Reunion in Germany

My week in Germany was too short. I arrived on Sunday night. Christoph picked me up at the airport and we went straight to dinner with his dad, brother, and girlfriend. It was nice to be back in Recklinghausen visiting my German brother after 5 years. Monday, we had a late morning followed by a train ride to Essen for the Christmas market. Over the next three hours I’m pretty sure that we tried almost every kind of festival food available there. My favorite thing was the reibekuchen, a potato fritter eaten by hand and dipped in applesauce. We also had various baked goods, German Christmas cookies, and glühwein- a traditional drink. On the following day Christoph and I walked around the city center of Recklinghausen. After a couple hours we drove over to Marl, where his mom lives. After a day full of exploring the towns Christoph grew up in, we went shopping for German beer for a tasting we had planned that night. Later, Wolfgang, Christoph, Stephan, and I tried all 18 different kinds of beer. We compared our notes and generally agreed on what we liked best. Wednesday started off with another late morning. Then Christoph, Stephan, and I went to a day spa. This place is like nothing I’ve ever seen in the States. There are saunas and pools of every temperature. Five years ago when I was visiting, Christoph and I spent a day there and it was such a good experience that I had to go back this time. To keep this PG, I’ll leave out the best details. Feel free to ask me about it in a PM. After spending the day cleansing our bodies we ate currywurst, basically a bratwurst smothered in some kind of curry sauce served with seasoned fries. It was heaven on a plate. That night we took a late train to Münster with two of Christoph’s basketball girls for a night of dancing. Unfortunately it took us two hours to make the 45 minute train ride because somebody got hit by a train at one of the stations. We finally got to the club though and were surprised to find it packed on a Wednesday night. We danced until the club closed until 3 AM, finished our beers, and then walked to a nearby station to get doner kebab. We caught the 4 AM train back to Recklinghausen and called it a night. Thursday was a lazy day for recovery and Friday I flew back to the US. 

Bittersweet Goodbyes

The last week was packed full of doing things that I had wanted to do the rest of my time there, but always put off. It was also full of goodbyes. I made some really good friends in Barcelona and not knowing when I was going to see them again made it tough to say goodbye. Since tourist season is over, waiting in line to see the inside of Sagrada Familia is no longer a daunting and time consuming task. On busy days, it can take hours of standing in line to see the inside of this iconic church. Leah and I waited less than 20 minutes. To learn more we both got audio guides. I was feeling rather confident in myself, so I got mine in Spanish. The inside is utterly amazing. There just aren’t words to describe it that would be thorough enough. I’ve never seen that much light and color inside of a church. In typical fashion of the Catholic churches, it stresses to the masses the importance of accepting poverty to help those that are more in need… psh yeah right. The only people the church inspires a life of poverty to are the patrons. It cost over $25 to go inside and look around. I also visited the Erotic Museum of Barcelona with some friends that I will tell on now; Leah, Fallon, Chris, and Jan. The small building was full of rooms with different themes and eras. Overall there was erotic art (porn) from the past two thousand years. There were a few Egyptian artifacts, pages from the Kama Sutra, and a 20^th century pleasure chair that looked more like an electric chair with a very uncomfortable seat. The most captivating thing was a video commissioned in 1920 by King Alfonso XII of Spain. We have the Catholic Church to thank for its existence today. You have not seen a silent movie until you’ve seen silent porn from 1920. Imagine ragtime music playing while an awkwardly skinny man and a behemoth of a woman go at it. We couldn’t look away and that was only a small portion of the entire series, casting a variety of people of different shapes and sized doing a plethora of comically pornographic things.

Thursday was my second Thanksgiving away from home. It was definitely easier this time, but still sad. Most of the day felt like business as usual. It was my last day of work, so I got up and went to work just like any other day. That night was amazing though. My company, Knok, was hosting an American style Thanksgiving, partnering with another cooperative company, EatWith. The whole Knok team was invited and I was allowed to bring Leah with me. Aside from the 9 Knok employees, we had 11 other guests with diverse backgrounds. All were very interesting people and easy to talk to. There was an American who was hiking from Gibraltar all the way to Bilbao, using no form of transportation other than his feet, two couples comprising of American men and Spanish women, and a French girl that just wanted to experience an American Thanksgiving to name a few. My supervisor, Rachel, managed to find the ingredients to make pumpkin pie and my bosses had a Turkey prepared professionally to complete the holiday.

