Tales from the train ride to Prague and More (Mainz)

When we boarded our train from Berlin to Prague, it was jam-packed, and hard to find seats. After standing up and waiting for a bit to find a seat, a middle-aged gentleman offers me a seat that is vacant, next to him. It turns out that he is Arpad Szoczi, a Canadian-born journalist, activist, author, former-lobbyist, and documentary filmmaker, of Hungarian descent. His forte of knowledge was the Romanian Revolution, and genocide of the Hungarian minority within Transylvania in the 1980's. In his research and time spent interviewing political members, spies, and activists within Romania and Hungary during this time, he has had access to police files, been spied on, and had to sneak cameras into these countries to get ground-shattering interviews. The Romanian Revolution was against the regime of Ceausescu, a harsh Communist tyrant, who had brutally murdered many of his people for decades. This inevitably resulted in his own people capturing him, and having a firing squad kill him and his family on Christmas Day, after a trial that was so brief it could be considered a joke. Szoczi is currently working on a book called: Timisoara: The Real Story Behind the Romanian Revolution. I hope to one day pick up a copy of the book when it comes out in English, in a few months time, Szoczi told me.

Later on on our trip, we found ourselves in Mainz, the birthplace of Gutenberg, the man behind the first printing press in Western Civilization. Interestingly enough, the Germans had forgotten about Gutenberg by the time of Napoleon's conquest of Europe. When Napoleon had Mainz occupied, it was he who ordered the placing of the first statue of Gutenberg in the town, because the French had known all about Gutenberg and held a great respect for him. There, in Mainz, our guide showed us how an original Gutenberg printing press operated, by printing us a sheet from a Gutenberg Bible.

Halfway Mark

So we left Berlin for Prague, which turned out to be the most beautiful city I ever have had the good fortunate to visit. We took a walking tour of the city and visited old synagogues, came across old statues of former leaders and saints of czech descent, and saw the beauty that Prague had to offer. What made the tour extra memorable was that it was snowing the whole tome, which really added an extra aspect of beauty to the historic city. The one thing negative I have to say about Prague, as I sit here safely in a Starbucks in the quaint city of Nuremberg, Germany is that I lacked a sense of security in Prague. It was common for merchants to trick us into paying them more than what their product was worth. Take for example an experience I had at a really happening 5-story bar/club there. I ask the bartender for a beer, as is common behavior within a drinking environment, and the bartender opens a bottle of water for me (which by the way is more expensive than beer in Prague). Disappointed by this, I tell the bartender, "No I ordered a beer." So then he gets me a beer, and asks me to pay for the water. Of course, I am quick to reject this absurd proposition, and the bartender quickly turns ugly, and threatens to call the guards on me. The end result of this altercation was that I ended up bribing the guard to quell him and just get my beer, and I soon realize that I was hussled. Beautiful city it was, just can't say the same about the people.

We took a bus from Prague to Nuremberg, and ended up taking a walking tour of the city, which ended up being delayed, as our guide was stuck behind a train that had broken down during today's blizzard. As was the case in Prague, the white snow added beauty to the city, which ended up being ironic, as we went to the site of the former Nazi Rally Grounds. It wasn't as bone-chilling as walking past the apartments in Berlin that had been constructed over the site of Hitler's bunker, probably because of the snow, and the fact that the actual stone walkway in front of the WWI War Memorial that Hitler would stand on for these rallies of his, had been removed from its exact site.

So on the Nazi Rally Grounds, there was this building that was designed to hold thousands of people to hear der Führer. It had many peculiar realities about it. First, it was built with a lake covering most of the outside of it, which would help heighten its beauty (propaganda), but it was really unpractical because that means that only one side of the building was really available for thousands of people to shuffle into. Secondly, it was partially constructed (missing a couple stories of the original design), as the war prohibited further construction of it in 1938. Thirdly, there is a museum of the Nazi regime in it now, but it only takes up a portion of the building. The problem is that the building is impractical for use today, as it would be frowned upon to renovate a former Nazi-designed building, and at the same time, it just wouldn't make sense to just tear the huge structure down, as it would be a huge waste of time, effort, and money.

