Day 11

Today, we had a fairly early morning start to go on our walkabouts.  Our first stop was the Christian Democratic Union.  While we were there we were offered a quick impromptu tour of the building.  I really like their design for their office, with having their building inside of a building design.

We then headed over the Bauhaus Archives and Museum.  I did not know anything about this museum at the beginning of the day; however, all the architecture students were so excited to be spending a few hours there.  I learned a lot there and was very pleased with the amount of exhibits this museum had for architects that were Bauhaus student's work inside of which.  Afterwards, we made our way down to the Nordic Embassies.  We had a tour of this complex containing five embassies: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland.  Within our tour we were only allowed to go inside of the Norway and Finland Embassies.  I thought the design for the entire complex was very remarkable and simply modern.  However, I found the tour of the C.D.U. Building nicer than of this complex.

After our guided tour we waited to have lunch at their embassy café, which was in fact pretty good.  Then the group proceeded to head towards more memorials and museums and along the way we stopped to view several Embassy’s architecture.  We stopped briefly inside at the NRW's Office. I thought this building was done very similarly to the C.D.U. with the building inside of a building technique.  

When we arrived at the Bundeswehr Memorial we were disappointed to discover that it had been closed for the day without any type of notice.  But, we quickly made our way to the Memorial to the German Resistance and Museum.  I found this outdoor Memorial extremely eerie.  (The movie Valkyrie was actually filmed on location- where the resistance leaders were killed after their unsuccessful coup.)

This museum and memorial I found to be well done, but like all things of this nature very sad and making one leave feeling a deep sense of gloom.  Subsequently, class ended for the day and everyone went on their own way.  I along with Aaliyah and Sarah headed back to the apartments to do laundry and plan more for our upcoming trips to Amsterdam and Salzburg.  After spending a good while doing this we made dinner and called it a night.  I am looking forward to our uneventful free day tomorrow, where I hope to accomplish a good deal of little things on my list and to pack for upcoming excursion around Germany.

Day 10

Today was another fascinating day in Berlin.  The day started off by Dr. Stuckey giving a lecture on the events in German history leading up to WWII.   We then proceeded to discover the landmark plaques around our apartments, which told us that Hitler’s bunker was in fact under our apartments.  

We also, discovered that the giant face near our apartments is actually a memorial to Johann Georg Elser. 

We then headed down the street to see an old Nazi building. 

Next, we went to explore the Topographies of Terror.  This museum and exhibit was built on the site of the previous S.S. Headquarters.  It was such a sad outdoor exhibit leading up to the museum and it was built around the remains of the basement to their Headquarters.

This exhibit was extremely saddening.  It went into full details and had photographs to go along with all the aspects of the War.  I found it particularly interesting with the sections regarding Col. Stauffenberg’s plot to kill Hitler. 

After our lunch break, our class then went on to the Jewish Museum.  This museum just added to the level of gloom that I had gotten today.  The architecture on this building is definitely one of a kind; I personally find it very strange.  Inside of the museum there were no straight planes, which added to its weird factor for me. 

The museum itself was very interesting regarding all aspects of the Jewish culture.  While inside the class walked on the faces, symbolizing all the lost Jewish people from the War.  I found this aspect very sad and painful.

After completing the museum I along with Sarah and Aaliyah went pack to the apartments to research places to travel to on our days off.

This evening we also went up to the Reichstag, where we got amazing views of the city.  I really liked the architectural style of the dome.

Afterwards Sarah, Aaliayh, Victoria, and I went to view the soccer “football” game around Brandenburg Gate.  We were all happy that Germany won, again. 

Later we all went to the pub with our fellow classmates and had a good ending to a nice day.

Day 9

Today, was yet another perfect day while in Berlin.  We started off the day by seeing Schinkel’s New Guard House, which is the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny.  Next, we walked across the street to the German History Museum where I spent the rest of my morning and early afternoon in.  I found it interesting that the architect of this museum is I. M. Pei, the same man who designed the Louvre in Paris.  I found both museums to be very similar in styles using the glass and the white cement on the insides. 

Inside the Museum I spent the majority of my time viewing the following exhibits: Friedrich the Great, Focus DDR, Fashioning Fashion in Detail 1700-1915, and the War War II.  I found the museum to be very well done and full of materials where anyone could spend hours at a time viewing.

