This will be my final post. I'm back in the states and catching up on emails and such. As promised, here are some photos I took during the trip:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/10091273@N06/az77hg
Also here are a selection of pretty pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/10091273@N06/m4Tg42
This was an amazing adventure that I will remember for a lifetime. My travel buddies really made this trip great, so big thanks to Ethan and Tina. You guys rule. Also, thanks to our many generous hosts and to all the friends we met along the way.
Lastly, thanks for reading. Peace!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Goodbye Berlin
Time flies! I'm back in the states, and sadly my trip has rapidly drawn to a close-- but I still must fill you in on the rest of my stay in Berlin.
In my last post, I had just finished retelling my fun meeting with Micha and Carissa. The next morning, Sarah, Kalani and I went for a delicious lunch at Cafe Orange and then took a pleasant stroll around East Berlin. I snuck off to catch the first part of the Jewish Museum which lies in an impressive museum designed by the same architect who did the new Denver Art Museum. I really like his work, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Libeskind>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Libeskind afterwords I met up with Barry's language partner Julia and we joined Kalani, Sarah, Daisy, Sam and Noah for Thai food and a trip to the Reichstag. The Reichstag has an interesting history, its a very old building that originally housed the Parliament for the German empire and then the Weimar republic. The Nazi's burned it hollow and it sat in disrepair for years. Now, however it sits at the middle of one of the most modern government centers I have ever seen. After the Berlin wall fell, the new capital of Germany had to be built from scratch in Berlin and all of the shiny newness is in stark contrast to the old-school neoclassical style of DC. The Reichstag is surrounded by sleek glass office buildings as well as the chanceller's residence. Although it retains its old-school facade, the inside of the Reichstag is a brand-new ultra-modern parliament building with a giant glass dome on the top. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(building)We spent a few hours enjoying the view from the top of the clear dome as the sunset. There is a spectacular view of the entire city.
Julia is finishing up her masters thesis before she starts her doctorate. For her thesis she is comparing the rhetoric that Hitler and Mussolinis employed in their public speeches. As part of her research she gets to travel to Italy. She also does Model UN, and we had fun talking about travel and our mutual friend Barry.
As usual we all finished up the evening at a Bier Garten (this one was on a fake beach on the river) and then we parted ways. The next day I met with Kalani and Sara for Indian food and then started my long trip back to the states, via London.
I'm going to get my photos in order so I can write one last post and include a link to the photo album. Ciao!
In my last post, I had just finished retelling my fun meeting with Micha and Carissa. The next morning, Sarah, Kalani and I went for a delicious lunch at Cafe Orange and then took a pleasant stroll around East Berlin. I snuck off to catch the first part of the Jewish Museum which lies in an impressive museum designed by the same architect who did the new Denver Art Museum. I really like his work, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Libeskind>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Libeskind afterwords I met up with Barry's language partner Julia and we joined Kalani, Sarah, Daisy, Sam and Noah for Thai food and a trip to the Reichstag. The Reichstag has an interesting history, its a very old building that originally housed the Parliament for the German empire and then the Weimar republic. The Nazi's burned it hollow and it sat in disrepair for years. Now, however it sits at the middle of one of the most modern government centers I have ever seen. After the Berlin wall fell, the new capital of Germany had to be built from scratch in Berlin and all of the shiny newness is in stark contrast to the old-school neoclassical style of DC. The Reichstag is surrounded by sleek glass office buildings as well as the chanceller's residence. Although it retains its old-school facade, the inside of the Reichstag is a brand-new ultra-modern parliament building with a giant glass dome on the top. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(building)We spent a few hours enjoying the view from the top of the clear dome as the sunset. There is a spectacular view of the entire city.
Julia is finishing up her masters thesis before she starts her doctorate. For her thesis she is comparing the rhetoric that Hitler and Mussolinis employed in their public speeches. As part of her research she gets to travel to Italy. She also does Model UN, and we had fun talking about travel and our mutual friend Barry.
As usual we all finished up the evening at a Bier Garten (this one was on a fake beach on the river) and then we parted ways. The next day I met with Kalani and Sara for Indian food and then started my long trip back to the states, via London.
I'm going to get my photos in order so I can write one last post and include a link to the photo album. Ciao!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Everybody Knows Somebody in Berlin
When my friend Jenny heard that I was going to be in Berlin a few months back, she immediately said, “You have to meet my friend Micha!!” Micha worked at a DC think tank with Jenny doing education policy research last year. So, of course we met Micha! He arrived on bicycle and met us at Kalani's favorite Bier Garten. Then he took us to his favorite Bier Garten which was also quite nice. Micha met an eclectic crew. Kalani and his friends were joined by Noah, class of ´05 and Carissa, a friend I had met on the plane. Our party swelled to 9 people. It was a lot of fun and Micha was a good sport about meeting everyone. He gave me some great pointers on things to see, and we had fun comparing DC to Berlin. Hopefully he'll come back to the States and visit soon.
