October 31, 2015

Island Castle Dreams

A beautiful autumn day always makes me feel like I've won the lottery and paid to make everything warm and colorful. I love fall so much more than spring, and could stay in perpetual autumn forever.


The day I ventured to the Chiemsee was such a day, when every minute lengthened and the hours stretched into what may have been a day, but felt more like a long vacation.

The Chiemsee beckoned me for many reasons, but the biggest draw to Bavaria's largest lake was the unfinished French castle on the forested island of Herrenchiemsee.


It was a bit of a commitment to get there, but easy for a person who loves walking in sunshine! From the Prien am Chiemsee train station, it's a twenty minute walk to the ferry dock. During the summer, a small train makes this journey a lot faster, but as soon as October hits, the train takes a break. The ferry is a nice fifteen minute ride on the Chiemsee, but upon arrival at the island, the castle itself is another twenty minute walk. This can be alleviated by paying for horse and carriage rides, but that's never really been my thing, and there was no reason to rush this experience.



The round trip ferry cost is about eight euros and the castle tour is also only eight euros. For a Versailles imitation, this is extremely reasonable.

Versailles?!

Yes. Ludwig II, who we all magically credit as the fairy tale king creator of Neuschwanstein, also started this palace project as a massive homage to King Louis XIV.


Looks familiar, doesn't it? Let us remember that Ludwig II and Louis XIV were NOT contemporaries of each other, and Ludwig II dwelt in the romantic past of anything that could help him escape his present reality.

For him, this meant making his own Versailles, albeit a little bit bigger, a little bit better, and a little bit more extravagant. But alas, his over-the-top dreams were never realized because he ran out of money and died soon after.


What was this new palace supposed to be like? The outside front you see of the castle was meant to serve as the central section and two wings of the same size were planned for the right and left to resemble Versailles. The 1/3 of the castle that was built had seventy rooms - but only twenty of which were ever finished, and only ten or so which are available to view during the castle tour. No photos are allowed of the ornate and decadent interiors, but you can search Google to see some of what I'm talking about here.


The most expensive room was the Louis XIV bedroom chamber, meant to exemplify the throne of the Sun King in all its splendor. It was as overwhelming as Versailles itself, touched with gold and rich fabric, and facing the east for the sun to rise through the windows. It's the most expensive bedroom of 19th century Europe and no one has ever slept in it.

I will say that this Hall of Mirrors was magnificent, bigger in every way than the original in the southeast of Paris. The crazy thing is that no party was ever held here, and during the ten days that Ludwig did spend in the castle, he had the servants light the thousands of candles of the Viennese chandeliers in the room so he could walk through it alone.


The strangest room was Ludwig's bedroom. Because of his obsession with the Sun King, he had somehow arrived at the conclusion that he himself was the Moon King. This meant his bedroom was in hues of blues, with a large glass blue globe at the foot of his bed: a night-light that gave the effect of moonlight in the room while he slept. Creative, but probably part of the reason he was called Mad (not Moon) King Ludwig.

My favorite room was the dining room. The chandelier is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my entire life. Made completely out of porcelain, every detail was meticulously crafted into a flower or bird and painted in soft pastels. It was like springtime falling from the sky! The other cool thing about the dining area was that the table was attached to a crank mechanism that could bring the table down to the lower floor to be filled with food, then lifted back up to the dining room to be consumed. No wait staff seen or heard!


Another interesting feature finished before construction was stopped is the enormous bathtub. It's more like a medium-sized indoor pool, about twenty feet in diameter and at least six feet deep. It took something like eight hours to fill the "tub" with enough warm water.


The symmetry of the building and gardens was established and remains lovely even if it is unfinished. In many ways, it is a relief that Ludwig never finished this grand project, as it had already cost more than both Neuschwanstein and Linderhof (his other Bavarian castles) combined. The more I learn about Ludwig II, the more I understand that he was a very lost person, trying to fulfill his emptiness by chasing after a nostalgia for things of a bygone era. He unfortunately did this in too large of a scale, and irresponsibly at the expense of the Bavarian budget.


We tourists like to enjoy majestic kings and queens, stories of places and people that distance themselves into legends. But while we can appreciate the ingenuity and vision of the fairy tale Moon King, we must also consider the cost. Money is one thing, but Ludwig ultimately paid for his poorly timed artistic expressions with his life.



But it's no wonder Ludwig chose Herrenchiemsee for the realization of his Versailles dreams. It's a stunning landscape and would have proven more impressive than Versailles itself as "the Versailles on an island." If this palace had been finished, maybe Versailles would have become "the Herrenchiemsee of Paris."


