Romans & Royalty!

As I said before, I am lucky enough to have long weekends - or I am have just planned it out that way ;]  So, for the first weekend of the semester, my friends and I went on two day-long excursions!  On Friday, we took the train for 3.5 hours to Trier, the oldest city in Germany!  It was settled by the Romans in 16BC and was used as the capital of the Western Roman Empire!  So, it is a city full of striking examples of the Roman presence, 9 of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites!  The first thing to be seen upon entering the city is Porta Nigra (Black Gate in Latin).  It is a massive gateway to he city that served as the entrance to Trier during Roman times.  After making our way through the gate, we were in the central pedestrian zone, leading to the Hauptmarkt, which is just incredibly surrounded by thousands of years of history!  With the Roman Porta Nigra to the north, the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals to the east, and Renaissance and Baroque houses to the south and west, one of which is a former bishop's house converted into an H&M...ahh the progress of modernity!  We next visited the Konstantinbasilika, a former Roman throne room which is the largest Roman building outside of Rome!  Right next to it was the charming garden of the palace of the former royal electorate!  Next we made our way to the Trierer Dom, the oldest Christian structure in Germany, whose foundation was laid in the 4th Century!  On its left is the Liebfrauenkirche, the oldest Gothic structure in Germany, begun in 1235!  It was just incredible to me that there are so many historical monuments in one small area...and there was still so much to see!  We walked past the home where Karl Marx was born in 1818 and then to the Roemerbruecke, which provided beautiful views of the Mosel River!  Then we trekked all the way across the city to see the Kaiserthermen, one of the largest imperial bath houses of the Romans, now left to ruins.  They were massive, taking up an entire city block!  Then we were off to see the Roman amphitheater, which was unfortunately closed, bust still cool to see.  It's just hard to imagine what the city would have looked like 2000 years ago, without the cars and big buildings.  These structures must have been even more imposing and incredible!  

Porta Nigra

Hauptmarkt

Konstantinbasilika

Gardens of the Kurfuerstliches Palais

Trierer Dom and Liebfrauenkirche

Inside the Trierer Dom

Mosel River from the Roemerbruecke

Kaiserthermen

Path leading to the Amphitheater

The following day, we took the 4.5 hour train ride to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg!  The train ride along the Rhein Valley was incredibly magical!  The river is lined with rolling hills, covered with tiered vineyards!  Nestled between the hills are fairy tale villages and atop each hill was the ruin of a castle, hiding in the mist of the early morning!  I had to just stop doing my reading for class and stare out the window the whole time, sinking it all in and admiring it!  This is one region of Germany that I definitely would like to come back to and visit more in depth!!!  Anyhow, we arrived in Luxembourg and I was once again out of element - everything was in French!  But the city was beautiful!  We crossed the valley into the city center and immediately found ourselves at the Cathedrale Notre-Dame.  This was not quite as impressive as I would have hoped, but still cool.  We then just strolled around and found ourselves in front of the Palais Grad-Ducal where the royal family lives...just right in the middle of the city!  After lunch - the best pizza I've had here! - we toured the casemates carved into the old, natural fortification of the city!  It was a labyrinth of underground tunnels leading to craggy openings with spectacular views of the valley and Alzette River below.  It was so much fun exploring - and getting lost - in the secret passageways.  I couldn't help but feel cool ;]  Since it was raining when we left the casemates, we went to a chocolate cafe across from the royal palace where we got very delicious hot chocolate...and I got cake!  Then we explored the Petrusse Valley, which may have been my favorite part of the excursion.  The city of Luxembourg is built on cliffs which naturally protect the city and below them are these beautiful valleys filled with streams and forests.  It was really magical and very pretty with the fall colors!  We even came across a small 700 year old church built into the side of a cliff!  Exploring the natural beauty of the region was a lot of fun, but even an explorer like myself can be humbled when it is time to order a hamburger in French!  I kind of didn't even know what I ordered.  I really take for granted that I am able to speak German.  I am not even that good at German and make so many mistakes ALL the time, but at least I have a sense of what's going on!  Can't wait to go to Paris in a few weeks...hehe!

Traveling through the Rhein Valley!

