danube on the right and the Very Old Building to our left.  Seriously, how awesome is that?

Look at the Danube! Look at those cliffs!

I think in the moment I was more impressed with this tree stump than the Very Old Building you can kind of see peeking out in the background.

 

Susanna’s aunt and uncle took us to dinner that night and then dropped us back off in Meersburg so we could catch the ferry back across the lake to Konstanz.  I’m pretty sure this was also the night we got ice cream and watched The Lion King in German.  Don’t tell us we don’t know how to have fun.  Thursday, we rested our tired little feet, and I spent most of the day relaxing at the lake park in Switzerland (because you can just hop over the border and do that here, NBD).  We capped off the day by meeting some more friends at a restaurant for flammkuchen night (flammkuchen = pizza bread with a cream sauce base and cheese and ham and onions and it is truly so simple yet so unbelievably delicious).  It was a lovely, chill night, and a perfect way to cap off my week on Lake Constance!