The Simpsons...... in German

Frankenstein Castle

 The ride from Darmstadt to Eberstadt was super nice. Separated bike lane. Sections of tree cover. Mellow traffic. I was really enjoying the ride.

 Once I left Eberstadt and headed up the hill, the scenery changed from normal neighborhood to gorgeous forest.

 Bike tracks! Hell ya.

 I went through the forest for only a short distance then rode the rest of the way up this road. Again, the traffic was minimal but the incline was brutal on my shitty bike (7% grade). I got hot and walked up a bit with my shirt off. It was excellent. Exercise. Sunshine. Secluded mountain road. FINALLY! Plus, a van with downhill bikes on a rack passed me on its way up. I guess some riders shuttle the trails here. That's a good sign.

 After 2.2 kilometers and 160 meters (524 feet in 1.4 miles) of climbing I arrived. I parked my bike and took a trail to the side of the castle. I could have taken the actual entrance, but I wanted the fun route.
Before 1250, Lord Conrad II Reiz of Breuberg built Frankenstein Castle and thereafter named himself von und zu Frankenstein.

 I'm not sure what this room was originally used for, but that chair on the left has nails coming up from the arm rest. Original? Or just a prop for the Halloween parties?
In 1363, the castle was split into two parts and owned by two different families of the lords and knights of Frankenstein.

 Frankenstein's chapel.

I didn't take this picture. I found it online and it's better than the one I took.

The castle was used as refuge and a hospital afterward, falling into ruins in the 18th century. The two towers that are so distinctive today are a historically inaccurate restoration carried out in the mid-19th century.  

DAMN IT! I've been swindled! Oh well. It's still cool.

 The views from up top are amazing. At least on this day. The weather has been hit and miss. We've had rain clouds come and go, sometimes dumping rain, other times a light sprinkle.

 This is the look I always imagined castles had. Arrow slits, and the gaps for viewing/shooting/throwing shit.

 I saw some chalk marks on this rock just outside the back wall of the castle. I wouldn't want to boulder this rock. The landing is steep and could be dangerous. Some bike trails start here and trails split off in both directions. I wanted to walk down, but I think I'll come back and dedicate more time to exploring the trails.

Yep. There is a trail map I can't understand, and markings that only make sense if you can read the map. Maybe you just follow the As or Bs all the way down. I can handle that.

Time to shred the road I climbed earlier. Hell ya!

Check out the video. I hope it does justice to the scenery and conveys the fun I had. I didn't put any time into editing though. My cell phone doesn't do very well and it's hard to avoid camera shake when it only weighs a few ounces.

Back in civilization I came across this velodrome. This is the reason fixed gear bikes exist. They're not for hipster beard-bros. They're for racing this small track with steep banked turns. No brakes, just sprinting.

Samstag Flohmarkt: I bought a bike!

Saturday. 12.4.14

Yesterday I told myself to be productive. Get to school early, sketch before class, attend sketch class, and then work on the design classes. I redrew things on plain paper because my mini notebook has lines and isn’t good for scanning. The size and portability of the notebook is nice, but using the sketches from it is tough. I’d have to scan it all and edit the images in Photoshop. I want to limit the editing time because I know how much time it’s going to take later. I thought I’d make good progress on choosing directions for Bionics and Spaces, but it never feels like progress is made. I was invited to play games with Aniol, Aina, and Joni, but I wasn’t in the mood. I also told them I wanted to get work done and get to bed early. I didn’t get as much work done as I thought, and I ended up going to be just after midnight. Yay, such a liar.

Today I went to the Flomarkt here in Darmstadt. Flomarkt is German for flea market. I wanted to find a bike, and I did. A few people were selling bikes so I went back and forth asking for prices and going over chains, tires, shifters, lights. One couple selling bikes spoke way too fast, and not a stitch of English. I asked the guy a few times how much the bike costs, and I couldn’t understand him. The bikes I’m looking at are for commuting and have simple relaxed geometry. They’re old too. I saw a few promising bikes, but my brain goes blank when I try to really analyze them. I forget how much each one costs. I forget which one looks to be in better condition. I know bikes, but I have the worst time making decisions on which one to buy. Or to buy one at all. A nice man told me he’d sell me one for 40€ that was OK. Back and forth, back and forth. I lapped the flea market again to think about it and look at the other ones again. When he offered me another one for only 30€ I got excited. That’s cheap. I took this bike for a spin to check the gears, and feel it out. It’s comfortable, simple, and needs a little work. Aber das ist billig (But it’s cheap.) I shook the man’s hand and made the deal. I just bought a bike for 30€.

