tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68182850804023798502011-12-17T08:19:23.732ZExploring urban planning, design, and culture in Germany and Europe.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-79505089058784677722007-11-26T22:53:00.000Z2007-11-27T14:03:56.077Z

It's my favorite holiday. I think because it's about family, friends, and feasting, three of my favorite things. I love gathering in the kitchen and gossiping while cooking and drinking wine.Last year I hosted my first German Thanks- giving. I was anxious about finding traditional native North American foods on this side of the Atlantic, so I found an online shop catering to ex-pats. I ordered

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-39322992510805140172007-04-16T22:53:00.000Z2007-04-17T11:19:22.402Z

And now for something completely different… I am visiting my friend Meg in Amman, Jordan this week. Besides the obvious culture shocks of hearing the call to prayer, even at 3:30 am, smelling spices in the street, and never seeing a woman’s hair, one is immediately struck by how difficult it is to walk here. From non-existent or obstacle-ridden sidewalks, to sprawling distances over hills,

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-78623676551558203702007-04-04T11:13:00.000Z2007-11-27T23:47:36.103Z

We made a stop for lunch in Freiburg on the way from Konstanz to Leuven, Belgium. Frieburg is a relaxed city with a buzzing center, crisscrossed by trams. The streets were lined by exposed storm sewers – something I’ve never seen before, as they have mostly been covered over in modern cities. You have to watch your step. We also stopped in Mannheim to visit the excellent Media Museum

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-50361536487243566342007-04-03T17:07:00.000Z2007-04-03T23:22:44.181Z

After a free day in Munich on Saturday, we got back on the bus Sunday morning and headed south, destination Konstanz. Clever planning by Fritz broke up the long trip into manageable chunks. We stopped in Bayreuth to visit a 1750’s Italianate Baroque opera house built by the Prussian princess Wilhelmina, who also composed many of the early works performed there. It was ornate beyond compare

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-55489103820624951802007-04-03T16:21:00.000Z2007-04-03T23:01:34.817Z

Our stay in Munich began with a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, where we learned about how Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, together with German artist Franz Marc founded German Expressionism in 1912-1914. Basically, Kandinsky hung out with his girlfriend and a bunch of other artists in a villa in the Bavarian hills and painted like mad. You can see the progression of his ideas in the

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-84232700385854123152007-03-26T19:22:00.000Z2007-04-03T15:37:13.323Z

Today is a travel day on the bus, we are driving from Dresden to Munchen. Rather than by nationality, the seating pattern was established by degree of gregariousness. The shy kids are up front, the loud kids are in the back, with the exception of Andrey, who is so shy that he made himself a private corner by the window in the back row, behind a couple of suits hanging on a clothing rack bar

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-84195301728906509652007-03-21T01:32:00.000Z2007-03-21T01:46:32.320Z

What happens when ten Americans, ten Russians, and nine Chinese young professionals and scholars board a tour bus for a two-week land cruise through Germany? I will soon find out. Today our assembly of young professionals and scholars set out upon a journey I have dubbed the “Globalization Tour”. We are setting out to learn German history and culture in the name of world peace and prosperity

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-62197184760212649142007-03-02T09:32:00.000Z2007-03-05T15:12:49.531Z

March 1Today I visited Bremen, which makes the third Hanseatic city I’ve seen, after Hamburg and Lübeck. My cousin Marian and her husband Bryan are visiting from California, and this was the first stop on a whirlwind tour of Deutschland. While they had a good dose of typical rainy Hamburg whether yesterday, today the sun shone through the clouds, and it was like a miracle to see colors and blue

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6818285080402379850.post-12331932778770035092007-02-21T23:45:00.000Z2007-02-22T15:34:17.297Z

When I was preparing to move to Germany, I asked experienced friends for advice on what to do and see. My friend Nancy, who has organized study tours in Deutschland, had but one recommendation. “You have to go to Carnival in Cologne,” she said. So I spent last weekend celebrating the Rhineland tradition of Karneval in Köln, Bonn, and Bad Godesberg. Karneval has the same roots as Mardi Gras,

Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03357385262644256707noreply@blogger.com51