In Vienna …And Some Long German Words

I set out early my first day in the Austrian capital. It was bright and sunny so I felt really excited about exploring. I was able to test out the train system, which I quickly realised depended a lot on trust. There were no turnstiles, I didn’t notice any guards, and many of the stations I visited were unmanned. I visited downtown Vienna for a few hours where I was able to buy a few souvenirs. Although I visited Berlin, I didn’t stay long enough to really take in much German. Even in cologne I was able to find an English version sign pointing to whatever I needed. But in Vienna, I noticed one of the most interesting things about German first hand. Like some English words, German likes compounded larger words from simpler words. But, the practice is on a whole other level in comparison. It’s done even to the point where a word can be over 21 letters long. Like the sign on a building near my hostel read bedienungstankstelle, which translates to “easy gas station.” I only knew that after using Google Translate haha! Umweltverschmutzung refers to pollution. Rindfleischetikettierung-süberwachungsaufgaben-übertragungsgesetz (translation: Rind (cattle) Fleisch (meat) Etikettierung(s) (labelling) Überwachung (supervision) Aufgaben (duties) Übertragun (assignment) Gesetz (law)) refers to the German-state law related to the labelling of beef and cattle. Sometimes graphics help, but other times they don’t. I noticed a sign on the train (pictured below) saying bitte nur mit beißkorb und leine meaning, “please only with muzzle and leash.” When I saw the graphic, I thought at the time that it meant dogs start dissolving on the train! I don’t know how I thought that made any sense at all!

El primer día en la capital austriaca, me fui temprano. Era un día brillante y soleado! Me sentí muy entusiasmado por explorar. Usé el sistema del tren, y vi que se basaba en una confianza fuerte en la gente. En muchas estaciónes, no había seguridad: no guardias, no barreras, y sin trabajadores. Fui al centro de la ciudad por unas horas y compré algunos recuerdos. Aunque yo visité Berlin, no me quedé mucho tiempo para oír realmente el alemán.

 Aún en Cologne me encontré señales en íngles en todos lugares. Pero, en Vienna, me encontré una de las cosas más interesantes sobre la lengua alemana con mis propios  oídos. Como unas palabras en íngles, Alemán es muy famoso para su palabras compuestos. Unas palabras son componen de muchas palabras pequeñas  y pueden tener hasta vientiún letras. Había un señal cerca de mi albergue que tenía “bedienungstankstelle.” En español, es iqual a “fácil gasolinera.” Y sólo sé por usando Google Translate :)! Umweltverschmutzung significa “polución.” Rindfleischetikettierung-süberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (traducido: Rind (vacas) Fleisch (carne) Etikettierung(s) (etiquetado) Überwachung (control) Aufgaben (obligaciónes) Übertragun (asignación) Gesetz (ley)) se refiere a la ley alemana que regula el etiquetado de la carne y el ganado. A veces, los gráficos son útiles, pero otras veces no es así. Vi un señal en el tren (en la foto de abajo) con la frase “bitte nur mit beißkorb und leine.” Significa “please only with muzzle and leash.” Me pareció que dijo algo acerca de la disolución de perros :D!

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Video Post: My First Night Train (Prague to Budapest)

Although it would be my last time traveling through the Prague subway, I was so excited that I would be traveling on my first night train! My next stop was Budapest, Hungary, and although there were many earlier trips I could have chosen, I decided to pay the 14 euro reservation fee for a bed in a couchette on the overnight train. I don’t know what the full fare would have been, but I’m happy I had a Eurail pass and didn’t have to worry about that :-). My main reason was to cut lodging costs. I needed to get to Hungary and I needed to sleep: night train solves all. Cheaper than the cost of a hostel stay, I was able to save all around on money and time and I recommend it to anyone who’s interested in backpacking.

The only negative in my plan was the long wait I had in the train station between my last scheduled daylight activity and the train that left almost at midnight. Being closer to the North pole in the summer meant that the “day” was much longer throughout all my European adventure than it would have been in Florida at the time. At least, that sounds like something I remember from high school geography that sounds like it’s right!

Well, after paying to use the restroom and finding that one of them had been closed for the night (I have no idea why, if you have to pay to enter any way), and being offered narcotics while thinking that I had lost my luggage to a closed storage facility, I finally saw my train on the arrivals board!

Given permission to board the train, I searched the door tags for my room and found to my surprise that the other bed would be left unoccupied that night. I made a video of my exploring the amenities offered in the sleeping cabin that I hope will convey the comfort and utter awesomeness I felt that night!

Video Post:The Prague Castle Complex

Parts of this sprawling medieval castle compound, the largest Europe, can be spotted at almost any point in the old city.