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October 27, 2015

October on the Chiemsee

There's too much to say about my day on the Chiemsee. The sun burst out in the afternoon, and I took too many pictures for just one post.

This entry is entirely devoted to the beauty of the biggest lake in Bavaria, the Chiemsee.


I've heard that "October is the Saturday of months." I couldn't agree more.

Welcome to my perfect October Saturday, complete with zero filters on the most wonderful blue sky.









Stay tuned for the next post about the castle on the island....
 
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October 17, 2015

German Swag 101: Sounding it Out

It's such a different dynamic to have my team culture in English again. There's a little bit of German here and there, but our interactions are primarily in free-flowing English.
 
This, coupled with the fact that I don't have a team to coach this year, has impacted my motivation to learn German. But not in the way you'd expect - I'm actually way more motivated to learn because I don't feel like I'm drowning in ignorance constantly.

Literally had no idea what was going on most of the time.
Learning French was hard. Coaching in French was harder. I had really wanted to learn it since I was very young, but I needed some serious breaks from French in order to actually digest the language. I couldn't understand what people were saying to me because it all slurred together in a mixture of "juhz" and "kess-kuhz" and it was an extremely frustrating time.

German, while I'm clearly on the early side of learning, is so much clearer in my ears. Even pronounciations are easier. I can pick out words I've seen or heard when Germans are talking to each other. I don't know if it's my American ear welcoming another Germanic language, but it's nice to feel like I could get the hang of this sooner rather than later.

Another contributing factor is probably the fact that we've already done the whole "learn a language where they speak it" thing. The initial terror (yes, it's real, and it lasted for two years) of trying to communicate has passed. I don't understand half of what's happening around me in German, but I can relax and smile it by now, instead of panicking in a cold sweat.
 
I have always loved learning. Even when I hated school (the people there), I loved class. Learning French from Monique will always be one of my favorite things I ever did in France. German class is no exception. It's a totally different environment of a group with a diverse range of levels, but it is still so much fun.

We German-Learners went to the Vilsbiburg Sunday market together!

I missed a few sessions while I was sick with a fever a couple of weeks back, and I felt so behind in class! I definitely have that fear of missing out when it comes to learning. I know this makes me a super nerd, but it's also made me smart enough to have this life in Europe, and I can be thoroughly satisfied with being a super nerd for that!

Anyway, German class gives me those sort of brain growing pains that come when you're trying to understand something, but it's still just a little bit out of reach. It's good to feel this way because, eventually, when a concept is understood, it creates confidence and success.

There is light at the end of the language tunnel!
At this stage of the game (nearly two months in), my German can be summed up in the following paragraphs.

It's a complete guessing game as far as whether a noun is masculine (der), feminine (die), or neutral (das). At least the plurals seem to all have the same definite article of "die," but then sometimes I get that confused with the feminine when the noun itself doesn't give me any clues (i.e. der Reporter, die Reporterin, die Reporter).

There is something evil called the accusative form. When something is accusative, the definite article changes and adds more letters. I don't know why, when, or how this happens. I just know that when it does, I accuse German of trying to trick me. It's not nice.

Taking "zu" and making it "zur" (zu + der) and "zum" (I think it's zu + dem?) is okay to understand because French has similar combinations that make way less sense (à + les = aux).

The whole split verb thing: WOW. There are several verbs of all kinds that require proper conjugation of the second half and the first half just sticks onto the end of the sentence. Yes. You need an example. If I want to say, "I bring a book with me," I use the verb "mitbringen." First, I must conjugate the second half of the verb "bringen" to first person, then throw "mit" at the very end of the sentence. In German: Ich bringe ein Buch mit.

There are tons of these verbs. Yayyyyyyy.

The general pronunciations in German are okay; I have found the best advice I have received was from Katrina at Thrifty Gypsy Travels on how to pronounce the second vowel when two vowels are paired (ie = "e" and ei = "i"). I have some trouble distinguishing between when an "s" stays true and when it sounds like "sh" instead. Mastering the "z" and remembering to say the "h" (unlike in French!) are working my brain constantly, too.

On a more fun note, our class is getting wrapped up in the drama of the characters in the dialogues we read. One Frau is always asking another Frau what her husband is doing, Dino wants to become a musician but his girlfriend and parents want him to become a teacher, and Monika totally likes Dino but is stuck in the Friend Zone. It's like our own German soap opera script, and it keeps us coming back for more!

I like this German autumn view.

