Reutlingen – Page 2 – Valpo Voyager

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Introduction: Katie Rinda in Reutlingen, Germany!

I have basically three months until I climb on board a plane for Stuttgart. I don’t know how you feel about change, but I’m pretty much freaking out about it. (The added stress from the end of the semester isn’t really helping.) Living in a foreign country is pretty scary as is, but it’s even scarier when you’re supposed to be working there as well.

Every time I’ve started working at a new place, I’ve had to learn a whole new vocabulary. Every industry and company has their own jargon, and the differences amplify when you add technical vocabulary to the list. It generally takes me a month to fully understand the lingo. And, in general, going to Germany will mean I have to learn a whole new set of words and procedures for just regular life. Hopefully, those years of studying German will pay off.

What I’m worried about is transitioning to my internship. Will I have developed enough German skills to sort through conversations to find what’s technical and what’s not? There’s always a jump between engineering at school, and engineering in the workplace. Sometimes, they seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. When I get comfortable with jargon, I can generally connect it back to what I’ve previously learned. Will the language barrier keep me from making those connections?

I really can’t answer that until I’ve spend time abroad. However, in anticipation of this problem, I’ve developed a few strategies to combat my ignorance of technical German:

Focus on language for industries I’m already knowledgeable about. I’ve already had one engineering internship, and will finish a different one this summer before I go abroad. Since those experiences will shape my resume, I’m starting to develop a list of words for industry specific terms. (Eg. I worked with aluminium rolling mills last summer: Aluminium Vorgerüste in German.) Thanks to my time at Alcoa, I know German companies who make mill products, and can learn vocab, just by reading the German version of their sites. General dictionary searches rarely can translate the jargon as well as the industry themselves.
Find Technical Articles. Similarly to industry jargon, technical articles will be full of official vocabulary from the field itself. Reading these articles not only teaches me more German, but also adds to my knowledge of engineering.
Speaking with native speakers in a casual environment. I’ve attended the weekly Kaffestunde at the German house frequently since I came to Valpo, and it has definitely improved my comprehension of German. Listening to native speakers rapid fire discuss politics or baking or their travels using words I didn’t learn in class, and actually beginning to understand them is really cool. It also tells me that if I can start to understand half the words, I should be able to understand the gist of the conversation.

That’s what I’ve put together so far. I’ll check back in on this after I’ve been over for a bit and report on the success/fail rate, or if I find anymore brilliant prep tips.

So nervous. So excited!

Saying (a Temporary) Goodbye

May 13, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

Today I have to find a way to summarize what the last four months have meant to me, and honestly, I have no idea where to start. I feel like everything I could possibly say has been said a million times before, and yet I feel compelled to say it again because I really wish that more people would take that leap of faith and go study abroad. No words can completely describe how amazing an experience it is or how profoundly it changes you. It really would be a shame to miss out on this opportunity, so here is my final attempt to convince the masses.

First there are the tangible things–all the travel, events, and adventures you get to have. In addition to the two 10-day class trips that are jam-packed with activities, we had over 25 other events, including many free meals, concerts, and excursions. During the semester, they keep you busy. And of course that doesn’t even count the long weekends and spring break, when you can just go anywhere and everywhere.

Like Prague:

and Paris:

What’s arguably even more important are the intangible things you gain from this experience. You can meet people from all over the world. You’ll get completely comfortable hearing multiple languages, often spoken in the same room. You’ll learn that there is more than one good way to do pretty much anything. You’ll become a better problem-solver. You’ll get over all of your dumb little fears. You’ll learn how to do laundry, shop for groceries, and cook. (But hopefully you already do those things.)

But what has by far meant the most to me is getting to wake up every single day and be really excited about life. I’ve become much more independent and confident. After you successfully navigate Europe pretty much on your own, you’ll feel like you can do anything. Because you can. If you think about it, there aren’t a whole lot of things that are harder than packing up your life and moving to another country, so once you’ve done that, suddenly, the things that used to scare you just don’t anymore. And more importantly, you come to the realization that it’s the scary things in life that end up being most worthwhile.

