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I am back in Berlin after a great spring break, completely exhausted but thankful for the unbelievable amount of things I saw and did over the course of ten days. I wrote about the first three days (Athens) in my last post, so I will tell you about Rome and Paris in this post.

I spent my first day in Rome by visiting the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest church in Rome dedicated to Mary, and walked down to the Colosseum in the evening. I did not go inside at this time because most major sites close by 5:00, but I walked around it looked at the Arc of Constantine and a few other things near the Palatine Hill, where the Roman Forum was situated. The next morning I met up with two of my friends from the international program in Berlin and we walked around the city all day. We started at the Pantheon, which was very impressive on the inside, and wandered from there to the Fountain di Trevi, one of the most famous fountains in the world. After walking through Piazza Navona we got to Castel Sant’Angelo and the Sant’Angelo Bridge, which are very close to the Vatican. After lunch we entered the Vatican and walked around St. Peter’s Square.

After a little while we took the long walk from the Vatican down to the Colosseum and paid the admission price to go inside. The Colosseum looks so huge from the outside that it looked somewhat smaller on the inside than I imagined, but I’m sure that didn’t subtract from the intense gladiatorial contests, mock sea battles, and executions which some 60-70,000 people crowded inside to see during the first centuries A.D. The original ground floor is no longer there, exposing the underground passageways and cages where gladiators and animals were kept before being brought up to the arena.

Later in the evening we got dinner at a restaurant in a piazza called Trilussa, which was one of those areas with narrow, winding streets that many people think of when they think of Italy. I had my first authentic Italian meal there, and it was as good as they say it is. The next day we took a train from Rome down to Naples central station. It was about a 3 hour ride, but the landscape between Rome and Naples was beautiful. From Naples it was a separate 20 minute train ride to Pompeii, which has a modern city but we were there for the ancient city, which was destroyed and buried in volcanic ash by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Seeing the ruins of walls, streets, and buildings, and also preserved human figures was all very moving.

Back in Rome the next day, I went back to the Vatican having a ticket for entrance to the Vatican museums (which aren’t really museums, as much as they are former residences of popes which hold one of the greatest collections of art in the world), the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s painted ceiling, and St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo’s Pietà is kept in the basilica:

This was all so incredible to see, and it took 5 hours to cover everything. For the second half of the day we caught a train down to Lago Albano – a volcanic crater lake – at Castel Gandolfo, which is a small town 45 minutes south of Rome where the pope spends the summer. There was not too much to do here besides sit by the lake and find a restaurant for dinner, but it was a nice relaxing end to the four days in Rome. (pic)

On Friday morning I flew from Rome to Paris for the last couple days of break. After checking into my hostel, I walked around the area a lot. Paris is a very expensive city when compared to Berlin. I ended up buying some fruit for lunch – but even apples and bananas cost twice as much as what I’m used to in the U.S. I took the metro down to the Eiffel Tower in the evening, bought a Nutella crêpe from a food stand for dinner, and sat in a park opposite the tower watching the lights go on the tower. You can walk right up underneath the tower and pay to take an elevator up to the very top, but it was sort of expensive and the line was too long. Still, it was cool to see the tower. I wrote a report on its history in 7th grade but never thought I’d be there.

The next day I visited some of the other famous sites in Paris, starting at the garden area at the Louvre. I walked from there to the little island on the Seine River on which Notre Dame cathedral is situated. Notre Dame is one of the largest churches in the world, and the inside – the Gothic architecture with huge stained glass windows – was very impressive. I went from there to the Luxembourg Gardens, which was a very large, green area in the middle of the city. It was nice to see some trees and grass for a change!

The next day after I checked out of the hostel I had a few hours to burn before my flight back to Berlin, so I went down to see the Arc de Triomphe, and then walked up the Montmartre hill, the highest point of the city. At the top is a famous church called Sacre Coeur. I climbed the very narrow spiral staircase up to the dome of the church for a view of the whole city:

After this I grabbed my bag from the hostel and went to the airport. As I went from place to place over these ten days it was sometimes difficult to comprehend the deep historical significance of everything I was seeing. Many of the things I saw in Athens and Rome I have learned about in Latin and history courses in high school and at MLC, which is why I picked Athens and Rome – but it is strange to think that I was actually there. These ten days were so packed full and I will probably never see so much in ten days again. Back in Berlin now, I am starting to pull together sources for the term papers I need to write for my music and history class, and also getting things figured out for short 2-day trips for the weekends in April (don’t worry; the Luther sites are coming, I promise). That’s all for now!

