the Hafencity, the IBA, the walking!

March 13, 2012: Day 3

The start of our third day was around 9:00am. We all had breakfast, which is a rather nice breakfast compared to American standards. The usual breakfast in a European hotel is meats and cheeses, as well as a variety of breads, cereals, yogurts, and (my favorite) muesli! It's very similar to dry oatmeal, with grains, sometimes nuts, dried berries, etc. I usually mix it with plain or blueberry yogurt and it's simply devine! 

After breakfast, we made a nice trip down towards the Innercity of Hamburg. Interesting thing about Hamburg is it's size and how it's developed. The Innercity accounts for a large majority of the city's population, though it's growth in population is being severely restricted by lack of space for residents. Therefore, the city is currently in the middle of developing HafenCity. The overall goal of this project is to increase the Innercity by approximately 40%. This is huge, as it allows a larger number of people to both live and work in Hamburg, which should have an overall positive effect on the city's economy. 

This is a model of the Innercity, which shows the projects as well as current stages.

I was still using my iPhone as a camera at this point, so please excuse the poor/grainy quality.

We then went on a walking tour of the entire Hafencity which is a lot larger than you may originally perceive it to be. It was rather cold out, being right on the harbor, despite having my peacoat and scarf. 

This is a map of Hafencity Hamburg taken from the HafenCity News website (source).

If I remember correctly, we primarily toured the Western half, or the left-hand side of the screen; starting from the colored triangular shape to the green strip which bisects the HafenCity (which is just past the new University). As you can probably tell from the map, the western-half is well into the development stages, while the Eastern portions are not as far along. It was an incredible structure.

This section here, taken from the map above, was the most interesting part of the HafenCity. The rounded area in the center of the map (just below "Dalmannkai") is designed specifically for the flooding of the harbor. The docks and piers, which accomodate public events and are just generic public space, are actually flotation devises that rise and fall with the water levels of the harbor. The buildings surrounding the harbor are also prepared and the bottom levels can be sealed off and become water-tight should the levels rise that high. 

It was a really interesting point to consider and fascination to see how a community adapts to nature around them.

Another reason is fascinates me is because, and this may come from the literature courses I've been taking this semester, but there is always this preconceived notion that nature is the untamable, and man spends copious amounts of time trying to tame it. There are countless stories of man trying to tame nature only to be destroyed himself in the end. Rather than try and battle the elements and the forces around them, Hamburg has chosen to adapt to the area around them, and increase their use of the space.

After the tour we had a brief one hour break for lunch. I went to a nearby restaurant with my professor and some friends and had a curry wurst and fries. For those of you that have never been to Germany or had a curry wurst and fries... let me just... oh, you are missing out.

Curry wurst is fairly simple. It's basically a hotdog or bratwurst covered in curry. Like a chili dog, actually, but curry instead of chili. It's served with fries and is one of the most delicious things on earth (with the exception of tacos, American peanut butter, Sprite, and kebabs!)

But enough about food...

After we finished lunch and our tour of HafenCity, we headed back towards the Emigration museum from Day 2 (click to view this post) only this time we went to the IBA station, which was also, like much of HafenCity, floating in the middle of a large river! 

We had another brief background on what IBA is and what their mission is, and saw yet another model of  Hamburg.

IBA is an organization that was started to sort of reinvent the spaces in Hamburg that have fallen into disrepair. For example, they take abandoned schools and use them for architecture students to practice and study different techniques.

They also are remodeling a former bunker used from WWI in such a way that it will serve as a location for purifying water via solar energy and other sustainable methods for local housing areas.

One of the most interesting parts of the IBA tour was this WWI bunker. Throughout all the years of my education, any mention of World War II was biased in terms of the Allied Powers, namely the US. But I was in Germany. This bunker was used by the Germans of Hamburg to hide from the US when they bombed the city. After the Allies had won the war, the British loaded this bunker up with dynamite and other explosives. Interestingly enough, when they detonated it, the entire inside was blown out, but the external stone shell was saved, hence the heavy remodeling they are currently doing inside the structure.

It was just strange to see something from WWII, an event that has fascinated me for years, and has always been taught to me from a specific point of view, from a completely different angle. I developed a kind of respect for the Germans here, not in their cause and what Hitler and the Nazi Party was doing under the Third Reich or anything like that, but it sort of reinstated the fact that these were people too.

The Second World War was, if I'm not mistaken, one of the first (if not the first) major war that had a large number of civilian casualties. These structures could have been to save the innocent civillians of Hamburg that had no idea when or why they would be bombed. 

It was during this tour that we went to Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, which is outside of the Innercity. This part of Hamburg has been rundown and not used for a long time. you might go as far as to say it's like the Harlem of New York, though I fear that analogy may be a tad politically incorrect. 

Both the WWII bunker and the school converted to architect-location were located here.

(The vacated-school converted to a place of study for architects)

Wilhelmsburg is a place that many people in Hamburg do not view favorably. They are trying to recreate the area and market it towards the up-and-coming youth; college students, for example. 

