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- 日1
- 2024年9月13日金曜日 11:02
- ☀️ 20 °C
- 海抜: 88 m
アメリカQuarry Branch39°22’17” N 77°24’49” W
Once Again: Off to the US
2024年9月13日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Waking up at 6am in the morning is never great. But waking up at 6am next to my cute little doggo is always great. Especially when I cuddle up to her furry butt until she greets me with her tongue on my face. We were laying on the couch of Marv. He would look after Aluna once again when I was flying over the Atlantic Ocean for the second time this year. And as I wasn't able to sleep in Frankfurt the day before as usual (due to a horrendous price of 395€ per night for the Maritim because of a fair), I had to wake up in the middle of the night to catch the train. But I wouldn't miss cuddling with Luni for ten minutes longer for anything in the world. That actually led to me having to run to the train so to not miss it. I'm never running. I can't run. It's horrible. Who invented that? Well, I caught the train nevertheless and it actually looked as if it would arrive on time - which it eventually did. I still got bad news during the ride: Maria wouldn't come with us. She was the group leader of the CRUSA GTE (the FAMs name) and she and her whole family had COVID now. So, as I would have shared an aisle with her, now I was flying alone. Well, not completely alone. The other person on our ticket was Yannick, another buyer for the fair. I immediately texted him to ask when he'd arrive at the airport and we made a plan to meet up. I found him without any problems, and we hit it off right away. We went through Check-in and Security without any problems as well, however, I had to go through a special security check. It wasn't that big of a deal, and was done within two minutes. Therefore, we had more than enough time to get comfortable at the gate. At last, the Boarding started and we had to get in busses to get to the plane. A last bit of fresh air, then we were on our seats. I was actually hoping, now that Maria wouldn't come with us, that we'd have an aisle for ourselves. However, there must have been a last minute booking or a seat change or whatever, because another man got Maria's seat next to me, which meant that I had to sit in the middle for the next 8 hours. But it wasn't that bad actually, as I had good conversations with Yannick and otherwise enjoyed the Board Entertainment. The flight was over quickly and we got off from the plane and into a very NASA like moon truck thingy which could lift itself up and down and dock onto the different platforms where the planes would roll to. It really looked surreal, but we thought it was super cool and efficient!
The immigration control was something I've feared quite a lot after the last officer interrogated me so harshly I thought I was a criminal. This time, a young dude asked me about my last time in Vegas, as I was wearing my Las Vegas hoodie, and we discussed the heat there. It was pretty chill and I liked him. Then he asked me whether I'd have any fruits or vegetables with me, and... Of course I still had some carrots and my obligatory apple with me. I told him as I didn't want any debacle like in Australia again and he sent me and my passport off to some other officers. Although I was separated from Yannick now, I wasn't that nervous. They were all very polite and even friendly when they brought me to another location behind the luggage collection. I had to wait a couple of minutes before an officer completely butchered my name, calling for me. I can understand... They always write my second name on it as well, as if it's one name. Another officer saw the "Michelle" in it and we all had a good laugh about it. I have already taken out the carrots and apple from my backpack, so she just threw them away and gave me back my passport. I could go. Well, that was a very nice little side-quest and not terrible at all. Coming back to pick up my luggage, I found Yannick standing there with Thorsten, another buyer and a good friend of my boss. We'd be together on the Pre- and Post-FAM, and I liked him immediately. Another woman came to us, her name Elizabeth, she's from the US government and would come to the GTE fair. After getting our luggage, we went to the arrival zone where we found Scott and Stacey immediately, who were welcoming us to the CRUSA GTE FAM-trip. We were the first to arrive which gave us some extra time to look around, go to the toilet, etc. The others were coming in one by one and then within a whole group. The FAM was international this time, so we got people from the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Britain. It's always a bit different with an international group, because you can speak way more freely in your own language, and therefore you'll do it more and stick with your national group more. So the exchange can be there but somehow it is limited still. A good thing was though, that the French speakers were willing to speak English. Good sign. It's also always weird to be there as a younger person, because usually the older ones know each other for centuries and are like a well-oiled machine, like class mates. And I always feel like I'm the new kid that stands awkwardly at the side and is afraid of talking. But I felt that there was another "new kid", the Swiss, and I told him exactly that feeling and we bonded over that really quickly. Now, I already had a way in. As we discovered that we wouldn't be in the same FAMs, I introduced Yannick to him, as he'd be with him, and our small group grew. Then Thorsten came back and we were four. That felt good. I wasn't the new kid anymore. It's easy within tourism, though. Everyone is pretty open, pretty chill and very friendly. So, it's never difficult to find friends.