After eating lunch I joined the architecture students for the afternoon to explore Berlin.  We started off by seeing the Humboldt Box.  I find it crazy that this is just a temporary exhibit seeing that the building’s interior was so well done.  This exhibit is simply to inform the public on the future of the Berlin Palace-Humboldt Forum construction project, which will actually be beginning this month.  I really liked the views from the decks on the fifth floor of the Box. 

Next, we headed out to the former East side where we saw the Transformer Sub-Station and the Hausburgviertel Gym.  I found the gym very interesting when a basketball coach gave us a brief history of the area it is in and built on.  It was a former slaughterhouse and there is still a landmark in preservation for it.  

Afterwards, we walked up to the Velodrome and the Natatorium both of which were designed by D. Perrault.  I found it very interesting how they were both sunk into the ground, which is extremely rare for anything of that magnitude.

After that, we made our way to see the Zionskirche Berlin Church that has not been fully restored on the insides.  (This building was also designed by Schinkel, for someone who is not an architecture major I feel like I have seen a lot of his works thus far.)

Then, we made our way to view the Elisabethkirche, which is now used for people to come paint on the insides of it.  I found it very strange that they are now doing this inside of such a pretty church. 

Lastly, the remaining group saw a very neat memorial in Invalidenpark for the fallen wall, which is why it is designed as a descending wall. 

To finish a great day, I was so pleased to find our apartment’s Internet to be completely fixed now!!  So, that now means, I will have access to wireless Internet in my apartment for the duration of the trip! 

Day 8

Today, Monday the 11^th, we started off the day by getting a history lecture leading us up to the Industrial Revolution and the Wilhelmian Era.  Also, he explained to us that the Berlin Dome was originally supposed to be the equivalence to the Vatican for Protestants. 

I found the inside of the church very, very beautiful.  I was so happy that we were able to climb our way to the top of the dome, because there they had incredible views of the city.

After making our way down to from the Church’s Dome we broke for lunch, where Aaliyah and I went to go get Panini’s and authentic German desserts (which were amazing)!  Afterwards we started off Museum Island by first going to the Pergammon Museum, which I enjoyed mainly because of how many Greek and Roman artifacts they had on display.  I really found it amazing that they had transported a whole ancient Greek temple to the Museum.

We then headed to the Neues Museum where they had an extremely large emphasis on Egyptian artifacts.  There I learned all about how they embalmed their livers, lungs, kidneys, and heart.   Also, while there a one of the tour guides/security team came up to Aaliyah and me to telling us the story of the people of Nalta.  I wish that they had the mummies on display, but they were being renovated, which disappointed me.

Lastly, some of the group then headed over to the Altes Museum.  There they had a large collection of sculptures and pottery.  I enjoyed getting to see more Greek art and such. 

Our group ended up leaving the Museum right before they were to close.  When I came back to the apartments I was very pleased to gain an Apple computer Internet stick for our room; however, the stick still does not work well and takes ample amount of time to load anything and everything.  Like I have said multiple times over the week, hopefully our Internet problems will work themselves out sooner than later.

Day 7

Sunday the 10^th, I tagged along with the architecture students in exploring various architecture centers.  First we went to see a Zaha Hadid; however, it was closed for the day.  Then we strolled by a few famous buildings of which I had never heard of but I found them to be remarkably done.  Next, we ventured to DAZ- German Architecture Center, which was not currently having a true architecture exhibit but however an exhibit on teaching children how to skateboard. Afterwards, we traveled to the East Side Gallery, which is where there is a 2-mile stretch of original standing.  I found this area very surreal to help me imagine what the city looked like with the wall standing.  

Then we traveled to another architectural center, which had what I found to be amazing.  There they had architectural models and huge city sketches that I found simply incredibly done.  That night for dinner I joined a group of to eat Chinese near the apartments.  Later that evening my roommates, Emily, and I discovered how to work our apartment’s washing machine, which took 3 hours per load to wash. 

