history Keyword
The Rock
I was pretty excited to see Alcatraz and it didn’t disappoint. Sitting in the fog of the bay Alcatraz Island has had a long and interesting history. The limestone island was first used as the bedrock for a lighthouse, which is now the oldest lighthouse on the west coast and from there it has been a military installation, site of Indian rights protests and most (in)famously a prison.
Alcatraz’s prison history dates back to around 1861 where it was used a military prison. It quickly grew in population but it wasn’t until 1934 that the island became the Alcatraz we all know. It remained operation as a prison hosting some of the States most notorious criminals for 29 years.
Due to its geographics and the technology used in the prison Alcatraz was considered inescapable and it is easy to see why. The island sits tantalisingly close to the mainland but the water is freezing and currents churn the bay constantly. The buildings are imposing and there isn’t many places to hide outside the prison walls.
I spent around 3 hours on the island, listening to the audio tour and checking out the ruins of the prison. I took way too many photos but I loved the old run down buildings. There’s only one way to get to the island, Alcatraz Cruises. For $26 you get your ferry there and back, and the audio tour. My time on the Rock was worth every penny.
Roma
According to legend Rome was founded by Romulus when a bunch of birds almost shat on him and decided he should be the king of the new city. He had a bit of a blue with his brother Remus and ended up killing him, which was unfortunate as they were apparently nursed by a wolf after being sent down a river Willow style. They were shunted down the river by their mum, Rhea Silvia who got slipped a Roofie Collada by Mars in a forrest. That’s right: Mars, the god of War. In fact there was quite a bit of hardcore partying going on around Ancient Rome times. After a massive do the romans even managed to acquire a bucket load of women from the Sabine in what is unfortunately called the “The Rape of the Sabine Women” which is strange as no surprise sex went on at all. That’s the thing about Roman history: you don’t know where the truth ends and the legends begin. I like that. A lot. Sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of romance surrounding your history.
After all the interesting “legend” stuff of Rome is over though you kinda just end up with a big old city with a whole lot of history and no ice. I mean seriously: this place has no ice. They don’t understand the concept at all. Frozen water. It’s not that difficult. They sell fucking ESKIES but no ICE. How do people keep their fucking drinks cold if they don’t have ice? Not even the fish monger would sell me a bucket of ice. He claimed that if he sold me ice he’d have to sell everyone ice. To me that sounds like good business. Garr.
Dachau
It is difficult for me to write about Dachau Concentration Camp. Opened in 1933 it was the first of it’s kind, refined over the years to Theodor Eicke’s grand design and becoming a template the many camps that followed during the Third Reich’s rule.
While not a death camp as such, later during the war the camp did get a gas chamber and crematorium built in it. There are no confirmed numbers of how many people were killed in the chamber however due to the poor conditions of the camp around 30,000 people are thought to have died while incarcerated here. Most of the people placed in detention here were “political prisoners”.
I don’t really want to write about the things I learned that occurred here as I don’t feel they are appropriate for this blog, but I suggest you read on in wikipedia to understand more.
Munich
Know worldwide for the Oktoberfest, Munich is the Disneyland of Germany. Heavily bombed during WWII practically nothing in the town is older than 60 years. Walking around the city though the place looks much older. This is because during the war the Nazi’s did massive amounts of photo cataloging of the buildings in Munich and from these reference photos Germany was able to rebuild the city to it’s original glory. It was also the center for the Nazi movement, being the setting for some of the biggest moments in the rise of Hitler into power (well kinda, his attempt at overthrowing the government while they had a meeting in Munich landed him in jail where he wrote Mein Kampf) and interestingly Munich is one of the few places of Germany where their dark past is almost completely covered up.
Munich, as Germany’s third largest city is famous for it’s beer halls and gardens, both of which I became very well aquanited with. The English Garden with its massive Chinese Tower looming above provided a great setting for an afternoon of massive steins and huge pretzels. Leederhosen are worn everywhere, just as Blue Singlets and Thongs are worn in Australia. The weather was turned on mightly and I was treated to three glorious days in the sun. It was not until we left the very enjoyable Wombat’s hostel that I encountered my first bit of bad weather in a few weeks.
Probably my best time in Munich was my last night, where a few randoms from the hostel and I decided to head out and find an oft mentioned beer hall. Stupidly I left my camera at home, but the night featured tuba players, leederhosen, much too many steins of beer, huge schnitzels, massive piles of snuff and raucous singing. Great times.
As usual, most of the photos you’ll see below are from a walking tour I took around Munich, but check out the party in the park where we danced to drums and drank black market booze. A fantastic day.
Ich bin ein Berliner
Berlin is a wonderful place. It is a place full of history. Of sadness. Of reconciliation, tolerance and acceptance. Its redevelopment and reunification has lead to the creation of one of the most beautiful, open and modern cities on the planet.
From the moment I walked into Berlin I felt welcome and relaxed. I spent pretty much the entire of my time in Germany wandering Berlin on foot, discovering something new to see around every corner. Everything has been created or redeveloped with the past in heart and with the future in mind. It is unfortunate then that Berlin has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Germany (almost 15%) and the city feels almost empty. For such a wonderful place to go so unpopulated and be struggling seems a tragedy.
WWII is of course a major focus of many of the attractions on offer in Berlin. All highlight the horror of the events that occured leading up to 1945, and many of the museums and exhibitions can be confronting. I am very into my WWII history, however I found the history of Berlin since the war, the formation of east and west Berlin, and the Wall just as interesting.