Friday, we toured the FC Barcelona stadium, Camp Nou. To most of our group it was a cool landmark, I was a little more excited than that; so excited that I actually fell into the tourist trap and bought the professional pictures that look like I’m standing with real Barcelona players. We got to see the locker room, press box, a museum, and the best part was walking down the tunnel and onto the pitch. It was surreal to walk in the halls where the greatest players of this generation have stood and called home. That night Leah and I went out with Jan and Jazmin, first to the board game bar that I’ve mentioned several times before and then to THE mojito bar. The game of choice for the night was Munchkin… in Spanish. While playing, we had the opportunity to polish our knowledge of absurd Spanish diction.

Saturday was tough. I finally accepted that I was about to leave and packed my bags. Leah and I took the last opportunity to check out a park on our maps that came to be known as “the octopus park.” It was something we had wanted to check out since she arrived, but never went because it was pretty far out of the way; it turned out to be a 25 minute metro ride. The park itself wasn’t that impressive, but climbing the hill that surrounded it gave us an amazing panorama of Barcelona. The lunch we had was definitely worth the trip as well. That night we went back to the restaurant where we had our first date for dinner. I’ll never forget how cute she looked that first time with horribly stained teeth, courtesy of her black bean and rice starter dish. Stuffed, we went to Plaza Catalunya to enjoy the Christmas lights together and so I could say goodbye to my new Spanish friend, Marya, who was working. Even though there was no more room for food in our bellies, we bought churros and chocolate and had no problem cleaning them up. Finally, we returned home to relax for the rest of the night. 

My Last Full Weekend in Barcelona

Before I get into what I did last week I have a quick story. This actually happened right before I went to Norway and I was so excited about that trip that I completely forgot about this one. The day before Leah and I went to Norway, we went shopping at the mall to buy warmer clothes. As we were reaching the top of an escalator I looked down at the bottom where three Asian kids our age were getting on. The last thing I expected to see was one of the girls wearing a WVU sweatshirt. I freaked out a little and Leah was like “what are you freaking out about?” I told her and then we waited at the top of the escalator for the group to reach us. When they did, I forgot where I was and said something to the girl in English. They kept walking, probably thinking Leah and I were just talking to each other. So, still excited and not paying attention to social norms, I put my hand on her arm and when she spun around wondering why in the hell some random American was touching her I asked again in English “Do you go to school there?” Terrified, she looked to the guy who apparently knew more English than she did, which was none. I quickly figured out that I had to use Spanish and began to try to explain why I was so excited (but I was so excited and she was so freaked out that the conversation was difficult). Eventually, I learned that she had no idea what the shirt meant and that she just bought it in some store in Barcelona. I explained that it was for my university and that it was pretty cool she was wearing it. I apologized for scaring her and we went our separate ways.

So, last weekend. Friday after work I went to try out a new restaurant because I had read online that it has craft beers. I got there to find they had 6 different craft beers on tap. I tried a few, but I don’t even remember what I ended up getting. What was memorable was the company I had. I got off work at 2 and probably arrived, alone, by 2:20. Over the course of lunch I managed to befriend my waitress and eventually the other two waitresses that were working there as well. I spent the next couple hours practicing my Spanish while talking to them. They didn’t have any tables to wait, so they were more than happy to keep me company. I didn’t get home until 5 that evening because I talked so long.

This weekend was a craft beer weekend. Thursday I met up with Jan, my German friend, and Fallon, another one of the interns, to go to a craft beer bar called La Resistencia. I think you can translate that on your own, so I won’t patronize you. Friday night, Fallon and I went to a couple other bars that were supposed to house the liquid, golden treasure as well. Out of the three, only one had their own craft beer. The other two import theirs from all over the world. Friday was a good chance to start saying goodbye to my new home. We walked several miles throughout the city between our destinations. Saturday, I decided not to get more beer and instead take a break. I’ve had a pretty severe cough for the past few days. I did manage to get out and meet a friend for Vietnamese food for lunch. The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful.

