Leaving Berlin and Arriving in Copenhagen

Those last times in Berlin were especially nice. Sebastian took me out to meet some of his friends and we had some beer in some very unique and chill places. On Sunday, we went to a park where a festival-like flea market event was taking place. The Sun was shining and the place was crowded. Sebastian and I met up with some of his friends and we got some beer and watched the karaoke. I should explain. Some guy had set up a mic and some speakers and people took turns singing along. Most of them were ok, but occasionally when someone was really bad, the crowd would sing along to help them out and applaud them greatly for their effort. It was a very happy and relaxed atmosphere.

The next morning, Sebastian and I got up early. He had to go to his second-to-last day of work in Berlin and I had to catch the 8-hour bus ride to Copenhagen. I thanked Sebastian for his hospitality and as he got off the train I already started missing him. It was a short stay in Berlin, but it was packed and very fun. I never thought while he lived with me in Worcester that one day I would stay with him in Berlin, but that's what happened. I rode the train another 20 minutes by my lonesome and found my way to the bus station. There, I purchased the ticket and waited at the gate. Then I had a moment. I suddenly heard someone near me speaking Danish and it suddenly occurred to me that I would be going back to that place I lived for a couple months last year. After listening to German being spoken all weekend, the soft ooglie-schmooogli-ness of Danish lulled me in a relaxed content state which was what I would need to last the long trip.

I was last in Denmark from March-May 2008 doing a project for school. During that time I made a friend, Stig, and I met his friends, and we all hung out when we could. I was certainly looking forward to seeing them again and I wanted to see what Copenhagen is like in the summer. Denmark is a country that I greatly admire for its intellectual and laid back culture. The Danes have created a society that is healthy, modern, safe, and welcoming to outsiders. To some extend the Germans and the Italians have, too, but for me Denmark is more familiar and so it was with great enthusiasm that I watched the sea and the countryside go by as the bus and ferry and another bus carried me to Copenhagen.

I was happy to find Stig waiting for me at the station in Copenhagen. We immediately began talking about our plans for the next day. Sebastian told me about a concert that his cousin, Kwamie, would be performing at in Copenhagen. Stig said he wanted to go visit the venue (a boat) and so we both looked forward to going. That night, we made tortillas for dinner and then went out for a walk in the park nearby and had a couple beers. I was glad to enjoy Grøn Tuborg again after a year or so.

When Tuesday came we had breakfast and went out to Fælledpark, which I often visited, near where I used to live. We kicked a ball for a bit and then Henrik came. It was good to see him again. He joined us for some football and then we had lunch. After that, Henrik's girlfriend Tanja arrived. We hung out together for a little while and then I left to go visit my old neighborhood. I went to Classensgade, where the WPI students stay when they are here. I'm not sure why I wanted to walk past there. There really isn't anything to see but the building. Anyway, I liked remembering when I lived there and it was cold and I had my project to work on. I suddenly missed greatly my project partners, Krista and Peter. As I stopped in the cafes that I used to frequent, it occurred to me that a lot of people I know in the states would be really jealous of my presence back in Copenhagen (my apologies if you are reading this now). I thought of Erica H., who first told me about the project site and got me interested in doing my project in Copenhagen. Of course I thought of my project partners and my advisor, as well as some of the other students. I thought about my friend, Tom C., who recently returned from Denmark but didn't want to leave. I realized how fortunate I am to be back here. I also realized that each one of those people I mentioned will come visit this place again if they haven't already.

At night, we went to the boat to see Kwamie. The party boat was called Stubnitz and comes in from Germany every summer to host concerts and whatnot. There were going to be 5 or 6 bands followed by an open mic session. Stig and I really enjoyed each of the bands, including Kwamie's. After the show, we went out on deck to mingle and chat with the other folks there. I talked a bunch with a nice bloke named Bernd, and some pleasant friends of Kwamie. Stig joined the circle and we shared stories and laughs. Later, we watched fireworks from the Out Games which were taking place in Copenhagen all week. Even later, Stig and myself and a couple others went out for a beer at an Aussie bar before heading home.

Our big plan of the week would commence on the morrow, when we would depart to Nykøbing, Sjælland. I have marked its general location on the map below with a green square that has a blue dot in the center and a grayish-blue outline. Shown in red, of course, is Copenhagen. As I write this now, I have already returned from that 2-day trip, and believe me it was awesome. More on that very soon.

Berlin

My flight to Berlin was short. I had a window seat and I slept for a bit with the window shade open and so my dream was bright and real. I spent a long time at the airport learning the public transportation system and then I spent a long time getting to Sebastian's office. Sebastian is a friend of mine who lived with me in Worcester for a stint while he was at WPI. Now I am living with him for a stint in Germany. One of the first things I happened to see were some remnants of the Berlin Wall.

