In an effort to save time (because in all honesty, I could write a novels about all of these places), I'll try and highlight some of the details of these trips here, which include:
Berlin, Germany
Budapest, Hungary
Dublin, Ireland
Glasgow, Scotland
Edinburgh, Scotland
I've also uploaded albums with more pictures from Berlin and Budapest
as well as Dublin, Edinburgh, and Glasgow on Facebook. You can find them by clicking on the links.
I've also discovered that I can upload videos from my trips on YouTube. There, you can find not only
some of the short, random films I took from these last six weeks, but older videos featuring
making snow-angels in Stockholm, Catalonian Memorials in Barcelona, panoramas of Gothenburg,
and much else.
as well as Dublin, Edinburgh, and Glasgow on Facebook. You can find them by clicking on the links.
I've also discovered that I can upload videos from my trips on YouTube. There, you can find not only
some of the short, random films I took from these last six weeks, but older videos featuring
making snow-angels in Stockholm, Catalonian Memorials in Barcelona, panoramas of Gothenburg,
and much else.
Enjoy.
Berlin, Germany
Berlin was one of the cities I did not stop hearing about the moment I got to Europe. Word of its modern, laid-back style and up-and-coming contemporary art community had reached my ears as far back as 2007, but it was only when I got to Sweden did my interest in going peak to the point where my wanderlust compass point trembled relentlessly on Germany.
I finally made it to Berlin in the middle of March, with one of the best people I could have ever gone on tour with. Instantly, the city captured my heart. Berlin is absolutely huge; the city itself is like New York, where you can't possibly conceive of discovering everything it has to offer. It's not as much high, silver skyscrapers as the American cities, and not as 'royally gritty' as London, but rather---my first impressions of Berlin was one of a very handsome, very outspoken city, but one that carried a lot of baggage. World War II and Nazi Germany still weighs heavily on much of the place, not just in areas that are concretely focused on such social history, but in more modern-day culture as well. The word "jewish" has almost the same buzz as "black" does in America even today, and because much of the city still carries the scars of the bombings and fires in the 1940s, the reasons why go without saying.
That said, Berlin also came off to me as extremely laid-back. Even the dogs in the street were calm; hardly any of them had leashes on as they trotted by their owners. The "never-again" attitude definitely permeates a lot of casual encounters; I found the Germans I met (while outwardly very serious) extremely open, incredibly kind, and eager for good conversation. I would definitely love to live there; cheap, available food (and wine stores open at even 6am!), clubs and bars that never sleep (the rule, I've heard, is to 'disco-nap' at 9pm so you can wake up at 3am for the good lineups), and art absolutely everywhere (graffiti here wallpapers the buildings; such a delight).
We stayed in Berlin only for 2-3 days. While I mainly indulged in eating amazing German-Asian cuisine and taking long walks through the city, I did see the Pergamon (hugely impressive archeological collections), Checkpoint Charlie (vastly disappointing), and much of Mitte. We also made a trip out to Wedding, where stirred warm chocolate in an old, brick factory for a couple hours, and chatted with German engineers over a traditional German lunch (huge portions, gosh...)
But overall, my first experience in Germany was excellent. I found Berlin to be a city absolutely connected
to modern world much in the way London is, but in a way that more calmly included the dirtier subcultures, and more readily brought voices from the underground (both the good or bad side of the tunnel) up into light. I loved that honesty. As soon as we left, I felt myself begging to return.
I finally made it to Berlin in the middle of March, with one of the best people I could have ever gone on tour with. Instantly, the city captured my heart. Berlin is absolutely huge; the city itself is like New York, where you can't possibly conceive of discovering everything it has to offer. It's not as much high, silver skyscrapers as the American cities, and not as 'royally gritty' as London, but rather---my first impressions of Berlin was one of a very handsome, very outspoken city, but one that carried a lot of baggage. World War II and Nazi Germany still weighs heavily on much of the place, not just in areas that are concretely focused on such social history, but in more modern-day culture as well. The word "jewish" has almost the same buzz as "black" does in America even today, and because much of the city still carries the scars of the bombings and fires in the 1940s, the reasons why go without saying.
That said, Berlin also came off to me as extremely laid-back. Even the dogs in the street were calm; hardly any of them had leashes on as they trotted by their owners. The "never-again" attitude definitely permeates a lot of casual encounters; I found the Germans I met (while outwardly very serious) extremely open, incredibly kind, and eager for good conversation. I would definitely love to live there; cheap, available food (and wine stores open at even 6am!), clubs and bars that never sleep (the rule, I've heard, is to 'disco-nap' at 9pm so you can wake up at 3am for the good lineups), and art absolutely everywhere (graffiti here wallpapers the buildings; such a delight).