Enchanted and Waterlogged in Norway

Well it is safe to say that I’ve fallen in love with Norway. It took a very small fraction of the 84 hours I was there to know this, even with the monsoon that endured most of the time I was there. Leah and I arrived around 11 PM on Thursday night after a long day of flying and sitting in airports. We had a two hour layover in London where we were able to eat dinner (we both chose the closest thing that resembled an American breakfast that we could find) and then we walked around the mall inside the airport. I don’t count England as one of the countries I’ve been to, but I do have a London/Gatwick stamp in my passport now. When we walked out of the terminal in Norway there was a shuttle bus waiting for our flight. Well done Bergen. We were dropped off in the city center with neither map nor any idea on how to get to our apartment. On the nearest street corner was the Hotel Bergen, so I led Leah in that direction to ask for directions. The guy working the night shift at the desk was very kind and lively and even googled the address we were staying at to make sure he was pointing to the right place on a map (that he gave us) after he admitted he had no idea where we were headed. Without incident we got to the apartment, found the key right where it was supposed to be and got inside. The next morning we walked out our door to a very impressive sight of the city and surrounding mountains… and some rain. We went to the tourism office and started planning our day. Before I continue, you need to know about the weather. In the weather forecast rain was predicted and a high of 45 degrees. A friend from work who lives near Bergen, Cindi, had warned me about the bad weather that was predicted for the weekend, so Leah and I were already mentally prepared (we thought). After picking up some brochures, we went to the open air fish market under the tourism office for lunch. We sat by the heat lamps and covered our legs with the blankets provided by the café we were eating at. Then we continued on, taking pictures of the Bryggen, the hanseatic wharf district and UNESCO World Heritage Site. This area represents the oldest area of Bergen. Next, we decided to go to the KODE art museums, a network of buildings housing much of Norway’s art history. On the way there we were forced to walk through a torrential downpour that was blowing right at us, completely soaking through even our waterproof clothes (It can’t get worse, right? Stay tuned!). I had read about an interactive exhibition going on and planned to surprise Leah with it. It wasn’t exactly what I expected, but we had an amazing time learning about art and then playing around. We were the only people in the exhibition, so we were able to take our time and play around as much as we wanted. After the interactive exhibition, we walked through the rest of the building we were in and then headed over to the next building to check out the new Edvard Munch collection. It is the second largest collection of Munch’s paintings in the world; the first being in Oslo. Munch, who painted “The Scream,” is the most well known artist in Norwegian history. With 2/4 of the buildings in the KODE complete and daylight waning we took a trip on the light rail out of the city to visit the Fantoft Stave Church (This is a generous statement considering I’m not sure if the sun actually ever came up. It was 3:30 and getting seriously dark.). The church was supposed to be 500 meters from the light rail stop and clearly marked with signs. It was still raining as hard as it was when we went into the Museums, so maybe I just missed the signs, but it wasn’t exactly obvious to find. We finally found a path out into the woods that looked like it might be the right direction. The path looked well tended, but after a day of heavy rain, it became a muddy mess. Determined to make the most of the situation, we pushed on (Maybe this is where the 500 meters comes in). As soon as we started walking on the path Leah and I began the conversation that at least there was no way possible that we could be any more wet and it couldn’t rain any harder… Not even a minute later mother nature decided to prove us wrong and the rain drops got bigger (by this point, I think each drop might have filled its own kiddy pool). Seriously, I shouldn’t be complaining. That was hands down the coolest church I’ve ever seen in my life and definitely worth the torture it took to get there. Instead of crosses, it looked more like there should be dragons perched on top of it. Completely soaked, we went home to dry out. (Side note: on Sunday we talked to a man that informed us that at the height of the rain on Friday, it rained 22 inches in just four hours and that many roads were closed due to flooding. It had taken him an hour and a half to make a 10 minute drive home from work.) A couple hours later, we reemerged from the apartment, ready to take on the world again. We got dinner at this diner that felt more like sitting in someone’s living room than in a restaurant. The food there was so good that we made sure we went back for our last dinner in Norway on Sunday as well. The apple pie was better than most that I’ve ever eaten in the States. After the amazing dinner, we walked a couple blocks down the street to the USF Verteft, an old sardine factory that has been converted to an art and cultural center, aka the classiest music venue I’ve ever been to. We saw Maria Mena, one of Norway’s most popular singers today. All of her songs are in English and very catchy. The venue was classy because everyone was dressed super nice and at least half of the people were carrying glasses of wine.

Day two was dryer, but still without direct sunshine. We started by further exploring the Bryggen and all of its stores. Then we ate brunch at a café with a view over the harbor. Afterwards, we checked out the Bergenhus Fortress and took a tour of its great hall. Then we took the light rail out of the city again to find the Bergen Arts and Crafts festival that I had seen on the Bergen tourism website, after wandering around a little bit we asked for directions and discovered that the website must have been wrong because there were no signs for the festival. It started raining and it was getting dark again, so we grabbed some hot chocolate and pastries before returning to the apartment. Later that evening, we went out for dinner and had Pinnekjøtt, a traditional Norwegian Christmas dish. It comprises of salted lamb ribs over sweet potatoes and served with boiled potatoes and carrots. (I will be attempting to cook this when I return to the States.) After dinner we strolled around and took pictures of the city at night.

