schloss benrath

i slept in today, making it a super saturday. as it was another beautiful day, i decided to venture out and visit a local palace/museum and park grounds. it was in the town of benrath, just south of düsseldorf, and covered by our city transportation pass. my journey began in düsseldorf hauptbahnhof, and i waited to take the RE 1 train to benrath normally trains are extremely prompt. however, this one apparently was late. a german voice kept coming over the loud speaker and people were disgruntled. finally, the train came and i took the short 5 minute trip to benrath.

not my train, ahem! (rachel/savs/barrett)

quaint town of benrath

the beautiful palace, corps de logis. we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but it was just like it is on the outside: extremely ornate. behind the three doors you see is a large entrance hall with a 20+ foot ceiling, marble floor and decorative wall sculptures, all very tastefully done. behind that was a huge rotunda, made to be of the same scale of the pantheon in rome, and featured a mini dome at the top of the large dome, where 6-8 musicians could sit, concealed from below and play their minuets and adagios. there were huge chandeliers, silk wall panels, hidden doors, 8 staircases, 80 rooms, and 5 floors total. you can just see two from the exterior, but the architect hid a middle floor for servant rooms. there is also an attic and large cellar/basement. the two inner courtyards reveal all levels. the upper floor held guest apartments and bedrooms.

the site featured this palace in the center, with two flanking buildings on either side, and all surrounding a large pond. in the back, the palace was showcased perpendicular to a very long reflecting pool. on either side of the pool were huge forests, full of gardens and walking paths. everything about the property was carefully planned along axes and views, all the way out to the river rhine. there was also a sculpture garden in the back.

i walked around in the parks and sat near the pool for a couple of hours, next to ducks, geese, and swans. on the way back home, i realized that the 701 tram, which goes right by my apartment, also stops here. so all the work i took getting here was converted into a 10 minute tram ride right to my front door. now i know.

look out steven spielburg

today was the last day with jens, our fearless leader/camera workshop instructor. he did a pretty spectacular job of getting a group of 12 of us (ok, maybe 9) to be pretty familiar with using a mid-sized film camera and its parameters. today we worked with all the footage we collected over the three previous days and edited said footage in final cut pro. the program is built for mac (so you know its good) and works a lot like adobe premiere or pinnacle studio 9. basically you capture the film from the camera on the computer, telling it where to stop and start each clip, then organize those clips in the program. you can do all sorts of cook effects and add music. hopefully we can get the video online somehow and link to it from here. stay tuned.

from left to right starting with top row: jens, me, barrett, tim, gavin, alan, evan, kyle, geoff, ava (assistant to jens), sierra, rachel, savannah, paul

today was another gorgeous day; hardly a cloud in the sky. you really learn to appreciate clear skies with the weather we’ve been having lately. but apparently, it is always like this in düsseldorf this time of year.

düsseldorf hauptbahnhof, the main station

rachel and savs as we wait for our 725 bus

ta da!

just about every building here has external shades. they are completely invisible when raised, but make for a nice barrier from the sun, cold, and any unwanted lights at night. the one outside my room does a nice job of blacking out the inside, giving a perfect sleeping environment and reason to stay in bed an extra 10 minutes each morning.

resist the urge

in the attempt to act as travelers in this foreign land and not tourists, we all have made a pact to never eat from common, american-based eatery chains. this potentially becomes a concern around lunchtime, and especially when there is a subway very close to AIB. you see, i ate subway at least once a week last semester. today, my sandwich (cold cut combo complete with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, banana pepper, mayo, vinegar/oil, and salt/pepper) was calling out to me, “essen sie mich,” i could hear, “essen sie mich.” it was tough, but i did resist. then, right before our 725 bus came i ran into a kiosk and grabbed a snickers bar. ahh, live is good. 

today was a mediocre day. we worked with cameras again this morning; perfecting our skills in 3-point lighting. then during our lunch break, we high-tailed it out to the düsseldorf university’s art supply shop to stock up. unfortunately when we arrived (40 minutes later) we found that their prices were not cheap and their shelves empty. we sprinted back to the nearest bus stop, and made it back only 20 minutes late, stomach’s grumbling. after class, geoff and i finally resolved the issue by stopping by K&M, a great art supply shop in the old alstadt. done and done.

 

saw this on veer’s website:”if you can say i love you in Helvetica, you can say it with Helvetica Ultra Light if you want to be really fancy.”