Category: International Travel – Europe

Short Post: Living by sun and wind.

On By StevenIn International Travel - Europe1 Comment

I’m sifting through my Berlin photos and getting a post ready about that weekend, but it won’t be tonight, so instead, here’s a short post about some of the interesting energy sources I’ve seen since I got here.

When I first got here, I noticed right away the diversity of power sources.  Even on my initial drive into town from the airport back in November, I couldn’t help but notice how many little houses and other buildings had solar panels up:

I’ve also seen some gigantic solar farms, which I didn’t know existed here.  For example:

On my trips by train since then, I’ve also noticed something that I’ve only ever seen in Canada until now:  gigantic, enormous windmills.  I’m told that people don’t like these as much because of the noise from them, but they’re fun to watch, and they’re kind of fascinating to me in a Don Quixote sort of way.

Easter Weekend In Prague

On By StevenIn International Travel - Europe4 Comments

Easter weekend is a four-day weekend here, because the Friday before and the Monday after are public holidays in Bavaria and much of Europe.  Not wanting to waste a long weekend, I went to Prague.

Some notes before the pictures and story:

  • The Hotel Victoria is pretty convenient to the tram lines, and the room was surprisingly nice for the low rates.
  • Never again will I use an ALEX (Arriva Länderbahn Express) train to go anywhere.  It was not a happy experience, either to or from Prague.  We were treated like cattle on the way there.  Give me a DB train any day.
  • Inside Prague, where tourism is huge, we didn’t have any trouble even though neither of us speak Czech.  There was plenty of English.  Except on the aforementioned ALEX trains.
  • The entire weekend, from rail to hotel to food and attractions, was actually very affordable.  I just wish the weather had been a little bit better…
  • While there are thirty-four pictures in this post, there are over 240 in my SmugMug gallery from Prague.  Feel free to click through that if you like.

On with the pictures and story!

There’s a lot of images here. Click to see more!

Two If By Train

On By StevenIn International Travel - Europe, Life In Germany9 Comments

I’ve always wanted to see Europe.  Lots and lots of Europe.  Up until I moved to Germany, however, I had never actually been to Europe. When I was given the chance to work in Germany for Mr. Company, one of the biggest draws was that I would be here for a long period of time-  exploring Europe from Europe is a great deal simpler than trying to do it in a series of shorter trips from the US.

To add to my wonderment,  Regensburg sits on a major rail line.  The Regensburg Bahnhof is a five minute walk from my apartment.  From there, I can be to Munich in just under 90 minutes.  In five hours I can be to Vienna, Salzburg, or Prague.  In less than seven hours, I can reach Berlin or Zurich.  In eight hours, I can reach Amsterdam, Budapest, or Paris.  If I have ten or twelve hours, I can reach Venice, Rome, or London.  That’s just rail-  if I take a 75 minute train to Munich, I can hop a flight to just about anywhere in no time at all.

I just got my BahnCard, too.  The BahnCard system is a wonderful boost to someone like me.  For a yearly fee up front, you get a percentage of all of your rail travel discounted within Germany.  The BahnCard 25 is less than sixty Euros up front, and is 25% off your rail for that year.  The BahnCard 50, which I purchased, is 240 Euros per year, but it provides a 50% discount.   I’ve already made back 20% of the expense, and I just got the card last week.   There’s also a BahnCard 100, which is an obscene amount of money up front, but BC100 holders do not pay anything additional for their German rail travel for that year.  It’s the Black Card of the EuroRail system, literally- it’s actually a black card.  Regular BahnCards arrive in a flat white envelope, but the BC100 arrives in a presentation box, pictured below. (And shamelessly stolen from http://blog.mahrko.de/.)

To add to the seven layer burrito of awesome that is the BahnCard, RailPlus is automatically granted on every BahnCard, which grants 25% off of ticket prices for another 24 countries.  From here, I can start planning on little rail trip weekends whenever I feel like it.

I’m gonna go everywhere.

It’s a bad, bad day to be a necktie.

On By StevenIn International Travel - Europe, Life In Germany4 Comments

Just before the end of January, I was in the grocery store with a friend when we passed an aisle filled with costumes-  the exact same sorts of costume gear that you would normally see in a Target or a Walgreens just before Halloween.  Naturally, I asked what the deal was.