Just to show how neglected the area is, almost as if planned, we were given a taste of reality for the people in Wilhelmsburg. While waiting for the train to take us back to the Innercity, an announcement came over the loudspeaker at the station, which my professor translated to say that the tracks were shut down and it would be a while because the police were involved. In other words, according to our tour guide, someone had jumped in front of a train and the tracks were stopped. He went on to tell us that this was typical of the life in this part of Hamburg. Normally if there is a delay on the trains, the city sends out buses and taxis to transport people free-of-charge, to prevent delays. However, this is not the case in Wilhelmsburg because it is so far out of the way or not as important as the Innercity.

The train finally came and we were given free time. Most of us were exhausted at this point, because we had been walking all day from 9:00am until around 4:30pm.

During the free time I traveled the city with Coral and Amanda. This was possibly the best part of the trip for one reason. I had managed to find a multi-purpose store which had a universal adapter as well as the right converter for my camera! I wanted to make sure it would work because I couldn't return anything, and I even brought my camera battery with me! The nice German salesman was extremely accommodating and explained how the charger worked; how I needed to buy the charger itself, and then find the right match for my battery type to fit it. He even let me check my battery to the type listed to make sure they were the same; opening up the battery boxes and going out of his way for me. It was an overall great experience, and I know I would not have gotten half as nice of treatment in Lugano! 

Overall it cost me about 28 euro, which was a STEAL because anywhere in Lugano that sold the chargers, if I pre-ordered them 3 weeks in advance, were about 45-50+ francs, and the charger back in the US was around $35-50 so I made out well c: 

After buying that, we tried to find our way to my professor's house. He lives in Hamburg and Lugano, and commutes back and forth every other week. Since we were in Hamburg, he decided to throw us a pizza party at his home. Coral, Amanda, and I navigated the entire city based off a single image map of the entire city that he gave us, and drew a line on; no words, nothing. We actually found our way and made it there 15 minutes early, which ended up being a half hour before everyone else!

It was a great evening and the pizza was great! After we ate our professor even played from German, Austrian, and French tunes on his guitar!

He said he knew some of The Beatles, but he wouldn't play any!

Overall it was a great day, and after we left Professor Prisner's house, Will and I took a different route to try and beat the rest of the group back to the hotel, but turns out we got on the same train, just a few stops before them. (We ran and beat them back to the hotel in the end, so it counts!)

the Emigrants, the church, the... beer?

March 12, 2012. Day two. 

Today we went to the Immigrant museum in Hamburg. It was an interesting place and I thought it was really cool to learn about how people traveled from Europe to the Americas and elsewhere. Apparently Brazil was a large destination for a lot of Europeans or other Migrants leaving through Hamburg. We were given these tickets that allowed you to play a kind of game and experience what it was like to be an immigrant. I got one of the tickets, and the first part was to take your picture in this barrack-looking thing. I wasn’t sure what it was for, but later found out that they used it to make me into an immigrant! I took pictures throughout my journey, and it was very hysterical. 

It was difficult, though, because you had to make a lot of choices about your life, but it was all in German, so I just hit Ja and Nein randomly. However, they showed me on board a ship, and I even got an immigrant passport document!

I make a pretty spiffy looking emigrant, no?
I'd let that guy into the States if he just showed up on a random boat... 

home!

At the end of the exhibition, you go into a room with a bunch of computers. This was probably the coolest part because the computers are all registered with Ancestry.com and we were able to look up our relatives. I didn’t have a lot of success with some of my family members, namely with my dad’s side, but I was able to find information on my mom’s father, which was a really surreal feeling. I found his information from when he enlisted in the Second World War, as well as his father, my great-grandfather’s, information from the 1930 Census, as well as the travel documents from when he came over from Poland. Apparently (and I haven’t heard back from my mom yet, so I don’t even know if this is accurate information) my great-grandfather came over on a ship from Antwerp, Belgium to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the Lapland in 1887. I really hope the information ends up being accurate.. It would make me feel so great to have found some information on my grandfather.*

*NOTE: Unfortunately, the information that I had found about my grandfather's family coming over from Europe was inaccurate.. but I did find his information from when he was in the war, as well as his address when he lived in Connecticut.

The fact that I have to opportunity to explore Germany (and maybe even Poland later this semester) is something that I think he would have wanted me to do - to explore my roots and learn more about where I come from. I would love to come back and explore more specifically where my family is from. I’d love to find out more about my lineage and trace it back as far as possible. 

After the Immigration museum, we headed down to a boardwalk on the harbor and walked for a bit. 

Hamburg is so dependent on the harbor and rivers, it’s rather interesting to hear about how significant the water is there. 

We made our way to the St. Michael cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful. I was so upset that I had to use my iPhone as a camera, because it wasn’t doing justice for all the places that we were visiting.  We climbed to the top of the steeple, some 400+ stairs, and look out over Hamburg. 

(Cece and I atop the St. Michael's Church)

The city is similar to Paris in the sense of how they maintain their skyline. None of the buildings are able to be taller than the five churches in the area, which makes it very pretty. The view was incredible.