Sunday we woke up to actual sunlight! We had been planning a hike this day because it was supposed to have the best weather and we got lucky. We had more awesome apple pie for breakfast from the place previously mentioned. Then we took the funicular up to the top of Fløyen, one of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen. From there we took some amazing photos and then headed off to do some light hiking. After reaching a lake that we had originally planned to be our turnaround point, we decided to do more exploring that lead us deeper into the woods. We started getting hungry and started thinking about turning around a second time, but first we wanted to see what was around the bend just ahead of us on the path. That bend opened up into a pretty sizable clearing, revealing how much higher we had already climbed from the overlook and the funicular. THEN we noticed how close to the top of the mountain we actually were. We just couldn’t turn around at this point. We pushed on to the next leg of the path. At a couple points we had to climb with our hands over rocks to continue, but we finally made it to the top. After relaxing for a little bit we met a man that joined us with his dog. We talked for a bit and he advised us to take a different path down that would be less dangerous. About an hour later we reached the bottom of the mountain. We tried to get lost in one of the neighborhoods and ended up getting lunch in a really cool café and staying there for a while. It was Sunday and everything was closing so we decided to take it easy as well. Sunday night we returned to the awesome café by our apartment that we ate at Friday and ended up chatting with the waitress for a while.

Monday we flew back to Barcelona expecting to get back to dry weather, but instead we were greeted with more rain. Despite the rain, Norway was very good to us and is easily my favorite out of the 11 countries that I have now visited. 

Futbol Barcelona Style and Dali's Weirdness

Another week’s worth of catching up is in order.

You all might have noticed my excited post and pictures last week about the FC Barcelona soccer match. I went to Barcelona’s soccer stadium, Camp Nou, with a capacity for almost 99,000 people. It was a Champion’s League game; these are the best club teams from Europe and most likely the world. From my pictures you’ll be able to see that the stadium was relatively empty when we got in and then it filled up so that there were almost no empty seats. One thing that I thought was strange was the fact that not everyone wore team colors. Most of the people sitting around me were middle aged men still wearing their suits from work. It definitely wasn’t like standing in the student section at a Mountaineer football game. I got to see Messi score two goals and do a lot of sick tricks to embarrass the other team. Many people would argue that he is the best player in the world right now. The final score was Barca 3- Milan 1. This was definitely an event that I will never forget.

Friday was another study abroad group trip. This time we took a bus to Figures to see the Salvador Dali museum. I can’t even find the words to describe that place. It was weird, but very intriguing. Luckily, we had a tour guide to explain his more popular pieces. His art is full of metaphors; even the pieces that appear to just be portraits of people. Second, we went to the town of Besalu. It is a small, medieval village much like Toledo, but much much smaller. We only had an hour there so once again I hurriedly walked around the town trying to take as many pictures as possible before meeting back at the bus. I was so efficient that I accidentally gave myself too much time and ended up with some free time to sit back and take in the beautiful surroundings.

Sunday I rented a bike along with some other friends and we rode around Barcelona for four hours before our time limit was up. Not only was it nice to get back in touch with the city I’m living in, it was great to do some real physical activity. We explored new parts of town that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. Barcelona is huge, but very easy to navigate by bike. This inspired Leah and I to get out and see more parks in the city. There are gems hidden everywhere. Monday we spent 2 hours in a park that was about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. On a map it looks much further away.

This weekend is my second attempt at going to Norway. Plans have changed this time. I’m very glad that Leah is going with me. We decided to travel to Bergen instead of Oslo. Bergen is on the Atlantic coast and much closer to the fjords that Norway is so famous for. From Oslo, we just wouldn’t have the time to see the fjords. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. This is the one trip I’ve been looking forward to more than anything else while in Europe!