Day 6

 Today, Saturday the 9^th, was my first complete free day from the class studies.  I took it pretty easy today and tried to enjoy various parts of Berlin with my two roommates (Victoria and, Sarah) and Aaliyah.  We wondered through Berlin Technical University and voyaged on the U-Bahn for a good while.  Eventually we found a delicious lunch and then continued to explore.  We then found our way at Victoria Park, which was amazing!  There we found the park’s huge rocky waterfall right in the middle of the city of Berlin.  After climbing up to the top of the waterfall we all got to enjoy great views of the city from atop.  Afterwards, we made our way back to the apartments where Aaliyah and I proceeded to look up weekend trips for our 2 free weekends we have at the end of the month.  Our group then took the short walk over to Brandenburg Gate where we watched the end Germany vs. Portugal for the Euro Cup, needless to say Germany won!!  Watching the game there was intense, it was like the Super Bowl mixed with one endless party on Bourbon Street.  I really enjoyed taking part in watching Deutschland win their first game in the Cup and I cannot wait to go watch Germany’s second game Wednesday night.  

 

Berlin Days 1-5

“A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” 

-Moslih Eddin Saadi

Over the past 5 days I have had many observations during my travel time in Berlin. It all started with the 8-hour flight from Dallas to Amsterdam where the group then took a quick flight to Berlin.  Immediately upon arrival we bused over to Brandenburg Gate where we waited for our apartments to be ready for the group. The apartments are very nice and spacious for me and my 2 roommates; however, we still do not have wireless internet and only 1 of us 3 girls in my room have internet access on their computer by an internet stick which is not compatible with Apple computers.  Hopefully the wireless will be fixed soon! 

During the past 5 days I have been able to so many new sights such as the: Brandenburg Gate, multiple pieces of the Berlin Wall, the television needle, many churches, and the Victory Column just to name a few.  Even though I am not an architecture student I have really enjoyed getting to view so many styles of architecture throughout the city.  I found the inside of the DZ Bank really interesting because I had already seen one of Frank Gehry’s previous works in Seattle.  I really like the old style of the architectures to the Dome and on Museum Island.  On Wednesday while touring St. Mary’s Church I was so surprised to look up to find Dr. Joni Noble from the British Studies Program there too, with a class of hers.  It was so neat to have run into someone that I already know in Berlin.  Later that evening we received access to one of my roommate’s computer, Victoria’s, because she doesn’t have an Apple.

Thursday, we started off the day by going on a tour for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  I thought the tour was well done and their museum was sadly amazing.  The Museum reminded me of being at the American National Cemetery in France by reading all the heartbreaking letters from members of the Jewish communities across Europe that were mainly sent to loved ones as they were headed to an extermination camp.  I can only imagine how depressing Dachau’s concentration camp will be, later in the month.  Later in the day we viewed the House of the Cultures of the World, which I found the architecture to be really ahead of its time form the 1950s.  During lunch, I was finally able to Skype to both of my parents.  Next, we walked onward to the Victory Column, which built to commemorate Prussia gaining their independence from France.  I really found its style to be similar to the Key to the Bastille Monument in Paris.  After seeing the Column I went along with the architecture students to see a famous Turbine Assemble Factory. Then we stumbled into this amazing car warehouse full of Lamborghini's, Jaguars, Aston Martins, and so many more. 

Today, Friday, we had an early start by taking the train over to Potsdam.  We started off by going to the Einsteinturm, which I found to have a very unique look.  Then we headed on over to the city of Potsdam and toured two stunning churches St. Nikolaikirche and St. Peter and Paul both of which were amazing.  St. Nikolikirche is a protestant church while St. Peter and Paul is a catholic church.  Right after viewing St. Peter and Paul we stumbled in to an open market full of vendors and food trucks.  Two of my friends and I found a very tasty lunch there, which included for me a German sausage dog and a strawberry shortcake.  From there we strolled through the city and met up with the rest of our class to go tour Sans Souci.  Sans Souci is where members of the Prussia’s Royal Family lived in the 1800s.  The gardens for the palaces were so remarkable.  I found it obvious that the palaces were modeled after Versailles outside of Paris; however, all of the palaces were on a much smaller scale.  I enjoyed being able to tour Sans Souci, but I found the tour far too short and that it lacked so many aspects of a typical palace.  Afterwards Aaliyah, Sarah, and I walked through the entire city back to the trains to go back towards Berlin.  We stopped in a very cool and hip part of the town and walked for a good bit and eventually had a delicious dinner before heading back to our area of the city.  Finally we returned to our apartments to catch one of the World Cup games, which started today.

Hopefully, my blog will be updated on a more daily basis in the future; however, I cannot guarantee anything seeing that there is still no wireless for our apartments.  I will leave you with four pictures so far of the Brandenburg Gate, the Dome, the Victory Column, and Sans Souci Palace.