Ringing in 2015 with a BANG [Berlin]

I haven’t been to many well-known places for New Years apart from Las Vegas, but I am going to make a gamble and declare Berlin as the loudest NYE on the planet.

There is just something about Germans and fireworks.

They love to set them off anywhere and at any time, so if you are hoping to sleep on NYE in Berlin, BRING. EAR. PLUGS.

Although, how much sleep are you really wanting if you are spending NYE in one of the most popular NYE destinations in the world?

I am honestly not someone who gets excited over NYE because it’s just a day.

Is there a party thrown for every new month?

Every new week?

I couldn’t care less about the “holiday,” but as I was in one of the most popular places to spend the day, I decided to make the most of it and I wanted to do that in the most popular spot in the city to ring in the new year:

Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor).

Every year, over a million people pack together around the most famous sight in Berlin to listen to bands play, eat some fair food, drink some glühwein, and watch a spectacular display of fireworks.

I checked the area out and left at around 7pm wanting to

1. Get some cheaper food outside of the gates, and

2. Meet up with some people I met at my hostel to go there together.

BIG MISTAKE.

It turns out that the gates close when it gets too crowded, so I’d say come no later than 8pm if you want to see the shows and be in the middle of it all. Earlier if you want a good spot.

So we ended up being locked out.

Instead, we checked out Neukölnn neighborhood and dodged a few MANY fireworks. One just a couple feet from our faces.

Around midnight, I wanted to at least TRY to see the fireworks.

Why come to Berlin for NYE if you aren’t going to try to see the main event??

So, I found an area a looooong ways away from the gate. The crowd was too dense to permeate any further, so I had to make do with what I could.

For about an hour, we all watched the fireworks being set off from everyone around us. It was a show in and of itself.

Then, at midnight (there was no countdown?!?!) a grandiose display of fireworks began in the distance.

Then, once that 15-minute show finished, the others in the streets resumed setting off their own displays, hitting buildings, street lights, and (I’m sure of it) people.

After that, everyone headed out to wherever they planned to go and that was that.

All in all, NYE in Berlin is nothing to go out of your way for, but if you are near or already there, the fireworks were good albeit SCARY (loud and close to hitting you).

Dresden by night

Because I lengthened my time in Prague and when I wanted to be in Berlin was basically set in stone (I could never forgive myself if I missed out on New Years in Berlin), Dresden got the short end of the stick.

I arrived in Dresden late in the day after the sun had completely set and had an early bus the next day, but I was utterly determined to give Dresden a chance.

Although Dresden was almost completely destroyed during the bombings in WWII, you may forget that as you walk into the old town. Dresden is one of those cities that decided to rebuild its buildings to their former pre-war style. The result of which is truly spectacular.

I walked into the alstadt (old town) across the River Elbe and was pleased to see a wonderful riverfront scene. Across the Augustus Bridge (oldest in the city), which connects the neustadt to the alstadt, lies the Schlossplatz which is home to the cathedral, the Dresdner Schloss (castle), and a few other pretty old buildings (sorry I can’t be more specific!).

As it was late, I couldn’t go into any of the buildings, but I was able to marvel at the architecture, albeit not that old.

The main square, or neumarkt, still held onto a few remaining Christmas market stalls as well as being home to the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). This church was completely bombed in WWII and later reconstructed in full.

Interesting fact, though, is that Dresden is one of only 2 places in the world that has had its UNESCO World Heritage status revoked.

Why?

The city decided to build an ugly 4-lane bridge over the Elbe Valley, cutting into a previously scenic view over the river valley and into the town.

I have read Dresden being compared to an Italian city (Florence perhaps?) so I would love to give it a proper chance and view it in the daytime to see the city really come to life.

I would love to see the reason it had UNESCO World Heritage status in the first place.

To me, as of now, it was one of those “meh” destinations. More of a “take it or leave it.”

If I’m near Dresden again, I’ll try to give it another shot as I have seen truly gorgeous pictures of the city. As of now, though, I won’t be rushing back, despite the amazing architecture.

Munich, round 3: Beer halls and Christmas markets edition

I’ve made it to December 23rd now, which was just the beginning of my Christmas break.

Early in the morning, I set out from Bremen on an ICE train crossing the country to get to Munich in just about 5.5 hours (just for reference, driving would have taken 7 hours and a bus would have taken 14…)

I got into town right around 13:00 and got to my hostel where I saw Heidi, a friend that I had made while studying in Spain two years ago and that I haven’t seen since Spain two years ago.

