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Written by Brendon Green
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Saturday, 03 April 2010 17:22 |
Previously on GERMANY: A poorly planned overnight train trip from Berlin to Dresden has resulted in me falling asleep in a 24 hour McDonalds, thus ensuring that I have now done everything there is to do in a McDonalds.
Eventually however, I arrived in Dresden. 6.30am, in a haze, with 15 hours of exploring ahead of me. This was probably the best way to get into Dresden, as it enhanced the surrealism of the city greatly.
The first thing I noticed was that everything was closed, and didn’t open until 9.30 at the earliest. This left me to wander around an almost empty city trying to get my bearings with no map or tourist info. I didn’t know much about Dresden before arriving and it was quite a strange detour to take for such a short amount of time. The reason I did go was because it was linked to two of my personal cultural touchstones, the band The Dresden Dolls, and the book Slaughterhouse 5. It was kind of like going to see where your favourite movie was filmed, or visiting America because your childhood pet dog was called Lincoln. They might not be hefty reasons, but they are reason enough.
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Written by Brendon Green
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 13:19 |
I had a 3 point attack of GERMANY, coupled with my worst transportation bookings yet. I was also preparing to use a whole heap of war analogies, but that quickly went out the window. So too, was I expecting the German people to be polite but humourless, a negative stereotype that has somehow found its way into cliché. I have since discovered Germany is the land of shattering expectations and confounding your perspectives.
My first stop was Berlin, the capital, and the city with probably the most loaded history of any city in the world in the 21st century. I am ashamed (more so now, than before) to only have a very base knowledge of even the most recent world defining events that have centred on Berlin (e.g. I knew there was a wall, and, well that’s about it). Turns out there were some epic reasons for the wall, and it’s destruction (20 years ago) really was significant. The long and heavy history of Berlin can make it humbling to visit (the Jewish memorial is a stunning use of space which has to be experienced by everyone visiting the city), but it is the fact that it’s really only been the city it is today for less than how long I have been alive that makes the biggest impression. Seeing how the young city has been developing itself into a modern and insanely creative hub of activity, neither ignoring the past nor dwelling on it, is such a positive buzz that it makes for the perfect example of hope for mankind. It made me an optimist, and that’s a miracle in itself.
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Written by Brendon Green
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Saturday, 13 March 2010 11:17 |
What do I know about Switzerland? 1: Roger Federer, 2: Political Neutrality, 3: Their army enjoys combining knives with bottle openers, screwdrivers and little saws that don’t cut through anything.
I was looking forward to adding to this list, maybe throwing in some history or local customs. Perhaps, everyday they own a cat and every 2 weeks they have to trade their cat with a neighbour and so on and so forth, until everyone in Switzerland owned every cat in Switzerland. I didn’t know what was in store for me.
The first thing I picked up on was that if you’re planning on spending 6 days in Geneva, don’t. If you must go there, you only need 1 day, maybe 2 if you really want to see the United Nations buildings. The 2nd thing I quickly learned was that, holy crap, this place is expensive.
This was a rude awakening coming from idyllic Lisbon, and it made me angry like a rapper. It was a shame, too, because the guy I was CouchSurfing with was super kind and friendly. I felt bad for not really enjoying his city.
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