The Sexy Six Take Berlin (and want to move to Potsdam)

This last weekend was quite a grand adventure to the capital of Germany. After the token German in our group, Rebecca, freaked out that it took SIX WHOLE HOURS to get to Berlin (seriously, Europeans have no idea how to take a driving trip...) we all piled onto a nice bus and started heading east.

Let me take a moment and talk to you about the Sexy Six (as I like to call them). The group was originally founded under the name "Fantastische Vier" (or the fantastic four, for those English speakers out there). The group was made by the four who came from Colorado. We even had a logo. Yeah, we're that cool.
Ty, from Michigan  then sent in a formal request to become part of the "Colorado Group". After Blake, Anne, and I talked it over, we accepted his request on the bus ride there. Rebecca's admission was far more laid back. She just....became. Now that there were two people in the "Colorado Group" who weren't from Colorado we needed to make a new name. We are now called the sexy/sly/silly/sketchy six/sechs (Yeah, we need to really pick a name some day). I'd like to introduce you to the Sexy Six:

Rebecca               Blake     Me    Ty       Alex              Anne

During the ride, Rebecca snagged my Cards Against Humanity card game and pulled out a bunch of cards she didn't know like Fancy Feast, Hot Pockets, and other brand names you wouldn't think they don't know about until it comes up in a game or conversation.

We stopped on the western side of Berlin and were let off the bus to explore a little bit. We went into the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche Berlin. Only the steeple part was still intact really. That was a part of Berlin that disappointed me; so many things had been destroyed in WWII that there were very few buildings were left over. So after we took a look around this small bit of a church and went to make fun of the cross-like-figure in the new church (looked like a gaunt and scary old man who was about to take flight), we went to the large mall nearby. Inside they had the most interesting aqua clock I've ever seen....granted it may be the only one I've ever seen....

While we were in the mall, we were stopped by a young man toting a microphone and his camera crew. He came up asking if we were German. When we all declined he asked us if we thought Germans has a sense of humor. After we floundered around for a while trying to define their humor he simply asked us for a joke. I told him I only knew long ones. He prompted me to tell it, so I did....
Anyone know the story of the pink gorilla?
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of me telling you, here's a link to more or less the story I told: The Pink Gorilla

After about 6.5 hours we finally pull up to the Three Little Pigs Hostel in Berlin. We unloaded, took a stretch break and headed off back downstairs to meet up with the group and walk around the city a bit.

1st stop:
Checkpoint Charlie. I got a stamp in my passport from the checkpoint and the guards were super funny. They spoke more languages that I could count and they loved chatting with anyone who walked by.

2nd stop:
Topographie des Terrors. In other words, a memorial at the Berlin Wall. It translates into "Topographie of the terrors". It was a very depressing memorial. The more I see of Berlin the more I see that it's just steeped in sadness that is not prevalent in any other city I've seen. It feels like sighs of souls from the past are breathing out of the very pores in the walls, whispering their sorrows into your ears as you walk by.

3rd stop:
Brandenburger Tor. Like most famous monuments and landmarks, I expected this to be much bigger. There were a lot of cool people around the Tor though. I had one clown come up to Marijn and I and make us a heart balloon. There was another guy who was making HUGE bubbles for people to take pictures of (he also had little buckets for people to try their hand at bubble making). There was even a bachelorette party that asked Marijn if the bride-to-be could dance with him on video as part of a scavenger hunt they were on. Then I danced on the Tor....because what else would I do??

4th stop:
Der Reichstag. This word is very hard to say for non-native speakers. Our token German taught us a lot of culture, slag, and pronunciation this weekend. Now we can proudly boast that we say Reichstag like a true German!
In the diminishing light, we walked across the street to the well lit building with looming towers on each corner and with more German flags steadfastly waving in the breeze than I've seen since I've gotten here. While everyone else was trying to get night shots of this picturesque building, I just laid down on the cold stones and admired it's grandeur; it's impressive and imposing facade stretched out before me. As I laid there  I tried to convince myself that I wasn't just looking at a REALLY GOOD picture... that I was actually here and I was laying in front of this marvelous building whilst my friends took a leaf from my book and joined me on the cobbled ground.

Me                   Ty                  Alex

I think I have a lot of these moments where I just sit back from the rest of the world and feel blessed to be where I am. I guess that's good, but I also think you guys are tired of hearing about it by now.

