A tour and some sun

Today our group was scheduled for a five-hour walking tour of the city with our guide, Kristin.  We checked out amazing architecture, memorials and sculptures while absorbing an entire history lesson.   Two hours into the walk, the sun finally came out.  It was beautiful.

Here are some pics from the tour.

After the tour the group wanted food, but the only place we could find was a kebab place, which meant I was outta luck while everyone else munched away.  I had eaten only two oranges all day, so I decided to head back to the hotel in search of a veggie restaurant instead of exploring Alexanderplatz with everyone else.

On the tram on the way back, I saw this girl with pink hair and facial piercings and really wanted a shot of her.  So when she turned her head I snapped a picture, and she flipped!  She started yelling at me in German, and I thought she was going to hit me.  I pointed to my own hair in an attempt to explain why I was taking the picture, but she wasn't having it.  I just turned around and protected my camera with my hands in case she tried anything.

The shot is a little blurry, but I wanted to put it in here anyway because it was an interesting experience.

I did find a great restaurant, though.  There's a cute little vegetarian/vegan spot a street over from the hotel called Manna.  I couldn't read the all-German menu, but that was no problem at all because the English-speaking chef came out and talked about every entree with me.

The cook is from London and came to Berlin on a visit and ended up playing in a band and doing theatre.  I smelled an idea for my photo project.

The vegetable soup and salad were delicious.  I could really taste the freshness of the beans and potatoes in the soup.  After finishing, I talked to Dani (the chef) about possibly working with me for my project, and he agreed!  I scribbled down his number and will be in touch in the next few days about an interview and further details.

A bleak day in Berlin

Saturday has been plagued by gray skies and cold rain all day long.  We, the group of students and professor Freeman, still went out exploring the city and sights.  But before I get to that, last night we celebrated a birthday of one the girls in our group (Marissa).  After a long search and heavy debating, we ended up at an empty bar just a block from our hotel.  Jeez.

From left to right:  Maria, Laurie, Marissa

Cheers!

Then everyone got hungry and wanted a kebab from the place next door.  I was a little grossed out by the giant slab of mystery meat...

Saturday was a day of crowded metros, walking around Alexanderplatz, bombed out churches, rowdy football crowds and exploring flea markets.

Professor Freeman and Matt.

We headed into Europe's largest department store, KaDeW.  This store has seven stories, the last two of which are full of food and beer.

These guys were guarding the giant pretzels you see in this next picture.

This pretty much sums up Germany:

There were moments of temptation, but I stayed strong.  I've always had a really bad sweet tooth.  And as a recent convert to veganism (it's been almost two months), it's been really hard to find anything sweet that doesn't contain animal product (gross).  I think the temptations will diminish with time, but I can't lie and say that I don't miss Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream or Oreo cookies.  The urges can be tough, especially when I'm in a city where I'm surrounded by confectionaries.  But I faith that I can change my life, and I strongly believe in the lifestyle I'm practicing.

Looking down the escalator:

Bombed out church in the center of town.

Then, we went to the train station for a quick bite to eat, and there were a bunch of people cheering for their football team.  That's one of the amazing things about Europe:  people can have rallies and celebrations without the authorities/police/security freaking out about it.  The pep rally went on for a while before the police walked out.  And there was no shoving or disruption.  The fans just disbanded and headed to the stadium.

After a disgusting Thai food lunch of curry basil vegetables, we headed to a flea market.  I didn't even want to take a picture of the lunch I had because it was so gross.  The vegetables tasted old and felt soggy, and the sauce was unbelievably spicy.  One of the girls on my trip even said that my food smelled like "a pet shop."  I'm pretty sure food isn't supposed to smell like that.
Anyway, here's the (overpriced) flea market.

There was all sorts of crap stuff for sale.

In a few hours a group of us are heading out to a pub to watch the big football match that's taking place in Berlin.

Question:  How do you handle temptation with food?  How often do you get urges to "cheat"?

Tschau!

Press Pause

Wednesday afternoon I wandered around the neighborhood where my hostel, The Circus Hostel, was located.  My first impressions of Berlin are pretty cool:  lots of graffiti, racy posters everywhere and garish clothing.

I'm in Berlin for a two-week study abroad program with UF.  It's a photojournalism program, and the objective is to choose a subject and create a multimedia project (pictures, captions and audio) by the end of the trip telling a story about the person.  

Thursday, I decided to take it easy.  In the past two weeks I've been to five different cities, and I was by myself in three of those cities.  It's been a little overwhelming, to say the least.  I've never traveled by myself internationally before, much less so frequently.  So I chose to stay in bed and "hibernate."  I limited my physical and emotional activity as an attempt to cleanse my mind and body, almost like pushing the 're-start' button.  Lots of water and hardly any food, like a mini water fast.

I'll be working really hard for the next two weeks compiling photos and audio for this project, so I think I needed this day off to sit, reflect and let my body relax.

Something surprising happened, though.  I got really homesick.  I've never gotten homesick before.  I've been to New York City, Chicago, California, France, London and Mexico without getting homesick.  My mind starting drifting to thoughts about home and family and friends and the Boyfriend.  Thoughts of being alone in a big city kept replaying in my head.  I chatted with my mom on Skype for a little while, which really helped.  And then I jumped in the shower to freshen up, which also helped.

Today I'm with the 11 other students who are on the trip with me.  We're staying in a hotel near downtown Berlin and we're off to catch some dinner and walk around.

I just went to a really great grocery store down the street that has fresh fruit, vegetables  and other vegan-friendly food!

Here's a pic of my food stash so far (the rice milk chocolate was really good):

See ya later!

low-key in Dublin

I've been in Dublin the past few days and haven't really done much to be honest.  I visited two photography exhibits, walked around Temple Bar (where a drunken bum groped me) and went to a Dinosaur Jr. concert (as per boyfriend's request).
This sign in Temple Bar reads:  "No wake up calls, please.  Remember Temple Bar is home to 3,000 residents."

There's a giant Spire located near the city's center:

I was feeling a bit under the weather, which is why I wasn't my normal adventurous, photo-happy self.  One thing the boyfriend and I did manage to do, however, was EAT!
The Web site http://www.happycow.net/ is really great for finding veg-friendly restaurants.  Check it out.

We checked out the vegan/vegetarian scene, and although there weren't many choices as far as dining out, the couple of restaurants that were vegan-friendly were good quality.  I was impressed.

Cornucopia, a vegetarian/vegan eating joint, has a great atmosphere to it.  Very chill and easy-going.  Everyone has a smile on his or her face, and I think that's largely due to the good food.  The menu changes daily and all the ingredients are as fresh as they can get.

Ged and I had some awesome soup and home-made vegan bread with a non-dairy spread.

I went back another day to Cornucopia during lunch time and had a small salad that included garlic potatoes and kidney beans with spinach.  Totally vegan and totally delish.

We went to Juice, another vegetarian/vegan restaurant, and that was good as well.  I had freshly made pear juice that was to die for.  I felt cleaner after just a few sips.  I know that sounds dumb.  Main course was vegetable fried rice.  The teriyaki sauce was a little  on the heavy side, though.  And vanilla soy ice cream for dessert.  Good stuff.
I'm now in Berlin, Germany, after a four hour flight from Dublin, and I'm feeling much better than I was yesterday.  I'm off to explore what the city has to offer.

Happy Hump Day.