SLA – Page 11 – SLA Profiles (2018)

The Beach and Dresden

The other day I went to “Strandbad Wannsee,” a lake 40 minutes outside of the center of Berlin. This trek was not bad, because the S7 will take you there in about 8 stops. This lake is gorgeous and is never too busy. After the beach I visited the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz, one of the busiest town regions in Berlin. This area includes many shopping centers, restaurants, and an IMAX movie theater. The architecture of the buildings at Potsdamer Platz is beautiful, for example, the vortex shape at the top of the Sony Center lights up at night and gives the entire surrounding an incredible atmosphere. This is definitely one of my favorite areas to spend time at when I get out of my class.

During one of my weekends I was able to take a bus south of Berlin to a historic German city called Dresden. This city is well known because much of its buildings were bombed during World War II. When I first arrived, one of the first things I noticed was that the main part of the city felt small enough to walk through all of in a short amount of time. I saw many old damaged churches and government buildings while heading to the Zwinger Palais, where there is a math, porcelain, and art museum. This palace had been one of the many places of celebration for the marriage between Saxon and Austrian royalty. I explored the porcelain museum first, and discovered a beautiful porcelain sculpture of flowers that was a perfect replica of a bouquet. Even upon inspecting it closer, it was difficult to distinguish it from a real bouquet due to the incredibledetail that the artist used. This was by far my favorite piece of the museum.

After visiting the museum, I sat along the Danube River and read one of the books I had brought along for the my summer abroad. That evening, I went to the Semperoper, an opera house named after its architect, to see Oedipus Rex. This futuristic rendition of Oedipus Rex was a fruitful experience because I was able to understand much of the dialogue without having to look at the supertitles. The many listening exercises from my course were being put to work. Performances from the stage are very important in German culture, because the tradition dates back to the town theaters from when Germany was still split up into villages. Because of this, contemporary theater is subsidized by the state and remains a popular way to spend a German evening. Dresden exposed me to a more traditional German experience.

Il terzo

Dear reader–

Welcome to the travel edition of this blog. This weekend, I traveled a great deal, visiting Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, and an amazing hike called the Path of the Gods. Without further ado, I present pictures and anecdotes for your viewing pleasure.

Pompeii:

We visited Pompeii on Friday. Our tour guide was an archaeology professor at Sant’Anna who has worked as an archaeologist at Pompeii for nearly a decade.

Before the eruption, Pompeii was a thriving Roman city. It covered more than 60 acres of land. So far, we’ve only unearthed about 40. According to our guide, it will take centuries to finish all the excavations. A single building can take decades to unearth.

This photo may not look like much, but that low wall you see is the old dock of Pompeii. It used to be a coastal town, but the explosion filled the sea with rock and so moved the coast several miles away.

Archaeologists have so far found 89 of these “fast food shops” that would have served a kind of vegetable soup to the inhabitants who were out and about.

We visited this arena and a smaller amphitheater. Both had an acoustic “sweet spot” in the center. When you stand there and talk, you sound as though you are using a microphone. I do not exaggerate.

Walking into the arena at Pompeii reminded the Notre Dame students strongly of walking into the ND football stadium

A painting of Narcissus, found in a dining room

This painting, found in the dining room of one of the richest houses in Pompeii, has not been restored. The original colors are faded but preserved.

The “bodies” seen here (from behind glass, hence the reflection of my hand in the picture) are actually plaster casts. When the inhabitants died, their bodes were buried under the ash. Eventually, the soft tissue decayed, leaving an empty space in the rock. Archaeologists fill in these empty spaces with plaster to create a cast, as you see here. Even though these were not the actual bodies, seeing the casts was still very shocking. It was a reminder that Pompeii, while an archaeologist’s dream, was also a tragedy. These people died as they tried to escape. The place where they were found is called “The Garden of the Fugitives.”

Mount Vesuvius:

Saturday was dedicated to Vesuvius. We took a bus most of the way up, then walked the last stretch. Yes, it is still an active volcano.

The massive crater at the top of Mt Vesuvius

Path of the Gods:

The Path of the Gods (in Italain, “Il Sentiero degli Dei”) is one of the most beautiful hikes in all of Italy. It is also not for the faint of heart. The path leads across the top of the massive hills that border the coastline. It starts in (or rather, above) the town of Amalfi and ends outside the town of Positano. (You may recognize these names. They are generally used as synonyms for “the most beautiful places on earth.”) From that great height, one has stunning views of lushly vegetated cliffs and the Mediterranean Sea.