Tonight I will be meeting another Berliner and friend-of-a-friend named Julia who is also working on her PhD program. More to come.
Tonight I will be meeting another Berliner and friend-of-a-friend named Julia who is also working on her PhD program. More to come.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Brunch in Berlin
It´s good to hear from Ethan. I´m glad he made it home safe.
London wrapped up with a big send off from the investment bankers. Irungu, Tapiwa, Rashmi and I met up with Namisha (another Jerry hallmate) at Canary Wharf, just as everyone was getting off work. It´s a fun crowd—they all work within half a block of eachother. We split our time between talking about the subprime loan crash and reminiscing about college over drinks at the local i-banker bar. The place was swarming with ospiffy looking traders and analysts in slick suits. I was definitely the only one in shorts!
I bid Namisha farewell and wished everyone good luck with their training. The next morning I was greeted in Berlin by my cousin Kalani flanked by another group of Stanford friends. Kalani, Sarah and Sam had all studied at the Stanford House in Berlin over a year ago during the same quarter that I was studying at Stanford in Washington in DC. We all met for the first time when our programs converged for a conference in Beijing and now it was fun to reunite over a year later in Berlin. Kalani and Sarah have a great flat in Mitte in East Berlin that is serving as a focal point for all sorts of friends as they travel through Berlin. Last night I met Stephanie and Daisy, too other Stanford kids spending the summer in Germany. We all had a blast doing what German´s seem to do best; namely eat and drink. We went to Dolce Pizza, then a wine bar, then a beer garden and then a bar. It was good times.
This morning we had a big brunch and then Kalani gave a great tour of the Berlin wall and Potsdammer´s platz. We zigzagged back and forth across the former iron curtain and stopped by Kalani´s old office at the DB tower. Needless to say, this city has a lot of interesting history.
Now its time to get more food. Much more to discuss tomorrow!
London wrapped up with a big send off from the investment bankers. Irungu, Tapiwa, Rashmi and I met up with Namisha (another Jerry hallmate) at Canary Wharf, just as everyone was getting off work. It´s a fun crowd—they all work within half a block of eachother. We split our time between talking about the subprime loan crash and reminiscing about college over drinks at the local i-banker bar. The place was swarming with ospiffy looking traders and analysts in slick suits. I was definitely the only one in shorts!
I bid Namisha farewell and wished everyone good luck with their training. The next morning I was greeted in Berlin by my cousin Kalani flanked by another group of Stanford friends. Kalani, Sarah and Sam had all studied at the Stanford House in Berlin over a year ago during the same quarter that I was studying at Stanford in Washington in DC. We all met for the first time when our programs converged for a conference in Beijing and now it was fun to reunite over a year later in Berlin. Kalani and Sarah have a great flat in Mitte in East Berlin that is serving as a focal point for all sorts of friends as they travel through Berlin. Last night I met Stephanie and Daisy, too other Stanford kids spending the summer in Germany. We all had a blast doing what German´s seem to do best; namely eat and drink. We went to Dolce Pizza, then a wine bar, then a beer garden and then a bar. It was good times.
This morning we had a big brunch and then Kalani gave a great tour of the Berlin wall and Potsdammer´s platz. We zigzagged back and forth across the former iron curtain and stopped by Kalani´s old office at the DB tower. Needless to say, this city has a lot of interesting history.
Now its time to get more food. Much more to discuss tomorrow!
Pictures!
Hey Guys! I got some more pictures online, it might be slow to view them, and I haven't gotten to comment them or order them yet. Sorry!
http://townsend.mine.nu/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=5584
Ciao!
Ethan
http://townsend.mine.nu/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=5584
Ciao!
Ethan
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Being Bookish at the British Library
I'm here at the British Library which is by far my new favorite spot in London. This place is sort of like the British version of the Library of Congress, except it started as the King's personal library. Today it is part museum, part coffee shop, and very much the most pleasant library I've ever been in. (Not to mention free net access!)
The library is currently hosting an impressive exhibit called "Sacred" that showcases manuscripts of Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts side by side and shows how they borrow and adapt form each other's artwork and imagery. It might be my favorite exhibit yet, see http://www.bl.uk/sacred. The library has an impressive collection of texts and artifacts and the exhibit was very well done. Ethan would have liked it, as it is a nice capstone to our trip-long first-person exploration of various Mosques, Synagogues and Churches.
Irungu's house is fun to relax in. Since there is no net access or television, after work everyone just lounges about on the couch or floor reading. Nina and I are both catching up on Harry Potter, while Solomon studies for his job and Irungu reads some heavy fiction. This morning I tracked down the best cheap lunch place in London, conveniently named "The No 1 Cafe" (located on Tower Street between Covent Garden and Soho). Their speciality is potatoes so I had a giant spud with cheese, beans and lettuce for £2.65. I got the lazy-cashier discount and saved 15p because the chap behind the counter didn't feel like changing my £20 note. Always a win! I had a pleasant lunch with my companion Harry Potter in Nina's hidden garden from yesterday.
