So when I got to Berlin, the U-Bahn strike was still on, and would remain on for the next couple of days. As a result, we took taxis for the next couple of days. I have to agree with Uncle Alex's assessment of where he lives -- it's in a fantastic location. For one thing, the market right across the street has just about everything one could need by way of food. It's even got a lot of other things, like some basic hardware, and toiletries, etc. And for that stuff you need a bigger store for, there's a supermarket right around the corner. Of course, there are the restaurants, also.
Living in the restaurant district certainly has its perks, what with there being probably thirty of them within a 20-30 minute walk around the block. And the best part is, staying with Uncle Alex, I got to have the expert's opinion on where to go and what to eat. This was especially important because I don't speak a word of German. I think my favorite thing we ate were the Tibetan momos. The Thai place we went to was also excellent. I could write much more about the food, but I think I'll move on.
The first day I was there we visited the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. I was really impressed with the size of it, but I think I was more impressed by the huge field out in front of it. I also liked the fact that you could go up and walk around on the roof and in the gigantic "fishbowl" on top of it. We we waiting on line to get in for kind of a while, but it was okay. About halfway through our time in line, a group of people came up, and were controlling a lifesize marionette. You can see in the pictures it greeting the people in line. What you don't see is the sheer coordination of the people in control. At one point the marionette did a cartwheel, and the people were stepping and jumping over each other, but it was very smooth. German precision, as Uncle Alex pointed out.
Over the course of the next days, we went to a bunch of museums. One of the first was an ethnological/anthropological museum, where we saw quite a bit of material from Incan/Aztec/Mayan culture, in addition to a ton of stuff about the islanders of the South Pacific. We also briefly went through a section about Africa, but we were pretty tired at that point. On our way out we stopped in a carved-out cave monastery which was in a section on Indian culture. That was quite interesting.
Speaking of huge structures brought to museums, we went to the Pergammon museum, where the entire front of the Pergammon temple (a Greek temple) was carved up and brought. A Babylonian gate lives at the museum as well, although it was under restoration while we were there, so it couldn't be seen so well. There were plenty of interesting statues and carvings too, as well as some very finely cut cuneiform in clay blocks. On the day we were out there, on Museum Island, the German History museum had free admission, so we went in there briefly and checked out some old Prussian helmets - the classic pointed helmets. They were pretty cool to see. Another stop on our museum trips was the Jewish museum. It was a great combination of informative and moving.
We also went to the Technical Museum, where we were able to see exhibits on the history of telecommunication, from telegraphs up to about 1950s era TV. It was a more captivating experience than I thought. From that exhibit, we went to see the development of German computers. From what I could tell, they trailed the United States in computer technology for a few years, although I must say I am more familiar with the history of U.S. computing. After that, we went to see the aeronautical exhibits, which covered flight from the beginning up until about the mid-70s. One of the more fun things to see was an explanation of the Berlin Airlift - what kinds of planes, what they brought, their flight patterns, etc. Did you know Uncle Alex lives right near the airport used for the Airlift?
The last museum I went to was the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It discussed the establishment of the division, escape attempts and the building of the wall. The exhibits also went on to describe people smuggling people out of East Germany, people trying to get out over or under the wall, the fall of the wall, and the end of the Cold War.
We did quite a bit that didn't involve museums, as well. One really interesting thing that we did was visit the Ministry of Justice where Uncle Alex's friend Andreas works. We were able to go on a brief tour and visit the library, where among other things they had old Prussian books and even a five-year plan from the East German government. Also, we visited a bombed-out church from WWII, and the Protestant Dome. The Protestant Dome is a bizarre anomaly in design, as Protestant churches - especially Lutheran ones - reject the ornate design of Catholicism. This, as my pictures show, is most certainly not the case here. Everything is gold-laden, but perhaps the most out-of-place things are the huge statues of Luther and Calvin mounted high up on the ceiling. The whole thing is even more bizarre when compared to the Catholic Church, not too far away. That church is quite austere. It would make more sense if they were the other way around, but they are what they are. There was also a Turkish market that we went to. It was really a lot of fun, with a street fully taken up on both sides with stands filled with people selling various things, but the highlight had to have been the fruits and vegetables. They were simply enormous. Apples larger than my fist and truly immense grapefruits. We bought a snack from one of the bakery stands. It can best be described as a ring of dough, somewhere between a bagel and a pretzel, and loaded with sesame seeds. It was utterly delicious.
