Berlin

We arrived in Berlin Tuesday morning. Our bus came in near the Radio Tower. We took the subway to the center and went to the hostel. Jess spent six weeks here (two summers ago) on a study abroad program, so she knows the city really well and understands the language (I’m in “smile and nod” mode). We dumped our stuff at the craziest-decorated hostel I’ve ever seen. It’s called “Heart of Gold,” which refers to the spaceship in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Our room has diagonal orange and red strips and questions written all over the walls. The hostel has a great location and they don’t mind microwaving things (like rice for breakfast) for us.

Anyway, we walked to Alexanderplatz where we saw the TV tower. Inside the plaza, there was an exhibit set up about the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down and reunification. Panels explained the events leading up to 1989 and the early 1990s. It was entirely outdoors and free, so everyone could enjoy it and learn about it. Glass cases held objects from refuges of the time. One of these objects was a stuff animal I used to own (I called it Puffy). It was unnerving to see the same toy I had played with for most of my life sitting there in a glass case.

Also in Alexanderplatz we saw a huge clock which tells the time all over the world. It’s round and the hour moves around the various time zones. Leaving the plaza, we walked down Unter den Linden, a wide boulevard where many museums, memorials and university buildings are located. The burned books memorial is currently underneath Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. (I was not happy about this.) We passed the US Embassy, which is recently redone and right outside the Brandenburg Gate. The building is pretty ugly and doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the street. It does, however, have a great location, and overlooks the Tiergarten which is across the street).

Suddenly we were inside The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It’s a series of stelae (big rocks) which are arranged in a grid, but their number and measurements don’t have any meaning. The stones are also graffiti-proof. They were actually treated with chemicals produced by a company which produced chemicals used to kill Jews during the Holocaust. No one realized this until after the memorial was created. The designer was okay with this because it was like history coming full-circle and gaining closure. The stones are huge and it’s difficult to walk around without walking into people. Underneath the memorial there is an indoor museum space. The space housed a timeline of the Holocaust as well as rooms housing quotes from survivors and information about families. At the end there is a computer and a series of photos. You can look up the location of Holocaust memorials around the world.

We also walked to Potsdamerplatz where the world’s first traffic light was installed. The wall used to run right through the square and today there is a memorial set up here. The city is working on turning this neighborhood into a financial center. The Sony Center is here, along with many high-end hotels and restaurants. The Sony Center is actually an outdoor/indoor building. It’s covered, but the entrances are wide open and the buildings around the courtyard are full buildings with their own entrances. There is free wifi in the courtyard because they want to encourage people to use the space. There is also a fountain that can be covered with a stage. It’s in the center of a space and, therefore, people cannot walk up to it and touch actors or famous people on stage. This is also the place where movie premiere are held.

Walking toward the Reichstag, we passed through a bit of the Tiergarten, Berlin’s main central park. It was a forest before the war, and totally destroyed during WWII. In reconstructing Germany, the Allies donated trees to be planted here. It’s the only place in Europe where you can find Canadian maple. We didn’t go inside the park, but walked around it. At the Reichstag we went in and took the elevator up to the glass dome which was built in 1997. The original dome was destroyed in a fire one month after Hitler took power. This dome is awesome because you can go to the roof (it’s base) and walk around the inside. Then, there are ramps leading up to the very top. These ramps spiral around the dome. Everything is glass and the views of the city are pretty spectacular, especially because the whole thing is free. Jess has been inside the building and the main chamber (where the equivalent of the Senate meets) is right below the dome. Mirrors and windows allow light to enter, but the public can’t see down into that space.

Finally, we went to some Germany health-food stores and did some grocery shopping. There is so much food here that I can eat. It’s really quite amazing. There are three health-food stores with gluten free sections within five minutes of our hostel. I’ve found pretzels, American marshmallows, soymilk, rice, rice cakes, gluten-free beer, tons of cookies/crackers/cake mixes and other foods. The prices are reasonable and I’m able to eat really well. I can’t read the ingredients of most foods at the grocery store, but Jess can! So far, I’ve tried red cabbage and apple (frozen, prepared in our microwave here) and egg salad with mushrooms in it. She won’t let me buy the sweet-and-sour sauce because she can’t be sure there isn’t wheat or something hidden in it.