The Globetrotting Geek

Monday – Day 32

August 23, 2012

Sleeping in a bit to account for the 2:30AM return home from the walk, we got up at nine o’clock to prep for the day. Following that it was out onto the streets again to see Heidelberg and the castle by day. During the walk Elisabeth was on her mobile phone an awful deal, eventually revealing that she had in fact ended up with a most romantic guy by the name of ‘balcony boy’ as attributed to him by the fact that she had slept on his balcony the night before arriving to Heidelberg. The name stuck, and for the rest of the afternoon she received more than a little flack from Damian and I.

Again we began the walk up the hill, and this time through the sprinkler system, to make it to Heidelberg’s premier tourist attraction.

Following the repeat walk all the way up the mountain to return to the castle, it was time to go for icecream in Old Heidelberg! This time at an organic bio-friendly icecream place that charged an extra fee for the privilege of feeling pleased with yourself over its environmental care. Next stop was a lolly shop by the name of Zuckerladen that Theresa’s boyfriend’s best friend had told me was a must see. Owned and operated for twenty-four years by the eccentric Marion Brecht, Zuckerladen is a minuscule boutique, tucked neatly away in a corner of the Old Town of Heidelberg. Hanging from the roof is a large posted with a graphic of a tourists on it: “No tourists allowed” proclaims the sign. Arrayed on the shelves are hundreds of varieties of soft lollies, from the sugary fruit to traditional black liquorice, if it exists, Marion has it.

However, one does not simply pick out their desired sweets for themselves! Marion must come and select the ideal mix for you, by the amount you desire to the flavouring you like. “Sweet or sour” he proclaims in a questioning tone. I reply sour and he walks back and forth along the shelves selecting his finest.

When it comes time to pay he points to a large cup with three oversized dice inside and asks me “two of the same or all three different?” I reply two of the same (despite later calculating that it has worse odds) and sure enough the dice turn up: 2-2-5. I am then presented with a selection of ‘candy’ prizes and leave the store well fulfilled.

After a brief snack back at Damian’s place we set off to see Heidelberg University. Another forty-five minute walk and we come to the Max Planck Institute, which I am most excited to see.

Next we stop over at Damian and Elisabeth’s University for a little look around and food and drink. As we start to walk away to go back home, the previously sunny sky opens up on us and floods the path. We retreat to underneath a flimsy umbrella on the side of the path and huddle together as hailstones begin to pelt down on the hot ground.

As the storm started to pass, the beating sun was so strong that sheets of steam rose from where there were previously puddles. The air became thick with moisture and the air quickly reheated, to make for a most uncomfortable next section of our walk.

The next point of interest along our walk was a bear, simply placed in an enclosure along the side of the road.

After stopping to take a photo I asked Elisabeth for a little help on my Russian (she’s originally from Novosibirsk) in order to wish a dear friend back home Happy Birthday in her mother-tongue. Following a good few minutes of practice I had it down and made the call home, feeling quite ebullient to connect a little with what I was missing back in Melbourne.

When the phone call ended I looked around and we were now in a field of corn, in an agricultural region of the town.

Next followed a discussion of the ability of an individual speaking the German language, to make long words simply by joining together nouns. My first try ‘beenenfleisch’ meat bee meat but things only took off from there. Eventually we managed to put together the hideous ‘hauptüberapfelbluttransportsystembeamtenaufsichtsbehörde’ which is something along the lines of the receipt for the transportation of the main commander of the super-apple blood army.

After arriving back at Damian’s at about 6PM I tried to check in to my iceland air flight online. Unfortunately, the flight was not appearing, online the connection to NYC. Thus as I started to stress I called the airline (closed), STA Travel (closed) and then resorted to pulling my hair out. Damian’s parents then mentioned to me that there was an STA branch in fact just down the road. Rushing to the branch before my train to Hamburg, I hurriedly asked the girl at the desk for help. She reassured me that it was just the computer systems playing up and that I was to inquire about it at the check in desk.

I packed my bags and the three of us traveled by tram to Heidelberg Hbf and said goodbye.

The next part of the day is in the post that follows, and will cover both Monday night and Tuesday. My long day of travel to the states.

Day 30 – Shabbat

August 21, 2012

Today’s photos are for good reason, not all supplied by me, thus credit where due. As per most Shabbatot that I’m away, the day was mostly spent walking around.

Koen and I visited the TV tower at Alexanderplatz and also the Pergamon Museum, two touristic features of Berlin.

Later in the evening we returned to Theresa’s apartment where we met with her boyfriend Lucas and a friend of his to head out to a late night movie.