We stayed in Berlin only for 2-3 days. While I mainly indulged in eating amazing German-Asian cuisine and taking long walks through the city, I did see the Pergamon (hugely impressive archeological collections), Checkpoint Charlie (vastly disappointing), and much of Mitte. We also made a trip out to Wedding, where stirred warm chocolate in an old, brick factory for a couple hours, and chatted with German engineers over a traditional German lunch (huge portions, gosh...)
But overall, my first experience in Germany was excellent. I found Berlin to be a city absolutely connected
to modern world much in the way London is, but in a way that more calmly included the dirtier subcultures, and more readily brought voices from the underground (both the good or bad side of the tunnel) up into light. I loved that honesty. As soon as we left, I felt myself begging to return.
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest was initially never on my list of places to go to: I didn't really know that much about it, and I heard Hungarian was practically like Japanese in that it was extremely hard to interpret or understand. But after some persistent convincing (and some beautiful flickr pictures), I became more and more excited about visiting my first city in Eastern Europe.
Hungary, and especially Budapest, has been the talk of many travel columns and blogs right now, and it's absolutely evident why. Every bit of this city breathes ornate beauty. The buildings are unbelievable; I thought my poor camera was going to crap out and die from overuse. Every window is veiled in scrolling curtains of stone, every door with six-petaled flowers and detailed crown molding. Peach and yellow and white and tan---and when you get to the banks of the Danube River, the whole place expands out from you, and you're left trying to see and understand it all---like a beautiful old quilt draped on the bed, you simply cannot examine all the stitches. It is no wonder why this city has been conquered so many times by some many different nations; it's a serious gem.
I had an even shorter time in Budapest as I did Berlin. We had caught a night-train over from Berlin that left us a bit dizzy and tired the first day, so most of our touring occurred after a good day of rest. Through some serious rain and a bit of a language barrier ("Hi, I speak English and Pointing"), we went to the Buda Castle (incredible view), mined the depths of a random and charming old labyrinth (with a wine fountain!), and took a dip in the waters of the historic Gellert communal baths (alongside, like, 50-60 teenage Italians). Oh, but man were the dinners good---and boy did the alcohol flow. They make their drinks strong in Budapest; took a bottle of wine home, too, that I have yet to try.
Definitely an amazing place. Will have to return again in full-blown spring: I never managed to get to the world-famous Terror Museum...
Dublin, Ireland
Initially, my trip to Dublin was solely inspired by my desire to visit the Science Gallery. After I was accepted as their autumn intern, this little April trip quickly turned into an opportunity to preface the next chapter of my graduate experience with a little preliminary research. I only spent two days in Ireland, but man, was it wonderful; I am completely looking forward to this autumn.
What to say about Ireland? Ireland is green. Oh, so beautifully green. Green on the street signs and green on the street paint. Green in the flag and green in the pubs. Green grass, green oceanside cliffs, green trains. Oh, I love it. I will definitely be trying to get out to the countryside while working in the city.
In an attempt to get some concentrated insights into Dublin life, this trip I arranged to couchsurf with a Irish girl who lives in Dawkey, a little seaside village outside of the main city. Fink was extremely nice; she and her boyfriend graciously offered me wonderful meals and invitations to romp around with them that weekend as they went to birthday parties, Sunday markets, and quick dips in the cold Irish sea. Over the good conversations, culture exchange, and cigarette-rolling lessons, it became evident that Ireland was going to offer me a completely different expat experience than Sweden. I had forgotten how much more dimension a city can have when you're not trying to see through a language barrier. Though learning Swedish has been a hilarious experience, I'm looking forward to peeling away Dublin's layers with the language working in my favor...
Besides doing a bit of research on city life, I did manage to get to the Science Gallery. Though I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to see it being that they were closed for de-install that weekend, I met up with one my future supervisors (the Director of Exhibits) and got to peek around as construction was being done. My trip to London quickly proved its worth; many of the artists I had seen/met at the Kinetica Art Fair were going to be featured in the upcoming exhibit Human+, which I think helped to give a good first impression. Over coffee, I learned that I'd most likely be working in programming and events for the upcoming "City of Science" celebration in Dublin in 2012. The staff looks like a busy and tight-knit group, with rumors that the Director is more of a visionary than a museum manager. We'll see; there's no doubt that I'll be learning a lot from this experience.
