Cologne or Köln

The trip to Köln came the weekend after our project was due and presented. It also happened to coincide with Easter weekend. After the presentations were finished everyone was ready for a break. We headed to Köln Friday morning and arrived that afternoon. We stopped in Liege for a transfer and got to see a great Santiago Calatrava (a prominent Spanish Architect) train station. We left Liege for Köln on a German train, which was clean, beautiful, and efficient (as you might expect). We arrived in Köln HBF (central station), which was not the most grand of stations, but was still a very fine example of German efficiency. It was miles above the awful Amsterdam train station. Right outside the station was the Köln Cathedral, the second largest cathedral in Germany. We marveled and took a few pictures before walking to our hostel. Once we were checked in, we headed out to a great German restaurant and brewery called the Weissbrauhaus. We had great food and great beer. After dinner we got some ice cream and explored the city a bit more. We went to bed early as we were still pretty tired from the past week.

We woke up early on Saturday to arrive at Köln Cathedral to begin our class tour. We started by visiting the media center of Köln, the major center of the German media. After that we walked to a Museum by architect Peter Zumthor. The museum was constructed over a bombed out church, and preserves much of the ruin within a carefully designed space. There is a walkway going over the ruins creating the feel of an archeological dig site. The rest of the museum is very clean and modern, using light to create spaces that feel very gentle. After exploring the museum, we made our way back to the city center. Over the lunch break, I went with a few other students to climb the Köln Cathedral Belfry. It was a very difficult climb up the stairs, as there was no elevator, but the view was well worth it. We also got to see some of the more intimate space of the Cathedral. After lunch we went to explore some newer developments along the Rhine River. We then went to a restaurant/ bar that was once an old fire station. Our professor bought us each a beer to celebrate our last trip and our finished project. We sat and talked for a while, before parting ways. I went to the shopping area to look for a new backpack for my upcoming trip to Ireland. After finding a new one for about 80 Euros (on sale from 100 Euros), I met up with my group and we went to find a place to eat dinner. On the way we ventured into a barrel vaulted passageway, with a group of very talented street musicians playing. The ensemble consisted of a violin player, two accordion players, a tuba player, and a man with a massive triangular stringed bass. Between the five of them, they were able to mimic the sound of a large church organ with the help of the unique acoustics in the space. We stayed and enjoyed their performance for quite a while before succumbing to hunger. We found another great German restaurant near the Cathedral and had dinner. After dinner I went my own way and went back to the hostel.

The next morning I woke up early again, this time to go to the Easter Mass at Köln Cathedral. I arrived 30 minutes early and still found it difficult to find a seat. I ended up sitting to the south side of the altar. It was a magnificent service, though I didn’t understand much of what was said. My two years of high school German weren’t much help. The organ and the choir were the best part and would be the highlight of any Easter Mass. The sounds of the organ and the choir resonated throughout the massive halls of the Cathedral. After mass, we got coffee and went to lunch at a great burger restaurant. I then went back to the Cathedral to take some pictures of the interior and the surrounding area. After that we boarded our train back to Lille. It was my first Easter away from my family, but I think I made up for with a once in a lifetime experience.

Normandy and Mont Saint Michel

My apologies for the long delay since my last blog post. I have been traveling to Ireland and Venice and have a lot of catching up to do.

Anyhow, here are my pictures from Normandy and Mont Saint Michel

 The Grande Palais in Paris

 Detailed Art Nouveau Iron Work

 Bayeaux Cathedral

 German Bunker at Pont du Hoc

 Pont du Hoc

 Omaha Beach

 U.S. Cemetery at Normandy

 Names of the Missing

 Head Stones

 Bayeux

 The Bayeux Tapestry depicting the conquest of William the Conqueror

 Mont Saint Michel

 The Monastery Tower

 The View of the Open Tide

 The World's Greatest Cloister

 View from the Tidal Sands

Normandy – A Fortunate Journey

Over the past weekend I was fortunate enough to have the chance to travel to the northern coast of France, to the region know as Normandy. Since I arrived in France I had wanted to visit the beaches of the D-Day Invasion and the site of the American Cemetery. The trip to Normandy came the weekend before our major project was due. I had to decide whether it was more worth my time to see the beaches of D-Day and the fortified monastery of Mont Saint-Michel. It was a more difficult decision than it may seem. I was far behind where I wanted to be and the weekend would be the perfect chance to catch up. But the obvious revelation hit me; I might not get to see these things again, at least not on this trip.

The trip began on Thursday as we headed over to Paris by train. We stopped to see an Art Fair at the Grand Palais, a magnificent piece of turn of the century architecture. The Grand Palais was originally constructed as an exhibition hall the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Its glass roof and Art Nouveau iron structure were a marvel for its time. It was very entertaining to view art in such a grand space. The art pieces on display were presented by a number of prominent local artists. After spending a few hours exploring the exhibit, we departed for the train station. Our next stop was Bayeux.

In Bayeux we spent the night exploring the city and having a great French dinner and woke Friday for a tour of several D-Day sites. The tour started at Pointe du Hoc, where a group of U.S. Army Rangers climbed a cliff to assault a Germany fortification at the top. The fortification is one of the most well preserved in the region and many of the bomb craters are still there. After that we went down to Omaha Beach where 3000 some American Soldiers lost their lives. The beach had few historical treasures left. Only a few remnants of German bunkers in the hill side, but it was not hard to image what it would have been like to run across that beach into the storm of chaos. While I was there I ran back across the beach, imagining what it might have been like. After leaving the beach, we visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. Many may recognize it from the movie Saving Private Ryan. Visiting the cemetery was an almost surreal experience. I wish I gotten to spend more time in these places but our tour did not allow for that. I didn’t really get the chance to connect with the spaces. I’m sure I would have cried at the cemetery or the beach, I had found myself with more time. After the tour was over, we took a train to a town called Pontorson to visit the Abbey at Mont Saint-Michel.