Tschüss,

Collin

Hello!

It’s now been one month since I’ve come to Germany. I am becoming more and more familiar with the city of Berlin, and the overall German culture and language. In this blog post I will tell you about my last two weekends, spent in Hamburg and Brussels.

The weekend before last, some friends and I got on a bus after Thursday night classes (our last day of classes for the week) and took the three hour drive northwest to Hamburg, Germany. It was exciting to be visiting a new city and to have a couple days to wander around. We did not get checked in to our hostel until after midnight on Thursday, but Friday morning after breakfast we got moving and headed into the city. We first visited the Hamburg Rathaus, walking around it and trying, to no avail, to get inside. But it was amazing to see the old architecture and all of its ornate stone carvings close-up.

After this we went to the nearby St. Petri Kirche. This church was built in 1195 and has been a Protestant church since the Reformation. I was standing too close for this picture and wish I had taken a better one, but here it is from the front:

We would continue to see architecture and churches like this all around Hamburg, and also in Brussels. After walking around the city a while longer, we walked away from the center, towards an open park on a small lake, where we walked along a long lakeside path and back up towards a different part of the city. For a late lunch we found a restaurant in a Portuguese Quarter and ate some really tasty fish. After this, we finally made our way down to the large harbor of Hamburg, and took in all the activity on the River Elbe. This was a very neat place to be. It was also such a different atmosphere than what we are used to in Berlin. Towards the evening we walked over to the new Elbphilharmonie, and we could ascend to the observation deck for free, but we could not get into the concert hall itself. There was going to be a concert in a couple hours, and it’s become such a famous venue that all of the events there are sold out through the middle of the summer. But it was cool to see the city and harbor from up in the building.

The next day, Saturday, we took a transport ferry a ways down the Elbe and got off on a large residential island. This place turned out to be very eerie; there were uniform houses throughout, and there was no one out walking around. No cars or movement at all. After a walk through the cobblestone streets we left creepy island, catching the ferry back to the main city. We then walked towards the altstadt – old city – of Hamburg, found fish sandwiches for dinner, and walked back up the main street in front of the harbor and all the ships. Later that evening we explored the night life a little bit before heading back to the hostel. Our bus back to Berlin left early Sunday afternoon, getting us back with enough time to finish schoolwork for the next day.

This past weekend, a group of friends and I flew out to Brussels, Belgium early Friday morning. Brussels, like Hamburg, is a very different city than Berlin. It’s neat to see a good mix of city atmospheres. On Friday, we walked around all day long. We went without a solid plan for the first day and just wandered, which can be a nice way to see the city. The weather cooperated for the most part, with a mix of sun and hail. We found good sandwiches at a small cafe for dinner and eventually made it back to check in to our hostel. Our room was little more than a closet with 6 beds, 3 stacked on each side. Sort of like on a train or ship. But that’s okay because we only slept there and it is very cheap!

The next day, Saturday, we had a plan to go to the city center and see the places that Brussels is famous for. We took the public transport and walked to the main town square, which is called the “Grand Place.” It was a fascinating view, being surrounded by huge, magnificent, aged buildings. The picture at the top of this post and the one below are from the Grand Place:

For lunch, we found one of the many restaurants that serve waffels, because we could not visit Belgium without eating a genuine Belgian waffel. They were as good as we expected. If Brussels is famous for three things, it’s their waffels, breweries, and chocolate. In those realms, they produce some of the best in the world. We found a very touristy, yet famous bar that brews famous Belgian brands and offers over 2000 different varieties of beer from around the world. And out on the street, at least in the city center, chocolatiers are literally every other shop, or more. Belgian chocolate is even better than German chocolate, and there are more chocolatiers per square foot in Brussels than anywhere else in the world. So put it on your list, if you’re into that.

Yesterday morning, Sunday, we checked out of the hostel and flew back to Berlin in the early afternoon. I do not have any travel plans for this weekend or next, because this weekend I need to work on a couple projects due in my history class, and next weekend we are going to a soccer game at Olympiastadion. But I am currently planning for Spring Break, which covers the next two weekends after that. More details, including where I am going for Spring Break will be in the next post! That’s about all for now. I wish everyone back at MLC a blessed Spring Break, with safe travels, and God’s blessings on EFE experiences, choir tour, and all other activities.

Tschüss,

Collin