Tuesday, hair cut and no rain!

This weekend was a nice one in Berlin. Saturday night I went out to dinner with Julia, Amnah, Alia, and Natallie to this Turkish restaurant down the street from our apartments. It was really fun/yummy. We all share humus, this eggplant thing, and this yogurt/cucumber dish. Then for dinner I got this really good grilled lamb dish and it was so good dipped in the yogurt. Julia and I had this really yummy red wine.

After dinner, Julia and I went out for the evening to dance at Haus B, it was so much fun!! We made it till 4:30ish and decided to go home and head to sleep.

Sunday was pretty uneventful.

Monday, I had class/studio all day and then at night I went with a group of people to Potsdamer Platz to see  the Town. It was so good and it was weird because for a couple of hours I felt like I was back home in Boston. Also, movies are so much cheaper here. Our tickets were 5,50 euro, and you pick your seats when you buy your tickets. Then there popcorn was so good and was reasonable for 3,00 euro.

Today I didn't have any classes, so I slept in for a bit and then did a load of laundry in the bathtub and sink, and then skipped of to Alexander Platz to get my haircut. I was really nervous the whole time because I was afraid there was going to be a mis-communication, but the guy understood me and did a really good job. It was kinda a fancy haircut but I paid about the same as I do in Boston for a banging haircut. After that I explore that gay area of west berlin on Motzstrasse and then continued on to studio. I need to do some work before I go to Barcelona but I am really unmotivated. I just want to go already!!

Weekend in Berlin / Holocaust Memorial

Last night Julia and I went to Roses to just hang out for a bit, everyone is gone this weekend at Oktoberfest.  It was an unusual crowd and some random guy told me I look like the stupid guy from Twilight! Insult!!! I hate that movie. I also got a drink spilt on me by the bartender…but I ended up getting a free shot of Jager!!

Today Julia and I ventured out into rainy Berlin. We went to the Topograpghy of Terror, which is all about Hitler’s time in power. It is on the site of where the SS and Gestapo Headquarters was. We then walked along the long stretch of the remains of the Berlin wall and went to Check Point Charlie. After that we grabbed lunch at his American/French place, it was yummy and cheap. Then walked to the Memorial for Murdered Jews (very upfront title) and went inside. It was all about different people/families who died during the Holocaust… it was very intense.  There was one room were you just sit and listen to the names of people who died and how they died. The museum sits under Peter Eiserman’s memorial, that I mentioned in my last post. After that we went to Alexander Platz and I got yummy bread at the Brot Festival!!!

Now I am just relaxing a bit, going to grab dinner soon with a few people and then go out dancing!!!

Another week in Berlin!

So it Friday... weeks fly by here!

Monday I had class all day, and then afterwards went grocery shopping, which is always an adventure! I also finally got my internet stick to work (it isn't the greatest, but it gets the job done)

Tuesday we took a class field trip to the Reichstag. We go to go into the Budastag's Assembly room (there congresses area to debate) and learn about the German Government. We then went up into Norman Fosters Dome with the double helix ramp, mirror cone that brings light down into the assembly room, and the cone also pulls hot air our of the assembly room and lets it escape through the opening at the top of the dome. The dome offered fantastic views of the city.

  

Wednesday before studio we took a class field trip to another Norman Foster building, a library, on a college campus outside of Berlin, It was spherical building and the inside all the levels were wavy. I had my first pin up for my project to go over my concept, it went well. Afterwards I just went home and relaxed for the evening.

Thursday we finally got to go on a boat tour of Berlin! And it was such a nice day for it! So the boat pick us up in the Tiergarten and took us up and down the Spree River, through the government sections, historical sections, and turning around in Kreuzburg. Thursday evening I finally watched Glee, which was good, and just relaxed.

Friday I had my humanities class which is from 10-6. We started off by going on a walking tour of Berlin, with the best tour guide I have ever had! We walked through the old part of Berlin, down Unter de Linden, through the Brandenburg Gate, and then ended at the Holocaust Memorial and the site of Hitlers Bunker. It was nice to finally get to see all of the famous sites of Berlin. 

This weekend a majority of the group is going to Oktoberfest in Munich, but Julia and I decided to not go and instead enjoy the weekend in Berlin. We are going to go to some Museums, shop, and just explore Berlin. Next week is a short week, and on Thursday we leave for Barcelona! Exciting!!

