Brezel Baby

Though a little salty at times, this "Brezel Baby" has decided to record her experiences had during a Summer Study Abroad program in Munich, Germany through this tumblrblog. Many thanks to Ludwig-Maximilian Universitaet, the University of Cincinnati, and to Manfred K. Wolfram.

[1000drawings]

[brezelbaby]

1000drawings:

una montaña plateada (by sofia wiñazki)

[brezelbaby]

Day at the Office

Having the opportunity to grow through and work for Muenchner Kuenstlerhaus while in Munich was nothing short of unbelievable. For a few months, I managed a team of a few people who worked on some advertising campaigns, set up some templates for mailers/posters/pamphlets/etc., and installed an original film piece through the Lithographie Studio in front of the Haus.

M. Kuenstlerhaus is one of the oldest non-profit organizations for the arts in Munich and was founded in 1800- originally across the street from a gallery space built out of glass. During WWII, the gallery space was destroyed but Kuenstlerhaus was left standing and continued on to act as a space for artists, intellectuals, & literary-types to convene, discuss, and bond. These days, they house a lot of musical events and rent out rooms of their historical Haus to those looking to throw a swanky event. I was lucky enough to one day climb through jungle gym of original attic beams and windows through a system of magical ladders and eventually out onto the roof. The view from atop the Haus was spectacular:

By day, the Haus was something to behold. By night, the Haus came alive. Most "days at the office" began around 9:00 p.m. and included attending and taking film footage of nightly events. Through Kuenstlerhaus, I was able to meet some of the most interesting artists working out of Munich today and enjoy working from within a global network. Here are some shots of my daily grind:

[brezelbaby]

Heimweh (Homesickness)

Just about when I thought I was feeling the beginning twinges of homesickness, wonderful family friends Franz & Ingrid invited me for a weekend at their home in Austria. My family's relationship with them started when I was about eight years old when my dad began working for a German company with Franz. He was sort of an older gentleman even then, but with enough spunk to rival that of my young brother and myself. While Franz spent months at a time living in the U.S. away from his family, he sort of became our surrogate Grandpa. We cooked meals at our house together, saw movies together, and even went paddle-boating together. One of my most magical childhood memories includes having a family snowball fight with Franz on a frozen, December lake.

Anyway, Franz drove from his tiny town of Graz to my flat in Munich and picked me up. I hadn't seen him in over a decade, but his floral reading glasses and genuine grin were exactly as I remembered them. I couldn't have asked for a more loving, familial home to spend a weekend in and I had an amazing time exploring Franz and Ingrid's city with them, riding bikes, cooking meals, and exchanging stories.

[brezelbaby]

Staatsoper: Ariadne auf Naxos

Whoa.

Believe me, I love the arts. Paintings, sculpture, dance, musical performances- you name it. That being said, it's also usually ridiculously expensive to participate in such events and are unfortunately reserved for those with the time/cash to devote to them. This is why I was over the moon when I found out that a trip to the city operahouse had been planned. We saw a performance of Ariadne auf Naxos which turned out not to be my favorite opera of all time, but was beautiful nonetheless. Truly, the house itself was what had me slack-jawed. I believe I said at some point that if I were a ghost, it would be the building I would choose to haunt. It was probably one of my favorite buildings in Munich.

[brezelbaby]

21st Geburtstag!

This past July, I was lucky enough to celebrate yet another year of breathing, among other things, in a foreign land with plenty of opportunities for "think about your life" kind of moments on park benches, mountaintops, leisurely cafes, etc. I shirked some responsibilities (oops) to spend a reflective, relaxing day by myself. It began with opening the love-filled package from my family that had arrived the day before- and enjoying the confetti, gifts, had-written notes, and incredible drawing of a "birthday whale" from my brother. Birthday breakfast was had in an italian-run cafe (see below)

Then a little exploring was in order (as customary, on any good birthday). I had heard about this fountain being somewhere in the city. It's a) gorgeous b) old c) swimmable:

Next, I knew I wanted to spend some time in the sunshine and couldn't think of a better place than the lovely Englischer Garten. As always, it was populated with happy, loungey people. The combination of these two activities inspired me to make my way to Schloss Nymphenburg (Nymph's castle) where I saw The Hall of Beauties and extensive on-site gardens (see below)

After such an introspective day, I was ready to spend some quality time with some positive people. Luckily, my good friend Anne from home and my wonderful flatmate Isabell were there to celebrate with me with a little ladies night. Complete with candled dessert, birthday songs in two languages, and some traditional predictions of where life will take me before my next birthday- I could not have asked for a sweeter, simpler night.

  Check out that sunburn! Or maybe I'm just glowing from such a nice day. Absolutely, a birthday I will never forget as long as I live.

[brezelbaby]

Where I've Been

Okay, here's the update: 

   I am back home in the U.S. of A. in the loving arms of my family and friends. The last month or so of my time abroad was spent trying to pack in the memories/activities and I sort of fell off of the updating wagon...BUT! Now that I've (kind of) settled back into homelife, I'm going to finish sharing my German journey -- my Jourmaney, if you will. Aaaaaaand, GO!

[blushingcrystals-deactivated201]

[brezelbaby]

Growing my hair out is going well; more updates coming soooooooooon.

[yanilavigne]

[brezelbaby]

Living in Munich has certainly shaken up the daily shuffle for me; it's going to be hard to go back.

[brezelbaby]

In response to the Oslo shootings...