Tomorrow, I have to say goodbye to Reutlingen, but I’m in a different position than most of my classmates. This goodbye will be easier for me because it is only a temporary one. Because I get to come back in three months, I’m mostly just excited to go home right now. But come August, it’ll be time to put everything I learned to good use again. I guess more than anything else, today I feel grateful, for the transformative experience this semester has been, for the relaxing summer ahead, and for the opportunity to spend another year right here where I belong.

Field Trips and Travel Tips

April 1, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted an update on my life here. That’s mostly because I haven’t had the opportunity to travel for the past two weekends, but in that time, I’ve still had a few little adventures, and I’ve made a point of taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of European life. The sunny and 75 degree weather we’ve had here has really helped with that! So I’ll share a few of those little things, and then I want to switch gears and offer some practical tips for travel and hosteling. Not that I’m an expert or anything, but I’ve learned a few things I wish I had known before.
In addition to all the free time we have for international travel, there are a handful of shorter field trips organized by the program, as well as several independent day trips we can do for fun. Last month, we went to Rottweil for the Fasching, or mardi gras parade. This is a very strange, but wildly popular phenomenon here, that’s hard to compare with anything in the US. Then, there’s something the whole world can understand: The chocolate factory.

Ritter Sport, my second favorite chocolate brand, conveniently has a factory very close to Reutlingen. It has two small museums, but the real attraction is the back room of the factory store, where they sell broken chocolate, discontinued flavors, and experimental test flavors for less than half-price. I came home with about 5lbs of chocolate.

Last week, we took another field trip with our econ class to the Daimler (Mercedes) Factory. Cars aren’t really my thing, but it was interesting to learn about how they are built.

Finally, tomorrow we are going to a nearby castle and then a wine tasting event, so I’m excited, and I will report on that later.
The other way I’ve been occupying my time lately is with planning my spring break. In our 17 days, we will go to Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, and Florence. I’m extremely excited about all of those places. Dozens of people have told me that Prague and Budapest are amazing, before I ever went to Paris, Vienna was my favorite city in the world, and Italy as a whole has been on my bucket list for years. It’s an amazing blessing to be able to go to all of these places, but the planning process is not easy. Here are 10 things for future study abroaders to keep in mind when planning budget travel:

1. Be realistic about distances in Europe.
Before I got here, I said I wanted to go to about 15 different countries, including Greece, Croatia, Spain, Denmark, and more. But those places are really farther away than they look on a map. Now, many people studying here in previous years have gone to these places, either by plane or overnight train. But overnight trains are just not for me, and I’d rather use my rail pass than fly, so I had to scale back my plans a little. I decided to stay closer so that I didn’t end up spending half of my trip on a train, but of course, this is a personal preference that is different for everyone.

2. Don’t be too picky about accommodations.
This one is really hard for me. Most hostels are not as nice as most hotels, and there’s no good way around that. Read reviews before you book, but try not to let one or two bad ones cancel out 100 good ones. My paranoia has taught me that if you look hard enough, you will inevitably find at least one horrifying review of every place, but odds are, your experience there will be at least ok.

3. You get what you pay for.
It’s not always best to pick the absolute cheapest hostels. In some cities, I have seen them for less than 5 euros, but something seems off about that to me. There must be a reason. Usually it has to do with the location. While it may seem convenient to stay right next to the train station, in most cities, this is generally not the best neighborhood. The hostels I have stayed in have all been between 15 and 30 euros, which is still a steal compared to hotels.

4. Don’t settle and listen to your gut.
I don’t expect luxury at any of these places, but if I have any rational reason to believe that a hostel is not clean and safe, I won’t settle. Of course you don’t really know until you get there, but odds are, if your gut is telling you no, theres a better option out there. Be patient and keep looking.

5. Have a city map before you go.
Hostels will give you city maps for free, but that doesn’t help you when you just got off the train at midnight and need to find the place. And don’t rely on cellphone GPS.

6. Know the difference between hostels and hotels.
In most hostels, the beds are bunked. You can usually get sheets at check-in, but you have to make the bed yourself. You may or may not be sharing a bathroom. Some hostels have lockouts in the middle of the day for cleaning. Some offer free breakfast, some make you pay for it, and some don’t have it. Free wifi is rare. There is usually no furniture besides beds. None of these things are really a problem, but I’m always amazed at the reviewers who whine about these things like they didn’t expect them.