 According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, with an area of almost 70,000 m². [1]

Although collectively referred to as “the castle,” the many buildings that make up this mega-fortified mini-town include at least four churches, four palaces, over five gardens, and is home to shops, government offices, and museums. Today, the castle is the seat of the President of the Czech Republic and represents as the historical and political centre of Prague and the Czech state.

One of the churches: Basilica dedicated to St. George

• Main Architectural Style: Romanesque / Baroque (facade)
• Extras: Benedictine Convent
  • Abbess possessed the right to crown the Queen consort of Bohemia
• Royal/Sacred tombs:
  • Prince Vratislav
  • Boleslav II
  • St. Ludmila

St. George’s Basilica, Prague, Czech Republic – See if you can spot it in the video!

The Cathedral of St. Vitus, St. Wenceslaus and St. Adalbert

• Main architectural style: Gothic
• Designations:
  • Roman Catholic Cathedral, Seat of Archbishop of Prague
  • Basilica
• Famous:
• • Biggest Church in Czech Republic
• Curiosities:
  • The church is owned by the Czech government
  • St. Wenceslas:
    • One of a small group of royals to have been canonised by the Catholic Church
    • He is one of the patron saints of the Czech state
    • He is the “good King Wenceslas” mentioned in the 1853 Christmas carol by John Neale
    • He died a Duke of Bohemia, but was raised to the dignity of a king after his death by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I

St. Vitus – Prague, Czech Republic

I didn’t have enough crowns (Czech money) left to purchase a trip up the bell tower and they wouldn’t take credit cards or Euro. Everywhere else took Euro (with a slight fee), but those volunteer girl guards weren’t budging for poor littles tourists like myself. 😦

Video I made of walk through much of castle complex:

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Night Wandering

I had made free reservations to see the Bundestag (yes, you need reservations to go inside the cool glass dome). Because I had arrived a few hours later than originally planned, I wasn’t able to take the tour and only got to see the German federal government buildings from the outside. I know I missed something special, but I was not to disappointed, because as I continuously discovered, the Germans sure know how to impress! Outside the Hauptbahnhof (on the Washingtonplatz side) there was a huge area for events that had large photo displays with work from local artists set up like a maze. There were also two outdoor bars with flashing neon lighting (I like flashing neon lights, that’s why I mentioned this). I crossed the bridge near the plaza (Friedrich-List-Ufer I think it was) that had a man-made beach area under it on the other side. It was too packed for me to order anything, especially because everyone there seemed to be in groups.

I ended up strolling down the “pier” and ended up in an open area with two large walls on either side. To this day I don’t know what those two walls were for, but they seemed to funnel your attention, and large crowds perhaps, towards  a really tall building. Not until I went closer did I realize that that building and the others that were emblazoned with light were the ones I had always read so much about. To my right was the Bundeskanzleramt (Germany’s head of state is a Chancellor or Bundeskanzler, his staff are housed in this building). To my left was the Paul-Löbe-Haus, a building associated with the Bundestag (German federal lower legislative chamber) that has extra office space for MPs. In the video, this is the building that is in the final freeze pane. Walking further, I was able to pass over the wonderfully manicured lawn with fountains in front of the majestic Reichstagsgebäude, the German Parliament building for the lower house, the Bundestag. My camera doesn’t take great night video or photos, so I didn’t take that many, but I think the ones I posted didn’t turn out too badly.

As I walked down Dorotheenstraße, I saw the amount of building space dedicated to parliamentary purposes was astounding, considering most office spaces I’d seen for the same before were relegated to one square or block. Now that I’m looking at the Google map, I can see what I was unable to at night: that the building is divided into sections and each section has its own courtyard. Turning onto Unter den Linder from Wilhelmstraße I was able to see what I considered the most beautiful sight of the night: the Brandenburg Gate. A restored former wall of old Berlin the old city.  It reminded me of other triumphal arches around Europe I had seen, but the neoclassical design, sheer size (up and out), and brilliant lighting led me to believe that it must have been a modern creation. Further research proved otherwise: Wikipedia.

As I knew I had an early day ahead of me, and the fact that everything was so quiet in the darkness, I decided to head back to the hotel with no stories of sordid drinking and revelry or the like.

Tips for next time:

1. Don’t rely on tour guide maps being available after dark.
2. Plan out night spots (events or photo ops) so you don’t wander aimlessly in the dark without knowing where the nightclubs or fun spots are.

Below is a very short video of me snooping around the train station outside the Bundestag. Pretty audacious having it so close to government buildings. Also thought it would be cool to show a bit of the opulence dripping off the smoothly polished stone. Standing by my opinion that Berlin knows how to impress!
Also, I uploaded the Germany Facebook album just now. Get it here.

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