After a few minutes of catching up, we went across the street to the Augustiner beer hall which, for a Tuesday afternoon, was packed. Unfortunately, there was no singing like I found during Oktoberfest. We enjoyed half liters of their lager and some get-your-hands-dirty grub. I got a pork knuckle, not knowing neither why I got it nor how to eat it in a slightly proper way, so I just hacked away at it.

After an hour or two in there, we went back across the street to check into our hostel room, snatched ourselves the bottom bunks, and were off to walk into the city center, enjoying the beautiful weather outside, especially because this would be the warmest day of our trip.

Again, from my previous two trips to Munich (here and here), I have spent a fair share of time wandering around the old town, but I didn’t see everything, of course. Plus, it was fun to walk around the area with a friend.

We looked through the Christmas market in Marienplatz as well as found ourselves a Medieval Christmas market not too far away, where everyone dressed in old-time clothes and sold old-time things.

After filling our stomachs at the markets, we walked through the Hofbrau beer hall but didn’t find anywhere to sit (it’s a Tuesday still, but it was Christmas week, so I guess it made sense that it was packed). It would have been fun, though, considering that there was an oompah band playing.

Instead, we found ourselves in a Paulaner pub, another one of the “big six” breweries in Munich (the ones that have tents at Oktoberfest), in order to sample a half liter of their lager.

Afterwards, we walked around a bit and called it an early night because we had to be up by 5 the next morning to catch our bus to Vienna.

Even though this was my third time going around Munich, I am determined to go back, as I have barely scratched the surface of what there is to do in this amazing (and to my surprise, not really that big) city. Like certain things that would be more enjoyable in warmer weather (parks.).

‘Til next October perhaps…

That time I applied for a German visa

aka That time I finally made it to Bremen but only for a day

aka I HATE visas

A lot of paranoia and anxiety surrounded me getting a visa to continue to stay legally in Germany for the next year. Because I plan to stay 15 months in Germany, I had to apply for the visa towards the end of my “90-day free period” in the Schengen zone (most countries in the EU) but before I began au pairing in January.

There isn’t a lot of information out there for American au pairs in Germany. Or, in the least, none that I could find. So I was looking at what there was for Canadian au pairs in Germany and also American workers in Germany, trying to find out what exactly I would need to bring to apply for the visa.

I just remember when I applied for my visa to study in Spain, I had this huge stack of papers and copies of each in a certain order and I was told that even if I was missing one thing, I would have to reschedule my appointment. So I figured that Germany, being stereotypically (and truly) stricter than Spain, would be super particular in having everything in order.

I read online that I needed to have a basic level of German (A1) and a certificate to prove it. So as my first few months in Germany drew to a close, I tried to find a test, only to find that the earliest test would be in the middle of January.

Ensue panic.

 We then tried to get an appointment for me to apply for the visa at the foreigners office in Bremen.

A call in only revealed that the earliest appointment was in February.

Ensue more panic.

But then a bit of a silver lining came.

We were told that a certificate of language proficiency would not be required (PHEW! Even if I would have gotten into a test, I probably would not have passed it yet!) because part of the purpose of the au pair position is to learn the language. You shouldn’t be fluent when you come over. Instead, they wanted proof that I would be enrolled in a language course.

I was told that I may have to speak a little bit to them. That, I figured, I could manage a little better.

We were also told that we could go to the office on the 22nd of December REALLY early before the doors opened, get in line, and then *hopefully* get to talk to someone.

The only problem with that was that it was my only option. The office in Bremen is only open M/W/Th, and considering that Wednesday was Christmas Eve and Thursday was Christmas Day, the office was going to be closed for the rest of the week. The next time would be past my 90 days.

 If it didn’t work, I would have had to make terribly costly last-minute plans, ditch my friend over Christmas, and spend a week or two out of the Schengen zone (I was leaning towards Croatia…somewhere warmer!!) in order to extend my 90 days by that same amount and try again when I got back.

Now maybe I wouldn’t have had the same level of stress if I was in Spain, Italy, France, or Greece, but Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium are known to be some of the strictest countries when it comes to overstaying your visa. Deportation was not something that I was going to risk.

So now that you somewhat know my level of stress going into the day, I’ll give you the play-by-play.