7. Bring a towel, pillow liner, combination lock, and flip-flops.
Hostels can charge over 5 euros just for a towel. Some have lockers without locks. Some of the pillows could be cleaner. Be prepared, and you’ll be fine.

8. Always get the cancellation insurance.
ALWAYS. It’s about 2 extra euros.

9. Don’t wait until the last minute.
Most of the time, we haven’t had problems booking about 5 days ahead, but the earlier, the better. Especially in the bigger cities (i.e. Paris and Rome), the best places sell out faster than you’d expect.

10. Look for alternative accommodation.
Most of the time we pick hostels from popular sites like hostelworld.com, but there are other options. Some people suggest looking for “budget hotels.” In my experience, this hasn’t been a very viable option. However, with a little research, you can find some other gems. For example, we found the only hostel in the 1st district of Paris directly through their website, but it wasn’t listed on booking sites. In Rome, it’s apparently very popular to stay cheaply in convents and monasteries. Since those were booked up, we emailed the most popular hostel in the city, and even though they were full too, they directed us to their blog of recommended accommodations, where we found an affordable B&B in a great location. Sometimes you have to hunt a little or send a few emails, but it’s worth the extra effort.

So that’s my two cents about hosteling. It’s definitely a learning experience, but it can be very rewarding. I’m off to Paris again this weekend, and then break starts the week after that!

I Live in Germany: What I miss and What I Don’t

March 9, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

This week will mark the halfway point of my semester abroad. Over the last two months, I have really settled in here and created a life that I love. And that’s not just because studying abrade is tons of fun. I really think it’s because there’s just something about Germany that’s good for me. I felt it when I spent a summer here in high school, and I feel it again now. There’s a different pace of life here, and a different general philosophy that’s impossible for me to fully describe, but it just feels right. And I’m not the only one who notices this. In fact, most of the people in the group repeatedly comment about how we want to live here forever. Today, as a sort of midpoint reflection, I want to share the top 10 things I miss from home and the top 10 things I’ll miss about Germany when I do come home. And then I have an announcement to make.

First, let’s start with what I miss from home/ things that annoy me here: (In no particular order)
1. Comfy beds. I don’t know if it’s just the dorms, and cheap hostels here, but I haven’t slept in a bed that wasn’t hard as a rock since January. Also, the bedding is odd here. I’ve already complained about the big, flat pillows, but the duvet blanks are weird too. I miss my fluffy comforter and my memory foam.
2. A fully loaded, kitchen. I’m a chef. I’m thankful that the program supplies us with some essential kitchen items, but I miss having a full set of pots and pans, my electric mixer, and all my little gadgets. Plus, I miss dishwashers and garbage disposals.
3. Free water, free bathrooms, free anything. Restaurants are the worst about this. not even a glass of tap water is free, and the price of bottled is beyond ridiculous. But it’s the bathroom thing that really gets me. Why on Earth should I have to pay 50 cents to use it? Is there some great cost of operating a WC that I’m not aware of? I have been known to sneak under or ark ound the barriers without paying whenever possible because I’ve never heard of anything stupider than having to pay for a bathroom.
4. Doggie bags. You usually can’t take your leftovers home here, but it’s jude to leave food on your plate. So what option does that leave?
5. 1-hour laundry. I miss being able to wash and dry a load of laundry in an hour. Here, the washing takes an hour and the drying can take several days.
6. Normal showers. This just apples to the dorms. I really miss taking showers without having to push the water back on every 10 seconds. Environmentalism really makes my life more difficult than it has to be.
7. Public trash cans. There are a few of them around, but when I’m out and about, I usually end up hoarding trash in my purse all day until I can get home to throw it out.
8. Stores like Target. I miss being able to go to one place and buy pretty much everything I need. Sure, I love the quaint, specialized shops here, but shopping through them can take all day.
9. My Taylor Guitar and time to play it. I have a little travel guitar, but it’s just not the same.
10. Service with a smile. The superficiality of American customer service used to really bother me. But the utter lack of it here bothers me more. Every once in a while, I’ll find a really helpful employee, but that’s rare.

And now for just a few of the things I love here:
1. Bakeries. They’re just better here. They have more variety, the product is cheaper, and they smell heavenly. Plus, their croissants and baguettes are just as good as in France. It’s a little dream of mine to work in a German bakery.
2. Public transportation. Granted, the Deutsche Bahn isn’t usually as punctual as the stereotype would suggest, but still, you can get literally anywhere and everywhere without needing a car.