When everyone was there, we were brought to our busses and I had to say goodbye to Yannick and Sam (the Swiss) for the next two days. We'd see each other again on Sunday evening. Thorsten and I entered the bus and sat down in the last aisle which I found to be a huge mistake immediately. We were sitting right beneath the air con and it was set on "Antarctica". My brain felt like freezing after seconds and I grabbed my hoodie that I took off earlier as it was 26°C outside. Now, I was shivering and I literally felt my just shaken off cold coming back to grab hold of me yet again. Luckily, Thorsten felt the same and we asked the driver to turn off the air con a bit. He did turn it off to less, however, the air con temperature was still competing with Antarctica, so I was still super cold. After an hour of driving in the fridge, my head wanted to explode. The hotel had our room keys prepared, so that we could put our luggage in our rooms. I would have my own room which isn't a given on FAMs but I appreciated it dearly. The room wasn't really special, but it had a whole kitchen and walk-in wardrobe, which made me question how long they expected people to be wanting to stay here. Anyway, I just left my luggage behind and went down again to meet the rest of the group that had arrived earlier and to get some food. We met in one of the hotel's meeting rooms and Emily, the person from Visit Frederick who'd be with us for the next two days, greeted me. She seemed to be just as young as I was, which I thought was pretty cool. The food was catered and there were veggie options, even salad. I didn't like the vegetarian lasagna at all, but I did like the mashed potatoes (with like 50% butter in it), so I could fill my empty stomach. The other people were friendly and funny, however, my head was hurting so much and my social battery was on a very low Low, so that I could barely sit there and not fall from my chair. Wolfgang, a Dutch sitting next to me, sensed my tiredness and told me that it would be fine to just leave. I was too shy to actually do that. So when he told Emily that he'd go to sleep, I gladly followed him. He said "We could sit there for another hour and try listening to these people talk about something I couldn't care less about right now, or we could just go to sleep and be social again tomorrow." And that was such an honest and true statement that I couldn't help but smile. Sometimes, you gotta be true to yourself and listen to your body. And right now, my body was screaming for a hot shower and my comfortable hotel bed. So, I gave it to myself and went to bed at 9pm. Tomorrow would be an early rise nevertheless, so better catch some much needed rest now.もっと詳しく
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- 日2
- 2024年9月14日土曜日 15:03
- ⛅ 28 °C
- 海抜: 384 m
- アメリカCunningham Falls39°37’54” N 77°28’14” W
A Day In Frederick County
2024年9月14日, アメリカ ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
After an amazing 9 hours of sleeping, I woke up at 6am and made myself some coffee in my kitchen, before heading down for breakfast. It was continental, so I could eat like a normal person and not like an American. Then we started our day of touring around Frederick County with driving to the Cunningham Falls State Park. It's situated right next to the Catoctin Mountain Park and creates a huge Recreational Area for the citizens of Frederick. We hiked the Falls Trail with a Ranger explaining a bit about the nature of the park until we reached the Cunningham Falls that give the State Park its name. Loads of the stones there have a greenish tint and that comes from metabasalt which "burns" at much lower temperatures than jade, so that it doesn't get a glassy look but stays stone-ish. The water of the Cunningham Falls isn't drinkable and there are actually pretty toxic algae in the lake at the moment that also kills the wildlife living in the State Park that drinks from it. There are white-tailed deer, black bears, turtles, many birds and insects in the park. Then we made our way down towards the men-made lake and its beach, which felt rather natural and not at all artificially created. The birds and crickets there were so freaking loud, you really felt the surrounding nature. We left the State Park behind us and drove to the Catoctin Furnace Museum which showed off the history and makings of the furnace. There was an actual Blacksmith working outside in his workshop, who we could watch working for a while. Then we looked at some old houses from the 1820s which could also be rented as an apartment and had original furniture of the time when Catoctin used to produce iron. There was also an old shop which was the only opportunity for the citizens of Catoctin to get groceries without half a day trip to the next town back in the day. We also saw the last remaining furnace called Isabella (named after the owners wife) where the African American slaves have worked really hard to produce iron. When they died, they were buried next to a busy street, which gave them no peace, even in their deaths.
We took off to the Roddy Road where the first stop of a Covered Bridges trail is. The Covered Bridges are covered to prevent the snow and rain from destroying the bridges. Apparently, they are used in the Beetlejuice movie, old and new. So, fans of these movies would like it, I guess. The Roddy Road Bridge is the shortest Covered Bridge in Maryland, there are two others that are much longer.