Observations:

I can finally unlock the doors! It's actually pretty easy. You turn towards the door to lock, and away to unlock... I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out!

Buying certain products can be interesting. The vanilla ice cream I bought, taste like straight up butter!

Germans put meat into everything!

Half a week in Berlin / Prague

Before leaving for Prague it was mostly business as usual with studio work etc. I am almost getting along with the locks, but they still are a challenge. I will just say again how cheap grocery shopping and food is here, I love it!

Studio is going well, I am starting to get use to designing in the metric system and that the second floor of a building is really the first floor and the first floor is really the ground floor. Also, we have a wire cutting machine for making blue foam models and it is taking quite a bit of time to get the hang of, soon hopefully. My studio professor, Detler, is pretty cool. He talks a lot though and there is a slight language barrier but he is super nice.

I have gotten use to washing my clothes in the bath tub, and then hanging them through out the apartment. Socks are the only things that really get stiff, but no more wrinkled clothes!! I even act like a washer machine when I do laundry =) Cooking is fun, we finally have all the ingredients we need and organic food (bio food here) is cheap too. And we get fresh baked bread because there are Bakeies every 5 feet. I love it.

Wednesday night before we left for Prague a group of us went to a beer garden and it was so much fun. For 9 Euro you get a beer the size of your head (1 litter) and they have a band and you just dance around. Some people were lederhosen and the girl were dresses, its a lot of fun.  I danced with Michelle most of the night. The beer garden was right near the Reichstag and the huge train station, so it was amazing to experience at night. 

Thursday – Saturday I spent in Prague (Prag in German and Praha in Czech) and the trip was for our Urban Design class, we are also going to Rome and Hamburg before I leave in November. We drove there by bus, and it was about 5 hours. When we got close to Prague, Rolf played us this really beautiful song, and it set the mood right. We checking into our “botel” that was right on the main river and in old town. It also had an amazing view of the Prague Castle.  We then all went out as a group to explore Lesser town, the Charles Bridge, old town square, and this smaller square. It was one of the girls birthdays so we all went out to dinner, I got pizza with Buffalo cheese and Czech beer, Pilsner. It is very good on draft. I then went back and hung out on the roof deck and then called it a night.

Friday we started the day early but taking the metro, that is seriously a mile underground and has the longest escalator in the world, to a catholic church and another more modern church. At the catholic church we got to go up in the tower that had an incredible ramp up to an amazing view. We then breaked for lunch, and I went to a Czech resturant with Julia and got fried chicken steak with tomatoe and blue cheese on it, it was yummy. We the then metoroed it over back into Prague central and explored the city and ended up at Frank Gerrys contribution to the city, “Fred and Ginger” it was a pretty amazing building. We then were free for the night to work on our Urban Design research. Julia, Austin, and I walked over to Lesser town to analyze the square there, we break for a bit at Starbucks, and then headed over the Charles bridge into old town. We went to a Czech restaurant by the other square we had to analyze and it was off the beaten past so no tourist. They played music, we got Pilsner again, and I got the traditional Czech duck, which was huge and delicious. We then analyzed the square as the sun was setting and into dusk. It was a cool space to analyze in this setting. We then strolled back to the Botel and got gelato and explore around the Old Town Square. We eventually got back to the Botel and Julia and I wanted to separate from the group, so her, Michelle, and I went bar hoping and it was fun. We went to a local Czech bar, and Irish Pub, a street vendor with beer and huge hot dogs, and then a British pub. It was a good night.

Saturday we had an early start and a free morning to finish the analysis and explore. I went with a group of people and we walked around, shopped, and eat lunch. We then met back up and split off into groups of ten. We had to climb the mountain to the Prague Castle, which has an amazing view! And then our group was first to go to Adolf Loos’ Muller House. The space was absolutely amazing. Each room has a different ceiling height, and sometimes is on a completely different level. It was defiantly a trademark building for modernism. We then went back to the castle and walked around with Rolf for a while. We saw the first palace with a huge gathering room with vaulting ceiling, a later renaissance chapel, the massive/impressive Gothic Cathedral (made me re-appreciate Gothic Architecture), and then we went down into the old trench around the palace and went through this amazing tunnel that was added to connect the two halves. We then headed on the bus back to Berlin.

