Monday, May 31, 2010

Day 92 in Esslingen


We were walking to school today and suddenly we saw this advertisement! With Mika Häkkinen :D

I understood it is some kind of delivering company and apparently Mika Häkkinen and Niki Lauda are doing commercials for the company. I really got a warm feeling inside me when I saw something Finnish while walking on the streets of Esslingen, even if it was just a face of an ex-formula1 driver. :)

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Day 90: Sepulchral Chapel


I had seen the beautiful building on top of the hill many, many times from the train window and always wondered if it is a church. Today I learned what it is and its reason to be up there. It is Sepulchral Chapel. That means that there is a grave inside the Chapel.

King Wilhelm I of Württemberg built the Chapel for his young deceased wife Katharina as an eternal proof of love. Katharina died unexpectedly at the age of 30 in 1819. Wilhelm I fulfilled the wish of his late wife that her final resting place be on the Württemberg Mountain. The King had the words "The love will never end" written over the entrance of the Chapel.

Die Liebe höret nimmer auf.

Day 90 in Esslingen


I finally saw my German friend Jan who I met in Jyväskylä a couple of years ago. I still had my flu but he came to visit me anyway. :)

In the evening we went to the Chapel on Württemberg Mountain to see the nice view over nearby towns of Esslingen all the way to Stuttgart! The vineyards just amaze me every time, they continue as far as the eye can see..

Friday, May 28, 2010

Day 89 in Esslingen

The construction men are leaving!

Great! They are finally finishing up the building next door. I hope next week they'll be gone and I can sleep the mornings without any noise. It has been quite annoying waking up every morning when the men arrive to work, especially these last two days when I have had a flu and all I would like to do is to sleep.

Though they are efficient workers as you can see from the short videoclip, I'll give them that.


Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 87 in Esslingen


On Wednesday, 26th of May was Barbara's birthday!

She had baked a delicious cheesecake which we ate at her apartment before leaving to a bar for drinks. It was really fun girls night out. A memorable night I would say and I'm quite sure other customers in the bar are not going to forget it either! =D

In the picture there are Lithuanian girls and me: Justina, me, Barbara and Silvija.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Day 86 in Esslingen


We went to Freibad (outdoor swimming pool) with Barbara today, to swim and enjoy the sun. Well, Barbara did the swimming and I just enjoyed the sun. :) I have a little summer flu and didn't want to get more sick.

Day 85: Old Town of Esslingen


After visiting the castle we went for a walk through the Altstadt (=Old Town).

In the picture there is the Altes Rathaus (=Old City Hall) which once was the house of trade and excise. The Old City Hall is the center of the Marktplatz, the market square, because of the astronomical clock from 1591. The glockenspiel still sounds several times a day, the wings of the imperial eagle still beat the hour and the original movement from 1591 still turns the hands and the figures! The clock is unique and those are one of Germany's oldest clock movements.

We walked along the Rossneckar Canal and found the Wasserräder, the water wheels. The view of Rossneckar Canal from the inner bridge to the canal bridge is called "Little Venice" by the citizens of Esslingen. In the video clip I took you can see one of the oldest water wheels which is still in use and a small part of the "Little Venice". :)


Monday, May 24, 2010

Day 85: Esslinger Burg




The weather today was just perfect: the warmth and the sunshine, I just loved it.

We went to eat at the Burg (=castle)here in Esslingen with Teddy. The view was so beautiful up there! We could see the whole city of Esslingen from the castle. Food was good and we even ate some ice cream for dessert. :P

The Esslinger Burg was once a part of the old city wall and it has seen the life of the Old Town of Esslingen for almost seven centuries. The castle is situated on the hill so you can also see the towers of the castle where ever you turn in the city center. :)

Day 85 in Esslingen

And yet another Sunday..
What? Isn't it Monday today? Yes, but it is a bank holiday in Germany, again. This time it is Pfingstmontag. And again all the stores are closed. Yep.

I went for a walk on the hills and checked my mail on the way back in, even though the postman was not supposed to come today. And I found this: Propaganda flier for quitting drinking and a welcoming flier to church.

Is the Universe trying to make a point here?

