Colmar: Leaving France for a Second Time?

Funny Story.

Colmar: Christmas Market

There was something awesome at the Christmas Market that I HAVE to show you guys. It's this weird bungee-jumping-meets-trampolining thing that the French have.
I think it is beautiful. And I need one in my backyard.

Colmar: Petit Venise

Colmar has a little district called Little Venice. It's just called that because there's a canal that runs through the city and the only way to get from house to house is via Gondola.

Colmar: Goats

Hehehe Goats make me laugh.

Colmar: We're In France Right Now

Yes we are.

Schauinsland - Windmills

Up the 16 minute gondola trip to Schauinsland we saw big windmills that generate electricity for many Freiburg homes.

Schauinsland - On the Up 01

A little bit outside of the city lies the Black Forest mountains. Veselin & I checked it out

Merry Christmas from Freiburg

I spent Christmas in Freiburg, and this video is just to wish you a Merry Christmas from Herz Jesu Church about 100 metres from my place on Christmas Day. So Merry Christmas!

Skating at Weihnachtsmarkt

Skating with Johanna, Jessica, and April at the Weihnachtsmarkt. This was the first time I went skating in my life... wow I should do it more often.

Schwanen Flug

These are those big swings at the Freiburg Christmas Market.

Snow in Freiburg

I took a video outside my window of a pretty good snowfall in Freiburg. It's probably one of the only good snowfalls we have.

Nürnberg - Church

In Nürnberg, we walked into a Church and there was a band playing so we stayed for two minutes to hear them practise. it made me miss my saxophone.

Nürnberg - Panning of the City

A nice pan of the city of Nürnberg. It was an overcast that day, so it didn't look too pretty. Nevertheless, Nadia (the Aussie) made a good appearance in this shot haha.

Nürnberg - Christkindlesmarkt

Here I am at the World's Most Famous Christmas Market in Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Bavaria. I had a lot of Glühwein (mulled wine), chocolate, and bought a nutcracker doll.

Germans and Christmas

Europe has a different fascination for Christmas. They tend to be just as obnoxious as the US, but in a different way. It's all about the Christmas trees and good cheer instead of Santas and commercialism. I like it.
And I meant to say "Every big city in Germany", not Freiburg. Just need to point this out.

How the Germans Separate Their Garbage

The Germans are known for separating their garbage into usually seven different containers. They're advanced with their environmental endeavours, and this is just how we in our Wohnheim (shared apartment/flat) sort our garbage.
For more information, check out http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/recycling.html :)

How the Germans Make Rice

My parents are Indian, therefore I should make rice everyday, or rather make a lot at once to feed me for a week. This is my experience with German Rice.

The Recycling Hof

Germans are crazy for recycling. For our Environmental Policy & Green Business Class, we had a field trip to the Recyclinghof (Recycling Centre).

Election 2008

How us Germans do the US Presidential Elections

Basel Rathaus?

I am making a guess here and I think this is the Basel City Hall, but I am really not sure. I just remember it was red and pretty.

Basel in a Ferris Wheel

Spending 8 Francs (which I now realise is 8 Dollars) to go up on a Ferris Wheel by the Basel Münster. This is a small part of that ride.

Basel

On my day trip to Basel, CH.

Turtles at the Frankfurt Zoo

They made me smile.

Mainz: A Band

There was this group fundraising and they were playing in a band. The details are foggy but what I do remember was taking this video.

German Windows

I like German Windows, I thought they were interesting.

The Russian Bar in Freiburg

One night Carmin wanted to check out a DJ at a local Russian-influenced bar here in Freiburg. It's pretty European. And the 300 different types of Vodka didn't hurt either.

Berlin: Atop the Reichstag

I stand atop the Reichstag being a tourist.

Berlin: Buzzing Reichstag

This video is purely just to demonstrate something cool that happened at the Reichstag. When our CYF group was there, it was a very important day in German History. Due to the financial crisis, the German government proposed a bill on the 13te Okt to support German banks up to 400 Billion Euro. The bill's voting was the day we were at the Reichstag (17te Okt). It was the fastest bill to ever be set and voted on in German history. When a bill is to be voted on, the clocks within the entire building flash white and red to notify all the MPs (I forgot the German equivalent for MPs) to vote. When the bill is important, there's a siren that goes off, but this is rare when it occurs. The siren went off twice when we were there, and this short video shows that. I thought it was neat. But maybe I'm just a huge nerd.

Berlin: San Souci

The palace of San Souci in Potsdam of Frederick I.

Berlin: Everything You Need To Know About East Germany

A little lesson that's very inaccurate.