 

 

 

The cinematheque to which we were taken was located in what I could only describe as the ‘indie’ part of town. The narrow streets were filled with crowded outdoor bars and the sound of many languages could be heard following faster than the drinks. Street art lined the walls and a cobblestone pathway drew us ever deeper through the winding alleys.  Finally we came upon the theatre, within which were posters from the numerous films screening, none of which I had heard of.

It was explained to me that the cinema only showed films after they had been strictly vetted by staff to ensure their quality, and tonight’s film “We Have to Talk About Kevin” was no exception. Nominated for Best Feature Film at the Cannes Film Festival last year, ‘Kevin’ is a psychological thriller, directed by twenty two year old first timer Lynne Ramsay. The film was most enjoyable but struck home on an emotional level in relation to issues concerning mental health, the relationship between parent and child, and the long lasting effects on parents when their offspring go awry.

Berlin – Thursday – Day 28

August 17, 2012

Berlin is a bipolar, janus faced monkey, dancing on the stage of European history. It is the life of the party and the grim reaper, rolled into one cosmopolitan cocktail of finery.

In the morning Nicole, Koen and I walked to the local bakery to buy breakfast. I purchased an apfelkuchen, a berliner and a small loaf of bread.

Following that it was off to the Brandenburger Tor for a free three hour walking tour of Berlin.

The tour guide was a fantastic guy called Rob from Manchester and he had quite the flair for engaging and emotive story telling! He also displayed great sensitivity to the dark side of Berlin’s history and treated it in an appropriate manner. I was pleased to note as well, the entirety of our group was suitably solemn during our visit to the holocaust memorial and during discussions that followed.

Following that we visited the bunker while Hitler killed his dog, and entered into a suicide pact with his then wife Eva and shot himself. The contrast between persecuter and persecuted was stark in its treatment by modern Germany. The bunker was buried underneath a carpark, Hitler’s ashes scattered to the winds, to lie unseen eternally. The persecuter’s memories were to be blotted from the earth, while the victims would be eternally memorialized.

Next we saw an example of Nazi architecture, a cold stone building, large and phallic in structure, that originally was their headquarters. Following the defeat of Germany, it saw occupation by the communists, and watched over the rape of Berlin’s women. Finally, to this day it remains feared, the home of the tax bureau of Germany.

From there it was off to the Berlin wall, where our guide made us appreciate the magnitude of separation, emotional and physical that was wrought on the already traumatized city. He told us a love story about a man whose girlfriend lived on the opposite side of the wall and how he kidnapped a near identical individual to switch the two. He told us of the families that were separated, of the jobs lost and of the friends who were never to meet again. However, interestingly enough he told us that life in East Germany wasn’t nearly as bad as US cold war propaganda led many to believe, telling us of elderly Berliners who still reminisce about the sense of community forged in the communist block.

A quick break for lunch and I consumed an awful iced coffee and some terrible fruit. Lesson: never trust a free tour guide paid in sandwiches by a cafe.

Following that it was off to museum island and the squares designed by Frederick the Great with huge monuments to human ingenuity and ability.

Finally we came to  the Berliner Dome, a huge 20th century structure ordered by the Kaiser to replicate the grand palaces of older European cities.

It was on the steps looking out over the plaza that we were told the story of Berlin’s greatest moment, the fall of the wall. It was told fantastically and is a story well worth hearing from someone who can tell it better than I.

After the end of the tour, us and a number of the others on the tour went to a local bar for a drink. Chatting with some Canadians for an hour, my first beer in Germany went down well. Additionally we had a great time convincing them of the existence of drop bears!

As we left the bar, it soon started raining and after getting me a German sim-karte, we rushing into the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn station to get back to Theresa.

After chilling there for a while it was off to dinner to try some traditional German food. Which, importantly is amazingly cheap.

After dinner I discovered the most amazing part of Europe. The prices on icecream. For one euro, yes, one euro, you can buy a scoop of gelati in a cone. Additional scoops are also priced at, yes, one euro!

We wandered the streets for a bit then thinking what to do next when Theresa decided that in honor of ISSI (the Weizmann program) we should buy a few drinks and head back home to look through photos and videos.

Two bottles of wine, one of vodka, one of Jagermeifter and one of Feigling later, we were happily content with reminiscing to the early hours of the morning, and to wish Nicole a safe trip as she told us she had to leave for the airport at 5AM. At 3AM I phoned home to talk to my parents and to see how the family was and by the time I was ready for sleep Theresa and Nicole were curled up on the same bed, without an alarm set. Thus I set one for 4:45 and settled in for an hours sleep.

Nicole woke up crazily ten minutes after the alarm, madly packing her belonging that were in disarray on the floor. After an hour of madly rushing about she received an email about her hostel booking in Rome, to where she was heading next. This prompted her to check her boarding pass when, she noticed that she had in fact decided to leave one day before her flight. Much laughter ensued and we went back to bed for a well deserved sleep in.