Rasmenia, Author at Rasmenian Detritus – Page 23 of 42

Sachsenhausen

September 3, 2009December 2, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

"First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me." -Martin Niemöller * * * This is the blog post that I almost didn't write. I debated long and hard about it, knowing that I could never do justice to the topic, that I wasn't worthy and I would have to abandon the mockery, snark and sarcasm in order to discuss it. Let's face it - as much as I hate it, some shit just isn't funny. In the end, I decided to sober up and write it, knowing that I still can do no justice to the topic, but the fact that it is such...

Miles of Berlin Before We Sleep

August 20, 2009December 2, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

"Gotta go over the Berlin Wall I don't understand it.... I gotta go over the wall I don't understand this bit at all...." -Sex Pistols, Holiday in the Sun * * * The world is full of great cities, each of them considered "great" for reasons all their own. I haven't seen them all and there's a good chance that I never will, but I've seen a few. I've been rained on in London. I've stepped in Parisian doggie doo on my way to the Eiffel Tower. I've drunk sweet, sweet Guinness in Dublin. I've done a shitty Sean Connery imitation in Edinburgh. I have yet to argue with a NYC cab driver, but it's on my list of clichés to act out. Then there's Berlin. Sure, I consumed sausages, beer and sauerkraut in Berlin, so there's one more big city cliché checked off on the list, but there's so much more to it. I went crazy in Berlin. I walked around slack-jawed, laughed, learned, cried and shook my fist at Berlin while...

Camping in Sweden: Bork, Bork… Quack!

August 14, 2009December 2, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

Entering Sweden and making our way to Malmö was pretty uneventful. I was still battling the sickness I had acquired during the night that we had spent camping in Germany. We weren't planning on doing much of anything in Sweden, other than relaxing and spending a night in our tent before heading back to Germany. We didn't foresee any problems. We didn't foresee any weirdness. Rest. Dinner. Sleep. Breakfast. Should be easy. We arrived at the Malmö Camping & Ferie Center and went into the office. It was the usual thing: the guy showed us a map, pointed out places to pitch a tent and where to pee. Good enough. So, we were ready to pay. "You also have to buy the camping card," campground employee guy informed us. "A camping card? What's a camping card and why do we have to buy it?" He looked at the two of us as though we might be completely daft. We looked at him as though he might've been drunk....

Copenhagen, Part 2: Nothing is Rotten in the State of Denmark

August 7, 2009December 2, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

“Traveling expands the mind rarely” -Hans Christian Andersen “My life is a lovely story, happy and full of incident.” -Hans Christian Andersen “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” -Marcellus, Hamlet scene iv * * * It only took one day for me to decide that Copenhagen was my new favorite place in the world and that absolutely nothing was rotten in the state of Denmark as far as I could tell. The second day there only assured me that I was right.Of course, I didn't need that assurance, but you get the point.Since we were there as tourists, we were obligated to make a trip to see The Little Mermaid statue at the harbor at Langelinie. No, this was not Disney shit - what I'm talking about here is a statue based on the original Hans Christian Andersen story.First, we had to make a trip near the Royal Theater opera house to catch the boat that would take us to the...

Copenhagen, Part 1: Entering the Gene Pool

July 24, 2009December 2, 2020 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

It didn't take long for Olivier and I to make the drive from Hamburg to Copenhagen. That's one thing that I still get a kick out of when it comes to living in Europe - just drive for a couple of hours and instead of crossing state lines, you cross borders into another country, where the language changes and the road signs become meaningless, crazy looking words.In France, Olivier and I both understand the road signs. In Germany, I could make out a few while Olivier could make out the rest of them.In Denmark, we were both lost.Luckily, everyone there speaks such perfect English, that it doesn't really matter.Score: 1 for Denmark.We arrived at the place where we would be staying. We had made a reservation while we were still in France. We walked up to the front door and found a note with Olivier's name on it telling us to go inside.Then we found a path to our room...

Angela’s Son, the Teacher Man

July 20, 2009November 9, 2009 by Rasmenia Comment Closed

"You feel a sense of urgency, especially at my advanced age, when you're staring into the grave." -Frank McCourt"I began to look at other religions, Buddhism and so on, and realized there is another way of looking at life. A more benign way of looking at life." -Frank McCourt"I had to get rid of any idea of hell or any idea of the afterlife. That's what held me, kept me down." -Frank McCourtFrank McCourt 1930-2009.[tags]Frank McCourt, author, death[/tags]...