Ciao a tutti!
Well I'm back in Milano after a week in Berlin, Germany. I went with 5 other girls and we had THE BEST TIME! Berlin is an absolutely amazing city. It's crazy how beautiful it is considering how the city was not only completely destroyed in the war but how it only became 1 true city 19 years ago!! It's definitely a thriving capital and a hot spot for young Germans. We had such a blast.
First of all, the Berlin public transportation system is one we should all be jealous of! With the most reliable subways and trams (well besides when our train decided to not take the tracks it was supposed to), the seats are all upholstered and some are even padded! And everyone rides bikes in Berlin. There wasn't one subway ride we took where we didn't see a bike on the train.
So the first day we went on a 4 hour walking tour. It was one if not the best tour I've ever been on. Our guide, a student from Ireland, was so knowledgeable about Berlin's history and he was a great story teller! I learned so much about Berlin that I had no idea about! And it was rather amusing that I learned it all from an Irish boy! Oh Europe. Some of the spots we hit on our tour were places that I would have never found without this tour. Fuhrerbunker (where Hitler hid out and committed suicide) is now a parking lot for an apartment complex in East Berlin. Our guide told us the reasoning for this is that Germany wanted to destroy it so Neo-nazis from around the world won't flock to this place to worship the man. It's rather eery to think that you're standing above the spot where Hitler hid for months. And yet I think it's what makes this world so cool. That certain places have taken so many different forms throughout history. Once a bunker, now a parking lot, and who knows what it was 200 years ago, 2000 years ago. Anyway, we went to see the wall, of course. They don't let you go touch it anymore, since people used to come and chip a little bit of it away to take home with them. It's very cool to see, and not nearly as tall as any of us expected. They had some memorials for people that had died trying to cross it. I can't imagine how awful life must have been to risk being shot or drowned just to climb over a wall. It was very amazing to see it in person. We visited several other spots, such as the parliament (Bundestag), Ministry of Ministries, Museum Island, Humboldt University, and Brandenburg Gate. One of my favorite spots on the tour was The Memorial To the Murdered Jews of Europe. It's indescribable. (http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/memorial_to_the_murdered_jews_of_europe) Check it out! It's a bunch of blocks (look at the picture) that can represent whatever you want them to represent, the # of Jews that died, gravestones, anything. And you look at it and think these blocks maybe get around 6 feet tall. And then you walk in, and these blocks get higher and higher, up to 15-18 feet tall. And as I walked in, deeper and deeper, you get a sense of being lost, lonely, isolated, overwhelmed. Our tour guide said it made him feel like he was going under water. And you see all these people walking through with you, but it's not until you get really close to them that you can actually see them. And people appear and disappear in an instant behind these blocks. Really it's indescribable. Anway, Berlin is a beautiful city, and the tour was absolutely incredible. DEFINITELY GLAD WE DID IT!
We went on a pubcrawl, which is where they take you from pub to pub to pub. It was fun, in that we met so many people but we really didn't need the people to tell us where to go. Kind of a scam but I'm glad I went on it. Now i can say I've done a pub crawl.
We went into the Bundestag, which is Germany's parliament building. The building has a long long history which I won't bore you with, but the newly renovated part and the new dome on top is absolutely awesome. Go check it out online if you get a chance. The architect claims to have designed it with the intent that the German people can look down on Government, and the Government can look up at the people watching them, so everyone is watching everyone. Cool concept.
Well we went to the Berlin Zoo, the Berlin TV tower, the Pergamon museum (where we saw the Original Gates of Babylon (soooo cool)), and well I ate about everything I could and walked about everywhere in Berlin.
Besides eating wienerschnitzle and bratwurst, running around the city doing everything and then some, I got a chance to go to the Jewish Museum. It was the most amazing museum. I actually liked it better than the Holocaust Museum. The architecture by Daniel Libeskind was breathtaking. I can't describe it unless you go there. But really they couldn't have asked for architecture more fitting for this museum. My favorite part was his exhibition of Memory Void. Literally, there is nothing. It's an entire exhibition floor, left empty. No pictures on the wall, no boxes with artifacts, or names to remember. Nothing. Just emptiness. Daniel Libeskind says he designed it this way to remember those who were killed. Because what's a better way to remember the dead, than with nothing. LOVED IT.
Well anyway, it was a great trip, and now I'm back in Milan starting school on Monday. Awww traveling Europe. Amazing. Ciao ciao and love you all.
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