After the cathedral, we had a presentation on Hamburg as the European Green Capitol in 2011. The city of Hamburg has been focused on being sustainable and eco-friendly for some time, and has done so much already, and hopes to be the Green Capital 3 times by the year 2031. Some of the ideas that were used to obtain this title were: A Train of Ideas, which toured a number of European cities to spread the idea of being sustainable, and how those cities can do the same. Since this, Oslo, Norway has begun communicating with Hamburg to become more sustainable. Hamburg also has shifted the from individual transportation and unsustainable energy to buses that produce zero emissions, and a shift to bicycles. You can usually find a corner with tons of red bicycles to rent within several meters from any given location. Overall, Hamburg has done so much to contribute to a growing community of sustainability and one can only hope that this picks up in the United States soon! 

They also had there really cool elevators that were like, moving boxes and you could just get in one side and ride all the way up, then it would switch and bring you right back down the other side. It is continuously moving and incredible!

Next, we headed down to the University quarter. Here we got to see the University of Hamburg, where Professor Prisner went for 6 years to get his PhD. It was neat to see where he came from, and how he’s progressed since then. It’s nice being here knowing that he knows all the places to show us since he lives in Hamburg and commutes every other week to Lugano to teach. It was starting to get dark, so we made our way to dinner; Pakistani food.

Might I just start out by saying that curry is one of the best foods I have every had. Ever. We ordered drinks (I had ginger ale, of course. The bottle even said American Ginger Ale. It was great) and then Prisner had ordered the different types of food. A plate of salad was brought out and we all started with that and some pita bread. Then came the large trays of rice and the five different kinds of curry. There were two vegetarian dishes: Vegetable and Lentil I didn’t try either because I was too occupied with the Lamb and Spinach, Chicken, and Beef in a red coconut curry. The last was easily my favorite, it was incredible with the rice that tasted like cinnamon to me. There were so many flavors, and mixing them all together with the rice and pita was just... there are no words, really. It was incredible and if you haven’t had curry before I highly recommend it. In fact, let’s go find some Pakistani restaurant and hit that up, ja? c:

After dinner, Tavia, Natalya, Will, Amanda, Samantha, Coral, and I left to find our way back to the hotel. The S-Baün and U-Baün are the two train systems in Hamburg. We have passes that let us ride all the transportation for free so it’s great. We picked up the U-1 and rode it to Hautpahnhoff, when we transferred to the U-2 to Billstadt, which is the stop for our hotel. 

(Coral is from California and was obsessed with this restaurant that was apparently
similar to Chipotle.. I've never been, so I have no idea what she's talking about.)

After making it back, we dropped off our things at the hotel. Then Tavia, Jorden, Coral, and I went back to Einstein. Coral and I tried banana beer which was.... interesting to say the least. 

It was carbonated banana juice/soda mixed with beer.
Odd combo, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

NOTE: The above description of said beer is all code for:
"IT WAS TERRIBLE. NEVER TRY BANANA BEER. EVER." 

Tavia and Jorden went back to the hotel, but Coral and I decided to have another (normal) beer to justify our going out to the restaurant. I wasn’t fond of the beer, but it was quite grainy (or that’s what Coral said, anyway.) I got back to my room around 12 (We were at Einstein from about 9:30-11:30) and headed off to bed since we had a lot planned for the next day!

The beginning... part two.

First off, I must apologize for how long it has been. It has been very crazy around here, and I've been trying to focus on transfer applications, as well as balancing my school work with maintaining my social life and just living a Swiss life. It's been really great thus far, but like everything in life, there have definitely been a few snags here and there. Nothing too bad, and I've been able to keep my spirits high these last few weeks in Switzerland. It seems like everything is going by in a blur. I have just over 40 days left in this country, a country that has truly been home for these past seven months. I'm not going to make this some solemn "good bye to Switzerland" post, because I'm sure that will come in the coming weeks, and maybe even once I'm back in the states (assuming I can get up-to-date a lot faster than last Academic Travel...) That being said.. would you like to go on an adventure? Muy bien! 

I don't know why Spanish was my go-to language there... oh well. European Problems..

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Academic Travel: TVL-285 Hamburg, Copenhagen and the Baltic Sea

This travel was one of great interest to me. I did not have any major interest in the subject (Urban Sustainability and Development) but I decided it was interesting enough to hold my attention, and it had some great perks. I mean, three countries in two weeks? Who would turn that down?!

I started writing a blog while I was on travel, and only managed to get the first three days done before I was overwhelmed with the culture. So I'm sort of "cheating" these first three posts, because it's already written out for me! I just have to go through and add some pictures!

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March 11, 2012. Day one.

Today was full of emotion. I was up until 6am cleaning, packing, and writing a piece for Aunt Sharon to read at Grandpa’s funeral on Saturday. I still feel a bit guilty being here while my entire family is over there for his funeral. I would love to be there more than anything, but I know he would want me to be here - doing what I love. I’m in Germany, so I can at least try to learn something about my culture, his culture, and do him proud. It’s the least I can do since I won’t physically be there for him. At least my words will be. I hope that means something to him and to Grandma.

