Berlin

Evidently Christmas markets began in Germany. Since there's a Berlin-Warsaw express, it was easy enough to mosey over to Berlin. Lola and I ate at a delicious Greek food restaurant right around the corner from our ritzy hostel.

The next, freezing day, we shivered our way over to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was a very subpar museum. There were even parts of the museum with ruined exhibits - a candle in the shape of Lenin that was actually in the shape of melted wax. The best part of the museum - in which I was not allowed to take photographs - was the Reagan room. A room. Devoted. To Reagan. God bless America.

You'll notice. In the lower righthand corner. There is Ronald Reagan's chainsaw and! Wait for it. A fence post from Reagan's California ranch.

The rest of the day, we explored the museums. I went to the German history museum. It was pretty awesome.  Only, I didn't have enough time to really explore.

The market below is one of the most popular. It was wonderful. Large portions of it were even indoors!

There was a man dressed up like a Christmas tree! He sprinkled snow on a little child.

The next morning, Lola and I journeyed through the freezing temperatures to the east side gallery after grabbing brunch at an average place known as the Artist's Meeting Place or something like that. It's in the guidebooks, I believe. The east side gallery is pretty sweet. Lots of pictures on the largest existing stretch of the Berlin wall.

Lola and I then made our way downtown. We walked along the major tourist points. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reich building, and the holocaust memorial.

The best part of the Brandenburg Gate square was the Americanness of it all. For example. Not only was there a Starbucks - where I got a delicious peppermint mocha - but there was also the Museum of the Kennedys. AND the American Embassy was on that stretch.

The American embassy is great. Because they have a Berlin bear that looks like the Statue of Liberty. There are other Berlin bears. Everywhere.

Lola and I headed to the opera after this. It was the weirdest rendition of Carmen I have ever seen. I tend to like things done in a traditional way. This was -  not modern - but not traditional. And it was almost entirely in German. Except for really odd times when it wasn't. And there was this guy with a terrible American accent.

After this, we headed directly to the Christmas market by the zoo because we were going to meet with Ashley. Unfortunately, Ashley and Gus weren't able to make it after all. So Lola and I quickly headed back by ourselves. But we did go through the Christmas market first.

Christmas in Warsaw

When Christmas arrived in Warsaw, it brought lights with it to decorate the streets. One evening, Lola and I met up with Billy and Amanda for dinner. I took photos of some of the lights on Nowy Swiat as we wandered, looking for a delicious dinner spot. 

Presidential Palace

At dinner that night, the owner of the restaurant became good friends with us. After I ordered a beer, he proceeded to ask if I was above 18. When I told him I was 22, he then proceeded to ask for ID. As a joke. But it took me a while.

He talked to us for a long time. In Polish. So sometimes I understood him and sometimes we all relied on Amanda for translation. After ordering after dinner coffee drinks (one with Krupnik), I asked him what to do with the Krupnik I have at home. After all, I wasn't positive what to use as a mixer. He told me to invite him over.

That evening, Lola and I waited for the bus that would take us from the restaurant to Polskie Radio where we would catch another bus to our apartment. As the bus pulled up, we said our goodbyes. I turned to get on the bus, and the doors shut in my face. I was at the front of the bus, so the door I was in front of was right next to the driver. He didn't open the doors again. There was no button to press to get the door to open. Lola and I had to take the metro home after that, and we left with confusion clouding our countenances.

Weirdness on Buses at Warsaw

So, buses in Poland are basically full of weird things happening. They're rarely on time when you're at the bus stop waiting. They're always on time if you're running to catch the bus.

So, this morning, I ran out of time getting ready, so I sprinted to the bus stop only for the bus to be late. There are two buses that go past this bus stop. An old man was walking his dog and sat down behind me as I waited for the 174. The 210 goes by, so I assume the old man is waiting for the 174 with me. He says something in Polish, so I tell him that I don't speak Polish. Then I lean down and pet his dog, saying "oh pretty dog" (In Polish, but it was probably grammatically inaccurate and more like "Oh. Pretty the dog."). Anyway, he tells me that his dog is 12 years old. He asks me where I'm going this morning. I tell him I'm a teacher and that I teach on Sundays. He asks me if I teach English. I tell him yes, and he tells me that someone he knows is learning English. Then he tells me that the bus is here, so I get up and start walking towards the stop. However, the old man does not come with me. He just sits at the bus stop. So I say, "goodbye." So while I had an awesome Polish interaction, I'm still not sure why the old man was there!