Lunchtime brought us to the Catoctin Breeze Vineyard where we could see the harvest taking place. At harvesting time, they have to pluck the grapes and pick out all remaining greens manually, before they can become wine. The Catoctin wine is only available regionally at the moment, however the family owned business plans to expand someday to national and maybe even international. We got to test the red Adagio and the white Symphony of 2022. As the big wine-drinker I am, I could say that I liked the white one better than the red one. Other people in my group, who actually understand something about wine, said that both were pretty good wines, very light, fruity and tasty. What I did find very tasty was the catering, though. They had a lemon cheese that was to die for and amazingly delicious chocolates as dessert that reminded me of German Dominosteine that we eat during the winter season quite a lot.
After lunch, we went outside to enjoy the sun a bit. However, there were loads of moth-like bugs that kept flying around us and we kept trying to kill them, as Emily explained to us that they are invasive and eat the trees and the government actually asks people to kill them. Only following the rules there.
The live music began and we had to drive to our next stop: The Monocacy National Battlefield Museum. The Monocacy Battle actually saved Washington D.C. from being taken over by the Confederates during the Civil War. The Union (people against slavery) hasn't won the battle, however they postponed the Confederate troops to get to Washington D.C. for 24 hours, which was just enough time for more troops to come from Petersburg to defend the capital against Earlys troops. Basically, the men fell in Monocacy to save lives in Washington D.C.
But the Monocacy Battlefield has more layers of history to it, as there is a whole other story about the farm and its black slaves on the battlefield documented as well.
Leaving all the history behind us, we drove back to our hotel to rest for a bit, before driving downtown to join the "In the Streets" Festival. There was lots of good music, beer and wine to enjoy. Carroll Creek Park is actually the biggest water-based park in the US, and has hundreds of different water lilies in the creek during the summer time. During winter, handcrafted boats are put into the water instead of the plants. Each boat comes from another local company-charity cooperation. You can scan the QR code on the boats and vote for your favourite boat. Each vote is one dollar that then goes to the charity the boat represents. This fundraiser takes place each year from around Thanksgiving until March. I'd actually love to see the boats with their lights in the middle of winter in Frederick. Next to being a beautiful park, the Carroll Creek is also home to lots of nice art displays like murals, sculptures and historic milestones. For example, there is a memorial of the tavern where George Washington and Benjamin Franklin met for the first time, discussing their battle strategies before being the famous people they eventually became.
We ended the day with a very loud but atmospheric dinner at the hip new restaurant of Bentztown.もっと詳しく
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- 日3
- 2024年9月15日日曜日 9:36
- ☁️ 19 °C
- 海抜: 92 m
- アメリカHarmon Field Playground39°24’40” N 77°24’23” W
Walking through Downtown Frederick
2024年9月15日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
The morning began early once again and with a last breakfast at the TownePlaza Hotel before checking out, and walking through downtown Frederick. The Visitor Center welcomed us with a short movie about Frederick, showing off all the different things you can do around the County. Then we walked further on to the National Museum of the Civil War Medicine, which (who could have guessed) explained all the medical happenings during the Civil War. It was actually very interesting to hear how many things were invented during that time. For example, they haven't had usable ambulances before that, that could bring wounded soldiers to the field hospitals to save more lives. Jonathan Letterman eventually created better, more stable ambulances that wouldn't hurt the wounded more than they'd help them, and trained the ambulance corps to do the job. In the Civil War, the Union fought against the Confederates. Both had only one hospital before the war. Afterwards they had over 200 hospitals each. But the hospitals they used to have, were bad. Every fifth person didn't survive the hospitalisation back then. They believed that people died from bad smells, because where did people get ill? In swamps and big cities, i.e. bad smelling places. So, Florence Nightingale created a new structure for hospitals. She invented small, airy buildings, that only held up to 60 people, having huge windows and lots of space between the patients. She made sure, that the patients and buildings were kept clean, which resulted in the death mortality decreasing to under 5%. They did it for the wrong reasons as they didn't know about germs and bacteria yet, however, it worked.
Did you know that the usual Hollywood movie scenes with wounded people getting amputations and no anesthesia whatsoever are totally dramatized? 90% of the amputations were done under patients given chloroform or ether. They would also get morphine and opium afterwards to ease the pain. That actually resulted in a lot of drug addictions later on. But they were aware of the mental difficulties the war could bring with it, so they tried to work against that. The funniest fact for me was that most men didn't die from the actual fighting, wounds, drugs or hygiene - they were starving to death. But not because they didn't have enough to eat... But because they didn't know how to cook it. Their wives always did that, the men never learned to cook, so they were basically lost. How ironic it is, that tough, strong guys who might have always looked down upon cooking and women's work, now needed that "unnecessary, unworthy" knowledge to survive. What's even worse: They didn't learn from it. I bet, if we'd be in a war nowadays, most men would still not know how to cook properly to get sufficient nutrients during the war.