We began our trek early, departing on the 8:30 bus. Between riding in buses, changing buses, and waiting for buses, it was 12:30 before we started the hike itself. First, we stopped in the town of Amalfi. With some time to kill before our next bus left, we wandered into a town square. I turned a corner, and there in front of us was the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea.

The facade of the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea

It took my breath away. We were lucky enough to be able to spend some time admiring the interior as well.

The interior of the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea

Here you see one of my friends wearing a large piece of paper as a cape. In Italy, especially at the important churches, they prefer that women have their shoulders covered. They handed out these sheets of paper to women with bare shoulders so that they could go inside as well. I felt enormously under-dressed in my hiking clothes, but was fortunate enough to be allowed inside anyway.

While I was overjoyed to have the chance to explore the cathedral, the wait meant that we started hiking in the afternoon. The heat was intense. For these views, though, it was worth it.

Massive cliffs with an abandoned stone house in front

A view of the ocean from Il Sentiero degli Dei

At one point, we found large area that had been filled with stacks of rock. It seemed that, as people were hiking, they would stop here to leave their own little cairn as a memorial. It was surprisingly beautiful.

The rock garden from Il Sentiero degli Dei

In all, the hike took about 3.5 hours to complete. We were all glad when we reached the little shop selling cold drinks at the end.

Then there were the stairs. We were on top of a small mountain, after all, and needed a way to get down to the bus stop. So we took “The Thousand Stairs” down to Positano. As it turned out, 1000 was a rough estimate. There were really about 1800 (we counted). I’ve never been so glad to get off of a staircase in my life. I pity the people whom we passed going up.

In all, it was a very adventurous weekend. I’m looking forward to getting back to the (much easier) schedule of classes during the week!

Until next time,

Beatrice

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Stepping Into A Medieval Fairytale!

On the first day of school, 60-year-old Rosane from Brazil, 30-year-old Ruth from Florida, and 19-year-old I started talking and from that moment on, we did everything together. An example would be our trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the most well-preserved medieval towns in Germany!

Zentraler Platz of Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg is only 55 km northeast of Schwäbisch Hall, so Rosane rented a car for our journey. Rosane had requested an automatic car, but was surprised to find that morning that the car rental only had manual stick-shift cars available. In addition, Rosane cannot speak English, so if we were lost we could only use German, our one mutual language and the language which we were all trying to learn. Thankfully, we were able to successfully navigate the winding countryside roads and the Autobahn — even if it did include a few detours!

The first activity we did in Rothenburg ob der Tauber was walk the famous town wall so that we could have an aerial view of the city before exploring its streets. The wall is 2.5 miles long and was constructed in the 12th century to protect its wealth and status as an important, imperial town. Around 45% of the wall was destroyed in World War II, but the citizens rebuilt it and it is now considered one of the town’s great achievements of recent history. As you can see from the pictures below, the view is spectacular!

Among Rothenburg ob der Tauber’s most popular attractions are its elaborate Christmas shops! They sell an unbelievable variety of Christmas ornaments, nativity sets, German cuckoo clocks, tablecloths, and even tissues! But as you can see from the picture below, it is only a browsing place for college students!

This small Rothenburg Christmas shop squirrel ornament is 87,95 Euros or $102.90!

And of course, when in Rothenburg one must try the signature town dessert — Schneeballen or “Snowballs”! Fortunately, they are not hard for visitors to find as there is a Schneeball store on almost every street! Schneeballen have gained popularity across the world (even in South Korea!), but are said to have originated in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Original Schneeballen are short-crust pastry folded into a ball, deep-fried, and then dusted with powdered sugar. Schneeballen were originally made for baptisms, confirmations, weddings and church ceremonies. Today, Schneeballen can be coated with a large variety of frostings ranging from chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, hazelnut, lemon and strawberry and then topped with all different kinds of nuts and seeds.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is truly a medieval, fairytale! I would love to go back someday!