I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find the same kind of community I had while tutoring English at the university in Paris. I kept thinking I had to be the tutor in order to find the same level of fun and learning. Turns out, being a student in these German lessons is just as awesome!

The rest of the German Swag 101 journey thus far...
Pre-Arrival
Week 1
Counting Blessings


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October 13, 2015

Scenes of Salzburg

Welcome back to Salzburg!


It is such a better experience to have both Munich and Salzburg as day trip options now. I can get one of those special regional train passes and take the better part of the day wandering around at my leisure instead of rushing through an expensive weekend with too much time spent on the journey.

As October is my favorite month of the year, it seemed only fitting that I return to Salzburg to see it in a different way than I did back in March of 2011.


My favorite Mirabell Gardens.


Why? Because of the Do-Re-Mi steps and unicorns, of course!


Salzburg is full of gorgeous squares, fountains, and steeples.




I sat here for a long time and listened to tourists singing songs from The Sound of Music.




This café reminded me so much of something you'd find in Paris.


Mozartplatz (find the gold ball and white tents) was filled with an organic food festival where I enjoyed delicious pumpkin soup and apple juice while listening to jazz music.



I can never get enough of Mirabell and these castle views!


There were so many beautiful doors. This one was my favorite.




Thank you, Salzburg, for being exceptionally photogenic and picturesque. I'll see you again during the Christmas markets.

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October 4, 2015

Debunking 5 Myths About Oktoberfest

To be totally honest and upfront about everything: I did not expect to like Oktoberfest.

Beer. Crowds. Dirndl.

Not. My. Thing.


In addition to these general preconceptions, there was also the massive propaganda that has always been spewed in America. Yes, the concept of Oktoberfest when talked about in America is complete propaganda: from both sides of the issue.

There are the lingering Prohibitionists who swear up and down that Oktoberfest is just a bunch of fornicating drunkards, high on hell-raising, and who may murder you while under the influence.

Then there are the party-lovers who dream of nothing but going to the largest beerfest in the world: where the beer flows like water and it's an entire month of rowdy and exciting spring break with no consequences.

Emergency last-minute dirndl and lederhosen
at the Munich train station.

Even my British tour guide in Munich told our group that during the month of Oktoberfest, there were so many drunk people stumbling around at all hours of the day and there was vomit everywhere.

These things were genuinely told to me. Now I'm wondering what could have ever convinced me that going to Munich during Oktoberfest could be a good idea.

Well, curiosity (and a day off from volleyball) got the best of me. After enjoying Munich my way, I directed my steps toward the large space on the map reserved for Oktoberfest, ready to confirm or debunk these five myths.


Myth #1 Oktoberfest is the full month of October.

Most of the festivities happen in September. This year's dates were September 17th to October 3rd. It is always over by the first weekend in October. If you ever want to attend Oktoberfest, make sure you have time off in September.

Myth #2 Oktoberfest is a giant college party.

Granted, I wasn't a "partier" during college, but I'm fairly certain that the parties didn't include children, parents, grandparents, and other family members of all ages. Oktoberfest is actually geared toward family fun.


Myth #3 Oktoberfest is a beer festival.

Yes, of course, there is beer in the tents, and it's cheap and plentiful. But a festival dedicated to a food or beverage isn't usually under the disguise of a carnival. Oktoberfest is the Bavarian State Fair. And like all fairs, there is locally brewed beer, local food, local treats, crazy fair rides, expensive and impossible carnival games, and a lot of noise and lights. The biggest difference between a normal state fair and Oktoberfest is a state fair lacks a traditional costume and about 30% of the people at Oktoberfest are wearing dirndl or lederhosen.

Myth #4 Oktoberfest is full of drunkards and puke.

I walked around Munich all day and didn't even see trash, let alone, vomit. There was a general jolly ambiance in the city, but no one was out of control, rude, obscene, or tripping over themselves. Even the tourists had it under control. Munich may get crowded during Oktoberfest, but it does not become a madhouse or barfbag.


Myth #5 I do not belong at Oktoberfest.

Literally, every kind of person ever is at Oktoberfest. You don't have to drink or like beer to enjoy the craziness. I didn't love it enough to become an Oktoberfest groupie in a dirndl, but I could enjoy going once a year. And if we keep living in Bavaria, that is a very realistic and reasonable expectation. The fairgrounds/Jersey Shore/carnival scene isn't really for me, but I can appreciate it in small doses.

All in all, I am relieved that I didn't hate Oktoberfest. I am also relieved that it really isn't my thing, in that it won't become the only thing I look forward to every year.

Have you been to Oktoberfest? What did you like or not like about it? What other myths have you heard?

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