Rebecca's favorite card

After this mini adventure, the sexy six plus the Dutch Boy went back to the hostel and played Cards Against Humanity until we were too tired to sit up. For those of you who don't know about Cards Against Humanity, imagine Apples to Apples except for horrible people. And if you don't know Apples to Apples....then you really need to get out more.

The next morning we were up bright and early at 9am (Hey....that's early for us....STOP SHAKING YOUR HEAD IN DISAPPOINTMENT!) and off with the group to another great day. This time we went -inside- der  Reichstag. After being herded like sheep through some glass rooms (where some REALLY inappropriate jokes about gas chambers were whispered in hushed tones to friends) we were then ushered into a lift where we ascended to the roof and the new dome. We then got little audio tour guides and were sent into the dome to learn about the surrounding buildings, monuments, and parks. As we circled the dome, always climbing higher, I was amazingly disappointed by the view. I guess there just aren't enough mountains here to interest me, but what did tickle my fancy the most was the building we were in. In the center of the dome there is an inverted cone of mirrors that shone light down into lower rooms where government happens. Almost the whole interior of the building has been scraped out and remodeled so that only the outside walls and towers really remain the same. I found the stark contrast between the two more interesting than any building the voice in my ear kept talking about.

Old dome.....

NEW DOME!

After this tour, we took a little walk to the Holocaust Memorial. This memorial is comprised of concrete slabs. None of which are the same height and most of them are off kilter to some degree. The ground underneath all of these waves and buckles in disconcerting and unusual forms. Walking through it is one of the most unnerving feelings I've ever felt since being here. Even though you can see straight in four different directions, there are still people popping out of the row right next to you, scaring the shit out of you. You feel trapped even if you can see the ends of it at all times. After you get your mind wrapped around that you go UNDER these monolithic slabs to the museum and read the life stories of the victims of this horrific event.
Just more proof that Berlin is steeped in sadness.

Our next stop was a museum attached to the train station that talked about how people tried to get in and out of east and into west Berlin. I just want to add here that I proudly understood both tour guides (from the memorial and then the other from the museum) who spoke solely in German. Go me.

This drink is pretty much a rather tasteless beer with fruity flavoring.
Not bad all in all I guess....

After that we were let go to travel as we wished. We walked back to the Brandenburger Tor and got some pictures before heading off to die Siegessäuel. In other words, a big obelisk with a golden angel on top. It wasn't that impressive, but the sunset behind it was!

After walking all around the city to see these mesmerizing sights we wanted  a change of pace......so walked some more. But this time we went to a bar. YES! Even though it was a bavarian bar, most of us tried to order more stuff that came from Berlin or at least northern Germany. The food may have been a bit pricey.... but golly it was good!!!!

That night we stumble back into bed from exhaustion. Three days later, my legs still hurt from how much walking we did that day.

The next morning we packed up into the bus and went to Potsdam (capital city of Brandenburg, which is the state that surrounds Berlin). Potsdam has to be the most beautiful place I've seen in Germany so far. I'm just going to throw a few pictures up on here even though they do NOTHING to compare to actually being there.

There might be more/better pictures later. I plan on bringing my family here when they visit in June, and you can be sure they'll take lots of pictures.
After seeing all of this, the entire bus decided they wanted to transfer to Potsdam university knowing full well that we'd never actually do any work surrounded by this beauty.
And with that thought, we all tiredly walked onto the bus and slept most of the way back to Oldenburg. Well, the rest of the bus slept, our group acted more along the lines of:

But what do you really expect from us?

Germans Know How To Party

The whole gaggle of us!

The last two weekends have been packed with fun and amazing adventures, but it seems that not one is quite profound enough to write a blog entry about it. Thusly, this post will be about everything over the last two weekends.

Last weekend we started out our adventures by going to Bremen. (Oh I love having a semester ticket and traveling for free!) I had a grand time walking around this fair and just looking at all the shimmering lights. First stop (of course) was to the mini beer garten for a glass of beer or a mug of gluhwein. While all of them were finishing their drinks I went to explore down the road a little ways where I found a stall that sells currywurst.

For those of you who don't know, I love currywurst. Since I first tried that slice of heaven at the Weihnachtsmarkt in Denver, I've been looking for it here. So I saunter over to these people and they start chatting me up before I could even order. Just take a second and think of the normal kinds of people you'd see here. They are all chatty and rather flirty because they want you to come to THEIR shop because it's better than the one around the corner. 

