They have arrived. Finally the day came when my parents and younger brother arrived in Italy to spend Christmas with me here.
It's kind of funny to see them deal with the trash because it reminds me of myself when I first arrived, always asking someone else which recycling bag certain things go in. When I asked for the check (il conto) at a restaurant for lunch the first day, JP was confused by what I said. It reminds me of when I first arrived and knew no Italian, and now I can at least hold a very basic conversation and buy things.
The biggest difference between travelling with my school and traveling with my family is that we look more like tourists as a family. JP is walking around in shorts, goofy socks, climbing rope attached at his hip, and his GSR sweatshirt (I wonder if he's from Italy, hint....NO!). Then my mom keeps stopping at the vendors and actually talking to them, so now they know we are tourists. With my school they'd try and get us to buy things, but we ignored them and they went away, now every time we walk by it's like "Family discount, I save you a table. We have a real Italian chef!" It's very annoying.
My Dad and I kind of fit it, only because I have been here the longest and just know how to blend in. My Dad however, is 100% Italian, as his parents immigrated to the US from Sicily, so even if he doesn't look Italian in style, he's got the face and they don't pick him out in the crowd as easily.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Deutches U-Boat Museum and Archive
In my Junior year of High School I read a book called Shadow Divers about a group of divers who found a mysterious U-boat off the coast of NJ. After years of searching the wreck and doing research on land they were able to identify it as U-869. I took a strong liking to this book and even watched a movie mentioned in the book called Das Boot, and wrote a paper on the book. My paper was on proving that the divers work could be considered archaeology instead of looting.
The original divers, as part of their research looked for help from Horst Bredow, a World War II U-Boat Navy Veteran, and his archive. Since I've been studying in Italy and felt a connection with the book, I knew that during my week break after school I'd have to visit. So I set about doing travel research and emailing the museum asking if I could tour, and we set up a date.
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| Horst Bredow and I in the Archive |
When I first arrived I couldn't believe that I had made it, I've never followed through on a book or idea like this before and it was really important to me. I was excited to see the whole museum and some of the U-869 artifacts on display. I was the only patron there that day and got a personal tour from one of the volunteers. It was really incredible all the objects they had. A lot of it was donated by veterans or their family's after they passed. I also got to see some artifacts pulled from U-869 including the identifying artifacts.
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| Outside the Museum Building |
I'm so happy that I could visit the museum, and Germany in general. I'll certainly miss this country and I can't wait for the day when I can return. This has been a truly incredible experience and I'm so glad I could make the trip and experience it to my fullest.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Hamburg
Hamburg is wonderful! It's a beautiful coastal city with quite literally the best Christmas Markets ever.
Today I slept in, since I had no rush to get up and go so that was a nice break from all the go-go-go of the last few days. I visited the Russian sub U-434 after lunch and it was HUGE! I mean I knew subs were big, but this one was big. It wasn't like any of the ship museums in the States, I opened up some cabinets and I tried to open another but was afraid of the "security cameras" ...because those totally were in the ship. I certainly got a little goofy with some of my pictures, and it was fun.
Tonight I explored the Christmas Markets and oh my, the rumor that they had the best markets was true! Walking around them one minute I smelled sweet things, then meat and beer, then I saw the toys, and jewelry. These were the most intense shops ever, like so much planning went into this. Wooden outdoor shops, metal things, a merry-go-round in every market, lots of crepe stands. Just an overwhelming amount of stuff and just ...I'll have to come back because it was just beautiful.
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| Peek-a-boo on U-434 |
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| One of the Market Entrances |
Tonight I explored the Christmas Markets and oh my, the rumor that they had the best markets was true! Walking around them one minute I smelled sweet things, then meat and beer, then I saw the toys, and jewelry. These were the most intense shops ever, like so much planning went into this. Wooden outdoor shops, metal things, a merry-go-round in every market, lots of crepe stands. Just an overwhelming amount of stuff and just ...I'll have to come back because it was just beautiful.
