Nürnberg: the Arrival

As I mentioned in my last post, the Nürnberg visit was an amazing (and far too short) experience. From the moment we disembarked from our bus and took our first breaths of German air (okay, at least since Berlin), we knew this would be a great city.

The first order of business, as it was around 9:30pm when we arrived, was to check into our hostel. We found it easily enough, as it was only a short walk from the bus drop-off point and just inside the medieval wall encircling the old town. Now when I say "just inside" I mean this quite literally. Here's the view out the window:



Just a brief word on the hostel. I don't know about the other rooms, but between the pinkish walls illuminated by some sort of papier-mâché chandelier casting a golden glow on everything - not to mention the bangles hanging down from the ceiling from various places - it felt more like a brothel than a hostel. But it had beds, and a place to chuck the bags, which was all that was needed.

After check-in, Rebecca and I walked around for a bit just to get our bearings for the next day. We found out that the Germanisches Nationalmuseum was pretty much right next door. Apparently there was some black-tie affair going on inside, so we didn't linger long, but here's a picture of how it's illuminated at night:



Now, don't let that modern façade fool you. Sure, that part is from 1993, but the museum is built around the remains of a Carthusian abbey. What was in the museum? Well, that's going to have to wait until the 2nd installment.

Two Hours in Berlin

Yesterday I had to wake up at the completely unholy hour of 3 in preparation for the 10-hour round trip between Prague and Berlin. I, along with 4 other Caledonian School employees, had to make this hellish commute in order to visit the Czech Embassy on Wilhelmstraße as part of the work permit/visa application.

Since we didn't need to wait inside the whole time they were checking our documents, we took a rather rapid stroll around the city. Only now have I gotten the chance to do a bit of research and find out more info on what it is we actually saw.

First we ran across the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas), designed by Peter Eisenman (architect) and Buro Happold (engineer). Allegedly, the concrete slabs ("stelae"), which are spaced out geometrically but vary in height - both actual hight and percieved hight due to the uneven plane upon which the memorial is constructed - are "designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason" wiki.

Moving past that, we walked beneath the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor), and walked a few blocks to see the remains of the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie. And then we went back to the embassy. Yup, that pretty much sums up the speed at which we saw those sights.

It was, however, the cheapest city tour I've ever taken (not counting the visa application); I spent a grand total of €2.50, and that was on a Döner kebab to keep me nourished on the 5-hour return trip.

Image borrowed from Wikimedia commons

007 for a day

So I was in this office complex this morning, meeting a pair of new clientelle for the Caledonian School. Since I was early, I took my sweet time walking around the foyer and (after swiping an ID card given to me by the receptionist) walking up the stairs to enjoy the view out the all-glass façade of the multistory building.

Waaaiiit a minute... these stairs... and this façade... a bit familiar, no? Have I seen this building before?

Indeed I have! After a bit of digging on the internet (most helpfully, this site), my suspicions were confirmed. This was the very location - the "Danube House", Karolinská 650/1 - in which the opening scenes of Casino Royale take place. I climbed the very same stairs that James Bond himself presumably climbed before confronting and assassinating Dryden.

So there you have it. Twice a week I get to feel like James Bond. Hopefully my students will continue to make steady improvements; otherwise I might have to "encourage" them with a silenced Walther P99. :-)

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UPDATE (23 Sept): I should point out that the Danube house wasn't the only filming location used in Casino Royale; another scene takes place in the interior of the Národní muzeum, which I've already visited, and the Strahov Monastery, which I haven't yet visited (but hopefully will before long). The Danube House location is however the only location that was actually supposed to be in Prague (and not representing, for example, a posh Venetian hotel or a British governmental building).

Fred & Ginger

Now, as this is supposed to be a travel blog, and I didn't really expect to talk much about the TEFLing side of life.. other than that's the reason for my "traveling" here, so you may notice that I'll talk less and less about my job as things progress. Who wants to hear about work anyway?

That having been said, my first class was this morning (woke up at a painful 5:30am), and, aside from the new-job "am I prepared enough?" nervousness, it wasn't all that extraordinary. EXCEPT for the fact that I met my client in a very unique building: the Dancing House.

Also known as "Fred and Ginger" (after Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers), the Dancing House (Tančící dům), which sits next to the Vltava river, was built in the 90s to replace a building that had been shot to hell in 1945. Aside from a French restaurant on the top floor (La Perle de Prague), there are several multinational firms located throughout it - which explains why I ended up with a client there.

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UPDATE (09 Sept): Well, my client in this building decided to cancel her classes. Apparently that happens a lot. I'll have a new class by tomorrow. Still, I can say that I've worked in that building :-)