Back!

[Kams]

Well, my two week trip to Germany is over, and I've just gotten home about an hour or two ago. I see I've gone from a regular to a lurker lol. So yeah, just thought I'd let you know that I'm back!

 

[Dream]

Welcome back, so did you get attack by any wild peachy in Germany?

 

[Peachy]

Welcome back!

Once you get over your jet lag, let us know how your trip went!

Peachy

 

[Kams]

Yeah, it'll take me a few days to get over the jet lag. The trip was awesome, I took tons of pictures and video. Me and a few friends even happened to come across the premiere of the movie 'Kung Fu Panda' (it comes out later next month in Germany) and we met Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman.

The cities we went to were Munich, Berlin, Füssen, Nürnberg, Salzburg, and probably some other places I can't think of right now.

 

[Kams]

Ok, sorry for the double post and the huge time gap here, but I just remembered to do this. Thank you so much Peachy for all the wonderful advice you gave me :smile:

Anyway, in a nutshell, I really, really wish I could still be there. It's one of the coolest, and most beautiful places I've been. I kept your list of suggestions in mind the whole time, and tried to do at least some of them. We were lucky enough to have a lot of free time to walk around and explore the cities ourselves.

We arrived in Munich, and were based there for the first week. Munich was nice because it still had that old world bavarian charm to it.

don't feel weird if you don't understand them - I wouldn't either. Their accent is a nightmare

Lol, for the first few days, whenever I tried to talk to somebody, they would end up speaking english We also happened to be there on the day of Munich's 850th birthday celebration, which was pretty big and fun. From Munich, we would take day trips to other cities. My favorite place was Füssen (just west of Munich), and there we saw the Neuschwanstein Schloss. I got lots of great pictures there which I will upload later. Also, we visited Salzburg in Austria on the day of the Austria vs. Germany game, and it was lots of fun to watch all of the fans march through the streets and sing songs. We also, visited the concentration camp in Dachau which was one of the most moving experiences of my life. It's hard to describe the atmosphere there, but I think I captured it well in my pictures.

So after a week, we made our to the München Hauptbahnhof to catch the night train to Berlin.

Go up on the roof of the parliament (Reichtstagsgebäude), although you probably have to wait in line for 2 hours (it's free)

We went up there, and I got a really cool view of the city. It took a while just to walk to the top!

Other than that, make sure you check out the Brandenburg Gate, the famous museums on the Museumsinsel.

The Brandenburg Gate was really cool, although I didn't get to see it lit up. I did manage to see a lot of the museums there like the Pergamon museum.

For food, I suggest to have the two most famous local dishes: Currywurst and Döner Kebap. There's a Kebap shop literally (!) at every corner (outside of the immediate downtown area), and it's cheap too.

I was a little skeptical when I first tried Currywurst, but I grew to love it, and I must say I miss it now . The Döner kebabs were okay, but I'm not really sure if I liked the sauce on it or not. I'm more used to Gyros. But yeah, döner and currywurst was everywhere!

Since you'll be here during the Euro2008, why not take the time to find a "Public Viewing" event, where they broadcast soccer games in public on big screens. Since the USA isn't playing, you can cheer for Germany (any help is welcome ). The "Public Viewing" events were world-famous during the World Cup two years ago and they're an experience of their own, so just join the crowd for some fun

I didn't actually go to the public viewing areas during a game, but I did see the huge crowds there. It looked like a lot of fun though. So, yeah, naturally I decided to cheer for Germany, I even bought an official jersey and scarf. Also, we went to a flohmarkt and I got the chance to have a long conversation with an old couple from Bremen (could they be Peachy's parents? ) who didn't speak any english.

I think the most memorable part of trip was one day my friends and I were walking around Berlin, and we went into that elevator that goes into the huge aquarium, and then after that, we went to LegoLand. And as we were walking out of LegoLand, we found ourselves right in the middle of Potsdamerplatz, which is where the German premiere of the movie 'Kung Fu Panda' was being held! Now, this was the one time that I didn't have my camera on me (because I was tired of lugging around a 15lbs. camera for two weeks), so I ran to the train station as fast as I could, and took the train all the way back to our hotel, and then back to Potsdamerplatz which was about 40 minutes. I got there just in time, and my two friends who had stayed behind, saved me a spot right up next to the red carpet. It was mostly the German celebrities there who I didn't recognize, but after a while, I got to meet Jack Black and Dustin Hofman! Luckily, I got them both on film, but only my friend got his autograph on a dollar bill.

So yeah, I really enjoyed Germany. The food, the culture, the sights, and I think my german has greatly improved. If our school does this trip next year, I am definitely going again.

-Kams

 

[skinnypuppy]

For some that would be the trip of a lifetime !! It was really good that you had the advice of a native about the best sites and best food. Peachy will make a great tourguide someday. I hope you do get to go back next year, and to take lots more trips like that to other parts of the world.

A 15 pound camera bag? I guess you're a budding professional photographer; I'd love to see your photos. Maybe put up an album on Webshots or Photobucket ? I think you would overwhelm the gallery on Adisc, and not as many people would get to see your pictures.

 

[Kams]

Good idea Skinnypuppy, I made an album on Flickr with just a few of my many pictures. Click here to see it.

 

[Maverick]

Good idea Skinnypuppy, I made an album on Flickr with just a few of my many pictures. Click here to see it.

Wow! Some of the buildings are really beautiful! Thanks for sharing. ^_^

 

[Peachy]

The Brandenburg Gate was really cool, although I didn't get to see it lit up.

Let me help you with that:

From the east:

From the west:

And the Reichstag:

And looks like you got into the first row with a perfect view of the red carpet for the premiere of that show! I wouldn't have expected those celebrities to sign a cheap 1 dollar bill though...at least give them a $100 bill! :tongueout:

Peachy

 

[mizzycub]

I am currently thinking of the Bayern accent and laughing. Once in a German lesson we were watching a broadcast from the Oktoberfest and I couldn't understand a word. And these weren't the drunk people.

Nice to see you back.

 

[Peachy]

I am currently thinking of the Bayern accent and laughing. Once in a German lesson we were watching a broadcast from the Oktoberfest and I couldn't understand a word. And these weren't the drunk people.

As I said many times: German TV stations usually use voiceovers or subtitles when interviewing someone who speaks with a southern accent (Bavarian, Swabian etc.), as no one but the locals could understand whatever he's saying.

Peachy

 

[Kams]

Lol, yeah, once we got into northern Germany, it seemed to be a little bit easier to understand the locals. Although it could have been because I had gotten used to speaking and hearing German everywhere in the first week.

 

[Peachy]

Lol, yeah, once we got into northern Germany, it seemed to be a little bit easier to understand the locals. Although it could have been because I had gotten used to speaking and hearing German everywhere in the first week.

It depends. If they speak in their local accent, you wouldn't understand much of it. However, local accents up here are actually classified as a language of their own ("Plattdeutsch" = flat German), and they are closer to Dutch than to proper German.
Unfortunately, there are very few people left up here who still speak those local languages/accents. The difficult part is getting people up here to talk in the first place.

Peachy