Cathedrale Notre-Dame

Palais Grand-Ducal

Alzette River from the fortifications

Inside the casemates

Exploring the secret passageways!

Beautiful view from the casemates!

Chocolate in Luxembourg!

Natural beauty of the Petrusse Valley!

Me in the Petrusse Valley!

Der Beginn des Semesters

The Winter Semester at Uni Heidelberg is well underway and I am slowly learning how to deal with the "joys" of this educational system.  At best, it can be described as disorganized and unstructured and is far from what I am used to in the States!  There is no registration for classes - you simply show up to as many classes as you want whenever they meet and hope that you can get a spot.  You also have the first 2 weeks to visit any and all classes before making a final decision on a schedule.  I took advantage of this, which was nice, but I would have preferred there to be accurate course descriptions made available before the beginning of the semester so I would not waste time going to stupid classes and then feverishly trying to find replacement courses!  

Course selection is not the only difference - there is relatively no homework (which is optional even when it's assigned) and the entire grade for the course is based on the final exam (either written or oral) or a final paper.  The lack of homework is rather enjoyable, but it's just a cover-up for the hell that will be unleashed at the end of the year!  I am already freaking out about all the upcoming papers and the fact that the fate of my GPA rests in the grade I receive on a single assignment, which is assigned as vaguely as possible!  For instance, my entire Spanish grade will be based off of a final essay.  The professor told me to pick a topic and write a 6-page paper relating it to the class.  That narrows it down!  And, as if this was not difficult enough, all of my classes are taught in German (or in some cases Spanish) and all of these complicated rules are explained in a foreign language!  Why I do this to myself, I do not know! 

Another adjustment I had to make was attending a large university!  I am accustomed to student bodies of 2,500...not 30,000!  The buses are PACKED with students at peak school hours, so much so that one day I felt severely claustrophobic!  The streets and mensas are always much more crowded as well, but luckily my class sizes are all under 30.  

All of that being said, I am rather pleased with my schedule and the courses I am taking!  Here is a rundown of my weekly schedule:

Monday

6:30-8:30pm - The Turn of the Century (a class about the political/literary/artistic movements in Europe and Germany between 1871 and 1914)

Tuesday

12:15-1:45pm - Swedish Basic Course I (this is probably my favorite course because it is easiest and I'm actually interested in learning Swedish!)

3:30-5:00pm - Introduction to German History (this class is all about German history from 1500-present, which I'm excited about since I've never officially learned about anything besides WWII and the Berlin Wall!  It's also only for international students, so it's slightly less intense)

8:00-10:00pm - Choir (as part of my exchange program, we are highly recommended to join an activity, so I chose choir since I had some friends in it.  It's much harder than I expected, but still fun!)

Wednesday

FREE!  (that means I have to do my laundry and optional homework...so it's not that free)

Thursday

12:15-1:45pm - Swedish Basic Course I (again!)

1:45-3:15pm - Identity and Recent Past (this is one of my Spanish courses, which is about the dictatorship and Dirty War in Argentina and their effect on memory and identity in Argentina today)

3:30-5:00pm - German-Spanish Translation (this is a lot harder than I would have expected, but the professor is insanely nice, so I'm going to try to tough it out...wish me luck!)

Friday-Saturday-Sunday

WEEKEND!  I'm hoping to use this to travel...well actually I have pretty much every weekend planned, so I WILL be traveling!  Keep following my blog to find out where I go!

Romance Seminar - where I have Spanish classes!

Max-Weber-Haus - where I have German History and Choir!

University Library - not allowed to wear a coat or have a backpack in here, which is the stupidest rule in the world, so I never go in...but I need books for my research papers :/

Central Language Laboratory - where I study Swedish!

Fall Break: Copenhagen & London!