I slept from 6 am until about 11, but didn’t get out of bed until noon. My cab was schedule to pick Natalya and I up from Girasole at 1, and I had a few last minute things to pack and tidy up, such as unplugging all of my appliances. I swifter-ed my place to try and make the place look tidy for inspection - I should be fine. 

The cab came and took Natalya and I to the Agno-Lugano airport. We passed the entire group of my travel that had taken the FLP train and walked the rest of the way. They all live up the hill, so it was easier for them to do that (and cheaper, too). It worked out to be about CHF 14 each, so it wasn’t bad. We got there around 1:15 and our flight wasn’t until 3:30. Professor Prisner, our leader, wanted us to get there early, just in case something happened, such as forgetting a passport; to be honest, though, no one checked my passport at all.

The flight from Lugano to Zurich was smooth - about 35 minutes over the snow-capped Alps. It was beautiful, as always, and soon we were above the clouds. Zurich was cloudy and dreary - kind of like the New York of Europe, but a lot less concrete and more cows right beyond the fences...

We had an hour and a half layover in Zurich and I got a sandwich (ham, cheese, and a pickle) and some chips that tasted like the flavor packets from ramen noodles. I met Amanda on the flight over, and found out that she’s form Buffalo, NY, but if actually going to Quinnipiac! I think we started to have a bond just because it was something to talk about. 

CT Represent!

When we boarded our flight from Zurich to Hamburg at 17.35 I found out that I was sitting next to none other than.... Amanda! More time to talk and just get to know each other. The sun set while we were above the clouds and there were brilliant shades of pinks, purples, and oranges. Landing in Hamburg was incredible. This is my first time ever being in Germany, and I’m ecstatic. It was bittersweet, though, because it was dark and you couldn't really get a feel for the city. We took a bus to our hotel (Hotel Panorama) and got our roommates. I’m with Ahto from Estonia. He seems nice, and is a sophomore studying International Business, if I remember correctly.

We were only in our rooms for a short time before we headed out to the Einstein for dinner. I sat with Amanda, Natalya, and Will. I knew Will from a Computer Graphics class that I had taken last semester. We had a lot of fun and clicked instantly. I ordered a cocktail (a Hemingway) which had gin, vodka (or wodka, in German!), pineapple juice, orange juice, triple sec, and something red. It was delicious. 

When I ordered it the waiter asked if I wanted to do the two-for-one, and I was like “sure?” I was under the impression that I could get one and then another cocktail from the list, so I asked if anyone else wanted any. Natalya ordered a Tropic Margarita. When they brought them out, they had 2 Hemingways and 2 Tropic Margaritas. The deal was that if you ordered one you got two cocktails. So Natalya and I naturally shared our drinks with Will and Amanda. We talked about where we were from, what we’re studying, and just stories about ourselves, and what we were looking forward to most on travel.

I had a Creole pizza, which had tomatoes, jalepeños, shrimp, green peppers, and dried coconut. It was pretty amazing, if I do say so my self. :]

After dinner we went back to Will’s room for a little bit before walking around the hotel area a little bit. We’re RIGHT NEXT to the Audubon. It’s crazy to walk on a bridge over this road where cars are flying by. We found a path along a river and sat on a bench and talked some more. It’s nice not having the quiet hour restrictions of Switzerland for the next two weeks! 

It started to get cold outside, so we walked back to the hotel and went back to Will’s room since he doesn’t have a roommate yet. We watched some horror movie that was dubbed over in German (The Uninvited). Amanda had seen it so she was able to tell us what was happening. It was terrifying and hilarious because we spent most of the time subtitling it ourselves. The movie ended around 12:10 in the morning, and now I’m back in my room with Ahto. We’re both on our laptops, but there’s no internet.. He’s watching a movie and I’m recapping my day so it makes it easier to update my blog once I find internet. 

I still don't have a charger for my camera, but I’m going to have my iPhone with me at all times! I’m even going to bring a memory card around with me in case some of my friends let me borrow their cameras! I’m feeling so much better about this travel already. I think it’s going to be great, and I think Amanda, Natalya, and Will are going to be great friends. It’s going to make it a lot harder to leave. I’m down to 67 days until the end of the semester. It’s such a tough decision, but I have to do what’s best for me, and the Creative Writing program here is lacking...

That’s it for today! We have a tour of the inner city tomorrow, and a presentation at 15:00-16:00. Then free time. This travel has so much free time - I love it. Lots of time to just explore the city on our own. I think that’s the best way to learn a place. Just get lost and see how long it takes to get back. Best feeling in the world. Europe is beautiful. Germany is beautiful. Hamburg is beautiful. I can only hope Rostock, Copenhagen, and Malmö are the same!

ciao!

the midterms, the packing, the travel, and the announcement!

Well we have reached the midpoint of the spring semester.