Berlin: The Lindt Store

Waiting at the Bahnhof (station) on Friedrichstrasse I saw a lovely store in honour of Lindt Chocolates. It was my epiphany that there was something more than Nestle.

Berlin: Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Berliner as big as my face.

Berlin: A Church

Here lies a Church in the neighborhood of where I stayed in Berlin.

Berlin: The Berlin Wall

Separating the East from the West is a wall. Makes sense.

Berlin: The East

The East of Berlin, once formerly occupied by the Russians.

Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie

Berlin was divided into four parts following World War II, each part being owned by a different country. The east was Communist, and was controlled by the Russians. On the west (capitalist), France, Britain, and America controlled Berlin. Each of these three capitalist nations had checkpoints where those crossing the east/west border had to be, basically, checked. These checkpoints are called Checkpoint Alpha, Checkpoint Bravo, and Checkpoint Charlie (this one was the American Sector entrance).

Berlin: Jugendherberge

We arrived in Berlin after a long train ride from Freiburg, and this video was shot at the Jugendherberge (youth hostel) where we resided for 5 nights. That place was nasty. But then again, I'm high maintenance.

Seepark 2

Here's a second video of the Seepark

Seepark 1

Freiburg has this area called the Seepark, which is a small lake surrounded by a park (apt name this Seepark). This is by the StuSie residence, not the Stasi residence. There is a slight but grand difference.

Schlossbergturm 2

A lovely 13 storey tower, held up by five wooden posts, is the location of this video. My fear of heights and my love for safety was not appreciated very much with this Schlossbergturm. True Story

The Hike to Schlossbergturm 1

Veselin and I decided to go for a walk, and we saw the way to the Schlossbergturm (Castle-mountain-tower literally translated), which is basically just an upward hike to a high tower in a Freiburg part of the Black Forest. It was really nice, and here is one of two videos of that experience.

Munstermarkt

Every Saturday, in front of the Munster (Catholic big church in Freiburg), there is a lovely market which sells everything from fruits to spices to cornhusk-made-crocs to "kanadische Ahornsirup" (Canadian maple syrup which really just tastes like table syrup but goddamnit it's better than nothing!).

Passing By The Rathaus

When Veselin came to town, we passed by the Rathaus.

A Sip of Oktoberfest Bier

You are missing out on some Oktoberfest Bier. I will have some in your honour.
Mmm. Honour.

Entered Oktoberfest Area

As soon as entered the fairgrounds for Oktoberfest. It's really like a giant fair. There are HUGE beer tents and beer gardens, as well as lots of stands for Bratwurst (German sausage) and Spaetzle (German noodles). It awkwardly reminded me of VG Fair (Valley Gardens Fair), but didn't go on any of the rides. I regret going on the rides at Oktoberfest; they looked really intense and AWESOME.

Oktoberfest Trek: Kissing

We stopped for a few seconds in a great-named town.

Oktoberfest Trek: Basel to Ulm

From Basel, Switzerland to Ulm, Germany.
Time of travel: 3.5 hours.

Oktoberfest Trek: Basel

Basel, a town in Switzerland, was our first stop to our 7 hour trek to Oktoberfest in Munich. We woke up at 4:00am (after going to bed at 1:00am) to catch our train at 5:09am to Basel from Freiburg. We were VERY tired, and some of us were more perky than others.

Karlsruhe

I was tired and bored in Karlsruhe. I got some Zwiebelringen (Onion Rings) from the vending machine and wanted to make a short little shout out.

Along Mannheim

On the way back from Frankfurt I stopped in three cities before coming back to Freiburg im Breisgau: Mannheim, Karlsruhe, and Offenberg. The ticket is 37 Euro for taking as many (slow) trains as you want. It was 4 trains and 6 hours. At least I got to see some more of Baden-Wurttemberg. Always put a positive spin on things.
Something you might want to know about Mannheim (or maybe not) is that it's built like a North American city, into quadrants, very linear, and it all leads to a crazy ass palace.

Frankfurt am Main Bridge

I took a pan of the Frankfurt am Main bridge, fiddler in the background, to whom I didn't give money.

Panning Through The Black Forest

I took a pan of the Blackforest when we stayed near Schauinsland in a Fachschaftshaus for three days.

Ikea

A Short Clip of Warren in Ikea. I didn't make a video of what I ended up getting, but it included a towel, because I desperately needed a towel. I was actually using old shirts as towels before I went to Ikea. It's funny what you do when you have a bare living quarters.

The Autobahn

This video I took for Karen about how fast the cars go on the Autobahn. We had just arrived in Frankfurt and were in Germany for about 1 hour at this point.