They also died because they drank the water from the latrines from them and their horses... Not like directly from them, but from downstream. Speaking of horses: It was very difficult to not only feed all the men but also the horses and mules they had with them. Millions of horses and mules died during the war, that's the really sad part. They didn't have anything to do with it...
We learned quite a lot about the Civil War and the inventions during the time, the exhibitions were interesting and engaging, so it was a good time there. I would have loved learning more, however, time is always limited on FAMs, so we left the museum and went to the next stop which was a hotel still under construction. The Visitation Hotel Frederick, Marriott Tribute Collection was a girls school run by nuns once. It'll open at the end of the year and will be a tribute to the history of the nuns' lives.
Afterwards, we made our way to our lunch through the city once more and I gotta admit that Frederick is so damn pretty. It looks very European with its Historic District and all the little independent and locally owned shops. it's walkable, super clean and you just feel safe around there. I'd never expected that I'd like the city so much, but I did.もっと詳しく
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- 日3
- 2024年9月15日日曜日 16:43
- ☁️ 23 °C
- 海抜: 951 m
- アメリカHughes River Gap38°36’41” N 78°21’47” W
Skyline Drive through Shenandoah
2024年9月15日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Our lunch took place at Isabella's Taverna & Tapas Bar, which served us some very creative and delicious food. For an entree, I had fried green esperagos with a mayonnaise-tomato kind of sauce that somehow tasted like from McDonald's (but I loved it) and was served in a glass for champagne. That was funny.
We enjoyed our meals and were all pretty full afterwards, which made the tour that would come now rather uncomfortable. We hopped on our bus and drove down the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park. It was quite a cool scenic drive, and luckily the Vomex I took beforehand saved me from getting sick during all the hard turns and sharp curves. The weather was also pretty perfect to have a good view from the Blue Ridge Mountains and so it was quite an enjoyable experience. In the evening, we finally arrived at our hotel on the campus of the University of Virginia. It was just beautiful and my room was so stylish, I loved every bit of it. Our dinner was a fancy little event sponsored by Virginia Beach with good food and nice chats that introduced us to the buyer's side of the GTE fair, we'd attend the next few days.もっと詳しく
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- 日4
- 2024年9月16日月曜日 8:54
- ☀️ 16 °C
- 海抜: 205 m
- アメリカPoggio Branch38°0’22” N 78°27’7” W
The History around Charlottesville
2024年9月16日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Today we had breakfast at the Lower Level in the Groove Ballroom where we'd also have our GTE fair. Luckily, it was served on real plates with real silverware and not on paper or plastic. The waste in the US is crazy.
After breakfast, we hopped onto a shuttle which brought us up to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello which he architecturally created in the late 18th century. He has always dreamed of living on top of the hill he was looking up to growing up, so when he had the money, he just did it. He was the third president of the United States and the writer of the Declaration of Independence. He actually didn't want to write it but John Adams asked him to, as he wasn't as known to the other influential characters of that time and therefore they wouldn't find so many things offending. Also as Jefferson is from Virginia, one of the first states of the US, his word had kind of more power to it than the one of the later 2nd president to that time. When the first draft of the Declaration was given to the congressmen, they had 86 changes, which made Jefferson feel mutilated. He was an architect, creating multiple famous buildings, and he founded the University of Virginia, the 2nd oldest university of the US. He was also a huge hypocrite, as he wanted to end slavery in the US, and still had dozens of them to build Monticello. He also thought that you shouldn't mix "white" blood with "black" blood, and still had a very long lasting relationship of some kind with one of his female slaves and got at least 6 children (of whom 4 make it to adulthood) out of that. Sally Hemings, said slave, was taken to Paris with him during his Ambassador time there. In France she was free, because there wasn't an institution of slavery in place, so she could have stayed there to have a free life. But she negotiated with him, that she wanted to do only light work, get special treatment, and that the to-be-born children of theirs to be freed when they'd reach their 21st birthday. She was 15 at the time. I think, that is absolutely remarkable of her and somehow still stupid. But when you've lived in more or less of a cage all your life, it can be quite scary to actually go out into the real world and be free.
Jefferson died on the 4th July 1826, exactly 50 years after the Independence, and also on the same day as former president James Adams. There were lots of rumours about that at the time, obviously, but it was just a weird coincidence.
After getting to know all of this controversy, we hopped from one president's home, to the next. James Monroe's Highland sits only a short drive away on the hill next to Jefferson's. Monroe actually only bought that land, because he was very good friends with Jefferson and they wanted to be neighbors. After Jefferson's death, the Monroe's sold the house, and the original one burned down in 1829. They've only found out about it ten years ago, as the later owners have built (unknown to them) on top of the old president's home, and everyone thought that the home of the fifth president of the United States was a small little house that actually was only the guest house. Well...