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Day 84 in Esslingen




Teddy came back from Finland today and that was a good reason to have Pancake Party! (=Lettukestit in Finnish)

How happy does that face look like, seriously? :)


Pancakes/crêpes:

5 dl milk
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 dl wheat flour
2 tablespoons oil

Mix all ingredients together and wait half an hour before baking the crêpes on a pan from both sides.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Day 83 in Esslingen


The Sun is back!

I went to read a book and enjoy the sun for couple of hours to my school yard (yes, I know, but it is one of the most quiet places near my apartment on Saturdays). Of course the clouds came as soon as I sat down, but that didn't bother me.

The picture is taken from my school yard and no, I do not have any idea about the statue. :D

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Day 81 in Esslingen


Dear blog,

today my holiday started. The weather in Esslingen is of course excellent: +9 degrees, foggy and still raining.

Hopefully it will get warmer next week. :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Day 80 in Esslingen


I must say, the Finnish guys just are the most thorough when it comes to school and studying!

Here is Molli and Joona cleaning the blackboard before our German lessons.
Notice: They cleaned it totally voluntarily!
Good job. :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Day 79: Finland info


Today one of my teachers from Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, Anneli, had a presentation about Finland and our school for German students at Hochschule Esslingen. I was there for seeing her show and also being as an example student from Jyväskylä. We had a lot of brochures, small gifts and Finnish candies for the audience and I think they enjoyed the presentation of Finland a lot.

Day 79 in Esslingen


Cooking blog alert!

Chicken salad I made today for lunch was just delicious. It was also the most visually beautiful salad I have ever made! haha! :D It included lettuce with homemade salad dressing (oil, water and spices), cucumber, tomato, onion, chicken and cottage cheese. Simple, but yummy.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Day 78 in Esslingen


Today I thought I was going to my history lessons in the evening, but just when I got to the campus, I got an "emergency" call to meet my teachers from Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, who are visiting Germany. Of course I asked a permission from my history teacher to skip the lessons before I went to meet my teachers. :)

After tasting some sparkling wine at Kessler we went outside to take a group picture. In the picture there are (from the left): Olli, Anneli, Jorma, me and Petri.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Nürnberg








Nürnberg was chosen to be the place where all the surviving Nazi leaders were put on trial for crimes against humanity. In the picture there are some of the leading Nazi leaders at their trial in 1945-46.

In Nürnberg there also is the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, which is an area of 11 square kilometers in the southeast of Nürnberg where the Nazi Party had their annual meetings from 1923 to 1938.

Hitler chose Nürnberg for his massive buildings partly because of the location of the city and partly because of the history of Nürnberg as a city of two earlier Emperors (during the Holy Roman Empire). Hitler wanted to be the third Emperor and that's the reason for the name "the Third Reich".

The area includes the Zeppelin Field, the Luitpoldarena and the Great Road, which are finished. The building of the Congress Hall, the March Field, the German Stadium and the Stadium of the Hitler Youth were started, but never finished because of the Second World War.

The Zeppelin Field is basically a huge field with a large grandstand, which is based on upon the Pergamon Altar (an ancient Greek altar which is believed to be dedicated to Zeus). At the "altar" Hitler made his speeches to his groups and the field was used for the parades which were a big part of the Nazi propaganda.

The Congress Hall was built of granite panels (outside) and bricks (inside). The granite was transported from the concentration camps, which were located near granite mines so that the prisoners of the camps could make the hardest work of caving up the granite. The building looks a lot like the Colosseum in Rome, but the Congress Hall is twice as big as Colosseum.

The Great Road was intended to be a parade road. It was meant to be a link between the Nazis and the city of Nürnberg so the road points straight to the Castle of Nürnberg. The Road is 2km long and 40m wide and it was built to fit perfectly for the marching groups. In the short video our guide shows us how the steps of the march were perfectly matched with the size of the stones.

Day 76 in Germany: Nürnberg




Our last excursion was on Saturday and we drove to Nürnberg.


First we had guided tour outside the Documentation Center. We walked around the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, which were huge. I had no idea they even had a place like that. Well, Adolf really chose the most beautiful location for his enormous buildings; the nature is amazing around them.

After the tour outside, we also visited inside the Documentation Center. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to see everything because the Center has not less than 19 rooms of information about Hitler and his Nazi Party.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Day 75 in Esslingen


Dear blog,

today we went with Cri to Stuttgart to do some shopping. We found what we wanted and before having some coffee, we visited just briefly the Stiftskirche, the evangelical church in the city center of Stuttgart.