So, I'm sure you are all wondering about my exciting fall break trip around northern Europe!  It was truly an incredible experience!  I woke up at 4am so I could catch my bus and all my train connections to get to the airport for my flight to Copenhagen - mostly all of which were late!!  Once I landed in Copenhagen, I decided to exchange some money (they don't use the Euro there) and get some food.  I immediately felt out of place.  I really took for granted being in Germany and being able to understand a good portion of signs and announcements.  In Denmark, I was experiencing some culture shock with the language barrier!  I was also SHOCKED at how expensive everything is in Denmark!  Just as an example, the Burger King meal I purchased at the airport cost close to $11!  After a stressful morning of traveling, that did not make me any happier!  Alone and cheated by the Danish Burger King, I made my way out to the city of Copenhagen, which made the earlier mishaps all worth it.  The city is sprawled out over small islands, which creates beautiful boat-filled canals.  It was truly charming.  I toured the city on my own and found my way to my friend Jessica's school.  Once she got out of class, we walked around some more - even climbed up the spire of a church to see some great 360 views of the city - and then took the train to her host mom's house in the Danish countryside.  Her host mom made us a delicious meal for dinner and afterwards, I was so exhausted that we stayed in for the night.  The following day, we explored the entire city!  We spent the morning in the Kastellet Island - which was a former military base and is a now a park!  We then saw the changing of the royal guard at Amalienborg - the royal palace - and got some lunch and delicious hot cocoa at a trendy cafe!  We then walked around Tivoli - an amusement park/garden - and climbed trees in the royal gardens and explore a really sketchy, creepy park.  Afterwards we went to the Little Mermaid statue, which is actually currently in China for the 2010 World Expo - so that was a let down.  After having dinner, we sat on the canal at Nyhavn and enjoyed Copenhagen by night!  It was a really awesome day!

The following day, Jessica's host mom drove us to the airport.  I really am grateful for her host mom for letting me stay with her!  It definitely saved me a lot of money in a very expensive country!  Then Jess headed to her plane for Milano and I headed on mine for London!  I arrived in London and even though there was no language barrier, I still felt rather clueless.  I never realized just how massive and overwhelming London really is!  Luckily, I got on the tube from Heathrow to King's Cross Station, but then had to wait over 4 hours there for my friend heather to meet me!  In this time, I noticed the most peculiar things about London.  A:  They do not have garbage cans!  I walked around the ENTIRE train station looking for a place to throw out my trash and there was not a single place.  I was left with no choice but to litter!  B:  There are no "Exit" signs; instead, signs say "Way out".  I found this rather funny.  It's as if Londoners are trapped everywhere and need to find the way out rather than just exit.  Anyhow, my first day in London was rather hectic since I arrived at the start of a tube strike.  All tube lines were closed for the day and the only way around town was by red double-decker buses!  This was a nightmare since London traffic is terrible on a good day!  Despite that, Heather and I enjoyed a great walk through Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square and spent some time at the National Portrait Gallery - my favorite museum in all of London!  The next day, I visited the British Museum while Heather was in class.  It was cool to see so much world history in one location!  Then I got some fish and chips and ate in a cool square before meeting up with Heather to head to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre for a performance of Henry IV!  It was an incredibly good and funny performance and an incredible experience!!!!  On my third day in London, I met Heather at the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) for a quick tour with her history class and then we explored on our own.  After lunch on the Thames, we visited Westminster Abbey.  This was a truly incredible structure!  It contains the tombs of countless kings, queens, and famous Brits and it was very cool to see the final resting place of so many people!  It is also just an incredibly beautiful church full of so much history.  I was, however, surprised at just how many tombs were actually there.  It felt like every free space was filled with a plaque or shrine or tomb and as a whole it was almost too much to sink in!  Afterwards, we walked around the Parliament building and crossed the Westminster Bridge for great views of central London before walking through St. James' Park to Buckingham Palace!  The parks in London are really beautiful!  It's a total escape from the chaos and grime of the city!  On my fourth day in London, I went on my own tour through the city.  I visited Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall - the street containing all governmental buildings - and once again the National Portrait Gallery!  It was awesome to see so many famous sites and the weather was unusually sunny!  Heather and I met up after her class and took the train to Greenwich to visit the Royal Naval Academy and Royal Observatory.  when we got there, the Academy was blocked with fences and blue screens and filled with people in 18th century attire and we were a bit disappointed and confused, however we soon learned that they were filming Pirates of the Caribbean 4!  So that was really cool to stumble upon!  We toured the Queen's House there and then trekked up the hill to the Observatory where I stood at the Prime Meridian!  Pretty cool!  And the view of London from up there was really beautiful - lush green woods on one side of the river and the skyscrapers on the other!  That night, I went and explore London on my own at night, which was really cool.  I feel like the city felt very different at night - perhaps more laid back and romantic than the usual chaos.  On my final day, we visited the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and the London Eye!  That was a really cool way to see the city before I left!  And the weather cooperated so I had great views in all directions!  I'm glad I was there for 5 days because I was constantly busy!  I would not have seen so much cool stuff otherwise!  After another stressful trip back, I made it to my room late at night, thankful to be back!  At that point, I was ready to be "home" in Heidelberg!  I really missed the slow-paced, simple lifestyle I lead here and I really missed speaking German!  It's such a fun language and I was in definite withdrawal. Being away from Germany made me realize how much I love it here!  As thankful as I am to be back, I am also incredibly thankful for the great break I had and all the people who made it possible!  I learned so much about other cultures, histories, and even about myself!