It feels so good to be pedaling a bike again. It’s been too long. The couple days of riding Elisabeth’s bike in Berlin was amazing, but I’ve been here for over 1 month without a bike. I rode it home and went over it again. I added air to the tires, cut off the bike lock that had no key, and adjusted the angle of the brake lever. Once I added air to the rear tire, the added pressure caused the wheel to shift a bit and rub against the fender. A quick bit of “encouragement” from a small wrench fixed that problem.

I brought Dimi’s bike pump over to Sam’s to pump up the tires of a bike that had been laying around. We weren’t sure how it would ride, but once we saw that it held pressure in the tires we hit the street. We rode to Rosenhöhe and out for a lap around the fields. My bike was running fine. Not all the gears work, but it’s good enough for me. Some new cables and housing should fix that. Little did I know that later the deteriorating cable housing would cause me to eat shit and donate some skin and blood to the sidewalk.

Yes. I crashed and burned. I was headed to Sam’s party and went down like a clown. I had my busted bag over my shoulder and rode with one hand to keep it from slapping against my leg. I had just passed a group of people on bikes and was pedaling up the hill with some good effort. The cable housing came loose and was dangling. I noticed, but thought I would fix it when I stopped at the top or at the next red light. Bad idea. The loose cable caught my left pedal and stopped my food mid stroke. The sudden stop in motion cause me to lose control, which was also made possible by my holding on with only one hand. I swerved a bit, slow enough that I could see it coming. I knew I was going down, but tried to save it by going down gently. I swerved toward the grass on my right, but didn’t make it. I went down and slammed my right knee into the pavement. FUCK! Stupid bike. Stupid me for not acknowledging the danger of having a lose cable. Yep, blood had been drawn. Yep, my knee hurts.

I just let my bike lay there in the grass as I did the mental injury check. How bad does it hurt? Can I move it? What else hurts? Anything broken? Relax, it’s not that bad. I felt like an idiot, and the group I had just passed saw the whole thing. After standing there for a couple minutes, a couple people from the other group came over to check on me. They offered help, and asked if I was ok.

“Yes, I’m ok. The lose cable caught my pedal and sent me out of control. I’m bleeding, but I’m fine.”

“We saw you go down. Can we help you?”

“Do you have a napkin or anything?”

They guy opened his backpack and gave me a pack of mini tissues. I thanked them, and again reassured them that I was ok. I rinsed my knee with water from my bottle and wiped it up with the tissues. It was dark so I couldn’t see much, but I knew it wasn’t too bad; only two small patches of road rash. It does hurt though, but only about a 2 on a 1 – 10 scale.  Fucking bike. Fucking cheap piece of shit. Now I’m noticing the issues with the cables up front. I’ll definitely get this fixed/replaced.

I went to Sam’s party anyway. I was early because parties don’t start at 9. They start at 11 and I was there at around 9. I mingled for a bit. More like chatted with Sam and Lauren. I did talk with a girl a bit about school, living in Shanghai, and the punk scene in China. I snacked on some food, then left. I wasn’t in the mood to party, and blood was beginning to stain my shorts. Did I wuss out? Probably a bit, but I welcomed the excuse to leave. Should I have stayed and bandaged myself up so I could be social and meet some new people? Yes, but I don’t care anymore. I just want to go home. So I did.

Wednesday: 9.4.2014

These first couple weeks of school have been a roller coaster. The format is new, and so is the ambiguity. We meet as a class once a week in the professor’s office to talk about the course material. We’ll see some slides and have a discussion. I hope these discussions help create a timeline of checkpoints, but I was told there is no set timeline or assignments. This vague project is not working with my need for structure. I work MUCH better when I have a task and due date. This time it’s one BIG assignment with many components and it’s all due on the final day of class.

I’m struggling to put pen to paper and work out ideas. I can research animals and natural things for weeks, but I have to stop and pick something. I don’t know what to make. Initially it sounded awesome to have a wide open project. Now I’m struggling to pick something. I know there are a lot of components to get done before I can make a model. My brain is just spinning. I try to sit down and do homework, but I get distracted. I can’t really use books because they’re all in German. Using the internet is a great tool, but more for getting sidetracked than for productivity.