But my stay in Dublin was quick; I had to get over to Scotland for the reason purpose of my trip to the UK. My supervisors had arranged for us to meet some of the staff from some Scottish museums, which was going to be an invaluable museological opportunity. If you didn't know, Scotland's museums are some of the most radical museums in the world; their infrastructure is very audience-centered and incredibly contested by old museological theory. They maintain a philosophy of inclusion and accessibility, and their museums are not only community centers, but have serious political voices as institutions well-loved by their visitors. Anyway: I had September to really see Dublin---I was on my way to Glasgow.
But my stay in Dublin was quick; I had to get over to Scotland for the reason purpose of my trip to the UK. My supervisors had arranged for us to meet some of the staff from some Scottish museums, which was going to be an invaluable museological opportunity. If you didn't know, Scotland's museums are some of the most radical museums in the world; their infrastructure is very audience-centered and incredibly contested by old museological theory. They maintain a philosophy of inclusion and accessibility, and their museums are not only community centers, but have serious political voices as institutions well-loved by their visitors. Anyway: I had September to really see Dublin---I was on my way to Glasgow.
Glasgow, Scotland
My first impression of Glasgow was "an English San Francisco." The city is well-characterized by a mix of old and new architecture; it was not uncommon to see a gleaming glass building next to an old stone church with English steeples. It was also an extremely walkable city; I must have walked 15K one day in my old, Swedish combat boots (still going!); it was not difficult to avoid paying for the subway in light of gathering pictures.
We went to Glasgow mainly to see four museums: the Riverside Museum of Transport (which is not technically up and running, but will be in June and the new building is designed by incredible architect named Zaha Hadid); Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery (an art gallery with a serious natural history collection; one of the most radical and well-loved audience-centered museums in the world); People's Palace and Winter Gardens (in a large park with one of the only Terracotta fountains in the world and a huge, huge greenhouse from the Victorian era); and St. Mungo's Museum of Religious Art and Life (at the base of the Glasgow Acropolis, a massive green hill with old Scottish graves and one of the only remaining, wholly-intact gothic cathedrals in Scotland).
All of these museums could merit a blog on their own, but ultimately, I'll say it was a fantastic but very tiring trip. A lot of museum fatigue, but a lot of lessons learned (and a lot of walking!). It was nice to finally travel with a huge group; a lot of classmate bonding over modest hostel breakfasts and negotiation of walking routes. I don't think I'll ever get over the experience of going to Primark with 8 cash-strapped girls on the brink of spring shopping...
Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh. I hate to admit it, but my first reason for being excited about Edinburgh stems from knowing J.K. Rowling lives there. Outside of thinking I may randomly stumble into her and get hired to simultaneously teach her kids science while writing fairy-novels for the rest of my life, I was also excited to see Edinburgh to partake in their International Science Festival, which was in its 20th year of life. Before dawn on Thursday, I left Glasgow for an impromptu class on scientific illustration at the Surgeons' Hall Museum at 10am, and the start of a long trip home.
I only had one day in Edinburgh. I managed to get to two museums: Surgeons' Hall Museum (which I can value as a museum in itself, as it's incredibly outdated, filled with bones and preserved body parts, and lots of ancient surgical tools since it was established by the Royal College of Surgeons) and the National Museum of Scotland (which is a history museum, but I only went to to see the Science Festival Events put on by the University of Edinburgh School of Science and Engineering).
Our flight back home was at 6 in the morning, so after museums and puttering around in places that could fit a 5'6" girl in her 55L backpack, my classmates and I spent the rest of the day and night looking for places to relax. Luckily for us, Edinburgh is absolutely beautiful to walk in---and we had great weather. The whole city is stone and castle-turrets; pubs and cobblestones; the quintessential romantic English look. While I had heard Glasgow was more "fun" than Edinburgh, I tended to disagree; not only are the museums fantastic, I found so much to do in the single day I was there that I fully intend to take advantage of my proximity to the city next year when I'm living in Dublin to visit again. For example: the latter part of the night, my Swedish friend Daniel and I sought refuge in Forest Cafe, an artist community-vegan cafe that has a bring-your-own-beer policy and encourages public art making and creative use of its space. Unfortunately, this cafe is currently under threat of being overrun/shut down and needs financial help to stay open. I bought two burritos and played three games of chess. I definitely send them my goodwill.
The last bit of the trip ended with 16 of us attempting sleep in the Edinburgh airport. This did not happen. I ultimately stayed up all night watching episodes of "Parenthood" and tuning out the fire alarm tests they decided to do at 2am while also painting the walls with a horrid odorous varnish. But, such is traveling: you make do. I crash landed from my last and final city in Gothenburg at 10am, mind full and body broken---the only way to travel. :)
WOW. What a voyage. You got your future life cut out for you lovely :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had such a great time.
<3 Gab