Prague is absolutely an amazing place, and I would love to go back again. There money is interesting (1000 = about 50 euro) so it’s fun to use. But the city is amazing with so many secret hiding spaces for amazing things. You can duck into an alley, and then your in a beautiful garden or find a tunnel. It is very touristy, so it was weird hearing English and seeing Americans!

But it’s nice to now be back “home” in Berlin. This week is a full week, and I have a pin up on Wednesday for studio. Everyone is going to Munich for Oktober Fest next weekend, but Julia and I decided to stay in Berlin.  Next trip planned is Barcelona, which should be a blast!

One week since I arrived in Berlin!

Hallo!

So, after being here in Berlin for a week, I am beginning to get my barring on my new home.. My neighborhood is dominantly a turkish neighborhood, and there is a really cool street near by, that is full of shops, restaurants, and bars.. I also understand the subway more, and its pretty easy to navigate... The only hard things are ordering food (because its all in German) and unlocking doors ( the lock is backwards, and there is different levels of locking) Aside from that, its pretty easy adjusting..

I have visited many things so far... if you check my facebook you can see pictures... but potsdamer platz, alexander platz, spree river, Kurfursten damm (like NYC's 5th avenue), the Reichstag, Brandenburg gate, KaDeWa (largest deparment store)... so it has been fun. Classes are good too, all of our professors are very nice and caring. Our project is also small scaled too, so we don't have to spend to much time on it, and gives us more exporing time.

On Thursday we go to Prague until Saturday as part of our "urban design travel elective." I hear things are cheap there because the Euro is more powerful, and they use a different currency. One thing about the Euro, all of the bills and coins are sized according to amount.. 50$ bill is larger than a 5$ bill, and coins do the same... coins! I have a huge collection of coins ranging from 2$, 1$, 50 cent, 20cent, 5 cent, 2 cent, and 1 cent... ah! I love the Euro though, I feel like its a powerful currency.

Berlin is very cheap and I like it.. food, alcohol.. the only expensive things are the subway (which is worth it) and depending on what kind of clothes you like to buy. But so much cheaper than Boston.

I bough this internet stick, but I had to set up in German, and it still isn't work.. =/ I might have to go back and ask for help..

I caught the cold that has been going around, so I took it a little easy this weekend.. Friday night I went out till 5 am at a bar called Roses, and met some people from Sweden, they were really nice! They are study abroading here as well.

I bought a picture book from english to german, so it should help me in the grocery store, we shall see.  Tschus!

First week in Berlin

Finally in Berlin and getting adjusted.,, Berlin is a very large city. It reminds me of the size of NYC and the character of NYC, but with the scale and greenery that Boston offers. Our apartment is in former East Berlin, and our studio/classes is in the former West Berlin… so it is about a 30-40 minute commute every day on the U Bahn.

German is everywhere. When we visited Sweden, Finland, and Estonia…pretty much everyone spoke English. Here it isn’t always the case because we aren’t always in touristy areas. For instance, Julia, Austin, and I were dumb and bough the wrong subway monthly pass, so we had to get it fixed, and it took a good 5 minutes with the guy for us all to understand. And another instance, when I bought my phone at Vodafone, the lady spoke very little English. So it is very frustrating, but I am starting to pick it up. We have language class twice a week, and pluse I have a general phrase book, so all together I should get it eventually.

Everything in Berlin is cheap. Food, alcohol, etc. Which makes it nice because the Euro is still a little bit stronger that the US dollar. I love it here though, every time you get off the U bahn and come up, you feel like you are in a new part of Berlin. Tonight I explored an area North of my apartment, and it just felt like I was walking the streets of the village. And today we walked down a Turkish street, and it felt like a street out of San Francisco. This city is just a hybrid of cultures and excitement.

School is starting to get into full swing. Today we start studio and visit our site for our semester long project. It should be interesting because we have to use the metric system, but we are working on an addition to a hostel.

Our apartments are very nice and big. I am sharing a room with Julia and Austin lives in the single bedroom. We cook here to save a little bit, grocery shopping is an adventure but getting the hang out it. I am not really home sick at all, but I do miss Houston. That is about it. I love Europe!