3. Pedestrian cities. Since the cities here were built before cars were invented, they are laid out with pedestrians in mind. Once you take a bus or train to the center, everything you need is in walking distance.

4. Cafeteria food. The locals here complain about it, but I think it’s great. You can get a good, filling meal and dessert for 3 euros.
5. 3-day weekends. This requires no explanation.
6. Very informal professors. Most German professors actually insist on a more formal relationships with their students, but in Reutlingen, we have the perks of being a Valpo kid. This means that all of them invite us to their houses and feed us at least once during the semester.
7. The German language. When I go home, I’m going to miss hearing it and speaking it every day. Every day, I have at least one communication challenge, so i’m in the habit of planning everything I want to say in German before I say it.
8. Paying in change. There are 1 and 2 euro coins, so there’s a lot you can buy without paper money. I know it’s just an illusion, but it makes things seem cheaper.
9. Feeling safe all the time. One time, a tour guide I had in Munich joked that you could walk around at night with money glued all over you and nothing would happen to you. I still wouldn’t do that, but I think she’s right. I lock my doors and always keep an eye on my stuff, but a lot of people don’t.
10. A de-cluttered life. Almost everything I have here fits in a suitcase. Sometimes that’s frustrating, but most of the time, it’s freeing.

There are days when I really miss things about home, but all in all, I really thing that the good outweighs the annoying. I feel like I can live in two cultures now. I don’t know if I ever really had “culture shock” but the idea of it between the US and Germany seems silly now. This is my home now, and since I love it so much, I’ve decided to make it my home for a little longer. Next year, I’m going to stay in Reutlingen for an internship in the university’s international office. I’ll be back for the summer and then back at school for senior year in 2015, but for now, this is where I need to be.

Paris and La Joie de Vivre

March 9, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

One of the best things about this study abroad program is that every weekend is a three day weekend. That way, we can maximize our opportunities to travel. So this week, we finally decided that it was time to activate our Eurail passes, and what could possibly be a better first stop that Paris? I’ve wanted to go to France ever since I was about 5 years old, so even though one weekend couldn’t possibly be enough time to explore this beautiful city, I jumped at the first chance to go. In our 36 hours there, we missed so much. The Louvre, Versailles, L’arc de Triomphe. But what we did get, was a wonderful introduction to one of Europe’s greatest cities.
The train from Stuttgart to Paris only takes 4 hours, so we left after class on Thursday and arrived at about 11p.m. I’m glad that we did this so that we had more time there, but unfortunately, our first experience in Paris was a stressful one. In the dark and without a real map, we got lost. Now, I know I’m not alone in this. Several of my friends have told me about their similar first experiences in Paris. It seems to be a right of passage. But my tip is to get to your destination before dark and not to rely on google maps. That little blue dot isn’t always right.
Anyway, we finally did find our hostel, and after a good night’s sleep, we were ready to go get our real first impression of Paris. Of course, our first stop was the Eiffel Tower.

The line for the elevators had about 72,000 people in it, so we decided to get up there next time we’re in town. And there will be a next time. After that, we stopped for lunch at one of the many quaint cafés, where sitting outside in the 60 degree weather, I enjoyed my first authentic French crêpe. After lunch, we took a free tour of Paris’ other most famous landmark, Notre Dame.

In the afternoon, after a quick ice cream stop, (Salted caramel and butter is my new favorite flavor.) we decided to go on a short sightseeing cruise on the Seine. It’s such a touristy thing to do, but I love river cruises because there a great way to see a lot with very little effort and really get an impression of the whole city. After the cruise, we headed back to get ready for dinner. For lack of time, we had to skip many of Paris’ main attractions, but one thing we wanted to make sure to do was go have a fancy French dinner.

Time for a funny story: After deciding on a restaurant out of our Paris guidebook, we read the metro directions in the book and hopped on at the stop closest to our hostel. After following the directions exactly and even switching lines once, we got out of the metro station near the restaurant, only to realize that we were just down the street from our hostel and could have easily walked there in less time. Note to self: next time, knowing where you’re starting will help a lot to figure out where you’re going. When we got to our restaurant, the waiter was extremely friendly and patient, taking time to explain all of the specials in English. Later, he even offered to take a picture of the 3 of us enjoying our meal.