I feel like I’m already way behind, yet I have no idea where I should be. I see what Sam is doing and it makes me feel worse. He has great sketching skills, and it sounds like he’s figured out what he wants to make already. It’s happened to me in the past, and I think I’m going to have to do it again; Force myself to stop and pick something!

It’s weird being in a new location with no materials. I hate spending money, and I’m going to have to buy all new sand paper, cutting blades, glue, tape, paper, and general building materials. The atmosphere is different in the shop too. The workroom isn’t busy yet. I don’t get a good collaboration vibe. I’ll have to just spend more time at school to warm up to people. I’m going to have to ask for help, which will include a lot of stupid questions. This whole process makes me nervous. I struggled with it a lot back in San Jose, and now I face the same big problems in a new situation and foreign language. I always pull through, but I really don’t know how it’s going to happen.

Priorities? I’d love to spend more time on German. Not knowing the language holds me back sometimes, and I just don’t like relying on others’ knowledge of English. I’m the foreign kid. I shouldn’t need everyone to speak MY language. In truth, I just don’t know enough to hold a conversation in German. It really sucks. I need to study German more, but aren’t my design classes the priority? The whole reason I came here was for school. Wasn’t it? Or was it for the whole experience? Was it an excuse to travel? To meet new people? To have fun? In the end, my projects will weigh heavily on my success level here. If I don’t do work that my SJSU professors deem acceptable, did I waste my time here? Am I really learning about myself? Design? Culture? Language? Am I still holding back? Am I reverting to my old reclusive self?

Day Tripping With Dave

Dave was in Switzerland for work, and had finished early. He was there to oversee a project with one of his company's products, but ended up not having to do much. He was there more as a symbol of support from headquarters so his role was simple. With a couple days before his flight home, he headed north and picked me up on his way to Köln.

 First stop: Starbucks. As much as I didn't want to to there, Dave needed internet and this is the most reliable spot. I bought us chai lates, and Dave checked his work mail. The woman working there had no idea how the internet worked, so Dave got help from some students who were working upstairs.

One of Dave's reasons for heading north from Switzerland was to have dinner with a guy he works with who lives in Köln (Cologne in English.) On our way there, we were cruising just below 200 kmph. I told Dave we had to hit 200, so when a good straight piece of autobahn came he punched it. The BMW had no trouble at that speed, but he could feel the wind pushing the car around a bit more than he liked, so we slowed back down to 160 kmph (100 mph.) We cruised anywhere between 80 and 90 mph most of the time and still had people coming up on our bumper. 

 We met Dave's buddies from work right here. Pretty sweet meeting spot, right? Dave spent a couple months in Belgium with a program from work, and he knows a guy doing the same thing there now. We me with him, a guy from China, and Dave's boss and his wife. We had a typical German meal, and had a good time talking about cultures, and who was the prettiest girl in the program. Dave's company sends people to their main office in Belgium to get more training, and encourage international travel for work. Dave can chat it up at a dinner table pretty well. We had a good time, until Dave tried to take care of the bill and was told no credit cards are accepted. He was doing a nice thing by picking up the tab, but was thwarted at the last minute by restaurant rules. I guess this place has too many tourists with foreign cards that they stopped accepting them. We got the cash together and it worked out fine. Just a funny situation, and everyone laughed about it.

I did some research for places to see between Köln and Darmstadt. Schlösser Brühl (Brühl Castle) had a good rating on the travel sight so it made it onto my list. The garden was cool, but the building wasn't that old, and we were really looking for castles. The pictures online were awesome, but we hit it on a gloomy day, and the tours didn't start for a while. Dave wasn't impressed, and I wasn't all that thrilled either.

We stayed just past our 20 minute limit on free parking and had trouble leaving the parking lot. I couldn't figure out how to pay even with the English option. The machine wouldn't take the ticket or my money. I pressed the help button and got a German voice on the other end. In my poorly broken German I tried to explain that I couldn't pay. After some German words were exchanged, which may or may not have made any sense, the gate lifted and we left.

