During my stay in Munich I managed to take a day trip to the thermal bath and spa complex in Erding. I have to say that Germany has a remarkably vibrant sauna and thermal bath culture, which reflects the country’s obsession with feeling good and living well.  The German concept of a spa is a far cry from, let’s say, the American version revolving around massages, manicures and pedicures. The German baths have several indoor and outdoor pools (even in winter), soaking tubs, tubs with different mineral contents and temperatures and a variety of saunas and, of course, a full-fledged bar to get a beer! It’s a great opportunity to mingle with the locals and they are very affordable (4 hour stay consts 24 euros including your train ticket -round trip).

My experience showed that a day at the thermal baths can be a great way to experience the best of Germany. The Spa complex in Erding has a retractable dome that cover the entire facility. During the summer the roof is retracted which gives the island resort feel. I highly recommend visiting this place if you happen to be in the area.

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As I wrote my earlier blog entry this afternoon I was interrupted by a familiar sound in our apartment, the SKYPE “ring” coming from our computer. It was my mother calling from Armenia. We chatted for 20 minutes about nothing particularly important. Between SKYPE, Google chat, Google video and Google phone our home computer is used more as a telephone than any other of its applications.

After speaking with my mother I thought how nice it was to be able to speak about “nothing particularly interesting”. While I’m living far away it’s nice to have chats with my family members about the simple day-to-day activities that we commonly shared when I was living at home. It also reminded me of the year 2000 when I moved to the United States for a year of study. At that time the above mentioned computer applications were simply a ripple in some computer geeks mind.  During the year I spent in Texas I spoke with my family once a month for no more than 15 minutes. In Texas a 20$ (16euro) calling card only bought 30 minutes of time to Armenia. Last week I bought a 5 euro card (my grandmother doesn’t have a computer)  that allows me to speak to Armenia for 300 minutes or the US for 660.

In short, it is nice for all of us that moved across oceans (or maybe just the Oder River) to immerse ourselves in German language and culture while still having multiple ways to stay engaged with our families and culture.

Prepositions in German can get confusing, just like in English. But you will remain confused until you take time to memorize them and then you just know them!

Yesterday in class we were discussing the various prepositions that go with ’schlafen‘, ’steigen‘, ‚reisen‘, etc.  Since today is Friday and I didn’t have anywhere to rush I slept in.  Well, the question now is „Did I ‚ausschlafen‘, ‚verschlafen‘, ‚einschlafen‘ or what?“. I had to open my notes from yesterday for clarifications. Turned out ‚ausschlafen‘ was the one! Whereas ‚verschlafen‘ is ‚to sleep through for example  the alarm cloack‘, in short, unintended sleeping to wake up and see that you missed something.

Well, I’ve dealt with the struggle of learning preposition for a long time in my life. Many times I have managed to make a fool of myself in English by saying, „Oh, I can’t remember anything after I passed away…“ (instead of passed out) or „I can’t make out….“ (instead of make up)“. This list of this embarrassing situations is rather long. And it’s a matter of time and practice before you learn them and don’t have to think about them any more.

I think that’s what I am going to spend a few hours of the Friday doing – memorizing verb prepositions. Not exciting but helpful!

Today I met a friend for lunch in the cafeteria of „Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm-Zentrum“, Germany’s biggest free access library which belongs to Humboldt University. I thought that I had at least passed by all the important and watch-worthy buildings in Berlin but I had apparently missed this one.  It’s impressive from outside and inside. The marble facade of the building reminds you of a book shelf.  It’s a classic and geometric building. It’s named after the „German Legends“ Brothers Grimm, the authors of children’s tales. The library is only three years old. The central reading hall is the building’s core. With its strict symmetry and impressive galleries it creates a common culture space in the sense of the “old library”.

I had a nice tour of the library and a good lunch. I highly recommend visiting this building not only for its architectural value but also a fun place to meet young people.

There is a good expression:  „It takes three months to get in shape, but it takes three days to get out of shape“. This time it does not imply a physical shape, even though, it’s also very actual for post-holidays.  I refer this expression to my knowledge of German.  After four months of intensive courses my brain was finally picking up and absorbing new information rather quickly. I was feeling relatively confident speaking in German in front of the whole class, presenting referats and partaking in discussions. Three weeks of holidays totally got me out of ’shape‘. There were probably too many Schweinshaxes, bratwursts and beers in my diet those days. But what’s the point of holidays if you are not going to eat and drink!

I am back in the classroom. It’s been a bit overwhelming since I am also trying to catch up with old assignments. My brain is still stiff and it’s not as flexible as I would like it be now. But I know it takes time. I try to throw in a few more comments than I would normally do when I stop to buy bread on the way home. Instead of „Ein rundes Brot, bitte“, I try to say „Ich mochte gern ein rundes grosses Brot, bitte“. The lady usually smiles at me. She can tell I am practicing as I say „Ich mag dieses Brot und ich weiss nich was ich ohne es tun, wenn ich gehe zuruck in mein Land“….Darn!…I said it wrong, the verb should go to the end of the sentence (I think to myself). I should have said „…wenn ich in mein Land zuruck gehe“. But that’s not the point, she understood me and little mistakes don’t matter. I know I will get back in shape again.