It turns out that there’s another holiday here that involves dressing up.  It’s called Fasching, and it’s this month.  Fasching is Carnival, a.k.a. the local version of Mardi Gras, and it happens roughly seven weeks before Easter.  It spans several different days, with a variety of different events.

The Thursday before Ash Wednesday is known as “Weiberfastnacht”, or “Women’s carnival night”. On this day tradition dictates that women are allowed to cut off the tie of any man within reach.    The women are also allowed to kiss any man they like, according to some versions of tradition.  (Not one to waste an opportunity, I bought four cheap neckties.  And some ChapStick.)

The following Monday is known as Rosenmontag (Rose Monday). On Rosenmontag there are various street processions involving lots of costumes and carnival floats. Faschingsdienstag (Carnival Tuesday) is the last day of Fasching and when most of the festivities happen. Faschingsdienstag is not an official public holiday in Bavaria, but it’s still celebrated.

The traditional food of Carnival season is Krapfen, or donuts.  They’re available in every bakery, in all sorts of different flavors.  I’ve heard of varieties containing sweets such as vanilla, marmelade, or chocolate.

According to legend, it used to be customary to choose a man  to be the “sacred king” of the tribe for a year. The method of choosing the sacred king was the King’s Cake. A coin or bean would be placed in the cake before baking and whoever got the slice with the coin was the chosen one.  Another version of the King’s Cake story says that it’s just a king for a day scenario.  I haven’t found any reference works that I trust to be completely authoritative so far, but I’ve seen  numerous references indicating that the King’s Cake idea has evolved into the donuts that we’re familiar with today.

My favorite part of this, so far,is the costumes though.  So far today, I’ve only seen three people dressed in costume so far, and two of them worked in the bakery where I get my morning pretzel.  I’ve also seen posters for Kinder-Fasching, which is basically for the kids. (Kinder = children.)  I suspect I’ll see a bunch more costumes after work, but I expect to see more when I go out this evening for my usual bi-weekly Stammtisch.  The word doesn’t translate easily to English, but a stammtisch is just a meeting group. This particular stammtisch is the Regensburg English Stammtisch, which is a group that meets every other Thursday to drink and chat in English.  I try not to miss it because it’s a heap of fun.

Naturally, I’ll have another tie on for that part of my evening.

Eleven Eleven Eleven.

On By StevenIn International Travel - Europe, Life In Germany4 Comments

One week from right now, I’ll be on a plane that is nearing its final approach into Dusseldorf.  I’ll land in Germany at around 7 AM local time, and I’ll have a nice breakfast in my new country while I wait for my connecting flight to Munich.  I didn’t realize that I was starting my journey to Germany on 11/11/11 until somebody else pointed that out to me; it’s kind of interesting though.  It’s an auspicious date to begin a new adventure.

In my mind’s eye, I picture that first weekend.  I’ll get to the hotel in Regensburg on Saturday afternoon.  I’ll check in, drop off my stuff, change to clothing that hasn’t seen three airports and two continents, and then go back outside.  I’ll walk toward the downtown area or whatever strike’s my fancy, and I’ll explore.  Finding an apartment is very high on my to-do list, but I won’t push that until the Monday after I arrive.  On that Monday, I’ll get my bank account sorted out.  I’ll go into the office and meet my new team.  I’ll check out my desk, set up my new computer, get situated there.

This blog has been very quiet from the last post on the third of October.  That isn’t a sign that nothing has been going on, it’s a sign that everything has been going on.  I’ve inventoried my stuff, and sent it on its way.  Eleven boxes of my clothing, linens, and kitchen goods are currently sitting in the Port of Miami.  They’ll leave before me and arrive to Germany after me, probably clearing customs right around my birthday.

A pasta boat in a box in a crate on a boat. Yeah.

I’ve also done some basic cold weather gear shopping.  I’ve lived my entire life in Florida, and I haven’t really ever experienced a true winter, let alone snow for more than a day.  Luckily, there’s a ski shop nearby- yes, a ski shop in South Florida.  They’re very knowledgable and very helpful.  Over the last month, I’ve acquired a heavy multi-layer jacket, a pair of boots capable of handling snow and ice, some gloves, a pair of scarves, and some inner layer clothing for especially cold days.  I don’t know what this cold is going to feel like, but I suspect I’ll need to buy a little bit more cold weather gear once I get into the thick of it.  At least I’ve got a starter set of warm stuff though.

One week from right now, I’ll be arriving in Germany.

Whoa.