Belated Berlin Post

So... I typed this up in the airport while waiting on our flight to Rome, but we've been so busy in Rome that I haven't had a chance to post it!!  Also, I apologize, but there aren't many people in these pictures.. I got carried away with the sights!!

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I’m sitting here in the Berlin Tegel Airport, and we’re five hours early for our flight (yeah, that’s right) to Rome, so I decided this would be a good time to catch you up on our recent class trip to Berlin.

This past week has been full of projects, essays, and finals, but the previous week was one of my favorites yet! We took a three day trip to Berlin. This might sound crazy, but since we had been traveling to places like Paris and Prague, and it seems like we had stepped foot in so many small German towns, I wasn’t that excited to go to Berlin.    …I was completely proven wrong! Though the architecture is not comparable to cities like Rome or Paris, the history makes up for it. And most of Berlin’s interesting and relevant history has occurred within the last hundred years! Since the city was basically demolished during WWII, it doesn’t look like a typical European city- ancient and elaborate. There are cranes and construction sites everywhere, and so many of the buildings are modern since they are having to rebuild the city. Right how they were in the process of rebuilding the palace, which is a 80 million Euro (over $1 billion) project. Also, Berlinians love Americans because of our aid in the past wars. They still have a holiday in remembrance of the Americans dropping candy down from their planes for the children during the Cold War.

We began the trip with a walking day tour of the city. Our tour guide was AWESOME! He was a young Irish guy who spoke impeccable English, and he had been getting his masters in History and Politics, and he said- what a better place to study those subjects than Berlin! We walked around the city to the major places beginning with the Berlin cathedral. This cathedral is undoubtedly beautiful, but it has been considered a Protestant version of St. Peter’s Basilica… I’m not sure if that can compete. 

On the other side of the green field on the side of the cathedral was the Altes Museum which was used a backdrop for Nazi rallies by Hitler during WWII. Here is a comparison between then and now. We were standing right there.

After that we passed by Humboldt University- a place that educated Einstein, Karl Marx, and Max Planck (who discovered Planck’s constant!). In their front courtyard is a book sale that occurs every single day of the year. This isn’t just any ole book sale, but it is a commemorative book sale, because directly across from this courtyard is where the Nazis would have their famous book burning ceremony in 1933, when they burned 20,000 books. It’s kind of like a “we sell books every day where you used to burn them, HA HA!” type of book sale. The English book selection was rather small, unfortunately. Directly across form the book sale and university, at a square called the Bebelplatz, is a memorial to the book burning in the ground. It is a clear glass tile, and underneath are empty bookshelves that could hold 20,000 books. 

After a few more stops, we stopped at a bakery for a snack. I think this is a good time to reveal to you Jack’s “shokolade” obsession. In Germany, chocolate is spelled “shokolade,” but is pronounced “shock-oh-lod-eh.” Jack has recently been obsessed with pronouncing it “shoke-oh-layd” and has even created songs about it. Typically when using the word, he is referring to a chocolate cake or muffin- and he eats each of these at least once a day. Here’s the progression of Jack’s typical Shokolade consumption.

Next, on the way to the Berlin Wall, we stopped by Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing point of the Berlin Wall between East and West Germany during the Cold War. The cool thing is there is a large picture of an American soldier, as this was the in American Sector Today, there is a replica of the sign that states “you are now entering the American Sector, and actors who dress up as American soldiers. There is also a replica of the guard house where they stamp your passport (but apparently that invalidates it, so we didn’t do that). 

Close to there is the Berlin Wall exhibit area. Right on the other side of the Berlin wall was previously West Germany, the sectioned off, Socialist, “free” side. Most of the Nazi buildings from the era before the Cold war in this area had been blown up, but there is one large complex that was a West-Germany government office that holds the current Holocaust Museum called “Topogrophie of Terrors.” We went there the next day. 

an attempt at taking a picture of my feet on either side of the wall. 

Next, we went to a parking lot. Why, you ask. Well 11 meters under this normal, unsuspecting parking lot lies Hitler’s Bunker, where he had an office, hid from threats, and eventually where he shot himself. Everyone in Germany hated him so much that they tried to blow it up, but since it was bomb-proof, that was unsuccessful. Instead, they blocked it off with concrete and covered it with the parking lot. So the place where Hitler died was right underneath our feet, still in original condition. That night, the boys felt the need to go back and poop on Hitler’s grave “for America.” And they did.

I'm standing over where Hitler killed himself!

The next stop was the Holocaust Memorial. As you can see from the pictures, it was basically a ton of concrete boxes. The top dimensions are all the same, so from above, all of them look the same. They are all different heights. There are different interpretations about the meaning of this memorial, but some say it symbolizes how we all look different, but when looking from above, we are all the same. Others say it is meant to show the closeness of the concentration camp victims, since only one person can fit between these stones. 

Last on the tour was the Brandenburg gate, which is one of the most famous places of Berlin. It is the grand entry into the Unter den Linden, a boulevard that used to lead to the city palace of Prussian kings, but now is just a street. And Hitler pic. On the other side of the gate was a huge flat screen that would play the Germany vs. USA World Cup game that night. When the tour was over, we ran over to the big screen. It was one of the coolest experiences ever- being in Berlin, the capital of Germany, when they play against the US. There were TONS of people all decked out in Germany attire… and lots of bratwurst and beer.