And we're off to Frankfurt in due time after our stop here in Nuremberg, more to come soon.

Lively at Night: Pt III

Karlovy Lazne. Remember this name if you are ever in Prague. Located literally right next to the Charles Bridge, this club is crazy. Lasers, lights, multiple dance-floors, ice bars. This place has it all. Spanning five stories, Karlovy Lazne offers something for everyone. One floor is dedicated to electro, another oldies, another top 40 hits. Unfortunately, I don't think the winter is the peak season for this place and it was also a Monday, so it was not crowded. At all. But on the upside, means we had the whole place to ourselves and everybody had a great time. The drinks were relatively cheap which is something that never happens at clubs in the US and this one was by far the coolest spot I have ever stepped foot in. Did I mention the lasers!?!?! I did but I think they bear mentioning again. The club had this room called the "Hypercube," which was basically a room full of mirrors. With lasers bouncing off the mirrors. Which created an awesome visual experience. I think I need one of those in my house. And the light up dance floor too. That was also pretty awesome. I'm not going to go too much more into this place, but seriously, if you ever get a chance, GO! KARLOVY LAZNE! It was unbelievable in more ways than one. Alrighty, back in Germany so I'll keep you updated on where we go next.

Cheers!

-RGIV

Squares, Spires, and Snow!

Seriously friends. If you've never been to Prague, I highly suggest you get online right now and buy a ticket. This was the most beautiful city I have ever had the pleasure to visit and if that wasn't enough it snowed!! Completely picture perfect, think postcards. Especially with the wonderful dusting of snow we got on the first day there. To me, probably the coolest thing about it is how unchanged it seems (architecturally at least) from the Prague of the medieval period. It managed to remain pretty much unscathed throughout WWII and the Soviet occupation. Having only gained its independence recently, Prague is now fully in capitalism mode, with designer stores, souvenir shops, and of course, McDonald's.

This phenomenon is quite interesting to me as it has only been about 20 years since Czechoslovakia was very firmly under Communist control. As we walked through the Jewish Quarter, an area with some of the oldest synagogues in Europe, we saw a Gucci store, a Louis Vuitton store, Prada, etc. Very strange amongst the cobblestoned streets and historic buildings filled with stories from times past. Our guide was also telling us how, because of this complete shift in economic practices, Prague has gotten a lot more expensive. It was still much cheaper than Germany or London (wonderful for my wallet), but I wonder if I come back in two years what changes will I see. And I will be back. Maybe in the summer this time, the cold gets pretty old really quick.

I guess I should take some time to walk you through the sites. Pictures will follow. The highlights are: the Palace (of course), the John Lennon Wall, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, Old Town Square, and St. Wenceslas Square. The cool thing about Prague is that you can walk to all of these places in a day no problem. The city itself is a maze of narrow streets and large squares but you can always find a landmark to orient yourself pretty quickly. Our hotel was extremely close to Old Town Square (I'm talking a one minute walk), which is home to an amazing Astronomical Clock, the Old Town Hall, and various restaurants and shops. The Palace is a sprawling complex with old buildings and new, perched at the top of a hill. Here we saw churches, dungeons, and great halls used by monarchs dating back into the Middle Ages. As it started to snow pretty hard while we were there, the descent from the Palace got a bit treacherous, but hey, what's a little danger to our adventuresome group. The Jewish Quarter was pretty humbling, as it there were tributes to the victims of the Holocaust and an incredibly old, incredibly full cemetery. The Charles Bridge is the oldest of many bridges in Prague, and the tower at the end offers a great view of the city. The John Lennon Wall is a free expression wall covered in graffiti, a must see if you're ever there. St. Wenceslas Square is a HUGE square with lots of shopping, but more importantly was the site of the Velvet Revolution and Prague Spring uprisings against totalitarian regimes, immortalized forever by students lighting themselves on fire in protest.

