Original post

T minus 6ish

Posted on June 2, 2016 by melvisx

I’ll be embarking on a return adventure to Europe in a little over 6 days and thought I’d share a small world story in preparation for sharing tales of this adventure.

Last weekend I was at the Treasure Island Flea Market checking out the usual flea market fare, grubbing af a Korean food truck, and buying sweet art like this:

The dude who sold it to me, who had a British accent (our first stop is London), was explaining that this print was attributed to Banksy but he couldn’t definitively say it was true. He’d done a lot of research on the Internet and couldn’t find anything, “….and if the Internet doesn’t know for sure no one does. What I found relating to this print though is that it’s supposedly somewhere in Munich.”

“Munich?!”

“Yeah man.”

“I’m goin there this summer! Guess I’ll need to go on a treasure hunt!”

What are the odds?

Categories: Original post, Travel | Tags: Munich, small world, treasure island flea market | Leave a comment

Day 8: Atrocities

Posted on July 18, 2014 by melvisx

This day started with a visit to a concentration camp. The camp is called Sachsenhausen and is located in Oranienburg, Germany about 22 miles north of Berlin. We had to walk from the train station to the camp and along the way I was struck by how ordinary the town was. Some of the houses we passed very near the camp looked like summer homes and all were very neatly kept. I also found it interesting that there were markers posted every so often with stories of the camp. I had wondered how Germans dealt with the legacy of the Nazi’s, I felt it would be under the rug somewhat but I was wrong. Entering the camp was a bit surreal and seeing the “Arbeit Mach Frei” on the gate was unsettling. Again, nothing makes history more tangible than travel. I have taught about the Holocaust, but to see the actual places where the plans were carried out is powerful. This camp was smaller than I had expected then I realized it was built in a populated area. We had a limited amount of time there so I walked faster than I wanted but covered a lot of ground.

After snapping some initial photos I walked over to one of the barracks that is now a museum. Of the many photos and artifacts that were in the museum I was most affected by the actual logs of people who had been sterilized; it was a stack of journals about 4 feet high. The fact that the Nazi’s kept such meticulous records is disturbing; no, it’s more than disturbing, it’s shocking, offensive, and unfathomable. I go to the end of the barracks and panicked momentarily because I couldn’t find the exit, I had to get out. Luckily I found the exit relatively quickly.

Following the barracks I walked over to the pathology building and mortuary where medical experiments were conducted. They actually had to design and construct a building for that purpose. I then wandered the grounds first coming across mass graves and a wall with commemorative plaques from other countries, and finally toward the memorial erected in the center of the camp. Upon exiting the camp I briefly stepped into the main museum and was met by an actual Nazi uniform which shook me a bit. Overall a sobering experience.

: Ordinary street.

: Marker on the way.

: Original layout, I found the triangle shape interesting and ironic.

: What remains.

: Fireplace in meal preparation area.

: Taken in front of gallows sign.

: Looking from memorial toward entrance

: Gift from Belarus. There were many more; I found these two the most interesting.

: Gift from Austria.

: Just illustrating the normalcy of the town. If you can call topless gnomes normal.

Categories: Geography, Original post, photography, teaching, Travel | Tags: concentration camp, geography, Germany, history, holocaust, photography, Sachsenhausen, travel | Leave a comment

Day 7

Posted on July 16, 2014 by melvisx

It was a fittingly rainy day to visit the Wannsee House and Potsdam. The Wannsee House is where the Nazi’s planned the final solution. It is now a museum and educational site. What struck me the most was the beautiful setting of the house; a country retreat overlooking a beautiful lake. The juxtaposition of the setting and what occurred inside the house is, well, bizarre. It was also very unsettling to see photos of Hitler in Germany. I had several ‘shaken to the core’ moments, very similar to seeing the Vietnam memorial for the first time, or seeing the planes slam into the twin towers; a very visceral recognition, understanding, and acceptance that this was real, it actually happened.

: Translation of poster.

: Hard to fathom just how deep the propaganda went.

: I was disturbed by the smiles.

: Very careful use of language,; documents never use words indicating what the Final Solution actually meant.

It was apropos for us to visit the location of the Potsdam Conference after the Wannsee House. The place in Potsdam where the conference was held was at least equal to the beauty of the Wannsee House. I spent my limited time wandering the grounds rather than taking the tour of the building inside. It was moving to stand on the same patio where Churchill, Wilson, and Stalin sat following the war.

: The patio where the Big 3 met is in the background.

Categories: Geography, Original post, photography, teaching, Travel | Tags: concentration camp, geography, Germany, history, holocaust, photography, Potsdam, Sachsenhausen, travel, Wannsee House, WWII | Leave a comment

Day 5: Normandy

Posted on July 9, 2014 by melvisx

Day 5 started with a very early bus ride to Normandy with a smarmy bus driver, I’ll save further descriptions of him for another post. One of the reasons I took this trip was to be able to go to Normandy. As with most memorials I have visited, nothing really prepares you and you’re surprised by what affects you and how you’re affected. There is nothing that can convey the shear number of casualties other than visiting Normandy. As I walked among the marble crosses and stars of David I began to think of my uncle who survived D-Day. He was a bomber pilot who volunteered for extra sorties beyond his assignment. While reflecting on his bravery and contribution to the war effort I was reminded of my dad who passed in March. They both led long, charmed, amazing lives. I walked, bringing them with me, feeling the weight of the place; couldn’t help but weep.