So, on the way home (after a long day teaching in which my office was filled with candy that looked amazing but wasn't for my consumption and my American students tried to teach my Polish cuss words), I sat at the window of the bus. I was enjoying the view. A girl gets on next to me. Her boyfriend is standing in the aisle, holding her hand while she sits next to me. He keeps gazing at her with that creepy look guys give girls when they're whipped. THEN he leans down and over. And they start making out. NEXT TO ME. On the bus. Way too close for comfort. Thus, I've decided that buses prompt strange interactions in Poland.

The Mid-Year Meeting

So, Thursday Ashley came into town for our mid year Fulbright meeting. We spent Thursday night at Charlotte - the best French-ish cafe ever. I was starving by the time we got there, and we arrived late enough that tit seemed as if everyone had just sat down at their tables. We waited a good 25 minutes for an open space and then we had to relocate a couple times. Very frustrating. But totally worth it.

Friday was the meeting. It was short and not very exciting, but it was followed by a delicious, two-hour lunch at a nearby restaurant. Lunch was fairly delicious. It was really nice to see all the Fulbrighters again. Not everyone made it to the meeting, but some really interesting, fun characters did. Maybe it was just the joy of being surrounded by Americans again.

So, after lunch, Aniela, Ashley, and I went to the train station. I finally exchanged my Bulgarian Leva - I had over 100 zloty worth! Let this be a lesson to me. After the train station, we saw both the Christmas markets by the Palace of Science and Culture and the Christmas markets in Old Town. All the lights are up down Nowy Swiat and in Old Town, so it's super gorgeous. Unfortunately, between the three of us, no one remembered a camera. We got some mulled wine at the Christmas market and did a little shopping.

After that, we went to Saffron for some delicious Indian food near Plac Konstytucji. Of course, after our Indian food, we then decided that we needed to... RETURN TO CHARLOTTE. At this point, we were with Barry and Sarah, too. Billy joined us after a while. It was a really fun time and is definitely one of the best places in Warsaw. Or maybe the best place in Warsaw. Then again, any place where I am is a great place, right? ;)

Belgium (finally)

These are the important things in Belgium. The first was Manneken Pis, of course. This was taken on December 1, so he's all dressed up. If I understood correctly, they dress him up each month. December 1 was also the student's celebration of St. Nicholas. So they were drinking in the streets with big semi trucks that were blaring music. They wore silly hats that they get after hazing and lab coats.

These are two of the most important things in Belgium. Beer and Fries.

At night, in the beautiful Old Town square, there's a light show for Christmas. It's amazing.

Then there was Bruges. It's beautiful, but there isn't much to do. After we got back from Bruges, we watched In Bruges. Fittingly.

The last day, we went to the Atomium. It was built for a World's Fair. We saw Mini Europe, but we didn't get to go in because it was too late. We met up with some of Caroline's friends after and spent a night out on the town. Everyone was super friendly and appeared to love Americans! They were all so nice!

Experimental Singing

I'm going to go out of order in my blogging (gasp!). So instead of telling you about my five crazy days in Belgium, I'm going to tell you about my week in Warszawa.

So, I got back really late on Monday, and I had to teach on Tuesday. I did interview questions with my third years, who aren't certain if there's a career center at school or not. It quickly devolved into "chat with Amanda" time. I didn't really mind because we talked about some interesting things, including Christmas traditions in Poland - which, surprise surprise, include watching Home Alone? I much prefer the carp in the bathtub tradition, but I guess I won't be experiencing any of those because I AM GOING HOME!!!

Anyway, my first years bribed me into letting them skip class with a Christmas bell filled with chocolate as a St. Nicholas Day gift. They didn't even know it was my name day! (My third years found out and told me that I should've brought them candy! Psh.) Anyway, I was going to spend a good hour of class giving them a writing assignment, so I let them do it at home instead - warning them that I'd be grading it more harshly. This is a pretty good class. The girl who I thought I was going to have to fail has stopped coming to class. So I'll definitely fail her now, but I highly suspect that she dropped out on her own. I have no real way of knowing.

I still haven't graded papers - which I plan on doing tomorrow to some extent. But I did go coat shopping. I found a lovely white/black/semi-houndstooth one, but it was probably closer to 70 dollars and wouldn't look good with most of my scarfs (maybe all). So I'll live to look another day. I meant to look at the Christmas markets at Centrum, but I forgot. Hopefully Ashley will want to see Christmas markets so we can go this weekend. Ashley is coming in for the Fulbright meeting, which should be a blast.