From outside you can see basically only the old tower of the church, but inside you soon realize that the tower is the biggest part that still remains from the church built in 1240's. In the end of the Second World War the church was heavily destroyed. As you can see in the pictures it was restored, in the 1950's, but not in all historical detail.

Day 74 in Esslingen


Thursday was holiday for everyone. It was rainy day, again.

We went to the movies with Cristina and Barbara but this time we went to see the film in German! It was a little bit disturbing to know that the leading actor would have been speaking American English and the leading actress would have been speaking British English.. In German it was all the same.

On the way to the cinema we saw a lot of old, beautiful cars driving right after the other. Some of them were in the museum register and some not. The drivers seemed to get really happy when they saw that I took pictures of their cars! They honked and waved and laughed at me. =)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day 72 in Esslingen


Thunderstorm!

In the afternoon the weather was summerlike, it was really warm, +21 degrees and sun was shining. It felt a little bit too warm and I could feel the pressure in the atmosphere. It could only mean thunderstorm.

Heavy clouds approached quickly in the sky behind our school building on top of the hill even though you couldn't see the wind blowing on the trees yet. The sight was pretty impressive. The clouds faded the daylight and suddenly it was totally dark inside my room. I heard the thunder and saw the lightnings before the rain and the wind started. It was the biggest thunderstorm I had experienced in Esslingen so far.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Day 70 in Esslingen


It was the last day of Frühlingsfest on Sunday and of course we had to go even though it was raining all day..

I tasted some warm vanilla flavored almond or I'm not sure if they were almonds or nuts.. Something yummy anyway. :P

Day 69 in Germany: Köln

Saturday, the 8th of May, was the game night.

We rented a car and drove to Cologne to see the ice hockey match Finland-Denmark. Okay, okay, Denmark crushed us just like that, but for me it was exciting to feel the atmosphere of the game! The end result was 1-4.

The beautiful River Rhein flows through the city of Cologne.. The river and the cathedral and the sky and the clouds and the sunbeam..Breathtaking.


Friday, May 7, 2010

Day 67 in Esslingen


Thursday was a rainy day, again.
We went to Wasen anyway, to see the beer festival, Frühlingsfest. I hadn't eaten all day so we went in to one restaurant tent. The others had some fries and I had the biggest Maultaschen I have ever seen and it tasted really good, too! =)

Paikallinen erikoisuus, Maultaschen: yleensä suorakaiteen muotoisen pastan sisään leivottu esim. pinaattia tai lihaa. Voidaan syödä sellaisenaan vaikkapa salaatin kanssa.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Day 64: The swan attack!


Well, okay, the swan did not attack.. But almost! :D

I was taking a picture of it in a park near the Neckar canal and suddenly the swan wasn't that happy about being a target of paparazzi anymore and it started to approach me in a threatening way.
I walked backwards away from the swan and it calmed down instantly and I could take this picture. :)

Day 64 in Esslingen


The weather is still cloudy, but you can't deny the fact that the summer is here.

Here's the view from our school cafeteria at Hill Top Campus. It's quite nice I would say. =)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Day 63 in Esslingen




Dear blog,

today was a rainy day.
It was gray and blue but still I wanted to go out so I went for a walk. The small stream flowing near our dormitory sounded happy and the nature around it were blossoming. The spring in Esslingen is more or less like the summer in Finland, even the lilac is in bloom already.
Syreenin kukat ovat loistossaan jo tähän aikaan keväästä!

In the afternoon we went again to Merkel'sches Bath with Barbara but this time we went to sauna. There were six different kinds of sauna but most of them were just warm rooms with eucalyptus or lemon scent. Aktivsauna with temperature of 90 degrees was more like the sauna we are used to, but there was personnel who poured the water, again with the smell of eucalyptus, on the stones.
The relaxing feeling after Merkel'sches Bath was just like after Finnish sauna though. :)

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Day 61 in Esslingen

We had an International Friend Meeting on Friday evening in a pub near our school. It was organized by the international office of our school and the meaning of the event was to get together both exchange students and German students and maybe make some new friends. It was fun to meet new people and talk about school and stuff.I had many interesting conversations, I even got some new international friends. :)