A Trip to the Capital

Saturday was another exciting day. In the morning Leah and I went to the train station to catch a bullet train from Barcelona to Madrid, Spain’s capitol city. The train travels at an average speed of about 275 km/h with a top speed of 300 km/h which is equal to 180 mph. With a few stops included, it took 3 hours to arrive. In Madrid, we took our stuff to the apartment and then went back to the center of the city to stroll around. First we took in the splendor of the Royal Palace and the Cathedral Almudena. We wandered around and ended up visiting a few more churches that we located by walking towards the steeples towering above all other buildings. When trying to decide what to see next we stumbled upon a little bar that specialized in selling craft brews so of course we went inside. After drinking a good beer we found ourselves back in front of the Royal Palace which was very beautifully lit up. Leah picked a spot on a fountain and we soaked up the atmosphere and people watched while listening to a guy play the same Led Zeppelin song over and over on the harp. Then we got tapas for dinner and headed back to the apartment on the metro. Sunday was just as relaxed. Leah found a breakfast place that was highly recommended then we spent a few hours in the Prado, one of the best art museums in the world. By the time we finished lunch it was almost 4 PM so we strolled over to the park El Retiro to take in a little natural beauty. Upon arrival we discovered the most beautiful park either of us had ever seen inside a large city. In the center there is a large pond (about the size of Krodel) with rowboats that could be rented. I decided to put my rowing merit badge to work and insisted on going out in a boat. For the next 45 minutes we floated around with about 60 other rowboats, occasionally bumping into one another, while the sun was setting. When our time was up on the boat, we wandered through the park a little more before it was too dark. The night ended with us walking back into the city center and eating at a restaurant called La Catedral (cathedral). The inside had religious paintings and wooden beams like an old church. I had THE BEST salmon and broccoli ever and it was a pretty awesome ending to an already awesome day.

Monday morning we got up early, checked out of the apartment, and went to the train station to catch a train to Toledo. Unfortunately we couldn't get a train until two hours after we had hoped to, leaving only 3 hours in Toledo, but we decided it was worth it anyway. To kill time we stumbled across a street full of little used book stores and browsed the selection before going back to El Retiro to relax. The train ride to Toledo was only 30 minutes by bullet train. Leah and I stepped off the train to discover a beautiful city positioned on a hill and surrounded by a medieval castle wall. It looked like it was straight out of a fairy-tale. Toledo immediately became my favorite Spanish city.  We really only had time for lunch and a few pictures. Leah was disappointed that we had to skip to El Greco museum and I was sad that we couldn't visit the castle on the neighboring hill. Lunch has a pretty long back-story, but the general idea is that I wanted to go to a restaurant that I had given a presentation on a few years ago in college. The dish they specialize in can only be found in Toledo and occasionally my kitchen. After killing an hour and a half eating lunch, we frantically ran around Toledo, trying to snap as many scenic pictures as possible. Once back from Toledo we only had an hour of free time before the train back to Barcelona. Somehow we got lucky and accidentally chose a train that went nonstop to Barcelona, cutting our return ride from 3 to 2 ½ hours. 

The Pilgrimage

The past week has been absolutely amazing. Thursday was Halloween, so of course we went out. Friday morning the interns met up for a pilgrimage to Montserrat, the highest mountain in Catalunya (The state that Barcelona is in). Only five of us showed up plus an advisor, which made for a laid back, personal trip. From the main station, it took 45 minutes by train to travel 30 miles inland to our destination. Then we took a separate train halfway up the mountain to the monastery and “tourist village” where there is an art museum, hotel, cafeteria, and a few overlooks. To me, this stuff was cool, but my favorite part was lunch. The best part happened once we took an incline lift (Mt. Washington style for all you Yinzers) up the second half of the mountain to see the best panoramic views and do some hiking. From the top we could also see the Mediterranean Sea even with the hazy visibility. At the summit there were three hermitages that we could hike to. The first two were each about 15 minutes away and could easily be accessed by a path that was only slightly uphill. The third hermitage was projected to be 25 minutes away and could be accessed by climbing an old, steep and broken up staircase that was basically carved into the side of the mountain. At this point only Leah, and another new intern, Fallon, and I continued on. The ruins were basically evidence of an old stone stove and a little bit of the remaining wall. The reason for climbing to the third hermitage was that you could continue up the mountain to the very top where you were at the highest point achievable without proper climbing gear. I made it most of the way up, but my nerves got the best of me about 20 yards from the top where the path got too narrow for my liking. On the way back down we took an alternate route through the second hermitage which was also in ruins. It was carved right into the side of the mountain face. When we reached the far side of the second hermitage the path flattened and widened significantly and we were able to walk back to the lift easily and then met up with Jazmin and our advisor to return home.