Anyway, today I participated in a very strange experiment in theater. Well, it was a Polish actress reading poems (that seemed fairly awesome) by this Polish guy who made up words to express his Polish poetry self. Well, it makes more sense if you know Polish to get that making up words is way more logical. He wasn't Seuss. He was creating words from words, and they added new meaning. If that makes sense. He created one from the word "dzisaij" which means "today" and it was something like "the way I am today; my being in this day, etc" So, Dara and I did some sort of weird humming in the background while Polish girl read in a very dramatic way and Erin played the harp. I hope to have interesting recordings of this soon for everyone's enjoyment.

Thanksgiving Part 2 and Other Random Things

So, Friday began with more pie baking. Dara came over around 2, and we listened to my Christmas mix a few times while she did most of the baking, though I did shape the tofurkey. Billy came over around 6 to make some mashed potatoes. He shared some Zubrowka with us (we deserved it), and we chit chatted. I felt pretty bad for Dara who had to do so much work with very little aid.

Eventually people showed up, including my roommate, close to 7:30. We ate at 8. I met some new Polish friends who were quite lovely. One Polish girl asked us what we thought of Polish men, so I shared my future Polish husband plan.

Sara and Andrew came awfully late after drinking several bottles of wine by themselves. The highlight of the evening was when Andrew fell asleep in the locked bathroom because he'd drank so much. Classic.

So, Saturday and Sunday were pretty good teaching days. On Sunday, I taught my students about AFI top movie quotes in a hope of helping them learn American culture. So, I was explaining how a Streetcar Named Desire ("Stella, Hey! Stella!") was relevant because it's used in Over the Hedge. So then I go back to the apartment, which is blissfully (but also sadly - when I'm watching horror movies by myself) empty, and I turn on the TV only to find the Polish version of Over the Hedge. Win.

Sunday, after teaching, I went to the Christmas markets at the old town. It's pretty cool - they have hot mulled wine and lots of food and gifts. The lights are up all over old town, but I was there during the daylight, so none of the lights were on.

So, after getting myself some new gloves, I ran into Rachel near her apartment. So we talked for a while before I met Billy at Browarmia for lunch. It was delicious, and I had a really good time. Then we went down the street a bit to the Berlin festival and had some mulled wine while listening to Berlin music.

Saturday, after class, I was walking down Lucka street when I saw an army of reenactors (as in, war) walking down the road. It was something else. Trailing at the end, there were a few people dragging a cannon. I guess they were reenacting some major war, but who really knows with Poland and the amount of times its been overrun.

Last Wednesday, I went to go see Twilight with Rachel. The bus was running about 15 minutes late. So I showed up a little late. Luckily, Rachel hadn't left me yet. We got our tickets and headed to the theater. Interesting thing about movie theaters in Poland: You have to pick your seats, and they're assigned. So, Rachel and I moved to the theater, and luckily it hadn't started yet. Unluckily, that was because Polish movies start with over a half hour of advertisements. So, about 3/4 of the way through the movie, the film just stops. So after a little bit of waiting, we're told that we can move to another theater or get our money back. So Rachel and I, of course, think we're just going to move to another theater. No big deal. However, we walk in... and the movie is just beginning. So I watched Twilight twice...

Because everything took so long, I ended up having to take the night bus home for the first time. I figured it out pretty quickly. It wasn't a problem. However, it was super awesome waiting at the Dworzec for the bus to leave. Nearly all the night buses leave from this point, so at 12:30, there was this mass exodus of yellow buses. It was amazing.

You can imagine it a bit from this video. This is what it looks like where most of the buses are waiting to take off. There's a four minute video showing the take off, but it's not a very good one...

Maps

The states I've been to...


Places in Europe I'll have been to by the end of June...

Thanksgiving Part 1 (Walnut Pie?)

So, I love making pecan pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas and my birthday and really any holiday during which I can manage to make pecan pie reasonably or even semi-irrationally. So, it was much to my disappointment to discover that in Poland, there are : no pecans, no karo syrup, and no pie tins. I also believe there is no vanilla extract, but I have been told that this is in fact not true. There is vanilla extract somewhere.

Luckily, Dara W brought over some pie tin alternatives. So I at least had that. And in between cleaning the apartment, I made two walnut pies with some creative substitutions. (Brown sugar here is not the same as brown  sugar back home, and I didn't have molasses, so I added honey!)