You can see the big screen behind the gate!

The Brandenburg Gate during Nazi Era

 So many people!

The next day, we began our day visiting the Pergamon Museum. Just to give you the highlights, we saw the Ishtar Gate, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Alexander the Great walked under this gate…. Wow. Also, we saw the frieze that surrounded the altar of Zeus in Pergamon (Pergamum) that was contructed in 2^nd Century BC!!! This frieze was referenced by John in Revelation as the place where Satan has his throne (Revelation 2:13) because scholars connect this verse to the snakes at the top of the hill at Pergamum, which is what John was talking about. We SAW the snakes John was referencing. Probably one of the coolest experiences I have had.

Next, we were free to go on our own. We stopped by an Egyptian Museum and stumbled upon the some original ____ of the Bible from the 3^rd century!!!!

We went back to the Berlin Wall and visited the Topographie of Terrors.

Below the Berlin Wall lies the Nazi prison cells, where they would torture enemies of the State. Some of the cells were brick, and some tile. This was a tile-walled cell. These were used for easy clean-up... the worst torture occurred in these.

Interesting contrast, with the Berlin Wall directly over WWII era German history

In the Topographie of Terrors, I found disturbing photographs. Here are some brainwashed children.

What a man.

Even more disturbing, these are prison guards of Auschwitz having a weekend retreat a few miles out from the camp.

On an unrelated note, that night we went to a Mexican restaurant…  a MEXICAN restaurant. And it was GOOD. And ACU paid.

The next day, we went to the Deutsches Historisches (German History) Museum. The second floor was German history from 100 AD to 1918. The first floor was 1918 to Present day. I’ll bet you can guess that my favorite floor was the first, the WWII floor. There were so many artifacts and interesting parts of the exhibit, including Kaiser Willhelm’s uniform, Nazi uniforms, and used Concentration camp uniforms. Keep in mind, Germany is still upset about the Nazi Regime, so you NEVER see swastikas or anything related to Hitler. The only place I have ever seen them was in this museum. And they still had original propaganda.

Well, that’s it for Berlin, but our flight for Rome leaves in 2 hours, so I’m sure I’ll have much to tell about our adventures there! I’ll try to update more frequently this week.

 (Yeah, that’s a joke.)

Macaroons and Magical Evenings

Bonjour everyone! It's been awhile... we've been so busy. But I think it's about time for you to hear about our magical time in Paris, the city of lights.

On Thursday (June 19th), we began our trek to Paris by bus and plane. We rode a bus from Leipzig to Berlin then boarded our flight at 12:50pm. The beginning of this trip was very different from our experience in Salzburg because we had minimal walking to our hotel. We quickly took advantage of the metro system in Paris, and we all agreed that it is very efficient! Luckily, our little hotel was a few steps from Metro stop “Oberkampf.” That afternoon we oriented ourselves with the surrounding neighborhood (in Arrondissement 3, which is a district of Paris) and found some cute cafes and stores. Unfortunately, we barely spent any of our time in Paris near our hotel. Then we all got dressed up for the evening. Alex and I decided we would celebrate five years of dating that night. The rest of the group went out for a nice steak dinner and went to a jazz club. Alex and I went to a really cool steak and fries restaurant and then put a love lock on the famous Lock Bridge. Both groups spent a lot of time that night wandering around the beautiful streets of Paris and strolling along the River Seine.

The next day, we woke up early to get in line at the Catacombs to beat the crowds. We arrived an hour before the doors open and still had a two hour wait. While we were waiting in line, the coolest thing happened! I'm sure you all have seen Coca Cola's new marketing strategy, putting names on coke bottles. Well, tons of coke cars drove up to the line and handed out unlimited free, ice-cold cokes! They were so nice, and we all decided we like Coca Cola company so much better after that. The Catacombs were well worth the wait. In these underground quarries are buried 6 million bodies, of course, now they are skeletons. It took 130 steps underground to reach these ancient passageways, and they have been used as an ossuary since 1785. Many of the bodies once lay in the graves of the Cemetery of Innocents, which had existed for over 1,000 years, but caused health problems for the surrounding neighborhood, so the bodies were moved. Mostly visible are the skulls and femurs. The people who lay down the bones used respectful creativity, arranging the bones to create images like a cross or a heart. The passageways were cold and moist, and sort of eerie, but it was amazing to witness such rich history and see something unusual compared to the usual museum. We all stared long at the skulls imagining the souls who used to occupy these bodies- they had families, memories, laughter, and hardships just like us.

The coke cars!

The creepy walk down the tunnels to the graves.

This one still had teeth!!!

