Three Hour Tour

Figuring a three hour tour (*singing* a three hour tour!!) would get us to most of the sites we wanted to see in Berlin, with the added plus of the tour being free we decided to go for it. We almost didn't make it, slipping into the group part way through the guide's intro. For some reason we are very good at letting time get away from us and often arrive to events right as they start, but it hasn't posed as a problem so we shall probably continue with this until it becomes an issue... Anyway, the tour started at the Bradenburg Tor (Gate), one of Berlin's most famous and meaningful sites.

The Bradenburg Tor

In that square, located behind me while I was taking the picture above, is actually the hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window as onlookers watched, horrified! Needless to say, I didn’t think I needed a picture of that building. We then continued on to see much of the city including a surviving portion of the Berlin Wall, which looked much shorter and less daunting than I’d imagine a wall that so successfully separated a city should be. Much of it was destroyed and what remains is quite damaged.

The Berlin Wall. I know, not much of a wall...

Of course being in Germany, we learned some about the history of the Holocaust. What impacted me the most was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We stepped among the rectangular graphite structures and I didn’t feel quite right. The atmosphere became sorrowful. Seconds later the tour guide stated where we were standing and it made sense to me. The memorial is a series of grey, stones, rectangular in shape with very sharp looking edges. When you stand on the outskirts of it, you can see above all of the stones and get a glimpse how vast it is. Once you start to walk into it, the stones start to get taller, eventually blocking your view. They are set up in a grid like pattern so that if you stand at an intersection of 4 of them, you can see a small pathway leading out in all directions. This pathway is spacious for one person, yet not quite big enough for two. It is quite disorienting to walk around, as the ground below your feet is not flat, but rather gradually sloping up and down. The memorial was done in such a say way as to not be conspicuous to the onlooker. By walking among the stones, the individual is left to his or her own devices deciding where to turn how to get from one side to the other. In this way the memorial allows for self-interpretation of the meaning behind the way in which it was erected. 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe 

View from the centre of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe 

We were given a few minutes to walk around the memorial and then continued on the tour. We also went to see the twin cathedrals, one of which is depicted in a picture below, as well as the University of Berlin, and Checkpoint Charlie The last stop on the tour was the cathedral, which we had visited the day before and is in a picture in my previous post. Here we were told the story of the Berlin Wall being opened, which surprisingly didn’t happen all that long ago on the 9^th of November 1989. The story was quite funny as the man who delivered the speech in which he claimed that the protestors were going to get what they wanted, for the wall to be opened, was not aware that he would be making the claims he made until right before he made them. The story was told very well and I learned a lot about Berlin and how the wall separated the East and the West, realizing just how recently both sides of the city reunited. 

Checkpoint Charlie 

One of the twin cathedrals 

The University of Berlin Library

After the tour we walked around a bit longer and then went to our hostel before going to see the East Side Gallery. This Gallery is graffiti style artwork commissioned on some of what remains of the Berlin Wall. It was about a mile from our hostel so we popped over to see it. Some of the art was a bit out there, but a lot of it was beautiful and very well done. I got some pictures of my favourite parts. I especially liked a portion of the wall, which looked slightly haphazard, with signatures, handprints, and multiple languages. I loved the way it differed from surrounding paintings in randomness, and the sense that it is a collective work. I also found a couple pictures of hands making the ASL “I love you” hand shape which made me excited to see!

"I love you" hand shape in ASL. 

Liz and me! We are covering up the lobster which is part of why I loved this painting so much. You can see his claw...

Megan Grace and me! This may have been my favourite painting. It stretched for a long portion of the wall and must have taken a very long time. I found it impressive. 

That night we were able to meet up with my cousin, Coerte, who is studying abroad in Berlin this semester! He took us to a very good restaurant where I ordered a schnitzel. It was very German and delicious! He then took us on a pub-crawl where we popped in and out of 4 pubs, then finished off the night with a Döner. I must say I am a beer snob now, as German beer tastes absolutely brilliant! It was great to see Coerte and catch up with him.

Our third and final day in Berlin was spent seeing some more of the back roads, a market, as well as going back to Museum Island one last time to get to the New Museum to see the Nefertiti Bust. This sculpture of her is absolutely breath taking. Although I wish pictures had been allowed, seeing one is not the same as seeing it in person. The depiction of her facial features, jaw line, and continuation into her neck and shoulders is just amazing. I will at least show you this picture I found online so you know what I am referencing.

Megan and I finished up the trip with dinner at Sophien'eck, a restaurant Coerte suggested. Liz and Grace did not join us as we were going to have an early morning, and they were not very hungry. We were basically on a candle lit date! Megan ordered for me, and we both got a Bratwürste, getting in one last typical German meal. I then finally got the ice cream I’d wanted the whole trip as we shared a caramel sundae. 

Me with my Bratwürste

We headed to Sweden the next day. Many pictures of beautiful Stockholm to come!!

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, bitte! ~Laura