After our steak-frites and crème brulée, we made one last stop to go see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Standing there watching it sparkle, I had another one of those moments where I just have to stop for a second and marvel at the fact that this is my life right now. That I get to stand here in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and experience a moment of perfection. And this is for school. I feel like coming back to school and begging everyone I see to go study abroad because I really can’t understand why most people don’t. Just sign up, and then you get to live this amazing life!

After years of hearing about how great Paris is from everyone who has been there, I needed to see it for myself. Now that I have, I feel like I’ve been let in on the big secret. I just get it now. I’ve been to Germany 3 times now, but never anywhere else in Europe, so I’m glad I finally got to change that. Before going to Paris, I was a little nervous because of the pickpocketing horror stories I’ve heard, but I have to say, I didn’t feel unsafe once. The city certainly does have a different atmosphere than German cities, which are so safe it’s almost funny. I was a little more on alert than I usually am. Still, I feel like I could love Paris like I love Germany. I could live here someday. In fact, I want to. All weekend long, I had such a strong desire to go eat in every little café, to hop on the back of somebody’s motorcycle and race through the narrow streets, to really experience la joie de vivre like a Parisian. So someday, I will live in Paris, but right now, I live in Germany. I just realized that I actuallylive here. It’s not just an extended vacation. But that’s another story for another post.

A Perfect Day in Reutlingen

March 5, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

Hey guys, it’s been an unexpectedly busy week for me, so I’m sorry I didn’t post sooner. On top of that, I lost internet access in my dorm for a couple of days, but it’s all fixed now, so I’m back! Right now, it’s 10pm, and I’m leaving for Paris tomorrow, so instead of the long post I planned to write, I’m going to share a shorter reflection of a really great day I had last week. There wasn’t really anything thrilling about it, but it reminded me of everything I love about Germany at the exact right time I needed to be reminded of that. I had been in a weird mood for a while, and I don’t think it was homesickness per se, but I think it was just my initial honeymoon period with the study abroad life coming to its natural end. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still having a blast here, but I was exhausted from all the travel and the challenges of doing everything that all 8 people in the group want to do all the time. I needed to take a day to relax, reconnect with myself, and simply do the things I wanted to do.

But here’s the thing: I never go anywhere alone, ever, at least not in America. Seriously, I don’t even walk around my block by myself. Last week, my German teacher told us about an immigrant housewife she knew, who told her that she’d never gone into town by herself in all the time that she’d lived there. My teacher went on and on about how sad that was, and I realized that I hadn’t ventured off on my own yet either. I decided to change that. So I planned to spend the day in Stuttgart, specifically to go to Desigual, my favorite store ever. However, at the last minute, (and by that I mean just as the train doors were about to close) something told me to stay put and really explore the city I’m living in. So I hopped off the train and spent the next 5 hours memorizing every corner of downtown Reutlingen.

The one vague plan I had for the afternoon was to do some clothes shopping, mainly because I think the other reason for my crummy mood was that I was tired of looking like a slob. Sure, it’s freeing to not have that many material things to travel with, but I was really sick of wearing the same 6 t-shirts over and over. I thought I gave up on Desigual when I jumped off the train to Stuttgart, but I walked into a department store, and low and behold, there was a whole corner devoted to my favorite brand! So I grabbed pretty much one of everything and headed for the dressing rooms. I had all afternoon and no one to answer to, so I might as well. And then I found this dress….

It’s beautiful, bright and flowing to the floor (okay about 6 inches past the floor, but that can be fixed.) It was so expensive, but it was the first thing that made me feel stylish in a long time, so I found myself saying my new favorite phrase once again: Man lebt nur einmal. So now I can’t wait for it to be spring so I can wear this. Plus, now I’ll look cute when I go to Spain or the south of France. Now that I have the dress, I have to go there!

