Monday, 27 October 2008

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.

Monday, 20 October 2008

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.

Sunday, 19 October 2008

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.

Sunday, 12 October 2008

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.

Sunday, 5 October 2008

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.