Midterms ended on Friday, and I have an alright feeling about them. I didn't have a lot of work - just a 5 page paper for Shakespeare and an exam for my Cultural Studies course... but the week was very stressful with and added French test and a quiz for my Intro to Lit class.

Unfortunately I do not have a charger for my camera. I tried to buy one and have it shipped to my house in the States, and then have my parents ship it to me, but the item was backordered and the company never shipped it. I scoured the city of Lugano, looking in department stores of all kinds. Two had the product, but it needed to be pre-ordered and took one to two weeks.  My next idea was to search the campus, talking to a bunch of students that I'm not even friends with! I was so desperate and talked to about ten people with Nikons, none of them had the same charger as me. 

Therefore, I will be tackling this Academic Travel with my iPhone. The quality will not be incredible, but the iPhone still has a decent camera. I hope I can get some great shots to share this experience with you.

It's going to be a crazy three weeks. I fly out of Lugano at 1:30 pm today (since it's already Sunday here in Switzerland) and arrive in Hamburg in the late afternoon/early evening.  We spend three days there, travel to Rostock (also in Germany) for another three days. Then we travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, where we will spend the last four days. One of those includes a day trip to Malmö, Sweden. Then we fly back to Lugano from Copenhagen.

I return on Wednesday the 21st and will try to get some updates in, internet access pending.

On Thursday the 22nd, my friends (Kaitlin, Emily, Michelle, Medina, and Lexie) and I are taking the latest train from Lugano to Milan and then taking a shuttle to the Bergamo airport. Friday morning we have an early flight to Thessaloniki, Greece. We're spending the weekend (Friday the 23rd through Monday the 26) in Greece. I'm excited because Sunday the 25th is Greek Independence Day! Should be a lot of celebrations and great fun. 

OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS FOR EVERYONE.

I recently mentioned that I had some big announcement, and I'm not sure if any of you have heard, I'm sure some of you may or will not be surprised if we've talked recently!

This is going to be my last semester here at Franklin. 

It's been a difficult decision that I've gone back and forth about, and there is a variety of reasons contributing to this decision.

The top of this list is the lack of a writing program here. Franklin's "Creative WRiting and Literature Major" is a major in Literature that also takes two classes in Creative Writing with a focus in Fiction of Poetry. In essence, it's a Lit major with two supplements.

On top of the lack of program, they are having difficulty even keeping it around at all. My current Lit professor, also the Department Head for Literature, told my class they are looking into starting a petition for the major, which to me suggests that if not enough interest is generated they are going to scrap the program altogether. 

I'm taking advantage of every opportunity that I have while I am here, and have no regrets with my decision to come to Franklin. It was an experience I will never forget, and am glad to have and be able to share all of this with you. I will continue to travel, regardless of where I end up next (I'm currently looking at Roanoke in Virginia, and Roger Williams in Rhode Island). 

I have really appreciated all of your support throughout this past year. It means a lot to me to know I have such a phenomenal family that believes in me. So thank you to all of you, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store! 

the snow!

This winter has been relatively disappointing, I must say.

When my first semester ended 17 December, it had not snowed in Lugano at all. 

When I tell people that I go to college in Switzerland, one of the first questions I get asked (along with "do you ski?") is "Oh, it must be cold there / does it snow a lot?"

I was so disappointed to not have any snow on the ground before I left...

HOWEVER! 

There was a scare the weekend I was supposed to head home.

My friend had a flight from Zurich on a Friday and was cancelled until Sunday because of inclement weather. Luckily for me, my flight on Saturday went through smoothly and it was just a rainy, dreary day :p

When I was back in the States, there was no snow in Connecticut either!

Two days before I left, there was a crazy snow storm that gave us about 4 inches of snow, but it had melted the next day. I was starting to get upset that I wasn't going to see any snow this winter! Being from Connecticut, I'm used to it!

However, that changed on 26 January (Happy Birthday, Erik?)

I looked out my window and saw this:

It was about 1am and I got a facebook message from my friend Medina. She asked if I wanted to go downtown and take pictures in the snow. I was a bit hesitant at first, because it was 1am and still snowing.. and being right on the lake, it was a heavy, wet snow mixed with some sleet/rain. 

Still, Kaitlin and I agreed, and we all got out coats, gloves, hats, and scarves on and grabbed out cameras!

The following pictures are from that journey! I'm so glad we went, because we all slept so late the next day that it wasn't pretty anymore (the snow was turning brown from cars!) and had stopped snowing.

(Snow on palm trees - so weird!)

(I made mini snowmen and left them all around Lugano!!)

(A snow-covered road - the plows weren't out yet!)

(The scary looking Oz-trees by the lake)

(The lido on the lake)

(A snowy bench)

I am most definitely an explorer of the universe. 

(Snow covered boats!)

(I left this snowman on the wall right next to the lake.)

My friends and I went to BurgerKing the next night, and sadly, he was gone :c

The snow is still here and it's been incredibly cold ever since. 

You may have heard of the deep freeze that set over Europe, bringing snow as far south as Rome. 