After all that history, we got some lunch in an old historic Tavern, and drove to an Apple Farm afterwards where they also had loads of pumpkins.
That was it for the tour through Charlottesville (not seeing anything of the actual city) and we had some resting time before dinner.
Tonight was the big opening event with all the buyers, suppliers and allied members of the CRUSA GTE 2024, so I thought I could make myself a bit pretty with wearing a fancy dress and - oh my word - make up.
I was glad that I put extra effort in my appearance, when we arrived at the Montalto Winery, our location for tonight. It was pretty fancy a very nice place to hit the show off. Good food, drinks, view and company. It was a nice evening, but we kept it short, as tomorrow would be the first day of the fair and we'd have to be in check for that.もっと詳しく
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- 日5
- 2024年9月17日火曜日 15:08
- 🌧 22 °C
- 海抜: 181 m
- アメリカBroadhead Mountain38°3’52” N 78°19’52” W
First Day of the CRUSA GTE 2024
2024年9月17日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
The day started early with breakfast at the Lower Level of the Kimpton Hotel. As it was my first show, I was kinda nervous, but the older folks reassured me, that it would be easy-breezy. We were the buyers, they wanted to sell things to us, so we didn't owe them anything. That was good advice, however, I was still not 100% sure what to expect. I didn't have to wait long, until I found out with my first appointment of the day. Luckily, it was Jake from Frederick, Maryland, so that I could learn more easily with him what to say and expect. The appointments came and went by pretty fast, each one of them being only 12 minutes long, and the 3 minute breaks were always good to write down notes and mentally prepare for the next one.
The day went by with lots of chatting, listening and sucking up all the information the sellers offered. I don't know how on Earth I should remember all of that, but luckily they would all do a follow-up afterwards.
The day was done and we had a short break, before getting on yet another shuttle to the Southwest Mountains Vineyards, our location for the night. It did not disappoint. That was the most beautiful location we've been to so far. It had such a good vibe, so cozy and nice. The food was good, the drinks were good, and we had some amazing music playing. The photographer was on cloud nine with all the people asking him for pictures. We did a bunch as well, I just don't have them yet. I'll follow up, too.もっと詳しく
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- 日6
- 2024年9月18日水曜日 16:24
- ☀️ 22 °C
- 海抜: 158 m
- アメリカMain Street Mall38°1’50” N 78°28’51” W
2nd Day of the Fair + Paramount Theater
2024年9月18日, アメリカ ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Another day, another bunch of appointments that were over quite quickly, and with it the GTE. It was actually not as bad as I thought it would be, I could have had a couple more appointments. Obviously, I didn't ask for more.
Instead, I wrote my name on the list for people who wanted to go on a tour through the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville. I've learned about it during one of my appointments and when Teresa, the woman from Charlottesville, told me that she wanted to organize a trip to the mall downtown, I just asked her if it would be possible to see the Theater as well. She arranged it immediately, and so me and a few other people left the hotel a bit earlier at 4pm to go there. It was a very nice, old theater from 1931, which was restored to the old glory 20 years ago, to be a place for live music, ballet, opera and cinema. We were able to go onto the stage and try the acoustics (Alex randomly started to sing and decided that the acoustics were brilliant), as well as see where the changing rooms were, where all the people who have ever performed in the theater have signed the walls. A funny story about the Paramount Theater: The former owner wanted the floor to be painted and when the employees asked which colour, he just answered: "For all I care, you could paint a dinosaur. Just do the job." When he came back, there was a dinosaur on the floor, grinning. It's been there ever since and everyone remembers the floor with its dinosaur.
After the tour around the Paramount Theater, we looked at the little shops at the mall. I honestly expected a huge shopping center, as I only knew the word "mall" to be that. As it turned out, it's more of a European pedestrian zone with a nice open space, surrounded by little shops, restaurants and cafés. We sat down in the Crush Pad Wine Bar, which was recently named in the Top 5 wine bars in the US. And it really was a nice place with shelves full of wine from around the world (but especially the region). The most expensive wine I saw was a bottle for $400. The vibe was cozy and laid-back, though. And we met the owner of the bar who was French, has lived in Germany (in the non-existent city of Bielefeld) and Belgium and didn't like to live in the states. He said that the Germans are the best people, we would always be very funny and chill. I don't know what they did to his brain in Bielefeld, maybe some tests on aliens, but I didn't know that such a positive feedback for us Germans could exist. It felt very appreciative, though.