 Next stop: Bonn, Germany
Godesburg is on top of a hill overlooking the city of Bonn. I originally added this stop because it has a really nice market, but no on Thursdays. It's probably jam packed with people during Christmas and on farmer's market days. Today it was very mellow, so we just walked around. We found a cool church and saw a woman in the zone. Eyes closed, hands in the Turning The Wheel of Dharma position. She was worshiping her own way in this place of God. I'm sure God doesn't care which book you read because they're all devoted to Him. Who cares if it's a Catholic or Christian church. She was doing her thing, so we kept it quiet.

When we saw this from town as we walked around, I wasn't expecting a modern restaurant. Godesburg was a fortress built in the 13th century around 1210. It's not only a historical site, but the location of a restaurant AND hotel. Before the fortress was established long ago, it was a Roman then Frankish cult site. No tourists were here, just some employees setting up the place for an event. We walked into this tower but nobody was there. I could see that someone usually sites at its base collecting fees and distributing info. I told a guy milling about that I wanted to go up. He said 2€ each, which was what the sign said. I paid for Dave and myself, and we ascended the narrow stairs. I got excited to see these arrowslits. I can imagine the guy standing here firing arrows at intruders. Maybe it never had intruders, but it's fun to imagine.

 Creepy narrow stairway? Dude, we're going up until we hit a locked door or the roof. Keep going.

 We did hit the ceiling. We went up as far as we could until a stairway led to the ceiling and a closed hatch. We almost turned around, but Dave climbed the stairs to check if it was locked. It wasn't! He pushed it open and we climbed out into the sunlight and were greeted with 360 degree views of the city.

 Here is what the layout used to be before it was nearly demolished in 1583 during the Sewer War against the Cologne-based Elector Gebhard Truchseß zu Waldburg.  Sure. I just copied that from the official site.

 There is a cemetery below so I had to check it out. This headstone, if you could call it that, is pretty bit and depicts some creepy stuff. It looks like people are trying to escape the clutches of another world. Some are on the outside trying to reach in. Maybe it's people's family trying to bridge the gap between life and those who have transitioned to the afterlife.

 On the road again. We followed the Rhein River south. The journey took longer than necessary, but the views were so much prettier than on the autobahn. I caught Dave checking out the girl driving the car in front of us. She must have seen him in her mirror lowering his glasses to take a look, because when we passed her she waved to us. She AND they guy riding shotgun gave us a big smile and waved. We waved too. Good times. She swerved a bit when she looked at us and waved, which made us all laugh a bit. Stupid girls.

Next stop: Marksburg Castle. The drive up was pretty sweet. It's the only castle along the Rhein that wasn't destroyed and has been lived in for the past 700 years. It's located upon a hill overlooking the town of Braubach. Construction began in the 12th century, and the keep (an area for everything essential for living) was improved upon, and expanded in the years after by a rotating roster of owners.

These shields represent the different groups over the centuries who have lived here, and who have added to the structure. Lords of Eppstien. Count Eberhard II of Katzenelnbogen. Landgraves of Hesse. Duchy of Nassau. In 1866 it was taken over by Prussia and turned into apartments. In 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm II helped purchase the property for 1,000 franks. Now it's run by the German Castles Association.

Just to the right of this image there was a group of scientists/archaeologists/historians digging up the ground. I could only think of Indiana Jones looking for past treasure. 

 This is the walkway that was dug up. I found this image online. The roof at the end is where the cannons are. The square room on the right is the bridge overlooking the second entrance to the castle. There were a few entrances to pass through so invading armies/people had extra difficulty getting in.

This is the view from the artillery deck. These cannons shoot far, and with the elevation comes extra reach.

 Beer was consumed more than water due to fear of bacteria. No refrigerator? No problem. The people would load up underground storage areas with blocks of ice from the river and cover with layers of straw. The blocks of ice harvested in the winter would hopefully last throughout summer.

 This was an added display of the changing styles of body armor.

There are English tours, but we weren't lucky enough to get there on time. Or we were too early. Either way, we got a tour in German but had a book in English to help supplement what our tour guide was saying.

 This is the dining room. We were told that the table top would be in another room until eating time. All the food would be cooked and prepped in another room then loaded onto the table. Then the table would be brought in already set and ready to go.

 Need to use the shitter? Here you go. That hole leads to open air and down the ground quite a few feet below. Rain would wash away the refuse. Just hope rain comes frequently. I bet there was a nasty stink during the summer when it doesn't rain much.

The countryside is so gorgeous. We drove along rolling hills and large expanses of grass and mustard. I wanted to stop and take some pics.... so we did.