Since my arrival there has been a focus on experiencing the night life in Berlin. Two nights ago, Sebastian showed me a fun part of the city and we had fun. I met a very nice Finnish couple and enjoyed a couple beers with them. Yesterday was mostly for R&R. I reserved my bus ticket to Copenhagen for Monday. I really cannot wait to be in a familiar country again and to see my friends there. In the meantime, it is all about getting the Berlin weekend experience. Last night, Sebastian and I had a couple social events attend. Later, we went to a really nice outdoor techno club/bar on the water and with a lot of different places to chill. So we chilled. On the way home, we continued the tradition of getting a kebab for breakfast. It is nice for me because all the time Sebastian is doing the talking for me, but when we go for kebab I can order my own food by practicing some Turkish.

Some observations about Berlin: 1. It is very very diverse. 2. It is huge, but it doesn't feel threatening because the buildings are of a tolerable size. 3. Germans are a very friendly people and the language, though it sounds harsh in movies, sounds gentler when I hear it spoken here. 4. Turks and kebab stores everywhere 5. Young people (like my age) are in the streets everywhere, spending time with friends and having a good time.

Tonight it will be early to bed for a change. Sebastian has work in the morning and I have a bus to catch. I decided to take the bus to Copenhagen because it is about 4 times cheaper than anything else and I will get to see the German countryside. So normally I would dread an 8-hour bus ride, but I'm actually looking forward to this one. I am looking forward to so many things about Denmark that I have been missing, but that's for a later post.

Goodbye for now, Venice

An Afternoon at the Lido

The Lido is known to the Venecians (and tourists) as the place to go to the beach and swim. But first I will explain how I got there.

In the afternoon yesterday, one of the guys who works in the office invited Kyle and me to his son, Barnaba's, birthday party. It happened to be on a private beach on the Lido island which largely barriers the Venecian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea.

I was unsurprisingly one of the whitest people on the beach, and one of the very few not wearing a speedo-like bathing suit. Still, it was nice to work on my tan, swim in the warm but refreshing water, and ride the waves slowly to shore. The birthday party was nice, too. Barnaba had turned 5, and all his tiny friends were running around with squirt guns. It was very cute. There was cake and snacks, sparkling wine and soda, and shade.

In the evening, Kyle and I stopped at the apartment to change out of bathing suits and go to dinner. I relaxed after a shower on the window sill.

Dinner was at Pampo's again (the place we had gone the first night). The food was again superb and the atmosphere authentic, pleasant, and thoroughly relaxing. After dinner we ran a local errand and then stopped at the apartment to fill a couple cups with Gappa and sat outside by the water at the edge of the park. We each told our story about how we ended up traveling so much and how we ultimately arrived in Venice. I particularly enjoyed the part of Kyle's story where he described nonchalantly walking into the Global Opportunities Fair at WPI just because he wanted to know what it was. He had no idea coming to WPI that people could do their projects somewhere else and no expectation that he would ever do his in Venice. Now he has been living and working here this summer. The moral of the story is that these great life-defining experiences seem to start out as merely an idea, an introduction, or a fleeting moment of curiosity. This is about where Venice ends for me. It is Thursday morning and I leave tomorrow midday for Berlin. My time here has been every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. The food was amazing, the Venecians friendly, and the days sunny and warm. I walked, rowed, swam, climbed, and boated all over this city for almost 4 days. I saw great works of art and architecture, learned some Italian, and experienced the city and culture in ways that most of the people who pass through here only wish they could. I leave you with a video that I took at the beach yesterday. The next time you hear from me will be when I am in Germany.

A Very Long Venetian Day

The day started as I described before, with the walk to work and the local café with the excellent cappuccini. After writing the previous post, I grabbed my sunglasses and walked outside. I walked until I got as lost as I could get and then took out a map. I was exploring the other side of the Grand Canal (which I snapped above). There really wasn't anything exciting or noteworthy that happened on the walk other than that I got a really nice look at the city. Tired, I returned to the office where Kyle works. Shortly thereafter the office went to lunch at the place they always have lunch, just down the road on a busy street. We each had a spritz and a toasted sandwich as we watched Venetians and tourists walk by. Pictured are my hosts, Kyle and Fabio.In the late afternoon Kyle took me to a rowing club called Settemari (Seven Seas) where he has been learning to row a traditional Venetian boat called a "caorlina". It is not a thing for tourists but for locals to enjoy. Besides none of the others there knew more than a few words of anything but Italian. Kyle taught me a few useful words when we arrived. Pictured is the boathouse.I climbed into the boat nervously though it was not because I have a fear of rowing or water or anything like that. I was nervous because I knew that whatever transpired over the following couple of hours, I was sure to screw up. Besides, I had never rowed standing up. However, with five other rowers I didn't expect my contribution to me critical. I was wrong about that. There really was no stopping to enjoy the view or a swim. Pictured above is me after we reached the mainland and got out of the boat to restock the water and get some beer. The bad news was that the bar was closed. So instead of getting a nice rest, we immediately climbed back in the boat and rowed back. The boat I was in is the one closest to me in the picture. I am sweaty because we had just rowed 4.6 km non-stop in the summer Sun. I felt like a wimp because everyone else seemed to not be sweating as much. Also, I could barely stand because my legs felt as though they would collapse at any moment. The return trip was difficult, but my rowing technique improved a little. The others said I did fine for my first time. In any event I paid close attention to the pointers the instructor gave when we were on shore. Ultimately, I was glad to have had the exercise and the truly Venetian experience.
But the day did not end with that.