After an hour, it was time to move our group toward The Doyle Hotel, where we'd have our closing event of the GTE. We had good food and drinks and a DJ who could mostly read the room. And I must have been in superb company, as I was convinced to go onto the dance floor to actually dance. Whoever knows me, knows that I've never ever danced before in public and felt 100% uncomfortable with it... But for some reason I started to feel alright with the people I was with. I gotta admit that I have never felt so good within an international group before, so I really enjoyed the feeling of being amidst... New friends. The party at The Doyle Hotel ended quite too soon, but we went into the Buyer's Lounge at our hotel and did some more or less karaoke there. Marlon sang (amazingly good) to Celine Dion and Adele, the French girls sang to some French/Belgian songs. The Brits at the other table tried to dampen our mood with nasty comments about the songs we chose, but we fought them with our happiness, until 11pm. Then I went to bed, tomorrow would be a very early rise.もっと詳しく
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- 日7
- 2024年9月19日木曜日 12:55
- 🌩️ 26 °C
- 海抜: 13 m
- アメリカProfessor Joseph Henry Statue38°53’21” N 77°1’34” W
Welcome to Washington D.C.
2024年9月19日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌩️ 26 °C
The next day we had to wake up nearly in the middle of the night (6.30am), so that we could grab some breakfast and check out the amazing Kimpton, to get to the train station of Charlottesville. We took the AMTRAK to the Capital of the United States: Washington D.C.
The train ride was very enjoyable, but longer than I expected. It took us nearly 2,5hrs, the train wasn't very fast. It was old, though, so maybe that had something to do with it. When we arrived at Union Station in DC, we were kinda disappointed at first, as it looked like a normal station, not interesting at all. But then we got to the entrance hall and that was beautifully designed. It looked old but very fancy. We hopped onto our bus and drove straight to our next destination: Unlimited Biking. As the name suggests, we got some bikes there and went on a tour around all the different Memorials and Monuments DC has to offer. And there are loads. I haven't had lots of expectations, but I definitely haven't thought that DC was so big and green and accessible by bike and foot. The National Mall was yet again not a shopping center but a huge kind of park along Pennsylvania Street, that started at the Capitol and went on up to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial. These buildings were all so impressive! And you can see them all for free as well. DC was a planned city, which used land from Maryland and Virginia to be created. It was basically only marsh land before the founding fathers decided to dry it completely. They started to build the Washington Monument in 1848 without any funding and thought that the money would come, once people realized how cool of a project it is. However, that didn't work out, so that they had to stop...and for 26 years the unfinished obelisk was an eyesore. When money was eventually raised, the slaves in DC finished the project in 1884, and was for five years the tallest building in the world. Then came the Eiffeltower of course, but the Monument remained a very impressive structure and until now the tallest building in the world that is only built with bricks. It's hollow inside with stairs and an elevator to get up to a visitors platform. The first elevator took 11 minutes to get up to 555 feet, can you imagine? It's enough time to have three panic attacks and two calm downs. Until 1976, people could use the 896 steps up, however they closed it down since, as they were sick of rescuing people half way up. We saw the Vietnam War Memorial which was the first War Memorial in DC. The founding fathers originally wrote down that they didn't want to ever have any war memorials in DC, as they feared that this could somehow seem as if they'd glorify war. After the Vietnam War though, hundreds of veterans petitioned to get a memorial for their lost comrades and finally got one. The one they've built has actually lots of architectural meaning behind it. It's dug into the Earth, so to show the deep wound the war has left. They also have engraved all the lost soldier's names chronologically and clockwise, so that they meet back in the middle, back to back which symbolizes that they all come back together in the end. Thousands of people have since left gifts for their loved ones and as the National Park Service (who manages the memorial) thought that these things can't be thrown away or stolen, so that they started to collect them. After all those years, millions of little things came together and space tight. So now they have to decide what to keep and what to throw away. They wanted to show them to the public by building a museum next to the memorial, however funding is still not enough. After they built the Vietnam War Memorial, other War Memorials followed, like e.g. the World War II Memorial from 2004. It has a huge pillar for every state that was part of the US plus Hawaii and Alaska. In the middle of the ring of pillars, a big spring was created. The architect of the memorial actually wanted people to be able to jump into it, as it is a kind of ritual to do that after war to show community and hope. However, it's only allowed to sit on the rim and put your feet inside nowadays. Still a good way to cool off during a hot day like today. We didn't have time for that, though, as we were on a strict schedule (as usual on FAMs). Our next stop was the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial which looked across a lake right to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Our last stop on the National Mall was the Abraham Lincoln Memorial which is really impressive. The assassinated president really is huge. The building itself is created after the Pantheon in Athen, as Lincoln was a huge democrat and Athen the birthplace of democracy. In front of the building are the world famous words "I have a dream" by MLK Jr. engraved at the exact place where he stood all these years prior and held this speech. He was looking at 250.000 people at the National Mall. That's a quarter million. I can't even talk straight to one other person sometimes.
