Day 29

Monday was my last full day in the city of Berlin and I cannot truly believe my time here has gone by so quickly.  Aaliyah and I started off the day early, despite having gotten in late from Austria so we could do all that we wanted on our last day in the city.  We first went on to our grocery to recycle and return my numerous bottles.  Then, we went on a souvenir search.  Souvenirs are very skim in Berlin, and for me being picky about stuff it is not a good match.  Luckily, I was able to find a few little things mainly just for my family.  We also, headed to KaDaWe one last time too; that store is simply amazing and one could really spend days looking in there.  After doing this we then needed to head to our last day of class.  We were finally able to view the Soviet Memorial- that the Soviets had built for themselves. 

Afterwards, a group of us went up to the Berlin TV Tower to get great views of the city one last time.  It was nice being able to see all the places that I had seen over the month one last time.

That evening I sadly had to pack up all of my stuff to come home, and hopefully it will be within the weight requirements.  It honestly feels like just yesterday I was boarding the flight in Dallas when I did not a soul really on this trip.  I am so glad that experience has been so positive and that I have gotten the chance to become friends with some amazing people this past month.  I will now be travelling in the air for the good portion of the day making our way from Berlin to Paris, Paris to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Dallas.  I will then be driving home the next day with my family.

I am ending this post with a poem that I feel is appropriate to the people on this trip and especially to Europe itself:

Goodbyes are not forever.

Goodbyes are not the end.

They simply mean I'll miss you

Until we meet again!

~Author Unknown

Days 26, 27, & 28

Friday began our weekend and had an early start by getting to our train at 4am.  Aaliyah, Sarah, and I travelled to Salzburg, Austria.  After our 8-hour train ride from Berlin we went to check-in to our hotel and purchase our Salzburg Cards.  Next, we headed over to Mozart’s Birthplace, which was really interesting learning about his childhood and his family. 

Then, we walked around Mirabell Gardens, which was beautiful.

Afterwards, we headed to the Museum of Modern Art.  To get there we took a lift inside a mountain, because the museum is actually on top of a huge cliff.  While on top we were able to see the panoramic views of the city, which were amazing. 

Later we walked around the city and saw several churches, all of which were stunning.  Then, for the evening we reserved seats for the Sounds of Austria Dinner Show.  This show had all the highlights from Mozart and the Sound of Music.  I found it very entertaining and slightly funny by all the costume changes during the three hours. 

Afterwards, we walked around the city before we went back to our hotel to get some much needed sleep from our long train ride and having not gotten hardly any sleep the night before.

Saturday the three of us had an early start to the day and went straight to see the Hohensalzburg Fortress, Fortres Museum, and the World of Marionettes.  The World of Marionettes was fun because of the hands on interactions there.  Also, on top of the fortress there was an observation deck, which provided more stunning views of the wonderful town of Salzburg.  The three of us enjoyed this a lot and we were happy to take the cable railway up and down the top of the mountain where the castle was located.

Afterwards, we went to Mozart’s Residence, where I learned even more about Mozart.  Then, we took a Salzach Cruise, which provided more amazing views this time waterfront- to Hellbrunn Palace and Trick Fountains.  The grounds were beautiful of course; however, there was a drawback to the trick fountains of getting soaked.  After, seeing the fountains and gardens we saw the Folklore Museum.  Next, we found the gazebo where the song “I am 16 Going on 17” was filmed for the Sound of Music.  After seeing this we went on to see the inside of Hellbrunn Palace. 

After doing all of Hellbrunn we went back into the city where we shopped around and got nice dinner.  After, having yet another long day we headed back to our hotel and planned out our Sunday adventures.

Sunday, started off a little rocky by us having some complications from our hotel (all of which were on their behalf), so we ended up getting a nice free breakfast.  Afterwards, we headed out to the Untersberg Cable-Car.  That was absolutely amazing!  The hills were definitely alive with the sound of music on to of the 1853-meter mountaintop.