"In the safest, most boring country, the worst lone gunman shooting happens. The worst in the world, in history. But it will not make our country worse. The safe, boring democracy will supply him with a defense lawyer as is his right. He will not get more than 21 years in prison as is the maximum extent of the law. Our democracy does not allow for enough punishment to satisfy my need for revenge, as is its intention. We will not become worse, we will be better. We lived in a land where this is possible, even easy. And we will keep living in a land where this is possible, even easy. We are open, we are free and we are together. We are vulnerable by choice. And we will keep on like that, that’s how we want to live. We will not be worse because of the worst. We must be good because of the best."

 (via youmightfindyourself / nickoleptic)

[french-knot]

Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.

Greg Anderson (via french-knot)

[brezelbaby]

Post Nummer Acht: Neuschwanstein

Whoa, whoa, whoa. 

Schloss Neuschwanstein is a real place? You mean I can actually go there and look around? And it's actually surrounded by undisturbed nature (a.k.a. swimable waterfalls, climbable mountains, thick forests, etc.)?

Truly, this place is out of a fairytale. I thought maybe the whole magical aspect of this crazy castle retreat in the forest had been a bit overdone, but this trip to Schloss Neuschwanstein was one of my favorite trips yet. Maybe it was the fact that the castle itself was so beautiful on the inside, or that this was my first opportunity to go hiking for real, but this gem of Germany is not to be missed by anyone with the opportunity.

[brezelbaby]

Post Nummer Sieben: Andechs

For those of you who don't already know, a huge component to me even being able to make this european trip is the fact that my cousin Andrew is a pilot. This means that he receives some pretty sweet benefits from American Airlines, including a number of stand-by flight passes good for anywhere in the world. AND....he was nice enough to share them. To make an extremely nice deal even nicer, Andrew was planning his own european vacation and just happened to be coming through Munich. We were able to meet up and made a trip to the Andechs Monastery, one of the oldest monasteries & breweries in Munich. We traveled by car to the city of Andechs and then made a short hike up to the monastery for lunch a tasty bier.

[brezelbaby]

Post Nummer Sechs: Berlin

Soooooo, despite my lack of Tumblr updates, I've been a very busy brezel. A trip to Berlin, a hike to the Andechs Monastery, an amazing venture to Schloss Neuschwanstein, and a few more lovely, lovely excursions. Now I just need to share a few bits and pieces from these great experiences with you great people!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Berlin. The excursion destination most different from the safe and structured city of München by far, Berlin has so much culture to offer it's ridiculous. I was lucky enough to have my good friend Anne along for the ride during the first night of our weekend stay, as she was visiting her super swanky author cousin (who gave us a few super swanky nightlife tips for a classy, yet romping good time). The following day was spent running around to museums and high points of historical interest. I felt like I got to see some amazing pieces of art and culture- and was literally breathless when standing face to face with some of the pieces we were lucky enough to see. Berlin is a city with a rough past (especially in more recent decades), but is also a symbol of rebuilding and is charged with a seemingly constant effort towards the solidification of a challenging reunification. All in all, terribly interesting and a good bit of fun.

Clärchen's Ballhaus, on the border of the former Eastside, was originally built in 1913 and was a Tanz(dance)hall in the 1920's. It was heavily damaged during WWII but reopened in the 70's & remained a somewhat secret, neutral ground between citizens of the east and west during Berlin's separation. Now, it's just one of the coolest, oldest dance halls that stays true to its roots and is all about being a common meeting place for all. Plus they play sweet music. Here's a (blurry) picture:

The Pergamon Museum housed what were probably the most interesting historical displays for me in Berlin, most importantly the Pergamonalter (for which the museum is named, of course) and the Ishtar Gate (1/3 of which is actually displayed). It is unbelievable how far back civilization can be traced; but also, just how human humans have always been- and how the same social dramas have always been depicted in art and storytelling. From the actual history of the city of Berlin, to the history of the ancient artifacts housed there- I feel like I learned about probably 2% of what the city has to offer. A very cool weekend.

Pergamonalter, architectural fries:

Ishtar Gate (1/3):

Brandenburg Gate:

Reichstag:

[eroscestlavie]

[brezelbaby]

thegestianpoet:

Altered book page: Summerscape

[brezelbaby]

The video above was made by Clay Rasmussen, one of the members of our MSC group. It's pretty great looking and captures the soaking-it-all-in spirit of our day spent at Lake Ammersee in Herrsching.

[brezelbaby]

Post Nummer Fünf: Ammersee

So far, Lake Ammersee in Herrsching is by far my favorite place in Munich. Marko, the Finnish representative in our group, found this little gem and sort of organized our first group trip this past Sunday. It's hard to even describe how beautiful it was. Set with The Alps as a backdrop, Ammersee seems like a small (but gorgeous) vacation spot to be coveted by all who travel there- but is seemingly frequented mostly by locals. Hofbraeuhaus has a branch Biergarten right on the lake:

and there's quite a long shoreline of little cafes and a few shops- but mostly of beautiful, beautiful grassy knolls, sandy beaches, or incredibly climbable trees.

Pretty soon after arriving, five of us decided to rent a little electric boat for a couple of hours and cruise along the opposing shore- an extremely good/fun choice! 

Afterwards, we met back up with those who stayed beach-side and spent the rest of the afternoon doing/watching backflips off of a high dock built out in the deep. The day was ended with dollar pretzels/brezels and some of the best Eis I've had. Ammersee will certainly be a place many times visited.

[brezelbaby]

Change is not something that we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they’re meant to be.

Anon

coffeeandyoga