Once I was all shopped out, I realized that there was still a lot of daylight left and more places left to explore. Since I can’t wear the maxi dress yet, I needed something else for some immediate gratification. I was in luck, across the street was a nail salon. So I treated myself to my first gel manicure in almost a year. And I was quite proud that me and my asian nail tech managed to understand each other’s broken German. After that, I was already feeling pretty good, but if I know one thing for sure, it’s that no great day in Germany is complete without ice cream…and Döner…in that order. After my extra dark chocolate gelato and oh-so-nutritious pita pocket of goodness, I headed home. Truly, purely, overwhelmingly happy. Having found all I was looking for, both materially and non materially.

After I get back from Paris, I’m going to have a blogging marathon! I’ll devote a whole post to Paris, and then in another one, I want to share my top 10 things I miss from home and top 10 things I’ll miss about Germany when I leave. Plus, I still have to make my big announcement!

Bonus Post: One Month of Yummy German Food

February 11, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

As some of you may know, I first entered the world of blogging with a recipe site. Besides travel, cooking is one of my favorite hobbies, and often, I find that one of the best ways to experience a new place is through food. So since I won’t be able to do a normal post until after our next 10-day trip, I thought I’d give you all a taste of a little something different (no pun intended.) These are just a few of the best things I’ve eaten in Germany so far.

German cuisine isn’t exactly world-renowned, but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for it. After all, I named my blog after it. Besides the fact that it’s delicious, I love it because it’s associated with some of the best memories I have of travel, new friends, and a general adventurous spirit. It’s the discovery of all these yummy things that I never knew existed before, yet now can’t stand to live without. What was my life before I discovered German cheesecake and Milka chocolate and Käsespätzle? I don’t even know anymore. And that’s why I feel so compelled to share all my international favorites with you. Because you deserve to get to know and love these things too.

Let’s start with Maultaschen:
Maultaschen are a Swabian (regional) specialty. They’re like giant ravioli filled with all kings of goodness. I actually don’t know what all is in the filling, but I know part of it is meat because Maultaschen were originally invented as a way for Catholics to conceal the fact that they were eating meat during Lent. This was my first real meal in Reutlingen. Served with salad and potatoes, with a glass of Apfelschrole, it was a perfect, authentic welcome.

And now the Berlin mega-platter :
When we were in Berlin for a class trip, our professor took us all out to dinner at a restaurant known for Berlin specialties. There, you can order the same sampler platter for however many people in your party. We had 10 people, so we got 2 of these massive plates. Once again, I don’t even know what all of it was. I just know that it was terrific. The pièce de résistance was that beautiful pork shoulder in the middle. We ate probably six times the amount that we should have that night, but hey, no regrets. Man lebt nur einmal.

Now, the best Jägerschnitzel I’ve ever had in my life and probably ever will:

Jägerschnitzel, or Hunter’s Schnitzel in English is like Wiener Schnitzel, but with with a rich mushroom and wine sauce on top. The sauce really takes it to the next level, and I don’t just say that because of my unconditional love for wine sauces. There was just something about this particular one at this off-the-beaten-path restaurant in Cologne that set it apart from the rest.

And now for some sweet treats:

Milka is my favorite chocolate on the planet. Sure, Ritter Sport is more famous globally, and Swiss and Belgian chocolates are generally considered the top tier, but Milka is the chocolate of the people here. It’s cheap, unpretentious, and still a thousand times better than a Hershey bar. I haven’t eaten a Hershey bar in the three years since I converted to Milka and I never will again. Luckily for me, Milka is getting easier to find in the US. You can usually find it at Target if you look really hard. This butter cookie kind is my favorite so far:

And surprisingly, they have an oreo version even though oreos aren’t popular here. It’s almost as good as a Hershey’s cookies & creme. Okay I lied before, I do still love Hershey’s cookies & creme only.

And the best for last, my beloved German cheesecake:
One day in Stuttgart we had lunch at the greatest place on Earth, Vapiano, and I could barely contain my excitement when I saw this cheesecake in the dessert case. So there I was, eating my favorite food in the world in my favorite place in the world (all on my university’s dime, by the way) and thinking this is the life.

I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to take the picture before digging in. Later that week, I get inspired to make my version of this, and even with limited ingredients, iffy metric conversions, and only a pyrex casserole dish instead of a springform, the result tasted just how it should.

Those are my favorite meals and snacks so far. Maybe I’ll make tis a monthly series, because I’ll always be that tourist who inappropriately pulls out a camera in a restaurant. But I feel compelled to do it because there’s just so much left to discover and share.