Sunday, 21 December:

23:15 my bus arrives in Bremen and I drag out all of my belongings. (I pray hard that my host family will find me because I have no other way to contact them!) I find my host mom, and we go to my new home for the next year!

Monday, 22 December:

00:30 after some light chatting and bringing my things in, I head to bed.

05:15 my cruel alarm goes off.

05:45 we drive to the foreigners’ office.

6:00 we arrive to a line of 15+ people already.

6:00-6:30 we wait in the rain…at least it wasn’t too cold!

6:30 we waddle like penguins through the opened doors and get into this huge heard of people. Turns out that there was another line, so when we get our number, it is already 33. We squeeze through the crowd and find a spot to sit. Just a minute later, the guard announces that there are no more tickets. He handed out 60 so we are just a bit past halfway.

6:30-8:30 we wait for the place to even open.

8:30-10:45 we wait for our number to be called……..wondering why so many people have to go up to the ladies calling numbers “just to ask a quick question” and spend 5+ minutes there. Not to mention praying that we get in before they close at noon.

10:45 (give or take) number 33 is called!! We go up to the desk, show her a bunch of papers that she doesn’t look at, and guess what we are told?

Just guess.

There is a computer software malfunction today, so where we need to go, there is only the one worker there taking people with pre-scheduled appointments instead of the usual two workers. (And I don’t have a pre-scheduled appointment!)

Ensue begging and pleading and more praying.

She went to the back to see if there was anything that she could do. 5 minutes later, she comes back and tells us that she got us an appointment at 2:15 that afternoon!!!! She then gives us a list of things that we need to take with us to that appointment that we need to fill out/gather.

The first thing was that I needed to have a residency permit.

11:15 we wait in line to find out how to do that.

11:15-13:30 we wait…and fill out some forms. I get biometric pictures taken down in the basement. I run to grab something from the bakery across the street (mind you, we have had nothing to eat thus far and it was shaping up to be a looooong day.)

13:30 we are called!!! We give her the forms for the residency permit and that was that.

13:40 we find where we need to go next. This is the big visa part. We sit down and wait for our names to be called.

14:25 we are called. There’s a bit of discussion to be had in German. I am asked if I speak any, and I say “ein bisschen.” That was that!! Easy enough, despite fumbling over that word that I just learned that morning!! He gives me a paper with a date of an appointment February 9th where I will actually get my physical visa (this is currently the only thing making my stay legal in Germany…if I am “caught” without my passport/that paper, it could mean trouble). I catch bits and pieces of the conversation, and realize that I am not allowed to leave Germany until that date. First he said Schengen, then just Germany. I got to thinking, zoning out the rest of that, that I should still be fine to go ahead with my plans with my friend and go to Austria and the Czech Republic…I just have to be back and stay in Germany between the end of my 90 days (December 30th) and until I get my visa. Easy enough.

14:40 we are finally free to leave!!!

After 8.5 hours of waiting and maybe a total of 20 minutes actually talking to people, I am finally set with my visa!!

We grab some food and I am dead for the rest of the day!

The biggest problem with being locked into Germany was that I was thinking about going to Spain for a week over New Years and Día de los Reyes, but now I couldn’t go. However, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go when the weather wasn’t optimal there, so it is probably better to wait. I’ll definitely visit in the spring!

So instead, I make arrangements for finishing my trip in Dresden and Berlin instead of going to Spain with my friend.

And I finally make a decision about when to go to Munich (I was debating a night train or one early in the morning…I went with the latter) and give myself a little early Christmas present of a bahn card (discount card for train travel).

It’s funny though, because a small part of the reason why I chose to go to Germany was because the visa process seemed easier than for Spain/Italy because I could do it in Germany. And I guess that it did turn out that way! Getting it done in 1 day and being “locked” in the country for a month is far easier and cheaper than the 3-month stint that I had to deal with for getting my Spanish visa.

If you are an American au pairing in Germany, here are some things to know:

• It’s good to bring with you the au pair contract, even though they probably won’t look at it.
• Bring someone from your host family along to translate for you. They did speak English as well, but it’s just easier to have it done in German. Plus no one will be too greatly questioning your level of German if you don’t need everything to be in English.
• You need: 2 biometric photos, your passport, and everything else you will get there to fill out.
• Call early for an appointment if you don’t want to wait forever!! Like right when you arrive in Germany.
• To pick up the visa, you need to pay 100 euros.