If you get a chance to visit Berlin you can’t miss the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, probably the most striking piece of architecture in the city. A visit to Check Point Charlie is an obvious shouldn’t miss although evidence of the Wall that divided the city into West (Allied) and East (Soviet) Berlin can be seen all over the city. In fact: I have a small souvenir piece in my bag right now. The city by night is beautiful and as always I suggest taking one of the free (or cheap) walking tours on offer to get a good feel of the place.
Last but definitely not least, take some time and visit the Reichstag Building and check out the “Transparent Goverment” at sunset. Wonderful. For all you history buffs out there, Berlin is not to be missed.
Enjoy the photos, taken during my two days of constant walking of the streets.
Prior Park, Bath
It is very handy visiting a place where you have locals willing to show you around. During my visit to Bath, Lucy’s mum took us to one of her favourite places in the town, Prior Park.
Built by Ralph Allen, the local big shot, the gardens were important in defining the concept of the English Garden. Beautifully landscaped and maintained the site is something of a wonder. While Ralph Allen’s mansion is now a private school, the parks are owned by the National Trust. Its most striking feature is the Palladian bridge, which is one of only four left in the world.
I don’t know what else I can say about the Park, it was beautiful beyond words and I am indebted to my hosts for taking time out of their day to show me this little piece of history and paradise. Enjoy the photos I have attached in this gallery and keep an eye out for the 1800′s graffiti. Wild!
Bath Water
On Wednesday I caught the train for about an hour and a half to see Bath. There to greet me was Lucy, one of my friends from the Sydney Railway Square YHA.
Lucy proved to be a very capable tour guide, showing me around the sights of the town. Bath is most famous for, you guessed it: the Roman Baths that were built here over the natural hot springs. Suprisingly the baths were lost for a long time, only being discovered when the basement of a house built over the area kept mysteriously filling with water.
The complex allows tourists to examine the baths but, unfortunately, not to swim in the warm water. Restored to what is believed to be a pretty accurate representation of how the baths would have looked during the Roman times (except there was a roof over the baths) the site does a pretty good job of transporting one back to the heady days of the expanding Roman empire.
On display are artifacts recovered during the excavations and rooms upon rooms of the original Baths. After walking through the site and seeing pretty much all we could, I downed a cup of the water, said to have restorative properties. It tasted like mineral water and eggs, and was served at body temperature supposedly straight from the source. It didn’t make me sick, so the water couldn’t have been all bad. Kinda is fun to say I’ve drunk Bath water from the Roman Baths in Bath.
At 11 quid for a self guided walk around the Baths it was a little expensive for a povo traveller, but worth a look for all those interested in taking a glimpse back in time.
The gallery attached to this post includes some shots from around Bath, most notably of the Abbey, the Royal Cresent and the Circus.
British Museum
The spoils of an empire, plundered from the well thumbed pages of history. That is what you’ll find at the British Museum. The massive building houses what looks like millions of artifacts that the British empire has “procured” over the course of its rule. Pieces from all over the globe are shown here. Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, The Incas, Central America, The Far East. Everything beautifully displayed and deftly stolen, sometimes under the guise of ‘preservation’ but most of the time just gotten in gains most ill.
I don’t condone the British Empires looting of the worlds riches but damn does it make for an interesting day out. Walking through the Library with its display cabinets full of ancient tidbits makes one feel like they are in an Indiana Jones film. Huge statues tower overhead, their mere size prompting the question: how did they get them here? Friezes that once surrounded the Parthenon now hang for tourists to ogle over, lit by spotlight and protected with nought but a thin velvet rope. Treasures from the Orient that once sat pride of place in a Japanese Palace now glitter behind finger print smudged glass cabinets. The dry and contorted body of an ancient Egyptian lays naked in an excavated grave, a bare body once hidden from the world, awaiting passage into the afterlife, now surrounded by dozens of clicking cameras, each xenon flash furthering the search for eternal life. I smiled at skulls and they smiled back at me, my reflection overlaying the cracked features; there but a few thousand years go I.
I traveled the ancient world that Friday afternoon and was home in time for a beer down at the Shakespear’s Head. Cheers to you British treasure hunters, grave robbers and tomb raiders of old. Such a fine museum you’ve made.
Game On Exhibition
Ok odyssey fans I’ve finally got you real gaming article. Now you can finally shut up about my gaming cred Colin.
Queensland Library hosted “Game On”, an exhibition on the history of Video games which was presented from the 17th Nov, 2008 through to Today. I was lucky to catch it on it’s final day. The exhibition featured old old OLD SKOOL Arcade machines, including classic spacewar cabinents through to today’s current tech with the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 making an appearance.
Exhibits included pretty much EVERY handheld gaming console, a timeline of working, playable consoles (which included the Sinclair, Magnavox and Famicon) and a mockup of the original Spacewar oscilloscope game that started it all. While I could have done with more information on the games and systems, it was a nice trip down memory lane. Tegan and I were a little disappointed in our own way that Soul Calibur didn’t make an appearance. Me as it’s Dreamcast incarnation is still rated in the top 10 best games of all time by Game Rankings, and her as it’s the only game she can play.
It was cool seeing the Lynx and Game Gear handhelds in all their double A chewing glory and getting an insight into the planning that went into GTA3. It’s just a pity that all of you that haven’t gone to see the exhibit yet have missed out! Fail.
I was unable to take my camera in, due to some bullshit rule, but Tegan went rogue and snuck in her Olympus, taking a few cheeky snaps which you can check out after the break.