So I can successfully say that I got hit on in German and I understood it all. Score one for Lex!
So after flirting as outrageously as I could in a foreign language, I bought some delicious curry wurst and headed off to the next attraction.

The next attraction just about stopped my heart. I'm not sure how else to explain it besides saying "It's one of those big spinny things".  Rebecca, Ty, and I sat at the top while we waited for the people on the bottom to get loaded. I wish I had brought my camera up with me because the view almost made me cry. Sitting there suspended above a picturesque city in Germany with the bright pink sunset on the horizon really just makes you realize how far from home you are and how much you love it. THEN YOU PLUMMET TO THE GROUND AT A SPEED THAT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO DIE because that's how the ride is designed.
Every time that ride hit the top and I felt like I was just floating, I would simply close my eyes and imagine I was flying. Spread eagle 100 feet above this wonderful city. 

Yeah, that's right, I'm awesome. 

The rest of the night was fun and very cold for my poor monster toes. The boys decided to show off at a bow and arrow booth where Blake and Alex destroyed everyone.
I was very proud of Marijn that night. He learned how to use a bow and arrow and wasn't too shabby at it! 

The next day a bunch of us were on a train back to Bremen then on to Hamburg. Can I just tell you a bit about how much I love train stations? Or airports? Or bus stations? Every time I enter one, I just get this

Anne and I 

instant wanderlust and want to hop on the first train and see what kind of adventures I can get myself into (I am an adventure magnet after all).

We got to Hamburg a few hours early so we decided to walk the harbor just a little (since it is probably the largest harbor I'm ever going to see). It was a beautifully sunny day to walk along the water and see all the boats pulling in and out as well as watch all the people who would frequent this little bit of the harbor.

It was quite a lovely little walk before we hopped back on the train (subway) and headed to the Hamburg dungeon.

You may remember the last dungeon I mentioned, the one from Amsterdam. Remember how I raved about it? Yeah, that's not going to happen for this one. This one was far more crowded (and sadly with a middle school group that shrieked at everything) and everything was in German.
Now I know what some of you are already saying. "But, Lex, you speak German. How is this a problem?"
Part of the fun of the dungeon is how funny it is. The actors are witty and can play off of anything the crowd throws at them. You need to be very good at the language to keep up with their sharp wit and clever puns. Thankfully most of the rooms were like the one

in Amsterdam so I could pretty much figure out what was going on just because I saw the other version first. It was still fun to explore a little part of the city with a whole group of international students. :)

Now onto this weekend (I know, already feels like a lot!)
Friday night there was a welcome party at die Pinte (student run bar in the dorm) for all the international

students. There were a ton of people packed in this little bar, but it was really fun to chat with some of these people. I finally even got a picture with Dominika! She's a friend of mine from the first course I had here. Her German sounds so pretty because it has a Polish accent.

The next night, however, was a blast. It was called the Black and White Mustache Party. There was a whole group of us that decided to suit up and out class everyone there. We had one or two in a 5 piece suit. Yeah, who said Americans can't be classy? I'm not sure what to say about the party besides I had fun being classy. We danced. We drank. We smoked cuban cigars (yay for not having an embargo here!). We just looked our dang best.

Adorable Dutch Boy (Marijn) and I

Have no fear, we all have mustaches!

Ty and Blake

Anyone else thinks this looks like a photo of a mob party?

Then drunk Lex tried to ride her bike home (she tried a few times actually) and it never worked.
I'm now the proud owner of several bruises and abrasions on the left side of my body. Now, I don't want you all to worry about me. Everyone there was doing a really good job at keeping on eye on me. Rebecca even walked me home, she just wasn't fast enough to catch me every time I tried to get on my bike again.
It was quite a grand night and worth the ruined stockings.

Dutch? Netherlands? HOLLAND?

A quick lesson in what you should call Dutch people:

"The correct name for this tulip growing nation is the Netherlands. The confusion is understandable  The

general region has been renamed a lot over a thousand years, but it's not just the history that makes this country's name confusing. The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces including (what makes the confusion) North and South Holland. So calling the Netherlands "Holland" is like calling the United Stated "Dakota". Though, unlike the Dakotas which are mostly empty, the two Hollands are densely populated and have some of the biggest attractions. Chances are if it's Dutch and you've heard of it, it's in one of the Hollands."
 The video I quoted this from is HERE. They are far funnier and go into much more information.