My camp friend Erica is doing well and it was great to see her last night for some good Italian food in a hidden pedestrian mall. She spends her days working at a small firm by Bond street where she shuffles around millions of pounds of other people's money. She has been maximizing her prime European location by spending lots of weekends traveling around. Last week she was in Iceland and soon she will be heading to Krakow. Its impressive to see her all professional and sophisticated after our days back at summer camp. We both decided we miss camp and we are jealous of our similarly aged camp-friends who somehow are still working there.
Tomorrow I'm off to Berlin. Later!
The library is currently hosting an impressive exhibit called "Sacred" that showcases manuscripts of Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts side by side and shows how they borrow and adapt form each other's artwork and imagery. It might be my favorite exhibit yet, see http://www.bl.uk/sacred. The library has an impressive collection of texts and artifacts and the exhibit was very well done. Ethan would have liked it, as it is a nice capstone to our trip-long first-person exploration of various Mosques, Synagogues and Churches.
Irungu's house is fun to relax in. Since there is no net access or television, after work everyone just lounges about on the couch or floor reading. Nina and I are both catching up on Harry Potter, while Solomon studies for his job and Irungu reads some heavy fiction. This morning I tracked down the best cheap lunch place in London, conveniently named "The No 1 Cafe" (located on Tower Street between Covent Garden and Soho). Their speciality is potatoes so I had a giant spud with cheese, beans and lettuce for £2.65. I got the lazy-cashier discount and saved 15p because the chap behind the counter didn't feel like changing my £20 note. Always a win! I had a pleasant lunch with my companion Harry Potter in Nina's hidden garden from yesterday.
My camp friend Erica is doing well and it was great to see her last night for some good Italian food in a hidden pedestrian mall. She spends her days working at a small firm by Bond street where she shuffles around millions of pounds of other people's money. She has been maximizing her prime European location by spending lots of weekends traveling around. Last week she was in Iceland and soon she will be heading to Krakow. Its impressive to see her all professional and sophisticated after our days back at summer camp. We both decided we miss camp and we are jealous of our similarly aged camp-friends who somehow are still working there.
Tomorrow I'm off to Berlin. Later!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Dali at the Tate and More London
I slept in until noon yesterday, packed my things, said goodbye to Kate’s family and headed to Irungu’s place at Canary Warf. After dropping my bags I tubed into London. While I munching on authentic local British food (a.k.a. Kentucky Fried Chicken) in Leicester Square, Caio mistook me for a local and introduced himself. Caio, like me was, looking around for things to do and people to meet. We had a nice chat. Caio is an American/Brazilian high school student who lives with his family on a US Army base in Germany. He is in London on holiday. His Mom is in the Army and he’s lived at American military bases all over the world. He was thinking of applying to Stanford so I tried to answer some of his questions. Maybe he’ll have his own StanfordGrad blog soon! It was a good day of exploration, and by nightfall I had walked all of the way from King’s Cross down to Westminster.
When I got back to Irungu’s place all of the i-bankers were unwinding after a tedious day of training on Excel. Irungu’s apartment is a lot of fun and has a dorm-ish atmosphere. There are four people living there and two guests, me and Nina. Nina is the girlfriend of Solomon, one of Irungu’s roommates. Nina lives in Germany and is here visiting for a few days. She spent 6 months living in London a few years back so she is an absolute pro at navigating the city.
Nina and I spent the day touring and it sure is great to be with someone who knows this city like a local. We saw the Dali exhibit at the Tate (just like in the movie Match Point) and Nina’s background in art history was particularly useful. After that we crossed the millennium bridge and wandered around SoHo and Covent garden. Nina knows all the little nooks and crannies, like a pleasant grove and garden tucked behind a gateway amidst the hectic Covent Market. We’re at a NetCafe nearby and Nina has to go to meet Solomon when he gets off work. Meanwhile, I’m going to meet an old camp friend!
I wish Ethan and Tina were here. More adventures to come….
When I got back to Irungu’s place all of the i-bankers were unwinding after a tedious day of training on Excel. Irungu’s apartment is a lot of fun and has a dorm-ish atmosphere. There are four people living there and two guests, me and Nina. Nina is the girlfriend of Solomon, one of Irungu’s roommates. Nina lives in Germany and is here visiting for a few days. She spent 6 months living in London a few years back so she is an absolute pro at navigating the city.
Nina and I spent the day touring and it sure is great to be with someone who knows this city like a local. We saw the Dali exhibit at the Tate (just like in the movie Match Point) and Nina’s background in art history was particularly useful. After that we crossed the millennium bridge and wandered around SoHo and Covent garden. Nina knows all the little nooks and crannies, like a pleasant grove and garden tucked behind a gateway amidst the hectic Covent Market. We’re at a NetCafe nearby and Nina has to go to meet Solomon when he gets off work. Meanwhile, I’m going to meet an old camp friend!
I wish Ethan and Tina were here. More adventures to come….
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