“Tschüss München, Hallo Nürnberg” （2）

On Sunday morning, I set out to find the Memorium Nuremberg Trials in the Palace of Justice. The trials were most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of Nazi Germany, who planned and carried out in the Holocaust and other war crimes. This important trial was later used by the United Nations for the creation of the International Criminal Court and development of international jurisprudence. In the “Courtroom 600,” where the trials took place, I envisioned myself sitting among the audiences in November 1945, and 24 major Nazis like Hermann Göring sat on the criminal seats of the left side. My heart was beating fast like all the journalists in presence, as this was the first time the Nazi’s crimes were revealed to the whole world. In front of me, the American prosecutor Robert Jackson gave the passionate opening statement:

“The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason.”

The tribute that power has paid to reason. For me, this is the definition of justice. While I was impressed by the fairness and openness of the whole judicial process, some Germans at that time still doubted whether this trial is only “victor’s justice.” Considering the magnitude and horribleness of the crimes, emotionally I could not help supporting the Allies and condemning the Nazi, but I want to study the legal process in details later.

Notably, as the German TV-series “Unser Vater, Unsere Mutter” shows, after the war, many Nazi officers actually escaped the punishment and continued to live a normal life with their buried guilt because of the cold war and domestic protection. Though disappointed by the fact, I do not think those people could escape the trial of their conscience. It also reminds me of Hannah Arendt’s theory “banality of the evil.” While the ex-Nazis might have argued that they had only been following the orders, their thoughtlessness could not be an excuse for the evil they did. To be a conscientious human being requires an independent mind to tell right from wrong instead of obeying the authority. Acquiescing to an evil institution is no different than planning the evil itself.

During my visit, I met a group of German soldiers and was glad to see the anti-violence education as part of the army’s agenda. It was a heavy exhibition, but I learned so much from it. Wherever I go, the messages that Nürnberg conveys will always be with me.

Visit to Schloss Neuschwanstein

I have heard about the fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein since a long time ago. It was a pleasure to visit there with my host brother, Carolus, who had probably been there a thousand times since his childhood. The vast forest guarded a group of bright red little houses at the foot of the hills. Cows and sheep wandered slowly on the Greenfield (“Spaziergang”) and the swans floated on the lake that mirrored the clouds and mountains. The blue Neuschwanstein and the yellow Hohenschwanstein decorated the mountains like two pearls. From a distance, I was amazed at the marvelous scenery. Even though it was rainy, Schloss Neuschwanstein jumping out of the green was still astonishingly magnificent and charming.

Because Carolus was so familiar with everything here, we quickly “jumped” through the forest and stopped by the beautiful Schwannsee (Swan Lake). Dandelions and wildflowers accompanied our journey, and we could see Marienburg that bridged over the valley like a rainbow. I realized that the magnificence of the castles lied in its harmony with nature.

During my visit inside the castle, I was most impressed by the marvelous frescos that featured Christian stories and Wagner’s operas like Lohengrin, Parsifal and Der Ring Des Nibelungen. After I came back, I watched the musical Ludwig II and got to know that he was the No.1 fan of Wagner at that time. He dreamt to become the Knight of the Swan after he had watched Lohengrin in his childhood, therefore, people nicknamed him the Swan King. The whole castle and the two lakes nearby, the Alpsee and Schwannsee, are his tribute to his idol Wagner and the dream of arts. A soulmate with Princess Sisi, he had a passionate yet melancholy character. He did not like socializing with fellow aristocrats or seizing wealth and power. Rather, he was so obsessed with the fantasies that his everyday behavior seemed almost crazy. The king’s fever for arts reflected on every aspect of his life, which almost predestined the tragic fall of his political career. Unfortunately, he was deprived of the political power at the age of 40, imprisoned and soon died mysteriously. His love for arts was a blessing for Wagner but a curse for himself.

In King Ludwig’s time, people accused him of squandering too much in the fairytale castles. Ironically, the tourism industry created by those castles are now one of the most important sources for the economy of Bavaria. Perhaps it is hard to say whether Neuschwanstein represents the extravagance of the royal family or the nobility of arts.