My friend John invited me to his house for Thanksgiving. Lola and I were supposed to go, but then she decided she had to go to this conference. A conference she also has to be at during the Thanksgiving we're hosting on Friday at our apartment (today). So, I'm stuck doing all the last minute cleaning, helping Dara do all the cooking, and generally being alone in my hostessing. But that is for another blog post. Instead, I will focus on watching the Green Bay Packers defeat the Detroit Lions, which was a definitely enjoyable moment, even though Suh got kicked out. I love Suh, even though Joel tells me that he's been a real jerk.

John was a real sweetheart, and we had a very legitimate dinner. My walnut pie turned out really well, surprisingly. So hopefully the two I have for Fulbright Thanksgiving will be delicious as well.

The best part of John's party was that we watched football on the AFN  - Armed Forces Network. They have the most ridiculous advertisements you've ever seen in your life.

This is just one of the most ridiculous ads, but there were so many ads that were definitely targeted towards people who don't have common sense. Even the military men at the Thanksgiving were mocking it.

Best Photograph Ever

Our Rulers of Bulgaria Shirts. Photo shoot. Fulbright style.

Budapest Part 3

Saturday was another late day. I was hanging with Tyler, and he is not a morning person. Either that or he was exhausted because of other things. Like the fact that he'd been really busy ever since we got back from Sofia, and Sofia wasn't exactly full of sleeping. It's hard to when you have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). It's easier to stay up with people instead of going to sleep...

So, we met at the train station. I waited because Tyler was late. I was early. I met some homeless guys, and I started talking to them in Polish when they wouldn't leave me alone. This worked, and they left. Then they went and got their extra homeless friend, who speaks Italian. We didn't communicate. Then they finally left me alone. Then I hid upstairs for a while before meeting Tyler downstairs again.

We went to Szentendre. Szentendre is a small town near Budapest that caters to the Budapest tourist. It has a large open-air museum that we did not go to, and it has lots of souvenir shops that are overpriced and selling everything from kitschy to homemade (and sometimes both at the same time).

We went to lunch, and I had totally Hungarian food. Goulash - which, for those of you who aren't in the know, is not at all like Goulash we make at home. It's a soup with lots of paprika. Because they LOVE paprika in Hungary. Paprika is to Hungary as Dill is to Poland.

They had a really narrow alleyway, just like the one I saw in Stockholm. I'm tempted to figure out which one is narrower. But I really don't care.

That evening, we got back to Budapest. I read at Starbucks while Tyler prepared for his classes. Then we went to a Scottish pub for dinner. You know it's legit because, as we neared the establishment, a man in a kilt left the bar. We stayed there until midnight, and I had absolutely delicious stout from Bellhaven Brewery (Mom and Dad - you should see if Bricks has this. And/or require that they order it in. Yummy!).

The next day was my last day in Budapest. I left the hostel and made my way to Momento Park. Momento Park required that I take a metro and two buses. However, it was totally worth it.

In the Uprising of 1956, they cut off the Stalin statue at his boots. So these are Stalin's boots that remained.

This one is really cool because it's full of metaphor. Like, evidently, in Hungarian literature, a lamppost means the gallows. And the left side is the shiny Hapsburgs. I forget the rest of it, but you should trust me that the significance is actually cool when its finally logical.

This is my favorite and probably one of the most famous statues in the park. It's of a man running forward, waving a communist flag. However, because the thermal baths are so well known in Budapest, they came to call it "Hey, Wait! You forgot your towel." Or something along those lines. Winner.

After that, I had to catch my plane. I lost one red glove somewhere between Budapest and Warsaw, which is a bit of a bummer. But I guess that's a reason to go shopping again! So, that'll be on my to-do list.

Bupadest Part 2

So, I started my Friday a bit slowly. I moseyed over to Parliament, and I managed to still get tickets for the early tour, even though Rick Steves said that they sell out awfully quick. Parliament is gorgeous! However, the 45 minute tour was a tad disappointing for the hefty ticket cost.

I saw both the crown jewels:

And there was the deliberation chamber, which featured the Polish eagle in memory of the Jagiellonian dynasty which once controlled Budapest.

 Next, I went to the House of Terror, which is this really cool, modern museum about the Nazi/Soviet occupations of Budapest. I couldn't take photos inside, sadly, because there was some really nifty stuff. However, I did get a shot of the outside. Yes, in another example of Poland following me everywhere, the House of Terror was featuring a movie schedule that included showing of Katyn.