Then we came back in to the city from some last minute looking around before we were to leave the breathtaking city.  Sadly our beautiful weekend came to an end and we took our train back to Berlin to finish up our one remaining day of class.  I honestly cannot believe that there is only one day remaining, it feels like just yesterday I arrived in Germany.

Day 25

Thursday, the class divided up with the history students staying in Berlin and the architecture students travelling to Dresden.  I decided to travel with the architecture students to Dresden for a day full of beautiful buildings, churches, and the German Military Museum.  The day started off by catching an early train out of Berlin.  Upon first arriving the first building we saw was the UFA Cinema Center, which was done by Coop Himmelbau.  This theater had such an interesting appearance, definitely unlike any theater I’ve ever been to.

Next, we headed to the German Military Museum.  This Museum had some very interesting exhibits and a unique outer appearance.  It was done by Libeskind, which I could very well distinguish from having seen the Jewish Museum in Berlin.  I was disappointed though when we discovered that the catwalk to see the city of Dresden from the museum was closed for no apparent reason.

Later, after a train complication and lots of walking we viewed the New Synagogue.  Unfortunately we were too early to go in so we were only able to see the exterior of the building.

Then, we saw the Frauenkirche Dresden.  I found this church absolutely gorgeous, and hard to believe that it was only recently remolded (having been bombed during the war).  I found the architecture to be very fitting to redo the church as to what it would have looked like if Dresden had not been bombed.

Next we saw the exterior of the Opera House, which was completed by G. Semper.  This building was huge from the outside and beautifully done in my opinion. 

Later, we viewed several other buildings along the Elbe River.  

Afterwards, the class decided to enjoy a long and leisurely dinner, which was nowhere near the train station.  Then, with around 15 minutes left to catch our train we left to find the station.  However, we did not make it in time for our train to Berlin; instead, we had to wait for over an hour at the Dresden Station.  Eventually we made it back to Berlin late in the evening.  Upon getting back I still had to pack for my weekend trip to Salzburg, so I ended up only getting less than 2 hours of sleep for the night.  Overall, I am very glad that I went to Dresden, it was a great day- just a rough ending that could have been avoided. 

Day 23 & 24

This past Tuesday and Wednesday seem to have just flown by!  Tuesday started off by going to the Dutch Embassy.  I enjoyed the tour and I found the building's design by Koolhaas very interesting and modern.  I liked his concept of everything in the Embassy being transparent portrayed through his architecture. 

Later in the afternoon, we had a walking tour of the socialist housing along Karl-Marx-Allee.  I found all the architecture for those apartment buildings very simple and slightly boring.

We then headed over to Treptower Park where we walked around the park and had a history lecture from Dr. Stuckey concerning German history leading up to the Cold War.  While there we all were able to see the giant Soviet memorial, which is of a Soviet soldier with a young child on his back all while crushing a giant swastika.

After this park we were all dismissed for the day, so Aaliyah, Sarah and I headed over to the train station to find out all of our information about our weekend trip to Salzburg, Austria.  Later that evening, a group of us enjoyed just being able to hang out with one another.

Wednesday was a very wet and cool day.  I am really getting tired of Europe’s crazy weather; I believe it is making my cold far worse than I ever wanted.  Wednesday we went first to go look at a Zaha Hadid building.  She is the world’s most famous female architect, so it was nice being able to see a woman’s style of architecture. 

Afterwards, we headed over to the Check-Point Charlie Area. There we all went to see the Mauer Museum, which is in a way the official museum of the area.  I found the museum very informative, but far too packed and cramped, just like the whole Check-Point area.

After finishing around Check-Point Charlie we headed to the Berlin Wall Memorial & Documentation Center.  While there we were able to see the Visitor’s Center and the Chapel of Reconciliation.  I thought it was a very well preserved area and I enjoyed being able to see the park there. 

Then, we finished for the day and my group headed back to the apartments to research what exactly we would be doing in Salzburg for the weekend.  We knew we needed to do this Wednesday night instead of Thursday, since we will be getting back from Dresden late tomorrow night.  I’m looking forward to going to Dresden tomorrow with all the architecture students and I really hope our weather cooperates with us while we are there.