Carolus brought me to visit his family friends, a senior couple who lived near the castle. Outside the house, I noticed the beautiful fresco on the wall. The house looked like a startling Baroque arts museum inside. The candleholders and the furniture look like antiquities. Around the stairs hanged elegant oil paintings of the family members of three generations. From the host, I got to know that the house was already 140 years old. I was impressed by how well the old houses near the castle were preserved. In China, the community near a tourist attraction often has to be relocated, in order to serve the tourism industry. Nonetheless, in Germany, the will of the local residents was fully respected, and the history and culture could be inherited. I hope that my country learns from this in the future.

The kind hosts entertained me with a nice Bavarian cheesecake which is milkier and less sweet than American cheesecake. Their spaghetti with home-grown pesto is also amazing. The gentleman was very charming and knowledgeable. Surprisingly, he lived for one year in Beijing in his youth. It was interesting to see the cooking tools for steamed buns in their kitchen.

Through our trip, Carolus and I also talked about the politics in U.S and Germany. He said that the difference between the two countries’ systems is that in the U.S. everyone gets to be president. In contrast, the experience is required for important positions in Germany’s government. However, U.S. also has impeachment that can overthrow a president. In Germany, it is quite hard to overthrow a Chancellor. I was surprised to learn this. What did not surprise me was his and many Germans’ antipathy toward President Trump. He said that Trump was not “professional,” while Merkel and Macron were professional. He believed that Trump had the power to change a lot of things, but whether the changes would be positive remained unknown. I agreed with him mostly. For me, I wish the trade war between the U.S. and China would not aggravate and Trump would not be against the trend of globalization.

Nonetheless, we both thought that American people were quite friendly, open-minded and talkative. Although I was impressed by the diverse demographics in Germany, Carolus talked about his appreciation of the multi-cultural U.S. society. He also looked forward to visiting Los Angeles because it was a city of artistic creativity and full of opportunities.

Rome, Florence, Lucca, and a Tower

Since my last entry, the city of Siena has gone back to normal after the hustle and bustle of the Palio. But don’t be fooled–my quest to become as Italian as possible has been far from quiet. Mainly because I have been speaking so much. I’ve gotten to the point where most day-to-day interactions with locals can be done completely in Italian. Ordering food, buying a bus ticket, asking for directions, all done in Italian (for the most part). Evidently, I am exuding much more confidence in my speaking skills, so the Sienese people are responding in Italian.

My speaking during class has also gotten much stronger. When I first started, there were 11 people in my class, so even if I tried to speak, I always had to share the time with 10 other people. This week, there were only 4 students. This meant that I had to speak a lot more. I can see the difference that this makes. Now I’m speaking Italian with my American classmates outside of class much more as well because that is how we are used to communicating. It’s been awesome.

I also see my improved speaking skills when I attend Mass. The first Mass I attended in Italian, as much as I tried to follow along, I just couldn’t recite the responses with the native speakers, even with the words in front of me. Now, I can make it through the Gloria, Creed, Our Father, every response with only a couple stumbles. It seems like I at least look like I know what I’m doing, too, because I have been asked to read the petitions twice. Sorry to say, I’m not ready to publically speak in front of a chapel full of native Italian speakers, but I appreciated being asked, and I was able to explain my discomfort with the sacristan in Italian, so I still took advantage of an opportunity to use my speaking skills.

I have also been taking advantage of easy transportation in the past few weeks to travel around Italy. I have been to Florence twice in the past two weeks with my class to visit the Accademia and Uffizi Museums, and I took advantage of my time to visit the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens with a friend. The amount of culture in Florence is overwhelming.

I spent a long weekend in Rome, and we did all the classic tourist things we could. Our day at the Vatican catologed 13.6 miles walked, 31,288 steps, and 47 flights of stairs climbed. Safe to say, it was a long day. But totally worth it. I had been to the Vatican before, but I hadn’t climbed the Cupola until now(hence the 47 flights). The crowds weren’t too distracting (besides the American lady I heard in the museum, “All these statues look the same. And I hate them.”)

Can you tell I love all things (ancient) Roman?

Our second day, we did the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (my all-time favorite place to visit in the world), Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, etc. with all the other people in Rome. Yes, the crowds were frustrating, but there’s something about Rome that I can’t help but love. I could see myself living in Rome someday if I play my cards right. Step one: master the language.

Thanks to the lovely Lucca native who offered to take this for me!