Venturing Out: Berlin and Cologne

February 9, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

After a long, exciting, challenging, wonderful week of travel around Germany, I’m finally back “home” in Reutlingen. It’s funny, being away this week made me actually start referring to Reutlingen as my home, and while I had a blast exploring other cities, it is good to be back. In total, we had 10 travel days for this trip. For the first five, the whole group got to see just about everything there is to see in Berlin with our professor as tour guide. After that, we got to split up into smaller groups to travel wherever we wanted, which for me, meant Cologne. I’m pretty sure it would be impossible to include everything we did into one post, but I’ll try my best to summarize the highlights.
Since we arrived in Berlin relatively late on Friday night, I think of Saturday as our first official day there. That day, we started off on a rather somber note with a tour of Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp. I had never been to a concentration camp before, but I had heard that it was an intense experience. It was actually very different from what I was expecting. I had thought that most of the camp would be left in its original state, but to my surprise, much of it had been renovated to make it feel more like a museum. Still, I found that the as-is parts of it had the greatest emotional impact on me. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when you’re standing on the same ground where thousands of people suffered so greatly, not all that long ago.

Sunday was our first real chance to explore the city. Since I’ve been to Berlin once before, our city tour was an opportunity for me to get reacquainted with the place I had come to love. I tried to contain my excitement as we passed all my favorite landmarks, but throughout the week, I made it my mission to go to several places I visited on my first trip and take similar photos of them, sort of like a then-and-now comparison. Of course, the logical place to start was the Brandenburg Gate.

Included in our trip, we each received a three-day museum pass that was valid at 50 museums throughout the city. After a few group tours of the big ones, we had 2 days to split pup and go to the ones of our choice. After we were all museumed out, there was one thing I had left to do. Last time I was in Berlin, I went to a specie section of the Berlin Wall that was still up and had murals painted on different sections, many of which are wildly colorful. I had no idea where this place was anymore or what it was called, but I had to find it again. After over an hour of leading 2 friends to the forgotten corners of East Berlin, I found it and once again, took a picture of my favorite mural.

After Berlin, we were on our own. It was a little intimidating to go traveling for the first time without the whole group, but as it turned out, our 2 free days in Berlin served as great practice in how to navigate a foreign city by ourselves. In fact, we never really got lost, and being smaller, Cologne is a little easier to handle than Berlin. We saw all the big attractions there, the cathedral, the Rhine, and a few museums. We found some good restaurants, lived the hostel life, which actually isn’t as terrifying as I expected, and made it back safe and sound.

Now we have one more week of classes, before we’re off to Lutherland and beyond on Friday. Because that’s a long way away, I’ll try to have a new post in the meantime, so be on the lookout for that soon!

Small Victories and a Little More Sightseeing

January 29, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

As of today, I have been in Reutlingen for exactly three weeks, and finally, I feel settled into a routine. The first two weeks were jam packed with orientation tours and events. I really appreciated this fun-filled welcome, but now it’s time to start conquering the challenges of daily life in a foreign country. That seemed to be the theme of the week.
On Monday, I was quite proud that I figured out how to do laundry here. Back at school, I secretly made fun of the people who had never learned this important life skill before coming to college. However, now I can sympathize with them. Using the German washer went well, up until I couldn’t figure out how to open the door at the end and stood there for 5 minutes panicking that I’d never get my clothes out. Luckily, I figured that one out, and soon moved on to my next challenge: using the dryer. Now, I had already decided that I was going to be a typical American and use the dryer, even though most Germans let their clothes air dry on racks. No, I didn’t have all day to wait, and the liberal German environmentalism was not going to stand in my way! Or so I thought. After paying 1 euro for an hour of drying time and ending up with still-sopping wet clothes, I learned my lesson. Turns out that drying rack will actually come in handy.
On Wednesday, I had another small victory, this time at the grocery store. My all-time favorite recipe to make at home is German cheesecake, made out of a soft cheese called quark. In America, quark is ridiculously expensive and hard to find. In fact, this recipe would normally cost $16 to make. However, quark is everywhere in Germany, and it’s about 8 times cheaper. For this reason, I have always wanted to make this cheesecake in Germany. Today I not only found cheap quark, but every other baking ingredient I needed, plus a springform pan for 6 euros! On Thursday, I successfully baked my cheesecake and must have guessed right on all the conversions because it came out perfectly. I brought some to class, and my German professor gave me her seal of approval! For the recipe, click here.
Over the weekend, the whole group went to Bebenhausen, a tiny town outside Tübingen with a cloister founded in 1183. It’s a gorgeous building with obviously, a long, rich history. Just the thought that something can exist for almost a thousand years is still mind-boggling to me.