Mont Saint-Michel is a fortified monastery built on a tall rocky tidal island. The island is surrounded by extraordinarily flat ground that is exposed when the tide fades. When the tide goes out, it goes out for miles. The monastery was a marvel of human construction. The spire towers over the barren landscape and can be seen for miles when the fog has lifted. From inside the top of the monastery, you get the impression that it was literally built among the clouds. I found it hard to believe that humans were capable of building something so fantastic. The rooms of the monastery go down into the rock and im sure I only got to see a portion of the catacombs that exist below. When the tide goes out it becomes possible to walk around the outside of the fortification.  Walking among the barren sands gives an even greater contrast to the towering structure. When wet though, the sand turns to quicksand, which will really only suck you down if you are missing half your brain and don’t notice that sort of thing. After spending an entire day exploring in awe, we had to depart and head back to Lille.

The weekend was full of experiences I could only dream of back in Fargo. In the end I experienced both somber tragedies as well as unparalleled awe. I wonder what next weekend will bring.

The City of Music I Did Not Hear

 Gasometer

 National Library

 Street Car Shed

Schonbrunn Palace

 Palmenhaus Schonbrunn

 Ornate Victorian Iron Structure

 Vienna

 Vienna Natural History Museum

 Museum Entrance

    Random Art Nouveau Building                 Neo-Gothic Parliament Building

 Butterfly House

Munich and Vienna: Part 2 - Vienna

We left Munich early Saturday morning on a train to Vienna. On the way we traveled through Salzburg, where the Sound of Music was set. We arrived in the early afternoon and checked into our hostel. After that we met up with an old high school friend of Jeremiah’s, who is teaching in Vienna. We met at a place called Gasometer. It’s a series of apartment buildings built into a complex of four old natural gas storage facilities. Each is a large brick cylinder that was retrofitted with a different design, each by a different architect. I have wanted to see these in person for a while because I am a huge fan of adaptive reuse design. Unfortunately the apartments are secured and I couldn’t visit them or see their atrium's. I was also disappointed by the fact that there was a rather crude shopping complex, tastelessly inserted into the lower sections, connecting the four buildings. While, from what I know of the project, the residential portion is quite successful and inventive, the shopping portion was poorly done and is a stain on an otherwise magnificent old structure. After visiting Gasometer, Jeremiah’s friend showed us to a great Austrian restaurant, before parting ways with us. After a great meal, we returned to the hostel to get ready for the next day.

The next day we met Jeremiah’s friend at a place in Vienna known as Schonbrunn Palace. The complex is a large palace and a massive garden, with a maze of branching paths and coves with statues and fountains. The gardens even have the world’s oldest zoo. At the back of the gardens is a large hill overlooking the entire site and well as a large part of Vienna. The view from the top is spectacular. In the Gardens is a Palmenhaus (Palm House or greenhouse), which is a great example of turn of the century architecture. It was one of my favorite visits during the trip. The large building was filled with a wide variety of plants supported by a beautiful Victorian structure. We spent a great deal of time exploring the Palmenhaus and the rest of the Gardens. After a while Jeremiah’s friend had to depart and left to find lunch. After Lunch we went to visit the Vienna Natural History Museum. The museum was filled with all manner of minerals animals and plants. It was a very classical museum with great architecture that really made the space feel scholarly. The architecture enhanced the wealth of knowledge. We stayed at the museum until closing time, after which, we got dinner and went to bed.

On the third day we explored many of the older historic buildings around the city; parliament, government buildings, libraries and such. It was a rather disappointing day as many things in Vienna are closed on Mondays. We wanted to see the National Library, a massive archive of historic books, but it was closed to visitors that day. We also paid a visit to Beethoven’s house, but that was closed as well. We were also a bit dejected by the fact that we couldn’t see any musical performances (More so Jeremiah than myself, I didn’t have any clothing suitable for the Vienna Philharmonic). It may come as no surprise that concert tickets often sell out months in advance or cost a significant amount of money. Pretty much everything we visited was either closed or cost too much money to see. We did get to visit a fine butterfly house in another old Victorian greenhouse, but that was only major success of the day.

We awoke the next morning to catch our train back to Munich. After spending a day walking around Munich again, essentially killing time until our train back to Paris, we were tired and ready to be back in Lille. We spent a great deal of time in Munich’s Englischer Garten, before going back to the Hofbrauhaus for another great Bavarian dinner. We then boarded another train to Paris overnight and got back to Lille Wednesday morning, exhausted but happy for the things we had seen and done.

Much in Munich

 Interior of Asamkirche

 Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel

 Munich's Olympic Park

 Metal and Glass Fabric Structure

 Surfers in Munich

 Beer at the Hofbrauhaus

 BMW Welt at Night

 Dachau Concentration Camp - "Work Sets You Free"

 Dachau Concentration Camp

 Holding Cell

Holding Cells for special or uncooperative prisoners

 Furnaces for burning the dead

 The Bavarian Countryside

 View of the Valley at Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle