Our coach picked us up near our arpartment at 4:30 am on Friday, it's needless to say that we were all tired. However, what does need to be said is that I was sick with a fever all day Thursday and Friday, and paired with 3 hours of sleep, I was not the happiest camper. Here we are:
Once we arrived in Berlin, we went on a brief bus tour of the city's tourist highlights as part of our program with Anderson Tours. We got to walk around the famous Brandenburg Gate, which is historic, beautiful, and was not surprisingly hidden from most eyes when the wall was erected around it.
After napping, we enjoyed some informative ridiculousness at Berlin's Erotik (yes...with a 'k') Museum. While there were many sites, these giant penises from Indonesia are probably slightly more tasteful than whatever else I could post:
My favorite part about the Erotik Museum was the fact that you begin and end your erotic journey in their extensive porno shop. According to my MTV Europe book, it's one of the top 6 things you MUST see in Berlin. I think it was one of my highlights.
While I didn't sense any anti-Americanism in Germany, it's reassuring that Europe wasn't going soft on me:
The Charlottenburg Palace is supposed to be some big, beautiful palace (which is now a top museum), but compared with other parts of Europe, it was disappointing:
So, by the end of the day...I REALLY didn't feel well. I sleep 11 hours that night:
By Saturday morning, I was feeling MUCH better, and needed a little colour in my life. After Chicago pioneered the 'march of the cows thing' almost every major city (including San Francisco's) decided that they needed random painted animals and organs tossed amok around their streets. Berlin has the bears:
I'm not sure why, but they have them everywhere. So we ALL took photos with one.
Shannon and her bear.
Allison and her bear.
Cathy and her bear. Rock on Cathy.
Another big tourist attraction according to my MYV Europe travel book is this large TV Tower called the Berliner Fernsehturm, which roughly translates into Berlin TV Tower. One thing I definitely noticed about Berlin was that the Germans aren't particularily creative when it comes to nomenclature. If naming is concerned, they're just going to be quite literal. There is no point getting superfalous or flamboyant, the Germans would rather leave that up to the French. Here is one of the many views I took of Berlin from atop this literal TV tower:
After Cathy and I took time enjoying the audio tour of Berlin's many historical sights from above, we went to find food. We decided downtown Berlin would have food on a Saturday afternoon, so we wandered hungrily for too long...eventually discovering this strange duplex patio bar in the center of a weed-laden empty lot. Those Germans, so efficient:
Saturday happened to also be the Christopher Street Day Parade in central Berlin, and many of the local youth take the opportunity to prepare for next month's love parade:
Who said love can't come from war?
We all took advantage of the jovial festivities and relatively optimistic currency conversion (ANYTHING is better than the dollar to the British pound) and enjoyed some authentic German beverages: Caipis! I'm not sure what it is, but they were popular and tasty:
Shannon enjoyed a few caipis herself:
So did this guy...this older 'raver' type gentleman was so enthused about the day's festivities that he determined that he just needed to hug it out with the Berlin police...who carry big guns. Good thing everyone is having a good time in Berlin!
We kept the Berlin party train rolling that afternoon and enjoyed an authentic Berlin nightclub that night. We're not entirely sure what kind of club it was or even sure how to describe it. However I distinctly remember a LOT of women and a man dressed as Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie, except he was overweight, painted blue, and dancing on a stage.
The following morning I got up and met with my old friend Clay for breakfast. We haven't seen each other in quite a while, so it was nice to catch up. Clay speaks fluent German and is working for the German government in Berlin over the summer, so it was nice to explore parts of the city with a German speaker. It made me feel slightly less like an American tourist...slightly. We were (of course) late meeting my friends at Checkpoint Charlie, so we did our own tourist thing and randomly met up with them later.
A marker and bricks lining what was once the path of the Berlin Wall:
A particularly colourful piece of the wall and me:
Clay took me to this beautiful new outdoor Sony entertainment centre. It's like an outdoor mall with restaurants, movies and shops, but with a stunning fan-like shade in the centre. We never saw it at night, but it's supposed to change colours.
After walking around Berlin and enjoying the absolutely stunning day, we went to the Holocaust Museum, or with it's proper German title: Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is a massive and intriguing monument with massive steel columns that seem to lunge out of their cement grid, with no recognizable relation to height. They seem jut and repent independently, and juxtaposed with the grid of cement bricks beneath our feet, I perceive it as an endearing metaphor for survival and individuality. Clay mentioned that it's somewhat controversial because the artist never supplied an explanation for the meaning behind the piece.
Beneath the rows of columns is a modern and emotional museum to the Jewish victims of the genocide.
Just to give you an idea of how large some of these columns are, here is Clay and Shannon (who we met up with after a traumatic incident involving a subway bathroom...the sandwich shop, not the form of transportation):
Overall, we had an amazing trip to Berlin. We got a taste of the local flavour and plenty of history, which Berlin has plenty. It's an impressive city (on multiple fronts) with young and humble people.
In work news, I did accept my promotion/job position thing and spent much of the work doing research, co-facilitating focus groups, and writing proposals for a teen-oriented new multimedia platform/website for Channel 4 Education.
There are plenty of other things to write about, especially since I've learned SO much as of late. But alas, I have to pack for my trip to Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend. I hope you all are well and keep reading true believers!
Songs of the moment:
"Windowsill," Arcade Fire
The chocolate is better here.