Many people were dying, particularly homeless people in countries such as Poland and the Ukraine.

(However, that was not a problem in Switzerland, Lugano specifically, because it is illegal to be homeless here)

Temperatures were consistently between -10°C and -2°C which works out to be about 14-28°F

Recently, things have been warming up (hopefully for good!) Today it was +6°C (43°F) when I came back down the hill after dinner around 8pm!  It hasn't been that warm since the first week I've been back!

I'll be updating later this week with some big news.

Hope all is well with everyone.

-N

the tour, the science, the WHO? the end of travel

buongiorno! (good morning!)

back as promised to try and catch up on this update!

since my post last night about Coppet and the Kenchan Lama was very opinionated and heavy I think I'll try to focus on pictures this update, since I have a lot of Geneva and the like!

Shall we?

EDIT: I actually wrote this post the day after the previous post, it's been sitting in my drafts folder for over a month...

Our first full day in Geneva consisted of a tour of the city. The city itself is very interesting and has a lot of history in it, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Red Cross museum, etc.

Funny thing about tour guides is you never really know what you're getting yourself into until they start the tour.

This woman was incredibly well-informed of Geneva; I mean, she knew the city inside and out, don't get me wrong, but some of the information she was sharing with us was rather pointless.. as you'll see through some of these pictures!

Our first stop was this monument just outside a large park

This monument, the Reformation Wall, is technically located on the grounds of the University of Geneva, which was founded by John Calvin.

Geneva was a large center of Calvinism in Europe, which developed a history of Protestantism. Due to this large religious sector, as well as the University which was founded by Calvin himself, the memorial monument was created to celebrate Calvin's 400th birthday, and the 350th anniversary of the university. 

The four prominent figures depicted in the wall (pictured above) are, from left, William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox, all of which were important figures in Calvinism. 

We then toured through a park, learning more about Geneva's history during the 17th century --> the present. Here are some photos from the park and surrounding area we toured!

FACT (from our tour guide): The bench that starts in the lower left and runs upward diagonally is one of the longest benches of Switzerland (or Europe?) 

Pierre on a toy horse in the playground.

A sign which, and I could be wrong, indicates no traffic except bicycles.

A mural that is part of a 3-part series.

I took this one because it depicts Le Moyen Age and I thought of mme!

We then visited a cathedral, which was very cool both inside and out.

The pipe organ of the cathedral, which was manufactured in Germany.

Beautiful stain glass is pretty much standard for many of the churches, 

both Roman Catholic and Protestant.

The ceiling of a smaller chapel off of the main church.

The exterior of the entire cathedral.

This is one of my favorite photos I've taken on travel, 

namely because of the editing with saturation and shadows.

It looks like a model, rather than the real thing, no?

After the tour, we had free time to see the city. We were required to go see one important or interesting landmark while we were in Geneva, so Kaitlin and I took this time to go and see the art museum across the street from where our tour ended. We lucked out because the museum was free that day! 

The museum we went to.

We headed down to the exhibits on ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artifacts because I've always loved Egyptian history, and Kaitlin wanted to see the Greek and Roman stuff because she was learning about it in her art history class. It really worked out well for both of us because it became a personal interest, rather than a requirement of "go see something and write about it in your journal." 

After the exhibit we made our way to a history of music exhibit which was really a room smaller than my dorm at college, and had a few old guitars and pianos. Interesting none the less, but it wasn't what I was expecting. We skipped the gallery of portraits because we had seen enough of those on our tours throughout travel thus far.

After we finished with the museum, we started to make our way back to the hotel, on our own this time, and had fun exploring the old city of Geneva.

One interesting fact that our tour guide DID mention on our tour was the high population of Geneva. I had already known that Geneva would be a highly populated city, as it is one of the few major cities I heard of before coming to Switzerland, as well as all of the headquarters and important organizations located here... but I never imagined it was full to capacity! 

Full it is, indeed. The city has so many residents that it is nearly impossible to find housing (and if you do, it isn't going to be cheap!) Besides having so many people wanting to live there, there is virtually no space to build. In order to compensate for the lack of space, the city is building on top of buildings to have more space. You can see in the photo above where the original buildings originally ended, but have since been added on to.

Well, that was pretty much it for Geneva! I bought a peacoat which, if you've seen me since I've been home, you've probably seen because I'm pretty sure I've work it every day..

---

 After Geneva, we made our way towards Neuchâtel. Our first stop, was CERN! 

If you've seen the movie Angels and Demons with Tom Hanks, the opening scene where the Antimatter is created takes place at CERN. I was really excited to go because of this.... but let me tell you.... CERN was not the place to be unless you were a sciencey person...

After CERN we travled to the World Health Organization to meet with Nahn Tran, a former student of SSB's from Pacific University in Oregon, who now worked at the WHO.
He talked a lot about his track record through college, and an interesting point he made was that he graduated with a major in French. It just goes to show that your intended, and eventually your declared major, does not destine you to any specific lifestyle. (Just to knock all those "You're a creative writing major? What do you plan on doing with your life?" comments :b)

Since my group from the scavenger hunt won in Lausanne, we got the opportunity to have dinner with Sara and Nhan, which made the entire experience so much more personal. I had this Vienna sausage with potato gratin and a baked apple that was to die for. (It was so good that I remember my meal from the middle of October now: on 16 February!!)