This week/weekend I am going to explore Berlin with my roommates and by myself, and really start to make it my home. There is SO MUCH to explore. Next Thursday-Saturday we are going to Prague, which should be amazing because I hear it is just such a beautiful city. Then the following weekend Julia and I, and a lot of other people are going on our optional travel long weekend to Barcelona. I booked the hostel, so we are right smack dab in the city.

I am trying really hard to make the best of this and keep an equal balance and a set priority list. I am here for school yes, but I am most importantly here to discover other cultures and visit the architecture I have been studying fo

Last night in Tallinn, Estonia!

This city is absolutely beautiful!! Tonight is my last night here, we spent the past few days working on a Charrette, fancy word for a small project. We had to establish a waterfront area and connect it back to the old city, new city, and port. It was a different way to explore the city and we worked in pairs of three, I worked with Julia and Carlie.

Everything here is really cheap because there money isn't worth a lot, so you get a good exchange. So that food and service has been amazing. Tonight a group of us are all going out drinking together to celebrate this trip being over, because tomorrow we ferry back to Helsinki, and then fly to Berlin. I am so excited!! We will be there for a week and a half and will start school. Then we will go for a long weekend to Prague! I am so excited, I hear it is such a beautiful city. And then at the end of the month I am going to Barcelona with a group of people. I love how easy it is to bounce around all of these beautiful places in Europe.

Tallinn was just an awesome city. It is a very old Medieval City, as I mentioned in my previous post, so it feels like you are at Disney World or something, also all the building are colorful and the streets have no rhythm or reason, they just go all over the place.

So, tomorrow it is off to Berlin!!

I'm on a Boat!

So I am on a Ferry on my way to Tallinn, Estona... so I have some time to kill because I am hungover and not motivated to do anything!

I have been in Europe now for a week, and I am really enjoying traveling to these countries that not alot of people ever go to.. Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. But, I am also ready to set a "home base" in Berlin and discover the city on my own and meet some Germans. But I am enjoying the group I am with, the 30 of us are getting along very well, and it has just been alot of fun.

Last night we all bought alcohol and just chilled at the Hotel for a while. You can drink in the streets, so we walked around drinking for a bit and then the whole group went with me to this gay club "DTM" it was alot of fun dancing with everyone. We stayed out till 2-3am, I can't really remember, I then went back to the hotel and made some phone calls and hung out the window, the Finish air is amazing...haha.

I really liked Helsinki, I can't wait to come back again. The city is just amazing, it is so clean and beautiful... ah! Enough going on about how much I like Helsinki.

Estonia should be fun. Tallinn is an old Medieval city, with a modern section. We are doing a project there to create a new water front, because the city lacks one now. We are working with students there, so it will be cool to get their perspective because they know the city.

So far, I am just have an amazing time... I am hanging out with people I never thought I would/ or even talk to on this trip.

Last Night in Helsinki and Finland!

Its been a pretty jammed packed two days in Helsinki... yesterday we looked at a bunch of Alvar Aalto buildings, and today we went around and looked at Finish architects Simo Paavilainen and Juha Leiviska's buildings... in total we looked at 9 buildings, and it was just an amazing array of architecture. My favorite was Paavilainen's office building, KEVA Office Building. It was just full of light, had a huge atrium, and multiple outside terraces.

The food here is really good, and they really like their sweets. I have eaten to much of it. haha. They also all have blonde hair here too and are skinny. We have been walking everywhere since we got here and the city is really easy to do that in. It is also jammed packed with fun places to go out, I am going to try a find a good place to go tonight.

Today we also went to Steven Holl's Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, and besides it being an amazing piece of architecture, it had a really cool exhibit where there was this huge field of ribbon to run through.

Tomorrow we are going to Tallinn, Estonia and are going to be actually doing work... we are doing a water front urban design project that we have a day to work on, and then a half day of presenting. It should be fun because all of the cities we have visited have had really strong connections with the water.

So far Helsinki is my favorite and I would love living here.. it is so clean, everyone is nice, and there is just so much to do. Defiantly better than Boston!

Last night I booked Julia and I's plane tickets to Barcelona, JJ is coming too and Carlie and Michelle might as well, so it should be a fun trip... and the weather seems like it is going to be nice.. we are going the 30th-Oct 3rd. I can't believe it is already September!