Our last stop was the White House, home to all presidents of the United States but Washington. We couldn't get close to it, though, because it was in use that day. Kamala Harris and some other politicians worked there to discuss the budget of the US. We even saw how one of the helicopters escorted Kamala to the meeting, driving through the streets. It is so weird to know that such an important person is in the same city as you, and even kind of in reach. I'm really crossing all my fingers and toes that Kamala is voted president in November. Otherwise, it will be a difficult 4 more years not only for the states but for the whole world. I don't want to know what happens, when two tyrants like Putin and Trump are in power at the same time.
Giving our bikes back at the pickup station and saying our goodbyes to David our guide, we finally drove to our last hotel. The Yotel was opposite of the Hyatt, only a ten minute walk away from the Capitol and 40 minutes from the wharf. It was super modern, with mood lights and a very weird but somehow cool bed that you could roll in and out like in the hospital (but cooler).もっと詳しく
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- 日7
- 2024年9月19日木曜日 17:14
- 🌩️ 28 °C
- 海抜: 35 m
- アメリカHarrison Recreation Center38°55’4” N 77°1’54” W
An Evening in the Capital City of the US
2024年9月19日, アメリカ ⋅ 🌩️ 28 °C
After a short refresh at the hotel, we went on a cocktail tour through U Street. U Street had at one point the highest black population in the city and therefore made the capital the "chocolate city". U Street was the victim of a huge fire because of riots against the black population. Therefore, only a few buildings were saved, one of which is Ben's, a chili hotdog place. Nowadays it's a landmark of Washington to remind of the riots, but it's also one of the longest running restaurants in DC. By absolute coincidence, we saw the original owner, Ben's wife, who's already 96. She is a legendary woman who still comes to the restaurant sometimes, and today was one of these days. There was a school class that seemed very happy to meet her as well. We also crossed the Civil War Memorial for all the black troops that have fought during the civil War in the 19th century. It's now in the Book of Records as it has the most names inscribed in a memorial: Over 200k! That's because most black people back then were enslaved and so they kept a close eye on them and their whereabouts. Not only did we learn about the history of U Street, we also saw loads of amazing murals and architecture. I would have loved to do a mural tour around DC. But I had to sip my mocktails in a rushed manner throughout the three different places we've been to. We didn't even get enough time at the last bar, as we had to hop onto the bus again to go to Washington's wharf. There we had a seafood tasting at the seafood market which sells love crabs. I felt extremely disgusted by that animal cruelty, and glad that the EU forbids this. I did use my tasting portions of fresh crab and lobster soup and whatnot, but only to give it to the French girls who were absolutely drooling over that. As long as they are happy. Our official schedule ended in Pearl Street having dinner at a restaurant, however, the French girls, Stef and I decided to add a little walk back to the hotel to the itinerary. I would have never guessed that I'd feel so safe strolling through the streets of DC in a women's group at night. It was so beautiful out there, and nobody was around. It really amazed us as the weather was just perfect, as it finally cooled off after this long hot day. But the National Mall was empty, just a handful of people were wandering abouts. So we could enjoy the fabulous view of the Capitol by night just to ourselves before going back to our hotel.もっと詳しく
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- 日8
- 2024年9月20日金曜日 11:05
- ☁️ 25 °C
- 海抜: 8 m
- アメリカAgriculture Grounds38°53’28” N 77°1’59” W
A Day Full of History, Nature & Art
2024年9月20日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
My day started pretty healthy with a delicious avocado toast at the Yotel Restaurant.
After our tummies were filled, we hopped onto the bus again to drive to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It turned out to be - hands down - the best museum I've ever been to. It was absolutely stunning, inside and out. We were lucky enough to get a VIP tour through the different exhibitions, but I would have gladly spent multiple days just exploring things. Its architecture is beautiful and has lots of symbolism to it already, the exhibitions are interactive, and share personal stories that are very touching. It definitely is a heavy topic, but in the upper parts there are ways to lighten up your mood via music, dance and art from the black people. I'd say it's a must-do on any DC itinerary, especially for people who don't have too many options to speak to black people themselves.
After an actually good lunch at the Sweet Home Café inside the museum, we made our way to the Zoo of DC, where we'd start our tour to Rock Creek Park. That Park was actually the 3rd ever created National Park in the US, and is the 2nd longest existing (due to the original 2nd NP now being a State Park). It's basically a normal forest where a river flows through and was formerly used as a passway to get from the lower income Eastside to the wealthier Westside of DC faster. Nowadays, no cars are allowed inside the park. There have been some mills in the 19th century that the Americans seem to be pretty proud of. For Europeans it's just a normal mill, though.