Kyle and I walked for another five or so kilometers looking for a good restaurant. I try not to take too many pictures when I am out and about but I snapped this one quickly as we walked.
The restaurant we found was right next to the location of the next event we had planned to attend: an outdoor concert of a jazzy Venetian ska band called Ska J. We ate a bunch of delicious food and had a couple Italian beers. When the show picked up, we moved to where we would have a better view. We snapped a couple of photos of each other.

On the walk home, I took another picture of the Grand Canal from the other side of its biggest bridge.
We stopped off at San Marco's Square where we listened to the bell of its enormous clock tower sound with its characteristically rich and eerie notes unique to the midnight chime. When we got back to the apartment I took a very cold and refreshing shower, fell into bed and slept very well again. In just this one day I had walked about 20 km and rowed 9. Rowing class meets again on Thursday and so I plan to take it easy for today to save up my energy. However, there are some fun plans for this evening. More about that tomorrow :)

Venezia

It's really true. I'm in Venice now and for the next few days. The picture above is one of the first ones I took. I think everyone has seen pictures of the place before, so I will only put a few more up. I will tell you about my trip here and the first day and then give some remarks about this city.

I bought my ticket the morning before my departure. I flew Swiss for the first time to Zurich from Boston. The flight was nice. Each passenger had their own flat screen with which they could select music or audio books to listen to or watch movies etc. I opted to sleep instead which was difficult because there was this one Turkish kid three people away who was whining to his mom all night long. I could understand most of what he said and it fueled my dreams. When I woke up, the kid stopped whining and then fell asleep. The Zurich airport was not that exciting to me. All the stores in the airport were displaying Swiss watches for $500. The scenery was rolling hills and forest. I could have believed I was in West Virginia or something. The flight to Venice was short and it was over the alps which was spectacular as always. About 5 minutes before the plane landed a thought suddenly occurred to me: 'Holy vino, I'm in Italy! about to land in Venice!' I just felt so excited all of a sudden. It was like I just remembered that I have always wanted to visit Italy.

I am staying with my friend from WPI, Kyle. He gave me very good and detailed instructions for how to get to where he was from the airport. By the time I arrived on the island where Kyle was, I had already gotten a nice view of the city on the boat ride in. He took me to the WPI project site office where he works and later we went out for a long walk around. The first thing I noticed were the tourists:
They are everywhere. It is like the city is one big museum on a Saturday during the busy season. The good news is that they stick to only one section of the city.
Kyle took me all over one half of the city. One thing I liked seeing was the sundial pictured right. The other thing I liked seeing was EVERYTHING ELSE! Everywhere you look is just as beautiful as the next part whether there are lots of people or no people. It's like I was only expecting a part of the city to have that old elegant feel, but really it's the whole thing.

In the evening we found ourselves at a restaurant not far from Kyle's apartment. It was a cute family-run restaurant and bar that Kyle frequents. Everything about the experience was lovely and perfect. I know that lacks description, but it is how I felt during and after. I had fish lasagna with a salad and chicken. Needless to say it was phenomenal. restaurant was picturesque but I decided not to take a picture.Everything about the food and the the street to the park. The experience was very authentic as we were nowhere near the After the meal, we each had an espresso and then walked across touristy part of town (and hence the cost of the food was an order of magnitude less). We watched the light fade over the city.

When the Sun went down, we went back inside the apartment. Kyle lives on the top floor and there is an attic room where I sleep. Since the apartment is under construction, it is very empty and open. I love it. We conversed about Venice by large open windows over glasses of Grappa and then went to bed. I slept like a baby. Kyle woke me up to a bright morning at 7:00. We got ready for the day and then walked along canals and through narrow streets the couple kilometers to work. We stopped at a small café for cappuccini. I hate to gush over everything because it makes it seem like while I was there, I gushed. Well I didn't. The café was what it was: busy, relaxing, adorable, and friendly. Thinking back on it (it was a couple hours ago now) it rocked. I love these simple yet wonderful experiences.

The First Half of 2009 in a Nutshell

I was in Turkey of course. Hanging out with friends in Taksim.


Pınar and I went out to our now favorite restaurant.


Visited more friends in İstanbul.


Pınar holding Eşref Armağan's (blind Turkish painter) depiction of the Van Monster.

To see more of his works go here.

...and Sasha from my hometown was sitting behind me on the flight home from Paris.

Now I am about to embark on the next and last great adventure for a while...
2 or 3 weddings, 4 or 5 countries, and 40-something days.

...

dum dum dum dum dum DUMMMMMMMM!!!