I also took a day to travel around Tuscany by myself. I went to Lucca, a little Tuscan town famous for its walls, and Pisa. In Lucca, I rented a bike and rode around the path on top of the city walls, and it was so adorable. Every couple hundred meters is a pocket park, restaurant, or tiny museum. There are a lot of locals going for runs or walking their dogs, and a good amount of tourists riding rented bikes. It was so relaxing. And since its a smaller town, all the residents prefer to speak in Italian, so it was great practice for me. Lucca is a town I would like to come back to. I don’t necessarily need to spend days there, but I wish I had taken more than a morning to drink in the beautiful views of the mountains and relaxed on those walls. Especially compared to Pisa. How my host nonna described Pisa

I’m sorry, but you have to take a picture like this at the Leaning Tower.

is extremely accurate: C’è il torre, e basta. There’s the tower, and enough. And it’s true, the tower is definitely worth seeing for the novelty of it (and it really leans a lot–I was surprised), but after you see the tower it’s time to head back to the train station. But be sure to take the time to watch all the tourists take the classic “holding up the tower” picture. It’s really funny.

I’ve had a couple frustrating interactions when I couldn’t communicate my thoughts in Italian and I was forced to use Italian, and they only make me want to master the language that much more. The first time was when I was traveling by train, and the ticket validators were all broken. I was freaking out trying to find someone to get help from, and when I finally did, I couldn’t figure out how to tell them what was wrong in Italian. Luckily, they understood, and the ticket checker never came by. So much unnecessary stress. I’ve also had trouble because I just haven’t learned the vocabulary for certain situations. For example, I was in an art gallery inquiring about how my mother could order a painting, but the woman had to ask me to speak in English because I couldn’t articulate what I wanted clearly in Italian. Embarassing, yes, but a learning experience.

With a week left, I’m putting in that final push to absorb as much Italian as possible. Wish me luck!

Ealaín: Péintéireacht

There seems to be a theme coalescing around this blog. Most of my posts have been about some form of art: music, poetry, or weaving. To continue with this theme, then, I’ll be writing about painting today.

I have always loved looking at art in museums and galleries, as well as making art myself. This past week was therefore a real treat for me. A temporary art gallery opened on the main street of Gleann Cholm Cille! A local artist is showcasing his work, and much of it depicts various nature scenes from the area. I stopped by the gallery for awhile earlier in the week, and I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with the artist in Irish. He told me that he grew up right in Gleann Cholm Cille, and that he teaches yearly art lessons at Oideas Gael. In fact, he was the art instructor in residence this past week, so I was fortunate to be able to see his students’ work at an end-of-the-week showcase. It was inspiring to see how much the students created in a single week!

Examining the artists’ detailed paintings of local flora and fauna reminded me of something that another Irish-language student told me during my first week here. He said that he was partly interested in learning Irish because, similar to many Native American languages, it has a rich nature vocabulary. Sure enough, I learned plenty of words related to nature in that first week. My teacher handed out a worksheet with various vocabulary words and accompanying pictures of plants and animals.

My two favorite nature words are “nóinín” and “lus an chromchinn.” “Nóinín” means “daisy,” and it includes the word “nóin,” meaning “noon,” because daisies open up around noon. “Lus an chromchinn” is the word for “daffodil,” but “chromchinn” more literally means something like “stooped head” or “bent head” because of the way in which a daffodil droops from its stem. Words like these really call attention to the richness of the Irish language, and I have been so thrilled to combine my love of art with my interest in language throughout this trip!

Nube me, Cicero

“Ille, Ille Juppiter restitit! Ille Capitolium, ille haec templa, ille cunctam urbem, ille vos omnes salvos esse voluit.”

In the picture above, you see me reciting 1/38th of Cicero’s 3rd Catilinarian oration in Latin, encircled by the 38-strong Paideia gang. We stood by the temple of Concord on a hot summer’s day as we recited, but in spirit we stood in the chill of an early December morning in 63 BC and felt all of the tension that only an imminent threat to the republic and the anticipation of public speaking can provide.

You may notice that I have no pieces of paper in my hands. This is because, dear reader, I memorized my section! Without any prompting, I dramatically declaimed some of the most eloquent and difficult oratory from antiquity. With Ciceronian humility, I would just like to say: I did pretty great.