But what I found funny was that Teddy Roosevelt, the president who kinda invented National Parks after being a very sick child that wasn't allowed to go outside at all, was a real adventurer who brought his colleagues to regular meetings into the Rock Creek Park. The first time he met the French president, he invited him to a stroll through the park. As he usually just points to a random place and then goes in a straight line towards it (his motto being "Over, under, through, but never around!"), they had to swim through the creek. Roosevelt liked skinny dipping, so he just stripped his clothes off and went through. The Frenchman did the same, but he kept his white gloves on. When Roosevelt asked him why, he answered "Well, if a lady comes by, I want to look in check". They became good adventure-loving friends after that.
Fleeing the heat, we went back to the hotel to freshen up before dinnertime. I just jumped under the shower quickly and met Stef and Alex to go for a souvenir hunt on our way to tonight's location. We did not only find some souvenirs but also very nice murals to take pictures of. We met the others at the Calico where I had a pouch. Apparently, it's trendy now that you drink alcohol from a Capri Sun like plastic thing... Not that most people don't think that alcohol isn't as bad already, make it even more childish. The gin kicked me out of my shoes very fast, so I drank 4 glasses of water afterwards. I really should stick to the mocktails. Afterwards, we walked to Nina May, a brilliant restaurant with amazingly good food and a great Cucumber Sparkle mocktail. Already full, we went all in for the last night and got some great ice cream at Dolci Gelati, only a five minute walk away from Nina May. And to top that great evening, Stef and I went to sit directly opposite the Capitol afterwards. It was such a nice location, we couldn't believe nobody was there. It looked just as if there could come out cameras every second, recording our first date on a dating show. We both sat there on a statue, looking at the Capitol and enjoying the cooler weather. Unfortunately, Stef was quite tired (the poor woman is 33 already, cut her some slack) and she didn't want me to push her into the pool in front of the Capitol, so we went back to the Yotel to get a good night's sleep before flying back tomorrow.もっと詳しく
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- 日9
- 2024年9月21日土曜日 10:20
- ☁️ 23 °C
- 海抜: 10 m
- アメリカGangplank Marina38°52’34” N 77°1’22” W
Last Day in Washington D.C. on a Cruise
2024年9月21日, アメリカ ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Absolutely enjoying the long sleep-in, I still woke up at around 8 o'clock and decided it was time to pack all my stuff together. I had to sort out what papers to take with me and which not. We always get so much paper at these FAMs, but usually you can look all of that up on the Visit XXX website... So I could lighten my luggage a bit at least.
Then it was time to check out and get into the bus and back to the wharf for our last point on the FAMs' itinerary. We had a cruise around DC with some Gogo music experience. And no, it's not music the gogo dancers dance to, it's actually drum and percussion based music, created by Chuck Brown in DC. The drums they use originally come from West Africa, and were brought over with the hundreds of slave ships. The enslaved black people brought the drums and the music and created some community around that. Five years ago, it was officially named the music of Washington.
It was awesome, sunny weather, and I was standing outside most of the time to enjoy it before returning back to cold Germany.
We saw the Marine One, the helicopter of the president, doing lots of rounds above us, and I wondered how many times, the actual president sat in it. Again a very weird feeling to know such power is in the same place at the same time as you are. We also saw lots of planes taking off and landing at the Reagan Airport, which sat right next to the water, so that it looked as if the planes were landing/rolling on it. We could also just make out the Pentagon in the distance and see the NCIS headquarters. Really cool.
The last point on our itinerary ended, and we went back to our bus to say goodbye to the people who'd stay a bit longer than we did and drive to the Dulles Airport. I could ride on one of these cool NASA sci-fi moon landing kinda trucks again after checking in and saying goodbye to the rest of the group, even Stef. I'd miss these guys, it was a really good time with them. I had some shopping time left and spent it with Doreen. Then Yannick and Chiara arrived from the Baltimore tour, and we got ourselves some fancy fall-themed coffees at Starbucks, before boarding the plane. I sat in-between Thorsten and Yannick, Chiara sat behind Yannick, so our German group was close together. The flight was calm and quiet and kinda cozy as well. But I didn't sleep for a single second. The usual then.もっと詳しく
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- 日10
- 2024年9月22日日曜日 16:35
- ☁️ 23 °C
- 海抜: 104 m
ドイツFrankfurt Airport50°2’10” N 8°33’17” E
Appreciation Post for the CRUSA GTE 2024
2024年9月22日, ドイツ ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Thanks guys for such an amazing time in the US!