The last few days of our trip were in Neuchâtel. It was a great area, though much more laid back from Lausanne and Geneva. We stopped in La chaux-de-Fonds, which has an interesting history. The city itself functions in a socialist manner. It has a long history of watch-making due to lack of decent land for agriculture. Because of this life-style, the people are very communal, hence the socialistic/marxist tendencies.

One interesting aspect of La Chaux-de-Fonds is that it is the only city in Switzerland set up on a grid-like pattern. All of the other cities are these sprawling mass of roads that turn this way and that and are built up into mountains which make it difficult to organize. However, the city burned down long ago, and when it was rebuilt, they chose to do so in such a fashion. It is, as was noted on our travel, the city in Switzerland that is the closest in resemblance to New York.
(I thought that was amusing, because it looks nothing like New York
minus the fact that there are straight roads!)

Our final day was spent in the hotel (which was a ski lodge) reflecting on our travels and finalizing our journals. We had a salon, much in the style of one that Madame de Stäel would have held back at Coppet. Here we read excerpts from our journal and made selections for our travel blog that my friend Kaitlin and I put together. A link to the journal can be found here: (click here) . It's interactive, so you click on the polaroid pictures to go from entry to entry. The writing styles differ and it's a nice way to see what different people took from different aspects of our trip. All of the photos were taken by Kaitlin and me throughout the trip, so that was a fun part of the blog as well.

The above image is a view from our hotel for the final days of travel, a few kilometers out of the city Neuchâtel, but still in the canton of the same name.
Our last day was bittersweet. We started in St-Luc, a mountain town well out of the city lights. We were surrounded by mountains and cloaked beneath the stars. It was so peaceful, and to end ten days later in Neuchâtel in the same setting, surrounded by the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps was simply breath-taking. Our last day looked like we were in paradise.

This has been my own little travel journal, both fro my two week Academic Travel, as well as my continual blog for what I'm doing around Franklin. 

I'm sure it's going to get very interesting in March, as I have a lot of interesting trips planned! But you'll hear all about those in two entries!

I'm going to be editing my final travel journal for this trip, and if any of you would like a copy of it, just let me know and I've be more than happy to send you one!

Until next time!

-N

the salons, the Buddhist Lama, the excessive tour guides...or not?

well, it's 3:11 in the morning, and I am in my final days of my winter break. it seems like it was only yesterday that my plane was landing in New York and now, before I can even blink, I'm going to be boarding that 6pm flight from New York to Lugano, with a connection in Zurich.

it's truly been a great month, and while there have been ups and downs (like all things in life) i can say that this month really put everything into perspective of what i have here, and how much family really means to me. these people mean so much to me, and the fact that they support me in what I've chosen to do with my life means the world to me.

I know I've said that multiple times, and I'm sure I'll say it another couple hundred times over the course of this journey, but don't for a second contemplate the idea that it means any less or becomes any less genuine over time.

I would not be able to do what I am, both literally and mentally, without the love and support of my family (both immediate and extended!) So again, thank you to everyone that has chosen to support me in my endeavors to set up what I hope will be an incredibly bright and prosperous future!

Now... back to Academic travel... in the middle of October...

---

I believe I left off with the scavenger hunt and the great experiences I had in Lausanne at the Château de Chillon and all of that. (for a refresher, click here!) 

After Lausanne, our next major city would be Geneva, but before we headed to this French-speaking city, we stopped at the Coppet Castle, which has an incredible history.

Coppet Castle is the former home of Madame de Staël. This woman lived in the late 18th - early 19th century (1766-1817) and was incredibly controversial for the time! 

Originally from Paris, de Staël was born to Jacques Necker, who (for all of you history buffs!) was the financial minister under the ruling of King Louis XVI! This little tidbit of information was really exciting for me because it reminded me of my Western Civilization course from Junior year of high school, where we studied the French Revolution rather extensively and I remembered learning about Necker. 

To learn more about this family, and that he (Jacques) was not the sole member of the family to make the history books was very exciting for me!

*

This famous portrait (oil on canvas) of King Louis XVI was actually in Coppet, done by Fançois Callet**

Madame de Staël was revolutionary for her time because she was incredibly educated for a woman in the times in which she lived. She hosted salons, which were a type of gathering in which the educated scholars of the time would meet and discuss whether was relevant at the time. 

Now, being from France at the turn of the century and after the French Revolution, de Staël was not looked at very favorably. After Napoleon came into power following the Revolution in 1789, he viewed de Staël to be a threat. Being an educated woman, many people looked to her for her opinion on the issues of the day, and Napoleon did not want any opposition to his rule over France. Because of this conflict, de Staël was exiled from Paris. This led to her journey to Switzerland, and the beginning of her history at Coppet.