Also, the nightlife is awesome, but that's content for my next segment of "Gettin Lively in the Night".    Arrived in Nuremberg yesterday so stay tuned for my next post.

Here are some pictures. Until next time, Czech me out!

-RGIV

"Ich bin Berliner"

On our plane ride to Berlin, I was fortunate enough to be able to sit next to a Pennsylvanian woman that was also a second generation German-speaker. We had many laughs, as we read through my book of Dirty German phrases, and I was able to learn quite a bit about German sayings, colloquialisms, euphemisms, expressions, culture, and language! Es war Hammer (which means "It was awesome," exactly as she taught me on the plane ride)! I got to go over some phrases that I had been preparing for myself to be able to navigate the bustling German cities that we will be visiting in the upcoming future, like Münich, Wittenberg, Mainz, Nuremberg, and Frankfurt. Today, we visited a German KFC, and it felt great ordering my meal in German (Kann Ich habe die Nummer acht, bitte?). Another opportunity I had was in the bathroom of an Irish pub I gave a simple greeting to the man running the bathroom, collecting tips (as is the norm here in Germany). He must have recognized my thick American accent, and it was interesting to note that he used the “du” informal way to talk to me. I thought it was interesting because, as a non-native speaker, I'm quite unfamiliar with who I can address with "du," or even, who can address me with "du," but I suppose it made sense that he did because he is only but a humble old German man who must've thought it was nice to hear an American speak a little bit of German with him! I figured it would be a good idea to write my German professor about this interaction and here was his reponse: “If he is quite a bit older than you---let’s say 70 or 80 or more and you’re 20---he uses “du” with you and you respond with “Sie.” It’s a sign of respect for his age: as an older man, he gets to use du with those under 30, BUT then everyone uses Sie with him. I remember this happening to me when I was your age as well.”

During our time in Berlin, we had a fun time meeting the DEKRA University students, who were all various Communications majors. The first thing that they wanted to ask us about was our views on gun control, and we were asked to fill out a survey for them. Next, they brought us to dinner at a Bavarian-styled Hofbrau Haus. From there, we met up with them later, and they took us to a local indie-band concert, where “The Drakes” were playing. The band was OK, but what made it such a great time for me is that I was able to have tons of interactions with these DEKRA students in German, and was given tons of constructive criticism on my German-speaking, which I really appreciated. They were quite humbled to hear an American speak some German with them, an experience that they have never had before.

Lively at Night: Pt. II

So, Berlin is pretty crazy. It seems that everybody aged 16-25 goes out on the weekends and they go out hard. The trains run all night so even at 5 a.m., you can still make it back to the hotel, alive, safe, and happy. According to our counterparts from Dekra University, most Berlin youths stay out until 9 or 10 in the morning, however that's partying a little too hard, even for me. Our newfound friends did take us to a pretty cool club, wish I could remember the name but it was German so doesn't really stick as well as English. Finally made it back to the hotel after a wonderful night. Next stop, Karlovy Lazne club in Prague, a five-story disco where each floor plays a different genre of music. More to come on this one as I've been waiting all trip to hit it up. And with that, I bid you a wonderful evening. 

P.S. It snowed all day here in Prague!! Be sure to check out the next post so I can tell you all about it!

-RGIV

Some Pictures From Germany

Ok so these are a little out of order but forgive me, it is pretty damn hard to get the internet to work like I want it to here. Pictures include the Brandenberg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, the church door at Wittenberg, Kaiser Wilhelm Church (old and new), pieces of the Berlin Wall, and new buildings in Berlin.  My iPad will not let me give them captions for some reason, so it's up to you to figure out which is which. Cheers.

-RGIV

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