That sight took longer than expected, so we stopped at (yes, I know) McDonalds for a snack/lunch. We needed somewhere quick and cheap because we had more on the schedule. We had to skip the Pantheon like we had planned, but went on to something much greater- Notre Dame Cathedral. Luckily the night before we left for Paris, we all watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame! This cathedral, though it is very touristy, is one of the most beautifully constructed cathedrals I have walked and will ever walk into. We spent a lot of time there looking around, seeing an artifacts exhibit, and sitting peacefully in the pews admiring the gigantic organ and tall ceilings.

a lovely walk

Notre Dame!

Cathedral Selfie

If you find one of these green things on a Parisien street, it is a drinking water fountain!

Next we visited the famous bookstore across the river, Shakespeare and Co. Many famous writers have frequented there in the past like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and aspiring young writers sit in this cozy, old bookstore and write daily. Needless to say, it was Zach’s dream. Well, we all loved it. There was an old piano upstairs that had archives of sheet music next to it and a sign asking to be played. I knew I had to buy something in this famous store; so naturally, I bought my favorite children’s book that takes place in Paris, Madeline.

Next we had dinner at a café near the Louvre, and then went in the Louvre at 7pm. The Louvre has free admission for 18-26 year olds on Friday nights, so we took advantage of that! Also there were barely any crowds so we were able to get up close to pieces such as the Mona Lisa that, during the day time, are almost impossible to get close to. We all split up and went to exhibits of our interests. Alex and I spent tons of time in French and Italian Paintings, Napoleon’s apartment, Renaissance Sculptures, and the Egyptian relics. If you don’t already know, the Louvre used to be the palace of Napoleon I. They still have maintained rooms such as the dining room, bedroom, drawing room, and room where orchestras would play private concerts. It was extravagant and beautiful.

Napoleon's Throne!!

Notice something in the right corner of his self-portrait?

Napoleon's Dining Room

Drawing room

In Napoleon's apartment, he had the walls painted to look like marble to save money.

Charlemagne's Sword

The next morning we awoke early for our biggest day yet! (We had to move two of our main attractions from the day before to Saturday because we ran out of time).  First, we visited the Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral. This cathedral is known for its stained glass (which happens to be the oldest in Paris), and as you can tell from the pictures, it was AWESOME. There are 15 large stained glass windows composed of 1113 little pieces of glass dating back to the 1200's! Each window depicts a different Bible story. We learned about how the stained glass was dyed, cut, designed, and began to appreciate the high levels of creativity these designers possessed.

After that, we had set aside time to have crepes at a Paris creperie, so we stopped by one near the opera house. The chef/owner was extremely friendly, and we all thought this was one of our favorite meals. I had a fresh banana and sugar one, while most of us had bacon egg and cheese.

Next, we went to the Paris Opera House, Opera Garnier, which was the setting of Phantom of the Opera the book and what the movie was modeled after!! It looks exactly like the movie. The architecture and ceilings are luxurious. My favorite rooms were the grand foyer, the grand staircase, and obviously, the auditorium which contained the largest stage in Europe. We took many pictures of Mikayla doing jumps since this opera house has shown many famous ballets. I mean, it’s gotta be one of the grandest places in the world- the PARIS Opera House.

On the Masquerade Staircase from the movie!

Auditorium

Grand Foyer

Admiring the foyer

Jump #1

Jump #2

Mikayla vs. Jack. Who wins?

Jump #3

Subway Encounter

Next we went to the famous Musee d’Orsay, a modern art museum. We all loved it. There were tons of famous works, like Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, and Cezanne! We only spent and hour and 45 minutes there, because we had a schedule to keep! (We saw many famous paintings, but I didn't want to bore you with images you can find on google)

Next on the list was thrifting/shopping. We found a big flea market called the Paris Flea Market online, but it took a sketchy walk to get there…basically through the ghetto of Paris. We were safe though, and it wasn’t a very far walk until we reached the Sacré-Cœur, a Catholic basilica, and the flea market was right by it. The guys wanted to find places with cheap clothes, but we found was mostly fabric stores! We finally found a really cool clothing store and got some touristy items at some of the booths down the main street. While we were shopping here, Mikayla shopped somewhere completely opposite- the number one fashion street in the world. She bought some makeup at Dior and just gazed at the fancy shops down the streets.

That night we went to the Eiffel Tower. That day, June 21st, happened to be a summer festival for Paris, so all the shops closed early and there was a huge concert at the Eiffel Tower... but it was neat to see it sparkle on the hour, and we ate crepes for dinner (again), right at the foot of it. It was so special and magical to see!

Pont Alexandre III bridge!

Macaroons, of course!

Notre Dame at night

We got back late, but knew we had to wake up early for our 7:35 am flight! Unfortunately, though, even though we left almost 2 hours early… we missed our flight. The metros barely run that early in the morning (which we didn’t know), and train strike affected our train to the airport. We spent 13 hours in the airport searching for alternate ways home, but since it was a Sunday, buses weren’t running, flights were all booked, and there were no options for trains. Finally, by an act of God, we found a flight back to Berlin for 8:30 pm.  If you want a more dramatic retelling of our airport adventures, read Zach’s account: Trapped in the Charles de Gaulle Airport

This is how we spent our time in the airport...

Sleeping...

Jack wore his shirt inside out

who knows...

P.S. Don't forget to read about Wittenberg below! I posted about them back-to-back!