Frederikskanal

Copenhagen from above!

Park in Kastellet

Kastellet

Me at Amalienborg

Changing of the guard

Nyhavn!

The Royal Gardens

The Little Mermaid...in China!

Nyhavn by night!

Hyde Park in London!

Me and a lion at Trafalgar Square!

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at the National Portrait Gallery

Rosetta Stone at the British Musem

Henry IV cast at the Globe Theatre

St. Paul's Cathedral

Westminster Abbey

Parliament

Me in a classic London scene!

Buckingham Palace

Parliament from across the Thames

London Eye

Filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in Greenwich

Big Ben by night!

Double-decker bus!

Tower of London

Me at Tower Bridge

Domstaedte

Hello!  I will update soon about my wonderful fall break trip, but I also did some more fun things (and study things) before I left.  Last Tuesday was the first day all month that there was no class!  So, my friends and I decided to take advantage of this and our German rail passes and took the ICE (InterCity Express - Germany's high-speed train) to Koeln (Cologne).  The weather was not that great but it was a great city.  The main attraction is the impressive Koelner Dom (Cologne Cathedral)!  It is probably the most well-known German cathedral.  I probably spent over 2 hours there!  The interior is so large and beautiful with so many stained glass windows!  It also houses the Reliquary of the Three Kings - which is a golden shrine that supposedly contains the bones of the Three Wise Men.  We also climbed all 500 steps up to the top of the cathedral which was exhausting but well worth it!  Afterwards, we walked to the Lindt Chocolate Museum on the Rhine River!  It was a pretty cool musuem with some free samples :]  Then we visited Sankt Maria im Kapitol - one of 12 romanesque cathedrals in Cologne.  I had particular interest in this church since I did a presentation on it in my German class back home!  It was really cool to see!!  The following day, our class took an excursion to Speyer!  we climbed to the top of the city gate for great views of the city and then walked to the huge romanesque cathedral!  It was a massive church and contains the largest crypt in Germany!  It was very interesting to see the differences between one of the largest gothic cathedrals (in Cologne) and the largest romanesque cathedral (in Speyer).  After touring the cathedral, we walked to the Rhine, where we relaxed for a bit before heading to the Mikwe, or Jewish bath house.  While we were there, we also found out that 12 out of 24 people in our program passed the written portion of the DSH - myself included!!  So, that meant that on Thursday, the 12 of us that passed had to take the oral portion.  We met at the study center at 10am with one of our professors, Frau Said, to practice for the test.  Then we waited for our scheduled test time.  The anxiety of waiting for the test was worse than the test itself!  I had to read a passage and then went into the questioning room with my friend Haleigh, where we were asked questions about the passage.  Luckily, we both passed!  It's exciting and definitely an accomplishment to have a German university tell you that you are somewhat proficient in German!!  It really boosts the confidence heading into the beginning of the semester :]

Koelner Dom!

One of many stained glass windows

The Reliquary of the Three Kings

The Sanctuary!

Me at the top!

Chocolate Museum!

St. Maria im Kapitol

ICE coming into the train station!

View of Maximilianstrasse in Speyer

Speyerer Dom!