Phew, it's been a busy few weeks! I finished exams, including a near-panic attack regarding one (I may address this later, depending on how it works out), did a bit of celebrating, and a lot of sleeping. Then I went on a school trip to Berlin and Potsdam. They chartered a bus for us, and rented out rooms in the
Hotel Aletto Hostel.
Day 1
The first night we had a buffet dinner at
Berliner Republic, home of the famous
drink stock exchange. After that we ended up at some terrible bar called Que Pasa, a Mexican restaurant/bar where they made terrible margaritas and stopped the salsa music once people started dancing. That's what we get for going on a Sunday, I suppose.
Day 2
The next day, we started with a bus tour. It was interesting hearing what information was repeated from my
earlier walking tour and what information was new. The best part was the stop at the East Side Gallery, the long stretch of murals on the old sections of the Berlin wall. I had seen smaller parts of the wall painted near Checkpoint Charlie last trip, but this long stretch had a different feel. Some murals were merely aesthetic, while others had a greater political message. I also had not seen much of the Tiergarden, the former hunting grounds of the royalty, and the bus drove through sections of it. Pics:
We then took separate museum visits. Most people went to the Pergammon, which I had already visited, so I went to the
Berlinische Gallerie with a much smaller group. Their current exhibit dealt with photography in the GDR and how artists used the up and coming art form to express life in that time without angering the administration. It was pretty dark, given the subject matter, but the upstairs wasn't as depressing...
Something abstract about the diary of life in East Berlin
The modern man or something
The outside of the museum
We ten went to the checkpoint Charlie museum. It was packed but full of interesting information about the wall, various escape attempts, and biographies of people on both sides. We weren't supposed to take pictures but I snagged a few. I would recommend this one, but if there's a time where fewer tourists are there, it would be optimal. I'm not sure if that's possible, given Berlin's popularity.
Selected passports checked at Checkpoint Charlie, and some famous visitors to the checkpoint
One of the escape methods, a flying chair apparatus
The fake sign, the real one was destroyed or stolen
For dinner, our museum group almost ended up back at the art-deco restaurant we enjoyed last trip, but went next door instead. It was also themed, I believe attached to the other restaurant, and had movie lights and pictures all over the restaurant. I, as well as the two Americans I was with, ordered a burger. It was delicious but I felt like explaining to everyone around us that we had been in Germany for a while and had eaten plenty of German food, this was an exception! The resto:
And a random picture of a bit of American culture in Berlin (this was in a high end clothing store):
Day 3
We started the third day at the Deutscher Dom, the German cathedral that Frederich the Great commissioned. It now houses a whole exhibit on the evolution of democracy in Germany. We divided into two groups and each saw different parts of the exhibit. I enjoyed what we did see, and like most of the museums on this trip, I would have preferred to spend more time there on my own.
We ate lunch at some random asian food place near the Holocaust memorial, then headed to the House of the Wansee Conference. This was where Hitler's officials coordinated the final solution during WWII. It is now an exhibit on the treatment of Jews throughout Germany's history but particularly during that time, the popular opinions during that time, and how the events are viewed today. It was a very emotional exhibit, and a bit out of the way for most Berlin visits.
Our night was consumed by the Berlin Hofbrauhaus, a very touristy but fun place to eat. If one is going to be a tourist, one might as well act like one every now and then :)
The store in the restaurant had all these great dirdls. This one, with rhinestone lions, was 600E
Day 4
Another day, another two museums. Today we started with the German Historical Museum, which had exhibits from ancient times to the fall of the wall. Our guided tour was through the cold war period then we had time to explore on our own. It was very interesting but my museum exhaustion started to kick in at this point and I only strolled through the rest of the exhibit without reading much. This museum might be better split into two days or something like that.
We then had a guided tour through the secret GDR prison. It was a holding cell before trial, then prisoners would get shipped to work camps or something similar. It was interesting hearing how their interrogation methods changed from physical torture to more psychological methods. The tour guides are frequently (or were) former prisoners, but our guide was unfortunately not. He had an interesting perspective, though, being a West Berliner married to an East Berliner. He made a few comparisons on the tour between his experience and hers during the cold war.
Day 5
On the last day, we started at the Reichstag, the building of the German Parliament. We were supposed to have a member of Parliament come and talk to us but he was sick and his assistant gave the talk instead. She answered, honestly, all of our questions about how the German government worked and German ways of doing things. Then we got to go up in the glass dome atop the building. It was a rainy day but still a pretty cool view. On the way down, I got lost with a friend, so I got to see a little more of the Reichstag than the normal tour :)
We then went to Sanssouci, the getaway of Frederich the Great. It was in a rococo style, which looks like the Baroque Versailles house, but our guide told us to not confuse the two. Versailles was an extension of the palace, with all of the rules and ceremonies, while Sanssouci was a retreat from all the formalities. Frederich, a notorious woman-hater, made the hallways and doorways much too small for women with their typically-large skirts to come visit, one indication that it did not follow palace procedure. I think Frederich is a fascinating character, very much affected by his father's dislike of him. While he contributed greatly to the arts, he was also a ruthless military figure and is still hated today for his policies in smaller countries.
We also took a bus tour of Potsdam but it was raining (surprise!) and dark so we didn't see much. Our guide pointed out the house where the Potsdam conference was held, as well as some Soviet/GDR buildings but my pictures are not great.
This concluded the Berlin trip, part two! I think I have seen every museum in Berlin now, so I will not regret if I don't make it back in the future.