In all seriousness, the act of memorizing that speech was helpful for me as a classicist. I know that passage, including all of its word order, vocabulary, and syntactical quirks. I have built a mental storehouse of Ciceronian tricks. And now I feel much closer to the man himself; I feel honored to be able to carry Cicero’s words around with me.

After we finished reciting the Cicero speech, we read an epitaph of Cicero written by Piccolomini. The last few lines go like this: “As long as the sky looks back on the lands and the sea looks on the sky, no age will escape your praises. You who pass by here, boys and youths and men, stop and say “‘Oh Cicero of ours: hail!’”

Though I don’t quite appreciate the exclusion of women, I think this poem is beautiful. And I hope that it’s accurate. I hope that there will never be a time when people don’t study Cicero, or Piccolomini, or Horace, or Virgil. I hope that in fifty years, in a hundred years, there will still be a group of students standing at the temple of Concord in early July, shouting and spitting and making Cicero’s words their own, making tourists stop and stare, making guards approach and ask what’s going on, making the study of Classics vital and visceral and real. I was and am so honored to be a small part of this tradition, and I am grateful to the Paideia Institute for making it possible.

Guten Appetit! : Traditional Foods of Germany and the Swabia Region

Eating out is major social activity in Germany. But warning – do not eat out if you have things to do! The typical 30-45 minute activity in the United States is actually prolonged to 1-2 hours! Once you sit down at a restaurant table, that table is yours for the evening.

At home, I work as a waitress so naturally dining was one of the first significant cultural differences I noticed between the United States and Germany. American waiters and waitresses are instructed to keep the customers coming and going at a rapid pace, continually checking to see if customers need anything else to eat or the bill. But in Germany, it is completely the opposite. German waiters and waitresses rarely check on their customers, unless their customers signal them with a wave to come over. I really enjoy this philosophy of dining because it enhances the purpose of eating out: to enjoy good conversation with family and friends in a fun, vibrant atmosphere.

Each region of Germany has its own traditional food. I am currently living in the Swabia region on the borders of counties Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in Southern Germany (see map below). The three major traditional foods of Swabia are Maultaschen, Käsespätzle, and the Swabian Brezeln.

Map of Swabia Region (Photo Credits: http://www.mygermancity.com/swabia-map)

Maultaschen (Aka. “Fooling the Dear Lord”!)

There’s a reason another name for Maultaschen is “Herrgottsb’ scheisserle” or “Fooling the Dear Lord”! Legend has it that the Roman Catholic Cistercian monks of Maulbronn Monastery of western Swabia received a large gift of meat during the famine of early 17th century.

Unfortunately, they received this gift during Lent, the Catholic 40-day fast when meat is forbidden from consumption. However, the Maulbronn Monastery cook did not want to waste such a large portion of meat, so the cook ground the meat,
mixed in herbs and spinach, and wrapped small portions of this meat in dough to conceal the sinful act of meat-eating during Lent from God.

In Schwäbisch Hall, almost every restaurant offers Maultaschen. It is a local and traditional favorite, very filling, easy to make, and tastes great (tested and confirmed)! If you would like to make Maultaschen, here are the ingredients:

Pasta:
3 eggs
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour

Filling:
1 pound spinach, cooked, chopped, and drained
1 cup cooked ground pork
1 onion, grated
4 slices white bread with crust
1/2 cup milk or water
salt and pepper to taste
pinch nutmeg
4 eggs
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Käsespätzle – “Schwäbisch Mac and Cheese”

Homemade German egg noodles, rich Emmentaler Swiss cheese, topped with caramelized onions?! For generations, Swabians have said, “Yes, please!” Since it is such a popular dish here in Schwäbisch Hall, I decided to enroll in a class to learn how to make it. This Swabian specialty has relatively few ingredients, but it does require some muscle power to make!

First, melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a pan and add two chopped, large onions. Let them rest for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be brown when ready. While the onions are cooking, the German egg noodles (Spätzle) can be made. To make Spätzle, you will need following ingredients: plain flour, eggs, butter, salt, and water. Instead of kneading the dough, it is stirred until holes in the dough are visible. Then, place the dough, portion by portion, into a Spätzle press (yes, there is such a thing!) over a pot of boiling water and pump the dough through the Spätzle press into the boiling water below. This press creates the short, thick noodles characteristic of Spätzle. Then, let the noodles boil for several minutes.