Due to her prominent status in the aristocratic circle, scholar were willing to travel to attend her salons, which has since become world-renowned. These salons, as I briefly noted before, consisted of literary and political scholars, as well as those that appreciated the arts. We had the opportunity to see de Staël's library, which was not very large (maybe the size of a small art gallery in today's standards?) but was able to fit approximately 300 guests in addition to a stage for performances (in which de Staël would often partake).

The history that fills the walls of the Coppet Castle are truly fascinating, and this is by no mistake. In fact, one reason that the castle has so much history preserved is the fact that it is not a museum, but rather a private home that is opened to the public. The castle still belongs to a member that can be traced back to the Necker/de Staël family (I want to say it is an 8th generation, but I could be wrong.)The current Count is a direct descendant of Madame de Staël, and resides on the premise for much of the year.

Unfortunately, since it is still his home, we were not allowed to take photographs inside the castle, as it is his home. 

If you've managed to stick around after that history lesson (I promise, there are no quizzes at the end!!) I'm going to try to shorten things up a bit (now that it is 3:45am)...

After leaving Coppet, which happens to be a very quaint and cute little town that seems to consist of a single road that has everything you would ever need, we made our way to Geneva. 

We arrived around 13.00 and had free time until our next event at 16.00.

I chose to go with SSB, my travel leader, and some friends to help set up for the event, which I was very excited for.

We met back up with Anne Deriaz, the writer that gave us a workshop in addition to telling us about her experiences with Ella Maillart, the travel writer who we studied before leaving for this trip, had organized an event in which the Kenchan Lama, one of the highest ranked Buddhist Lamas in Europe, and the highest in Switzerland, was speaking at. Both Anne and SSB were on the board of this committee, so we were invited to see him speak as well.

I had been looking forward to this experience since I first saw it on our syllabus, as Buddhism has always been interesting to me; namely because I know nothing about it!

I was hoping to learn all of these new things that would help expand my knowledge of religion.

It seems that a lot of conflict in the world today is centered around religion, and the ignorance we as a people have towards one another's religion. It was my hopes that attending this would add insight, while still contributing to my ambition of becoming a citizen of the world and gaining and understanding of a variety of cultures.

However, my expectations were not met as the Lama spoke very quiet, broken English that was barely picked up by the microphone. Dani, my friend and RA, was able to understand due to the fact that it was translated and spoken more clearly in French.

After the main event, where he explained the 35 main points of Buddhism, we were allowed to leave during the break for tea. I stayed with Dani and Kaitlin, and we served tea to the other guests that were attending. 

After, there was a brief Q&A in which people asked questions regarding Buddhism. It was interesting because Anne specified, both in English and French, that the questions were only to focus on the ideologies of Buddhism, and not the Tibetan conflict that had been growing at the time.

Again, hearing was very difficult, and I did not take much from the message in which he spoke, but his presence was definitely felt in the room (which was, ironically, a Protestant-Lutheran church). 

I had Dani give me a very brief summary of what he had said, and she said that the basic principles in which he spoke of were to treat one another the way you want to be treated, to respect and love one another, and to promote peace throughout the world.

It is hard to convey the feeling that I experienced after learning this, and has further fueled the fire within me to learn more about Buddhism (and religion in general.) I find it incredibly difficult to comprehend how so many people can be conflicted and jaded towards one another strictly based on the principles of religion when they all preach the same thing.

Maybe it's because of my Lutheran upbringing matched with having Catholicism burned into my brain for the past four years, on top of the overly secular view I've begun to develop over those four years... but I don't understand why religion is such a big deal.

Why should I tell you that your God or gods is/are wrong, or have one group of peopel threaten to wage war against another "in the name of God/Allah/__(insertgodhere)__" when, at the end of the day, that being, whoever he/she/it may be to you, is telling you to preach the same word and live your life the same way as the next?

Religion is complicated, and I do not claim to have all the answers or even understand all of the questions. But I know that the more that I find out, and the more I'm exposed to it, the more conflicted my mind becomes. While it may not be agreeable to all, I respect the opinions of my peers and those around me in hopes that they would respect mine; especially when I find myself in a stage of not know who or what I believe in. I believe that the best way to truly find an understanding or something is to experience it, and having another's view shoved down their throat, for lack of a more educated term, does nothing but hurts that intended discovery. 

Am I running a blog or writing a dissertation here?

Sorry for the interjections of persona beliefs and deviations from travel.

I blame lack of sleep/caffeine and a lack of writing over the past weeks. It just hits hits me whenever I start and I don't want to stop! I think this is a good place to stop, though, as I've thrown way too much at you all for this hour. I'll update with my tour of Geneva soon, and hopefully catch up with the rest of travel and the Christmas market / exams before I head back on Thursday.

Hope all is well and that I didn't offend anyone with that random rant on religion.

I'm going to even make the mistake of not proofing this before I post it, so you can have a first-hand view of my unfiltered thought process... oh boy.

Best,

Nick.

*image of King Louis taken from a Google image search

** information on the painter from this source: (here)