Now onto what actually happened there. One of the first things I noticed upon meeting Marijn's (Adorable Dutch boy's) dad who drove us from Groningen (Where the bus drops us off) to Huizen (where the family lives) is that Marijn got his use of cheesy compliments straight from his father. After an evening of being interviewed (almost what it felt like) by his lovely parents we went to sleep only to be up early the next morning and off to Delft!

Delft is a lovely city. It's the city where Marijn studied, and a city that reminds me of Amsterdam....but in a good way. It's smaller and less in your face about pot and sex (golly, Amsterdam was horrid about that) but it was still VERY DUTCH. Lovely all around.
At one point we had ducked into a shop so I could buy some postcards to send home (urm, I should actually send those...), and Marijn spotted some silver windmill earrings.
HE GOT SO EXCITED!
His logic:
1) They are very pretty and he wanted to buy me a pretty thing.
2) They will remind me of a cool place I traveled.
3) They will remind me of him (he studies wind energy).
They aren't something I would pick normally, but I love them simply because he loves them.

Oh golly let's talk about food now. Can we please please pleeeeeeeeeease talk about food now? PLEASE?
Okay good.
I have found my newest sweet tooth addiction. These huge waffle cookies are called stropwafle. They are thin waffle-like cookies with honey/caramel/syrup like stuff in the middle. They have the best texture in the world!
Interesting tidbit:
Marijn's dad pulled out a little jar of what's inside the cookie, called stroop, and put it on some bread Easter morning. He said he always puts it in his porridge. Guess it's a huge Dutch thing to use it for breakfasts!

The next item of food I had looked so nasty, I almost didn't like it totally based on the look. Imagine liquified meat rolled into a little cylinder then covered with bread crumbs. Once you order this delicacy, they throw it in some oil and fry it for you. Then roll it, piping hot, onto a bun and serve it up. Bam. Fried meat juice.
Sounds great, doesn't it? Ya know.... it actually was rather good! It's called broodje kroket. Just be careful, that liquid meat will burn the skin off your tongue before you realize how stupid it was to take a bite right away.

We walked around the market a bit longer (always go to a market!) I dragged Marijn through the two big churches in the city and got lots of pretty pictures.

One thing I thought was really cool, was this sign.
I know, you're telling me, "But, Alex, you can't speak Dutch! How can you find that sign remotely interesting?"
AH HA!
Let me unleash my secret weapon!
Well, I guess he's not much of a secret. I made Marijn translate it.
Sorry, anticlimactic, but it's quite funny. Here's what it says:

"Is your guy annoying?
Does he not want to shop?
Is he whining by the fitting room?
We are the ideal solution:
'THE FREE HUSBAND DAYCARE!'
Drop him off at "The Gallery"
We will care for him, you just pay for his snacks and drinks ;P "

Sounds like a good deal to me!

The next story sadly doesn't have any pictures to go with it. Marijn's mom slipped him some money on the way out the door with a wink and a, "take her somewhere nice."
Okay, it didn't happen quite like that, but I like my dramatic effect a lot more.
That evening, Marijn brought me to a very nice italian place where he almost had to translate the entire menu for me. Hey, at least his English will be really good after all this! I ended up getting a rather large pizza and proceeded to get hand cramps trying to use my knife and fork. I ended up giving him the last small bit simply because I was not going to pick it up and eat it. It was a personal challenge to eat the pizza like a European and I simply wasn't going to fail!

On Easter Sunday we wandered our way through the deserted streets of Groningen in search of a place that wasn't too crowded where we could purchase a simple cup of coffee. We stroll into this bar and take a seat at a table. After seeing a huge poster of the Red Hot Chili Peppers each wearing a single, strategically placed sock and then seeing some very interesting looking magazines lined up by the window I tell Marijn that we were in a gay bar.
He just looks around and shrugs (after all he is quite proud that the Netherlands were the first to legalize gay marriage). We had a lovely cup of coffee with the bartender and some very nice men brought in some decorated eggs for us to eat as well.  On our way out, Marijn turned around and walked backwards asking, "Okay, so how do you tell from the outside it's a gay bar-." He cut himself off because we both saw, proudly flying above the tables, a rainbow flag.
We must have needed that coffee because we did NOT see that on the way in.

On the way out of town, we stopped to get Subway (everything else was closed or far above our price range) and this dork ate the meal with a fork and knife.
Yeah, he's european alright!