Next, add one third of the Spätzle to an empty dish, grate one third of Emmentaler Swiss cheese on the Spätzle, and then one third of the caramelized onions. Repeat this process until all Spätzle, cheese, and onions are in the dish. And just like that, your Käsespätzle is ready!

Swabian Brezeln vs. Bavarian Brezeln

Germans love bread. In Schwäbisch Hall alone, there is a bakery or cafe on almost every street and almost all have Swabian pretzels. Recently, a few other Goethe students and I went to a bakery in town to learn how to make Swabian Brezeln or Pretzels. This bakery, Bäckerei Renner, has been owned and operated by the same family in Schwäbisch Hall for 143 years! What a great family tradition!

Outside of the 143-year-old Bäckerei Renner

Swabian pretzels are almost the same as Bavarian pretzels. The only differences are that the ends of Bavarian pretzels are thick, whereas the ends of Swabian are skinny and Bavarians use only lard to make their Brezeln, whereas Swabians use lard and butter, making the Swabian pretzel much fattier.

Although both pretzels can be eaten alone, Bavarians prefer to eat their pretzels in with Weißwurst (veal sausage) and mustard, while Swabians typically slice their pretzels like a bagel and spread butter on them.

These are the Swabian Brezeln we made, ready to go in the oven.

Daily Life in Sorrento

Ciao!

It’s hard to believe my second week in Sorrento is already coming to a close, but things have been good so far! I know haven’t said much about Sorrento yet, so I’ll try to give a good recap here.

First off, taking two classes over the course of just five weeks is proving to be a busy task, but I have been enjoying them both and learning a lot about Italian language and life in the process. The small class size has been very helpful as well, especially in my literature class, in which there are just four of us. My lit professor has been great in really making sure we understand the Italian with which he speaks, plus his name is Domenico, so I knew we’d get along right from the start.

Aside from classes, it’s been a process settling myself into the daily life of Sorrento for sure, but definitely a good and exciting process. Part of it is just the typical things like getting food and groceries, and finding my way around the local streets, but the other part is, of course, doing it all in Italy and really trying to stay immersed in the culture. Both parts have their own challenges, and they often come hand-in-hand. For instance, shopping at the grocery store is not only trying to provide for myself for the week, but also trying to figure it all out in Italian. I may or may not have accidentally bought about three weeks worth of mozzarella, but hey, I ordered it in Italian, and now I can put as much cheese on my daily salami sandwiches as I want, so I’ll call it a win.

By the way, I have been doing my best to only speak Italian when purchasing anything around town or when eating out, which has been a solid way to keep my practice going. (I am pretty much an expert at explaining that I’m allergic to nuts at restaurants, no big deal). It has definitely been challenging pushing myself to keep trying to speak in Italian as often as I can, but I’m slowly improving, and continuing to explore more opportunities to immerse myself in the language. For instance, with some help from a contact at my school, I had the chance to hang out at a summer camp for local Italian kids today, and it was a really good experience. It was fun to be around other young Italians, watching them interact and learning about local experiences like this, while also meeting some really nice people who helped me practice my Italian even more – hopefully I will have more to share in the future about experiences like this!

My go-to kind of meal to order when I’m out to eat (senza noci per favore!)

Overall, there has been a lot to balance these past few weeks between classes, daily life, keeping up with my Italian, and of course finding time to relax and do cool things in Italy, too. This morning I finally took the time to wake up early and go for a run through the streets of Sorrento. Before that, I have only seen the streets filled with people, so it was really awesome having the streets almost to myself while doing a little deeper exploring of the city as well. I also got to take a quick visit to Capri last weekend – a small island to which we travelled from Sorrento by ferry – and you can check out some of my pictures from that trip here too!

The main street of Sorrento, Corso Italia – usually busy with people, but very peaceful on my early morning run

“I Faraglioni” – the signature rocks of Capri – as seen from the boat we took a tour on

Making sure not to drop my phone on my way up the chair lift to see the view atop Monte Solaro (+ my roomie Rich in the background)

The very blue waters of Capri – as seen from the top of Monte Solaro

Ciao for now!

Dom