Berlin Day 2
When I first set me eyes on Berlin as a place to visit I used Google to find places to visit. I set my eyes on the Berlin Unterwelten, Allied Museum, and the Berlin Wall Memorial. However plans do change and I only ended up visiting the Allied Museum, which is alright because I still had some unexpected visits to two other places in Berlin.
The Allied Museum was pretty interesting as it showed Berlin's history after World War II. It was pretty amazing to see what was going on in Berlin, since in school we only learn that it was divided and we had to air drop in food. It was really so much more than that, radio stations were set up, schools, trying to reignite culture in Germany. Once the roads into East Germany were closed airmen would perform Airlifts into it to bring food and other supplies, even refugees. A group of pilots formed Operation Santa Clause, to have people ship presents to West Germany so that the pilots could bring gifts to the Berlin children for Christmas. There was also a plane crash once and there was one survivor for a bit, Russian let his wife visit and that was a huge deal for the day.
I then stumbled upon the Bradenburg Gate, the Victory Column, the place where the Berlin Wall once stood, and the Tiergarten. It was all such a wonderful way to end my time in Berlin and I can't wait to come back in the future.
The Allied Museum was pretty interesting as it showed Berlin's history after World War II. It was pretty amazing to see what was going on in Berlin, since in school we only learn that it was divided and we had to air drop in food. It was really so much more than that, radio stations were set up, schools, trying to reignite culture in Germany. Once the roads into East Germany were closed airmen would perform Airlifts into it to bring food and other supplies, even refugees. A group of pilots formed Operation Santa Clause, to have people ship presents to West Germany so that the pilots could bring gifts to the Berlin children for Christmas. There was also a plane crash once and there was one survivor for a bit, Russian let his wife visit and that was a huge deal for the day.
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| Brandenburg Gate |
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| On top of the Berlin Victory Column |
Monday, December 15, 2014
Berlin
The first time that I entered Berlin was Friday the 12th because my flight to Krakow had been delayed and I was forced to stay in Berlin for the night. Luckily my hostel room had some space and I was allowed to stay overnight and switch my days around.
I got back to Berlin a little too late for a Bunker tour and tomorrow I tour two museums (The Allied Museum, and Berlin Wall Memorial) then head off the Hamburg!
Tonight I had dinner with one of my roommates from Umbra, Maiji, we went to this place that served traditional German food, I got some cheese noodles and Maiji got white sausage and a pretzel. Before I leave Germany I will try the Wiener Schnitzel ...I will, and then wash it down with some strudel.
Berlin is huge, it is impossible to walk anywhere as a tourist you must suck it up and use the buses and train systems in place. Which I have had no trouble handling so far (fingers crossed), and it's actually reminding me of Boston a bit (just their underground train system, as it goes above ground too). The homey feeling is nice and at the same time adds excitement. It's not too bad working my way around Germany, they have some things in English and Italian, both of which I can read so it helps.
I wish I had my extra day back in Berlin, but I'm just glad that I can accomplish most of what I set out to do. Tomorrow night I'm off to Hamburg where I'll focus on U-boat museums.
I got back to Berlin a little too late for a Bunker tour and tomorrow I tour two museums (The Allied Museum, and Berlin Wall Memorial) then head off the Hamburg!
Tonight I had dinner with one of my roommates from Umbra, Maiji, we went to this place that served traditional German food, I got some cheese noodles and Maiji got white sausage and a pretzel. Before I leave Germany I will try the Wiener Schnitzel ...I will, and then wash it down with some strudel.
Berlin is huge, it is impossible to walk anywhere as a tourist you must suck it up and use the buses and train systems in place. Which I have had no trouble handling so far (fingers crossed), and it's actually reminding me of Boston a bit (just their underground train system, as it goes above ground too). The homey feeling is nice and at the same time adds excitement. It's not too bad working my way around Germany, they have some things in English and Italian, both of which I can read so it helps.
I wish I had my extra day back in Berlin, but I'm just glad that I can accomplish most of what I set out to do. Tomorrow night I'm off to Hamburg where I'll focus on U-boat museums.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Auschwitz
Today I toured Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz Birkenau.