After Bebenhausen, we had some free time to explore Tübingen a little more. Speaking of old buildings, this house was built in 1491!

And of course, I couldn’t resist taking the most classic typical tourist photo of Tübingen. (But I’ll need to come back on a sunny day.)

So that was my week. This Friday, we’re leaving for 5 days in Berlin and 2 in Cologne, so stay tuned for the next post all about it!

My First Week in Reutlingen: Part 2

January 21, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

For some reason, I mistakenly thought that I’d have a ton of downtime here to not only to blog, but to also keep a paper journal, to read for fun, and to catch up on missed TV shows. I was seriously concerned that I would get bored in my free time. Nope. That definitely won’t be a problem. Every day is filled with classes, homework, planned events, and unplanned adventures. So now I’ll do my best to sum up all the excitement of seven days into one post.

Sunday: On Sunday, we made our first of what will probably be many trips to the neighboring town of Tübingen. Unlike Reutlingen, Tübingen was not bombed during WWII, and therefore remains a perfectly preserved medieval town. It’s stereotypical Germany, where everything is at least 600 years old. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to get many good pictures of the town, but there was something creepily majestic about waking through a medieval castle in dense fog at twilight. Here’s the view from the top:

After our brief tour, we ate at the famous Neckermüller restaurant along with our professors and some other Valpo friends studying in Reutlingen and Tübingen.

Monday: Monday was the first day of classes. First, we had German, which for me, is a review, but also a welcome break from the advanced literature classes I’m used to at Valpo. Then, we had art history, which may sound less than thrilling to some, but the “living art” activity in which we act out paintings for Herr Springer to guess makes this class actually really fun. Last, we had economics with the man, the myth, the legend: Baldur Veit. The guy knows everyone in the state, has connections to numerous companies in the area, and apparently hangs out with the king of Malaysia. Fascinating.

Tuesdsay: Tuesdsay wasn’t terribly exciting, but I did get to experience the alleged “biggest schnitzel in the world,”that previous generations of Reutlingen students have recommended. The restaurant offers XXL and XL-sized schnitzel, and although I only got the XL, it was still bigger than the plate.

Wednesday: Wednesday was Mutscheltag, a Reutlingen-specific holiday where everybody gets together to play various dice games, in hopes of winning a Mutschel. Mutschel are star-shaped, handmade breads that come in several sizes, ranging from individual, to about 3 feet across. Herr Veit had organized a game night for all the international students, and there, I was surprisingly lucky enough to win 2 Mutschel. Sadly, I didn’t win this grand prize:

Thursday: On Thursday, we had the Luther and Bach class and Modern Germany, along with more German. The two history classes will definitely be the most challenging of the five, but they sound very interesting. That evening, we all ventured out to one of the pubs for karaoke. I didn’t participate this time around, but I think I’ll be ready next week!

Friday: Have I mentioned that we never have class on fridays? Sometimes we have events planned, and sometimes it’s just free time to travel. This week, we first had a historical tour of Reutlingen. This was interesting, and also another great opportunity for pictures.

The highlight of the tour was the narrowest street in the world, which is about a foot wide:

Later, we headed back to Tübingen, to visit our German professor and learn how to make Mutschel! I love that it’s totally normal here for professors to invite us to their homes…and provide baked goods. Soon, I’ll do a Spoonful of Zucker post for the Mutschel recipe.

Saturday: Finally, on Saturday, we made our first trip to Stuttgart to go to the Baden-Württemberg state museum. After a big dose of regional history, we had lunch at Vapiano, the greatest pasta restaurant in the world. (There’s one in Chicago too!) That evening, we explored downtown Reutlingen a little more, to bring a relaxing end to the week.

And that’s it in a nutshell! Check again next week for my latest adventures!

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