8 excellent experiences in 8 cities

Three countries, eight cities, and one very delayed January winter break update.

Hanging out with the bestie in Freiburg

Does this medium-sized college town have plenty of history and southwest German charm? Yes. However, my main highlights were Indian food and grabbing drinks at a speakeasy-themed cocktail bar. 

From Freiburg im Breisgau, (as opposed to some Freiburg in somewhere else), Allison and I travelled to Strasbourg and Basel.   

Learning about art and history in Strasbourg, France.

The only things I knew about Strasbourg before going were that 1) it's the seat of the European Parliament 2) it's the capital of the region formerly known as Alsace, which France and Germany traded back and forth several times in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the Alsatian Museum, which was founded in 1902 to fight Germanisation, I discovered way more about the region's distinct and rich culture through the museum's plentiful artifacts and room reconstructions.

Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art also boasted a top-tier exhibit dedicated to the impact of Lewis Caroll, author of Alice in Wonderland on surrealist visual artists. I just listened to the audiobook of Alice in Wonderland, so the connection between dream worlds, irrationality, and symbolism presented in this book and surrealism generally is especially evident in hindsight.

    From the Alsatin museum-- these outfits must be in the top 3 for ethnic European group traditional costume. 

Dorothy Tanning's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" from the contemporary art museum's surrealist exhibition.

Learning about art and history in Basel, Switzerland

Me, enchanted by the Basel town hall.

Basel was only a few hours by train from Freiburg. The price of the pasta carbonara I ate upon arrival offended me (what else does one expect from Switzerland?), but getting into two museums free made up for it. The Beyeler Foundation housed a powerful installation called "Palimpset" which is when text is written over other text. For this work, they were the names of refugees who perished during treacherous trips across the Mediterranean. Some names were traced delicately with water into a sandy surface, so viewers had to be careful.

There were also several Picasso's which made me think, I would be offended if Picasso drew me like that, even if it was Picasso.

And the Basel History Museum, which is in a former church, had a whole section dedicated to regional masterful altarpieces and also remnants of the Baseler Totentanz (Dance of the Dead) fresco, which decorated the inner wall of a church cemetery in the 15th century.  All across churches in Germany, you can still see where medieval worshippers admired the Totentanz on the wall: a succession of royalty, clergy, nobility, and commonfolk following a boney skeletal figure representing death because we all die <3

"Palimpset," by Doris Salcedo.

A Picasso, full of tears and emotion.

Going back to where it all began: Donaueschingen, Germany

Alas, Allison and I took it back where it all began, Donaueschingen, a small town in southwest Germany, which is also home to the start of the Danube River. The last time I was here, it was July 2014 and I was with a dozen other students from my german-speaking elementary school doing an exchange program. 

But on this most recent trip, I revisited such sites as the high school and the two town halls. I hung out with Allison's exchange student, Anna, and her family and finally visited the Donauqeuelle (Danube source), which was under construction before.

Allison and I at the town hall.

Me, at the Donauquelle (source of the Danube river).

Visiting the treasures of Munich, Germany

The view of Munich from Peterskirche: on the left, the Marienkirche, and on the right the town hall.

I lost count of how many Catholic churches I visited (7?) in Munich. Catholicism is the predominant religion of Munich, so I felt obliged to attend one mass -- my first mass --  in one of its jeweled cathedrals. I don't even know how to pray the rosary in English, but it was a pleasant experience nevertheless.

I also went to three museums. First the Residenz Munich - the largest city palace in Germany and the former seat of power of the Haus of Wittelsbach (AKA the ruling dynasty of Bavaria). My favorite part was the Schatzkammer/ Royal Treasury. I mean, the royal family was so wealthy with silver trinkets, bejeweled dingle-hoppers, and precious gemstone thing-a-ma-bobs, it's hard to feel bad for any moment of bankruptcy/ I almost wish I. Like, how could you look at Queen Kunigunde's alleged crown and not wish for endless wealth?

The alleged crown of Queen/St. Kunigunde of Poland. 

I don't know who this belonged to, but someone of WEALTH and PELF, FAME and NAME.

The sumptuous main hall of the Munich palace, where many royals and nobility would wine and dine.

The Alte Pinakothek comforted and stretched my mind with manifold rooms containing masterworks; the Lenbachhaus initiated me in the cult of the Blaue Reiter, a radical German expressionism group and publication. Wassily Kandinsky didn't just make geometric squiggles to symphonic jazz, though that is what I know him for. He and other collaborators also compiled and wrote folk art around the world. Did the project still reek of imperialism and exoticization of perceived primitive cultures? Yes, but it was still a step forward in appreciating art beyond the Classical/Greco-Roman-based standard hailed by the Royal Academy of Art.

Finally I went to Dachau, the site one of the first concentration camps erected in Germany, where  plenty of political prisoners especially were detained, tortured and in some cases, murdered.

From inside one of the houses in Dachau. 

For your Easter contemplation pleasure, compliments of Der Blaue Reiter.

Enjoying things solo fun in Regensburg

It's not every day you get to visit a gothic cathedral that has preserved most of its gothic-ness. (Gothic architecture thrived between the late 12th century to the 16th century). Thus, I decided I needed the whole Regensburg Cathedral experience and took a tour in German. As the only one on this tour, I could ask however many questions I wanted and not have to listen to anyone else's. The tour guide showed me the personal touches different master craftsmen added, such as sculptures of unidentifiable animal hybrids. We'll never know the reason behind many of the unique details decorating cathedrals exist, because the artists, however masterful they were, never left a record behind. They didn't engrave their name into the churches -- which many contemporary tourists frequently do -- because their hearts were not set on earthly glory but heavenly glory. Would I be this humble? Maybe. 

Examples of curious details from the Regensburg cathedral:

What is this, a pig dog?

A lion dog?

        A donkey camel bird?

    

I also went to a delightfully interactive museum focused on Bavarian history and culture after 1800 and did a little bit of shopping, because I was running out of clean clothes to wear, and laundry was not worth accomplishing. By the time I visited basically every sight to see, I felt very well acquainted with this gem of a medieval city.

Beer pints of Bavaria from the museum.

Spontaneous fun and fancy food in Frankfurt

The decision to go to Frankfurt was not part of my original travel plan, but I knew there was a  Black English teaching assistant there whom I wanted to meet. Thus, the most quality time spent here was spent making new friends, eating homemade Italian food, drinking wine, and watching a competition show on Netflix. 

Frankfurt is the banking/finance bro capital of Germany and also the birthplace of writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Instead of heading into the downtown portion, my new English teaching assistant friend and I went to the Stadler art museum and spent hours on the old art master floor and the contemporary floor. We spent a disproportionate amount of time judging which still lifes of food looked the tastiest.

A TASTY display of food to remind you that the richness of life is only temporary.

Drastic Contrasts Dresden, Saxony, Germany

10 days into traveling, I was an exhausted little monkey. But I had committed to meeting my friend, Shannon, here, and it was on the way back to Berlin. The only thing I knew about Dresden is that it was burnt all the way down in World War II, so Shannon and I headed to the history museum to learn about what happened in the preceding 2,000 years. After visiting so many museums, I could now contextualize northern Germany's distinct history compared to say, Bavaria. 

A view from the Frauenkirche/ church of our lady 

Thank you for reading my update. I am now... in Paris! Updates to come!