When my week in Berlin was finished, I went to Prague. Prague, in a word, was great. For one thing, I got to see my friend Chris. He's studying in Salamanca this semester, but it was his spring break too. We decided to meet in Prague, and it was an excellent decision. I think I've only seen him once since 8th grade, before Prague. Our hostel was in an excellent location. It was close to most things, without being directly on a (too) busy road. So what did we see? The first thing we saw was actually not all that Prague-specific. An ad for a Museum of Torture caught our eye, and so we went in there. It had all sorts of actual instruments, along with descriptions of how they had been used. It was pretty rough, to be sure. Then we crossed the Charles Bridge, which is probably one of the most touristy places in the city, if not the most. It's lined on both sides by statues, most of which are rather impressive. The sides are also lined with vendors and caricature artists.
On the other side of the bridge was the palace district. It's defined by narrow streets, steep hills, and a lot of restaurants. In retrospect, it was a rather impulsive day, because as we were walking by, we saw an ad for a classical music concert, and decided to go. More on that later. But we continued up the hill to the palace gates itself, and went inside. The distinctive spires at the peak of the palace are not actually part of the palace, but of St. Vitus' Cathedral - a most impressive cathedral at that. Almost everything inside was photo-worthy, including one of the most elaborate tombs I've ever seen. The pictures I got of it didn't do it justice.
We actually didn't go into the palace itself, because by the time we got there it would have only been open for another hour, so we decided against it. Instead, we roamed around for a while, and then it was time for the concert. It was in a nice concert hall - not too big. I'm not usually one for classical music, but this was almost a "greatest hits" type of show, so I actually knew most of the songs. And the performance itself was excellent.
The next day was my tour of the Jewish Quarter. While the most famous part is the cemetery, that's only one of eight parts of what's called the Jewish Museum in Prague. I must say, though, the cemetery is an amazing sight. It's packed full. Also, there are little prayers stuck into the cracks of many of the headstones, very similar to the Western Wall. Some of the other parts of the Museum were the Spanish Synagogue and the Old-New Synagogue. I was the most impressed by the Old-New Synagogue: the central part of it was being used in the 1270s. In another part of the Museum, there was a memorial for all displaced Czech Jews; it was just the walls of a building painted with names. The entire Museum experience was very moving. I also learned that the name Brandeis comes from a Czech town called Brynds!
On a lighter note, I went to a wax museum! It was pretty small, and only took about 15 minutes to get through, but it was a lot of fun. Chris and I also climbed an old guard tower in the middle of the city. It was technically the new one, though, being rebuilt in 1475 or so.
On my way to the airport to fly to Madrid, a snowstorm whipped up. I thought I was going to get stuck in Prague, but I didn't. On the other hand, I think it delayed my connecting flight because I got stuck for a couple of hours in Brussels.
Madrid was nice; I met my friend Rachel from Brandeis there. She's studying there, and it was nice to go around some of the time with someone who can speak functional Spanish. I've got about enough to get by with the owner of my hostel, who didn't speak much English, but we got everything communicated and that was fine. I wasn't in Madrid for that long, but I did get to see some of the main sights. I went to the Prado and the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace was really impressive, especially when I realized the tour only takes you through about thirty rooms. The palace has several thousand. That was the first time I had ever been in a throne room.
I was also able to tour Real Madrid's stadium. They offer tours every day, in which you can go through and really get a feel for the experience. As can be seen in my pictures, they take you through all sorts of places, including the visitors' locker room. I think it's really great that they let people do that.
Rachel also took me to Retiro Park, the main park in Madrid. It's huge. You can stand in the middle of it and not see the city at all. It was beautiful, and most things weren't even in bloom yet. We also went to a bar one night and watched some futbol, with two games on: France and England as well as Spain and Italy. Interestingly enough, there was more excitement for the France/England game than the Spain/Italy game. Either way, it was a lot of fun.
What was not fun was on my way home to Copenhagen, my flight stopped in Barcelona, where I was supposed to have a 40 minute layover. My flight in, however, was delayed by about half an hour. And I was sitting at the back of the plane. Thankfully, my flight to Copenhagen left from two gates over, so it wasn't a big deal. But it was stressful.
Then I relaxed for a few days, and then back to class on the 31st!
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