Visas have always worked out very smoothly for me, despite always causing a lot of stress. Especially time-wise. Get on top of things and you’ll be fine. Although I wasn’t on top of things and it worked out fine, it did cause some sleepless nights.

Frankfurt, Germany

My trip to Frankfurt marked the end of my time living at Lake Constance/the Bodensee. On the 19th of December, I packed up all of my things (not an easy task, as I came with a full suitcase already and have acquired things since), and on the 20th, I left to Frankfurt as a midway stop between Uhldingen-Mühlhofen and Bremen.

Thankfully, the hostel that I picked was right across the street from the train station, so I didn’t have to worry too much about lugging my heavy bags around with me in the pouring rain for more than a couple of minutes.

Actually, I don’t write about hostels often, but I’ll make an exception for this one. I stayed at “Frankfurt Hostel,” which was about 20 euros/night, right across from the main train station, and covered 3 meals a day for me. Well, technically 2 (breakfast and dinner), but you can easily make yourself a sandwich at breakfast to take along with you. The food had me sold.

To my surprise, Frankfurt is an extremely modern city. It is strange for me to see the juxtaposition of the old buildings in the city center with the huge sky scrapers towering behind them. As it turns out, Frankfurt is the center of banking and business in Europe, and they have a huge euro sign just to reinforce that.

Actually, the majority of the town center was destroyed in bombings during WWII. Unlike most cities in Germany that I have come across, instead of rebuilding the town center in a historical manner, the people of Frankfurt (I wonder if you can call them Frankfurters?!) opted to go with modern architecture.

One part of town that was restored is the Römerberg, or the old town square. This is what I think of when I think Frankfurt, based on the pictures that I had seen beforehand. It’s a nice big square to stroll along, look around, and stop into different restaurants if you’d like.

This is also one of the sites of Frankfurt’s Christmas market. Despite not being my favorite Christmas market of all time, it does have a wonderful one (side note: is it possible to reach a limit where after you have seen so many Christmas markets, they begin to start looking the same?). Food-wise, though, it’s up there with Nuremberg (don’t worry, I’ll have a Christmas market food post soon!).

A short distance away from the central square is the cathedral which is worth looking into quickly. It’s built in a gothic style and relatively simple yet elegant in design. Turns out it’s the site of where they crowned the Holy Roman Empire’s emperor (Holy Roman Emperor?)

Actually, awkwardly, I went to mass on the Sunday that I was there and unbeknownst to me before it began, the mass was in Croatian. Who would have thought that there was such a large population of Catholic Croatians in Frankfurt?! Not me. And the cathedral was PACKED!!! I was squished in the pew plus there were people standing everywhere. I stayed for the mass’s entirety despite not understanding one. single. word. (Excuse my lie, I understood “Amen.”)

Just a few steps away, you reach the river Main (hence the city’s full name, Frankfurt am Main). From there, you can cross the Eiserner Steg, or the Iron Bridge, which provides excellent views of the city. The juxtaposition of the old and new are particularly evident here, because the bridge is so close to the Römerberg directly in front and with the skyscrapers to the left and behind.

Also worth seeing is the Alter Oper, which is one of the city’s opera houses/concert halls. If you have the time/money, the shows seem to get a decent rating, but it’s mainly known for its exterior architectural beauty.

I could not, for the life of me, find Goethe’s house, which is a very popular tourist sight. We talked about/read some of Goethe’s work in the English class I took during my last semester at my university, so I thought that it would be interesting to see. It was probably glaringly obvious, but I couldn’t find it. I just have to tell myself that it’s just a house instead of kicking myself for missing it.

Instead, I found myself busy walking around the old town and the very impressive shopping street. If you are into shopping, you’ll have a wide selection to choose from in Frankfurt.

Not too far away from the shopping street is the Eschenheimer Turm, or the old city gate, which is actually original despite what seems like destruction everywhere else in the city. It is the oldest building in the city center, dating back to the 1400’s.

Apart from the main square/cathedral of town, I think that tourists will either really like or dislike Frankfurt. I say apart from the main square/cathedral because that’s about all I liked about the city.

It almost reminded me of bigger cities in the US, like Chicago. I didn’t love this fact because you come to Europe for the history, and it seemed to me that they wiped it out with the new-style buildings.

However, I do really recommend the Christmas market because it’s just so cute in the square. And again, the food was amazing!