Next, I moseyed on down to Heroes Square. Rick Steves kind of left me in a lurch on this one, but basically there are a bunch of important people here.

It's also close to the official monument commemorating the Uprising of 1956. You can see that it begins with a few, short posts, and solidifies into a group effort powerful enough to break concrete. It was pretty basic symbolism, but it's a cool monument nevertheless.

 Of course, I managed to find the most American thing in the park, a statue of George Washington, before continuing on to this old building that was built for a national fair a while back. But the Hungarians liked it so much that they decided to rebuild it as a permanent structure. It now houses a few museums, including the museum of agriculture, which I decided to skip.

Finally, I ended my afternoon explorations at the thermal baths where I watched chubby, old Hungarian women feel that it is perfectly acceptable to wear bikinis. Eventually, I wandered to the subway where I caught a train back to my hostel for a nap before meeting Tyler for the evening. We went to a ruin pub, which is a pub in an abandoned building, frequently old apartment buildings with court yards. This one had a bar and a DJ in the court yard, and all the rooms off the courtyard were filled with thrift store furniture and beer pong tables for the social crowd.

Budapest Part 1

At the Warsaw airport, I made friends with John the Baptist from Jordan. I didn't mean to make friends with him, but I knew where the smoking room was. John the Baptist definitely wanted to smoke. So, then he talked up Jordan and recommended that I use a travel agent to book my flight there.

So, I arrived in Budapest incredibly early. My hostel owner berated me for not dressing warm enough. After dropping my bag off at my hostel, I decided to take a tour of the city. Of course, before I even whip out my tour guidebook, I find this gem: a statue of Reagan. Boo yeah America. I think I may have a bit of excessive love for America now that I live elsewhere.

Next, I headed over to Parliament, where the Rick Steves walking tour begins. Unfortunately, they didn't have tours available because Parliament was actually meeting or something lame like that. The area around Parliament was full of awesome statues, though. My favorites are the following two. The first one is a memorial to the Uprising of 1956. This was a big deal in Hungary in fighting the Communist powers. Of course, as with all good things, it started in Poland. I think it was a much bigger deal in Hungary. But I'm still proud of the student protests in Poznan for beginning a revolution elsewhere. Kind of like Solidarity. Awesomeness beginning in the land of Poles.

The second is a flag with the center cut out. They used to do this to protest communism because there would be communist insignia in the middle of the flag.

I continued the walking tour with few amazing sights until I came to this park right outside the US embassy. (My hostel host told me that the US Embassy was nearby. I told him that was good in case I get in trouble. I was thinking "I cause trouble." He thought Americans were just really negative. I convinced him that it was because I lived with Poles.) There were at least five dog owners with their dogs. Including this adorable dog in front of the best photo I took all weekend.

On the walking tour, I eventually made it to this GIANT Catholic Church. The best part of this church is that it houses a shriveled up, dead hand from some saint. The best ever.

The next stop on my tour was the Postal museum. The museum was not among the list of amazing things to see in Budapest. But I just love a good postal museum. Because I love the post office. The best part of this post office was the awesome mannequins. Representing who knows what, there were real winners.

I then saw the Opera House. I wanted to go on the tour, but they only have a few tours. Which is sad, because opera houses always make me think of Phantom of the Opera. I love that book and movie and play.

I wandered across to Chain Bridge. It's super famous and named after someone famous. (This memory of mine is a steel trap, as you can see.)

There were a few other statues that Rick Steves recommended I visit, including "The Princess," a whimsical statue without any real purpose.

I walked these ways to the Great Hall - a really giant market place. One of the best parts of the Great Hall was that it featured some really wonderful displays about mushrooms. Mushroom picking and the different regions you can go to in order to pick mushrooms. The top floor was entirely souvenirs, and I picked up some real winners.

There was also a Langos stand. Langos is basically fried dough, but they make savory and sweet langos. I had a cinnamon sugar version. I wish I would've tried the savory kinds too, but I enjoyed what I had.

Next I went to this really awesome, nearby museum. I only went because it was nearby and on a metro line, but it ended up being an awesome decision. It had some really amazing old stuff about the entire history of Hungary. The history of Hungary seemed so much more advanced than I expected. Primarily because it was once the Roman empire. Then it was the Austria-Hungary empire. Everything was evolved.

After dinner with Tyler, we went to castle hill on the Buda side, and we talked and took photos of the pretty lights on the other side of the Danube.