Today for the first time in January I walked into my classroom and met my new teacher and classmates. After a short introduction of ourselves we caught up in a discussion in regard to the demonstration which took place in Berlin on Saturday, Jan 22nd. Everyone in the classroom was trying to express their opinion about the conditions in the poultry and pig farms where animals are treated inhumanly and how these conditions affect our daily food and pose a risk to human health and the environment.The teacher divided us into two groups and asked us to give the overview of the problem and discuss some ways that we, as consumers of meet, can help this situation. Of course, many of us immediately thought that becoming a vegetarian was the easy way out. However, nobody was ready to give up eating meat today. Some of us proceeded in stating the benefits of eating meet to justify ourselves, such as the important minerals meat contains that our body needs, etc. But the list was short. The „Vegetable“ list of benefits won.The conclusion of today’s discussion was that if every human being reduces the consumption of meet on daily basis will help the world to be a better place. I, personally, took it seriously.

• After being away for more than half a month it’s nice to be home. Berlin does feel like home to me. It gives me the feeling of security and comfort. I don’t need to walk around with a map of the city or the metro, I don’t need to ask for recommendations where to eat and, more importantly, I don’t need to spend a lot of money on food. In fact, one of the reasons I like Berlin so much is because of its reasonable prices. My favorite restaurant on the corner of Mehringdamm and Bergman street called „Primavera“ offers a great variety of pasta dishes and it’s so affordable. Basically, anywhere you go out for dinner in Berlin will not „break the bank“.

• Speaking of things I like to do in Berlin reminds me of my favorite summer activities: kayaking along the Spree, walking around Krumme Lanke, sitting in biergartens, etc. Kayaking has been particularly enjoyable and a good way of checking out the surroundings. Thoughts of summer is always pleasant but the fact is that it’s still winter, cold and dull. But thoughts of glue wine and Christmas markets make it exciting. I am looking forward to spring in Berlin.

The transition from somewhat warm Munich to cold Hamburg was difficult. I could only spend 2-3 hours at a time before stopping at a cafe for a warm drink. After having already been in several major cities in Germany, in Hamburg I automatically started looking around to see where the Rathause was. It was spectacular, as many of them are.  Another remarkable building which I saw was the brown-brick Chilehaus with curved walls meeting in the shape of a ship’s bow and staggered balconies that look like decks. I read that this building was designed by architect Fritz Hoger for a merchant who derived his wealth from trading with Chilie.Hamburg has the biggest port in Europe which has turned into a city, Hafencity. The largest inner-city urban development takes place in Hafencity. I took an hour and a half long boat tour to get a better picture of it. It was absolutely amazing to see how a long, abandoned areal of over 130 hectars is turning into a real city with restaurants, shops, apartment buildings and offices. In the next 20 years they will also build a university and a few schools there.  The former warehouse is currently being transformed into Elbe Philharmonic Hall. The tour was in German and it wasn’t easy to understand. However, looking out of the boat windows was the equivalent of having a power point presentation in English.Hamburg is one of the cities that I wish to revisit in warm weather.A few photos of Hafencity.

So far Munich has been the highlight of my travel. It’s an amazingly large city and four days were only enough to see the most touristic sight seeings. It started in Marienplatz where the neo-Gothic Neues Rathause with its fabulous facade stands. At 11 am I joined the huge crowed to watch the Glockenspiel. The characters spring into action for 12 min portraying a knights‘ tournament. Opposite the Neues Rathaus stands the St. Peterskirche. It was a clear day with blue sky and that was agood enough reason for me to climb up 300 steps of the 92 meter tower for a good view of the city. I was even able to get the Alps in the city background.

No visit would be completed without going to the Bavaria’s most celebrated beer hall, the Hofbrauhause. I also found out that they make the best Schweinhexe which goes particularly well with Mass (1 liter) dark beer. The noise level of hundreds of excited tourists combined with the band gives that chaotic feel upon entry. However, after a liter of beer the noise doesn’t bother any more.

And last but not least was BMW Welt, redesigned from scratch and reopened in 2008. This is like no other car world/museum on the planet. Unfortunately, the factory tour was closed until the end of Janurary. I could not watch the ‚birth‘ of a real Beamer. However, the showrrom presented a variety of BMW’s of all times.

Hamburg is my last destination.

P.S. I was unable to post the great photos I took due to the hotel internet restrictions.

As I mentioned in my previous post my next destination was Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse, well known for its thermal and mineral springs. As much as thermal baths sound alluring I didn’t have enough time to go to one. During the limited time I was there I walked around the Old Town and had a glass of red wine in an outside cafe on one of the narrow, pretty streets. I was thinking to myself that Wiesbaden is one of the lucky cities which didn’t get destroyed during WWII and, therefore, one is still able to see the old buildings built even before WWI.It was early in the morning and dark when I left Wiesbaden and arrived in Frankfurt before the sun was out. Autobahns were already filled with cars and crossroads had a number of people waiting for the green light to cross the street. I quickly found the mall which had a roof platform from where you could have the view of the entire city. Luckily it was a clear day and I enjoyed a magnificent view of Frankfurt. I walked to the Rein river to go over the foot bridge but it was closed due to the flooding, just like the Schokoladen Museum in Cologne. It really took some playgrounds underwater. I quickly starting digging my dictionary for the word „flood“ but before I found it I saw the sign. It was as simple as „Hochwasser“. I thought to myself, „Well, that makes sense“.Below find a photo of Wiesbaden and the flooding-sign in Frankfurt. Till I get to Munich!