Land of the Vikings

Took a quick trip up to Oslo this past week – what a cold place! Though not nearly as much snow as they are used too, much like Munich. I imagine the area would be absolutely gorgeous during spring or summer, and would enjoy going back for some sort of Scandinavian cruise. I was a bit disappointed in the tourist information office – they suggested I visit the National Gallery instead of the Munch Museum, saying The Scream was available to view there. It turns out that three quarters of the National Gallery was closed for renovation, including the Munch room, which you would think the city’s own tourist office would know about… There was, however, an exhibit on Eero Saarinen, so that was good to see.


The best part of the city, though, was Frogner Park – an entire city park full of sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. In the first photo you can see a monolith in the distance. In the second photo you can see that monolith is actually a conglomeration of bodies reaching 50 feet tall, which supposedly took 3 carvers 14 years to make out of a single block of stone.
Finally, a photo of a random train station.
Only 1 week left!

The long way home

Another friend was able to visit us, at least for a short while. Kevin, a fellow Rice alumni, has been working for the past 6 months in Australia, and decided to take the long way home – through Hong Kong, Munich, London, Dublin, and finally back to Ohio. Unfortunately, Kyle ended up with some sort of flu thing (rotavirus?) the one whole day Kevin was here, so I’m afraid he didn’t get the usual tour. Though he has been to Munich before, so hopefully not too much harm done. We went up to the top of St. Peters for an overview (Kyle and I have decided this is an absolute must for all visitors to Munich – and at only 1.50 euro quite the deal – you just have to be sure to save it for a clear day). Afterwards off to the Olympic Park and the top of the teufelsberg there for a different view of the city. Kyle was still definitely out of commission, so we headed on over to the See Haus to drink some beer and catch up on what we knew of other alumni, before heading over to the Augustiner restaurant for some more beer (Maximator – ‘tis the season) and some food. Hopefully Kevin had a good time, despite only having one host ;)

Italian Sunshine

Just returned from a trip to Italy. Kyle had work in Milan, so we took the train down there (only 29 euros!). The previous times I had been to Milan I did not make it into the Duomo or to see the Last Supper – this time I fit in both. You have to reserve way ahead of time to see the Last Supper (especially now with Dan Brown’s books being so popular), but I joined on to a tour group that was going to see it anyways. The best part of Milan was the top of the Duomo – so picturesque, and you could see for miles. A lot of the carving up there is so detailed that you would only ever be able to really appreciate it by climbing up to the top.
After Milan we took a train to Venice. We had not been inside St. Mark’s previously (summer weather, so I forgot to wear something to cover my shoulders or knees), but made it in this time (though it was so warm I probably would have been comfortable in shorts). The entire interior of the church is covered in mosaics of all sorts, including many with a gold covering that glitter spectacularly. A very relaxing weekend before heading back via a night train (with our own couchette – such an efficient space!) to Munich. A little taste of spring weather before we head up north for other adventures.

The gherkins come for a visit

Jill and Michael came to visit for an extended weekend, almost our last visitors until we head home. It was a packed weekend, full of taking in the sights and visiting various beer halls. They were also able to meet some of our friends here at the Augustiner. After a long trip back to the states (10 hour delay, thanks to Chicago weather), they eventually got back home. Thanks for visiting!

Fasching

Yesterday was Fasching. As we are in nice Catholic southern Germany, Kyle had half the day off. We headed out to the Viktualienmarkt, which was absolutely packed with people – standing room only. A local radio station sponsors a huge construction crane to come out and pump music from speakers suspended from the top of the crane as well as placed all over the market and the Marienplatz. A wonderful afternoon.