Auschwitz 1, were it not for the barbed wire, could be looked upon as a cozy cookie cutter neighborhood. However it is not, it's the original Auschwitz concentration camp in the area and many of the originally unspeakable acts were committed here. This part of the camp is mainly a museum now, containing a lot of photos and documents from the days of the camp. It also contains countless items that once belonged to the millions of prisoners. One of the places we couldn't photograph was this room filled with hair, shaved off women after they arrived to be used as fabric for the Nazi soldiers. What really shocked me here was in the giant displays of wads of matted hair, there was a single small blond braid, bigger braid were used in a separate display, but this one was all alone, and probably a child's.
Auschwitz Birkenau was built as a death camp and you can tell. From afar it's just one giant structure and then barbed wire with rows of barracks. Within this camp a lot of buildings were burnt down to try and hide the crimes committed but a lot of the bricks remained. From the barracks that were burned all that remained were chimney's.
Between the camps you could buy flowers to place any where in the museum or camp that you wanted. The most amazing sight I saw was six flowers displayed as the Star of David, easily overlooked if you were just walking by and thought it was another pile of flowers.
Auschwitz 1, were it not for the barbed wire, could be looked upon as a cozy cookie cutter neighborhood. However it is not, it's the original Auschwitz concentration camp in the area and many of the originally unspeakable acts were committed here. This part of the camp is mainly a museum now, containing a lot of photos and documents from the days of the camp. It also contains countless items that once belonged to the millions of prisoners. One of the places we couldn't photograph was this room filled with hair, shaved off women after they arrived to be used as fabric for the Nazi soldiers. What really shocked me here was in the giant displays of wads of matted hair, there was a single small blond braid, bigger braid were used in a separate display, but this one was all alone, and probably a child's.
Auschwitz Birkenau was built as a death camp and you can tell. From afar it's just one giant structure and then barbed wire with rows of barracks. Within this camp a lot of buildings were burnt down to try and hide the crimes committed but a lot of the bricks remained. From the barracks that were burned all that remained were chimney's.
Between the camps you could buy flowers to place any where in the museum or camp that you wanted. The most amazing sight I saw was six flowers displayed as the Star of David, easily overlooked if you were just walking by and thought it was another pile of flowers.
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| Auschwitz Birkenau |
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Krakow
Well Poland has a different currency than the rest of Europe so when I arrived I found an ATM at the airport and then hailed a taxi!
The drive to the city was beautiful and reminded me of home, the winter touched ground and trees however, still no snow. Very disappointing.
The part of the city I'm in has a building across the way that looks like it has some old damage from WWII since it has patched holes and the building across from that also has some repairs. The buildings themselves for the most part appear dirty, but in the smokey kind, like fires and gun fires. It's almost as if the outer appearance never recovered after the war. The streets are also so old and used that they have permanent dents in them.
It was hard finding places to eat or buy food because they don't have a lot of outer signs on stores, and it's a wicked hard language to understand. I'll be living off supermarket food until I get back to Berlin probably, where the lanuage is more similar and the have a Dunkin' Donuts (yeah awesome right!).
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I got to see the city center on the way back from my Auschwitz tour today, and it is very modern looking and looks much easier to find food than the outskirts where I am.
Also I lost power in my room, but thankfully not in the bathroom, so there's that! :)
The drive to the city was beautiful and reminded me of home, the winter touched ground and trees however, still no snow. Very disappointing.
The part of the city I'm in has a building across the way that looks like it has some old damage from WWII since it has patched holes and the building across from that also has some repairs. The buildings themselves for the most part appear dirty, but in the smokey kind, like fires and gun fires. It's almost as if the outer appearance never recovered after the war. The streets are also so old and used that they have permanent dents in them.
It was hard finding places to eat or buy food because they don't have a lot of outer signs on stores, and it's a wicked hard language to understand. I'll be living off supermarket food until I get back to Berlin probably, where the lanuage is more similar and the have a Dunkin' Donuts (yeah awesome right!).
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I got to see the city center on the way back from my Auschwitz tour today, and it is very modern looking and looks much easier to find food than the outskirts where I am.
Also I lost power in my room, but thankfully not in the bathroom, so there's that! :)
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