Categories: France, Geography, Original post, photography, teaching, Travel | Tags: France, geography, history, Normandy, photography, travel | Leave a comment

Day 3-Paris: Of People, Pickpockets, and Piss

Posted on June 30, 2014 by melvisx

(Editors note: WiFi was surprisingly hard to come by and not very reliable so the following posts are post trip.)

Paris has too many people and it smells like piss. I had all kinds of romantic notions of what Paris would be like and was feeling excited upon arrival following a three hour train ride. The train station was magnificent. The iron work and architecture reminded me of the film ‘Hugo’. I was beginning to imagine sitting at a cafe having bread and chocolate, then strolling along the Seine to the Eiffel tower; then I stepped outside. The smell of urine was 1) unexpected, 2) surprisingly strong and 3) inexplicably persistent throughout the city. So much for the hype.

As with most group tours the day was packed with activities with the added bonus of the Paris Metro (please refer to previous comment regarding too many people in Paris). We were able to visit the Arch de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and take a boat tour. Two things I did not know about the Arch de Triomphe were you can’t drive through it, and it has an eternal flame; disappointed to learn the former, interested by the latter.

The roundabout encircling the Arch is very dangerous to try and cross so it may be accessed through an underground passage which, yes, smelled a little pissy. If you happen to cross through the passage you may be talked into striking a silly pose:

At some point after visiting the Arch de Triomphe (this is a post visit account remember) we took a cruise on the Seine where we saw things like this:

and this:

cool artwork:

and a spontaneous dance party erupted on the upper deck where we were complete with people cheering from the banks of the river and a couple of asses mooning us from a bridge.

Following the cruise we visited the Eiffel Tower of which I have only one thought; it’s big, really, really big.

Honestly, I had no idea just how large it was. We were too late to make it all the way to the top, but we were able to make it to the middle level. (I took some photos, but it was night and they didn’t turn out).

I left out the visit to Notre Dame where the most interesting part to me was seeing this:

which marks the starting point for all roads in France. The cathedral is beautiful, but they’re not really my thing. Locating Quasimodo is more of my thing:

While my introduction to France was a bit stinky, the sights we saw this day were truly amazing. Next time: “Pickpocket Paradise”.

Categories: France, Geography, Original post, photography, Travel | Tags: arch de triomphe, eiffel tower, notre dame, paris, seine | Leave a comment

Adventuring in California – Wandering Monterey

Posted on November 17, 2013 by melvisx

For the last, um, five years give or take a year I’ve come down to Monterey to run the Big Sur Half Marathon. After picking up my bib # I decided to wander around a bit. I headed over to browse an antique mall near Cannery Row in which I was intrigued and perplexed by this:

The tag said it was plaster and hand painted; that didn’t make it less odd. What was it for? I pondered. Who’d make this and why? And do they think someone will buy it again? Man, that’s just too weird.
Then I saw this:

Ok, this one I can kind of understand, I’ve seen masks like this before, it may actually be purchaseable (BTW I’m aware that isn’t a word). I averted my gaze from the monster mask only to be startled by this:

What kind of antique mall is this?!
The kind that displays things like this:

Really?
Yep:

Sometimes they come in threes:

And sometimes they come with a body:

And other times with clothes:

I dunno, maybe my browsing radar was just stuck on odd, no, no wait, here’s the cold hard truth; people like weird and creepy shit.

See?

Categories: Geography, Original post, photography, Running | Tags: antiques, big sur, california, monterey | 1 Comment

Netherlands Post Visit – Neighborhood Park

Posted on July 15, 2013 by melvisx

One day while visiting my brother we took his girls to a local park that had some awesome play structures, critters to pet, and some, uh, art. I was amazed at the number of people in the park, I mean it was a weekday evening; the parks in my hood aren’t nearly as full, but to be honest they’re lame. None of the parks near me have these cool things to pet

nor informational pigs

(note the cow behind the pig, you could “milk” it)

or interesting…uh…art

For some reason these statues made me think of this

Categories: netherlands, Original post, photography, Travel, Utrecht | Tags: animals, art, Netherlands, photography, travel, Utrecht | Leave a comment

Netherlands Post Visit – Urban Critters

Posted on July 14, 2013 by melvisx

While wandering around Utrecht and Amsterdam I enjoyed occasionally coming across the occasional urban critter.

Categories: Amsterdam, netherlands, Original post, Pets, photography, Travel, Utrecht | Tags: Amsterdam, Netherlands, pets, photography, Utrecht | Leave a comment

Netherlands Post Visit – Architecture

Posted on July 13, 2013 by melvisx

Initially walking around Utrecht and Amsterdam I felt like I was in some sort of amusement park. The architecture just kind of had the look of being a little too storybook, if you know what I mean. Then I was told why they appeared that way. One reason is that the windows on many Dutch buildings are designed to get smaller as the building gets higher giving the illusion that the structures are taller than they actually are. Another reason is that Dutch staircases tend to be rater steep and narrow making it difficult to heft furniture up to the top floors. So the buildings lean outward slightly and many homes have a beam hanging from the top over the street with a pulley at the end to hoist heavy things into the house. Clever, but it messes with your head a little if you’re not used to it.