It's been a while since my last post, and oh my goodness... I have done so much! I had my first trip while in Europe, ending up in Germany. I flew to Köln (us North Americans know it as Cologne) to see a friend I met at Thompson Rivers University as well as partake in the annual event Karneval. The best way I can describe Karneval is a mix between Canada Day and Halloween. Everyone - and I mean everyone - is dressed up in all different types of costumes, including the traditional dirndl to full body gorilla suits. Since Europeans don't celebrate Halloween to the extent we do in North America, this was their time to dress up. Karneval actually starts in November, and on weekends there will be mini-events. But the weekend that I was in Köln was the biggest weekend of all. I arrived on Thursday March 27th and that was just the beginning of the 5 day city-wide event. (It also takes place in the surrounding villages outside of Köln). It was an amazing experience and I don't think I will ever experience something like it again. This event was a real awakening into the European 'party' culture. Being able to drink on the streets and trains, and clubs staying open till 9AM was all VERY new to me. Coming from Canada where you cant have an open liquor bottle outside a licensed establishment and you have to go home at 3AM latest. To say the least - I had SO MUCH FUN. I don't want to get into details that may worry family and friends...but it was just a lot of fun :) Just know that I'm safe and back in Salzburg!
Now, I didn't just drink and party for the five days I was in Köln, I actually got to see the city and surrounding areas too! From inside the city to the countryside, the scenery was so picturesque and so unbelievably gorgeous, everything was green and lush and quite incredible. I also went on the infamous Autobahn, as it was the main highway to take from the airport to my friends house I was staying at. It is quite fun to not have a speed limit...why isn't this in Canada?! One of the weirdest thing I experienced while in Köln was probably going to a Australian Outback restaurant for dinner, complete with kangaroos and wallabies outside in a fenced in area. Unfortunately, the kangaroos and wallabies were not there since it is too cold outside (where do they go for the winter?!), but I hear they are very cute! You are also able to order kangaroo meat from this restaurant. I was not brave enough to try kangaroo meat and I doubt I will regret that decision.
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| Friends in Köln! Nico (left) is the friend I met at TRU, when he was studying abroad in Kamloops. And his friend Patrik on the right. This gives you a bit of an idea of the costumes in Karneval! And you can kind of see my traditional dirndl. |
After a great visit in Köln, it was time to relocate to Berlin...
A large portion of my time in Berlin was taken up by the International Tourism Berlin (ITB) Conference. It is the largest tourism expo in the world, and it had exhibitors from literally every single country in the world. (Canada took up a good chunk of space but it wasn't that great and they could have done better!) This conference was part of a class I am taking in Salzburg. It was a really nice way to become aware of current issues and events in the tourism industry, as well as what the up and coming markets and products are. I mostly attended the lectures, but if you were working int he industry then it was a great time to network and schedule meetings with other businesses. It was a great experience for students though! As a student, you can only get so much out of a business conference that was set up the way ITB was.
One interesting point of our Berlin class trip was that we got to visit the Berlin (BER) airport. This airport has a huge back story (if you have time to google it...do it). This airport is supposed to be the largest airport in Europe, and was supposed to open in 2012 but has failed to open so far. Supposedly due to "fire regulation issues". But with this airport costing 5 billion euro (YES billion) so far, and it costing 1 million euro per week to maintain its current status, you can only think that there has to be more than fire regulation issues. And even the soft-opening date is unknown...who knows if it will ever open! One bonus of the airport being closed, is we got to stand on the runway! It was pretty cool to walk the runway...probably the only runway I will ever be on! hehehe
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| Standing on the BER Airport runway! Can't fly away yet.... |
After the conference was complete, we had to see the rest of Berlin! We hit up all the typical touristy places, and it was all so amazing. There is just so much history, too much to take in. Hearing all the history was fascinating, depressing, unimaginable and so surreal. Sites such as the Jewish memorials and the Berlin Wall death strip were so surreal. It is hard to explain it otherwise. The East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall is a favourite attraction amongst the tourists, as well as locals. The local artists work on the wall turns this wall into more than a structure with history, and into a symbol of positive change. This stretch of wall continues for 1.4KM and is covered in amazing art work.
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| Me in front of my favourite segment of the Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery! |
The list of attractions we saw seems endless, and I could write forever about each one as it is all so beautiful and unique in its own way. Other sites we visited included Checkpoint Charlie, Hitlers Bunker, Brandenburger (The Gate), Knzerthaus Berlin and Humboldt University, and more!
It was interesting to find out that Albert Einstein actually attended Humboldt Universtät. There have been around 70 Nobel prize winners, and countless nominees that have graduated from this University.
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| Some of the group that were in Berlin! We got our 15 seconds of fame standing on the red carpet leading into the Knzerthaus (concert hall) in Berlin. |
After an amazing ten day trip, I was ready to come back to Salzburg and get into school. After being out of classes for almost three months and the classes just beginning, I look forward to getting back into the classroom and learning new things within the tourism industry!
I am so grateful to be able to travel and have such amazing support from back home. I could not have had the courage or the ability to do this trip without the incredible love and support from my family and friends, so thank you to all those who are close to my heart! I miss all of you dearly! <3
Until next time...Auf Wiedersehen!
(I am too tired to proof read this entry...so I hope it makes sense haha)
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