BERLIN: July 20 - 23
We arrived in Germany and immediately were overtaken by its efficiency. I know that sounds cliche, but seriously mean it. The place just had a feeling like everything worked really well; even the air felt easier to breathe. We took a train from the airport to our hostel, which was located on a street called Görlitzer Bahnhof (we soon began referring to it quite frequently as 'Gorilla Street'). Although there were no great apes present, much to our dismay, the train stop was located about twenty feet from the front door of our accommodation. This allowed us to take considerable advantage of the aforementioned 'German Efficiency,' in the form of a top-notch public transit system. For all it has to offer, our time in Berlin was rather short. However, we were able to see just about all the most-desired tourist attractions thanks to yet another free city tour. We also managed to hit a few great museums and other attractions, which I will detail in the photos below:
Like we had a choice?
Walking through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe designed by famed American architect, Peter Eisenman. Inaugurated in 2005, sixty years following the end of WWII, the Memorial is completely ambiguous and does not make a mention of the Holocaust anywhere; it is up to the individual to interpret it as he or she sees fit. Look it up for yourselves - definitely one of the coolest and most thought-provoking things I've ever come across.
In front of one of the last remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. This was actually part of the westernmost or 'first' portion of the Wall (the second Wall was located in East Berlin). Behind the Wall now stands the Topography of Terror, a museum which chronicles the rise of the Third Reich. It is actually built atop the former sites of the administrative buildings of the Gestapo and the SS. It contained a fascinating collection of photographs and documents from both members of the Nazi Regime and those whom it persecuted - some really powerful stuff in there.
A great deal of the old city was destroyed during the Second World War. This building shows some of the only remaining examples of this type of devastating combat.
If you look closely behind the glass, you'll see a room filled with empty bookshelves. This is the memorial to repression and censorship, culminating with Nazi book burnings during the height of the Regime's power. After seeing this, I couldn't stop imitating Sean Connery (complete with Scottish accent) as Henry Jones, Sr. from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "It tells me that goosestepping morons like yourselves should try reading books instead of burning them!" Dave tired of that about as quickly as I started doing it.
Brandenburg Gate at dusk. Former city gate and symbol of peace, it was built in the late 18th Century. It was fully restored about ten years ago, as it suffered serious damage during WWII.
View from inside the dome of the Reichstag, the German Parliament. We were the last two allowed in that night (our last in the city), after braving a queue that looked extremely grim. I likened this amazing structure to a 'big glass shawarma.' Although it probably wouldn't taste very good in a pita, it did offer some stunning reflections as it sits literally atop the seat of Germany's government. Those who come to view each day are positioned above the officials below, symbolic to the fact this was not the case for so many years beforehand.BRUSSELS: July 23 - 25
This was the wild card on our trip. We originally thought of hitting Amsterdam following Germany, but Dave suggested a stop over in Belgium and since neither of us knew much about the place, we thought it might be a fun little detour. How wrong we were. If our time in Berlin was too short, than our stay in the Capitol of the European Union basically never took place. We both could not get enough of the city's quirkiness and its ever-apparent juxtaposition between old and new. That and the waffles. I kid you not, they are EVERYTHING they are cracked up to be. We saw some cool sights, visited a brewery, ate some great food and visited a bar with over 2,000 beers in its inventory, including one that was recently voted the ''Best in the World." We had a hard time disagreeing with this distinction. If you ever find yourself traveling the Old Country, please do yourself a favor and visit Brussels.
PARIS: July 25 - 28
I couldn't believe the rudeness we experienced at the hands of all the Parisians we encountered in the City of Light. It was like they could smell that we were two boorish Americans and they went out of their way to beat us with freshly baked baguettes. Okay, so that never happened. And the people there weren't rude at all. They were actually pretty friendly. When we took a tour of the city, our guide basically likened the French perspective on foreigners to the old adage about animals being more afraid of you than you are of them. Okay, so that never happened, either, but she just said be nice to them and they'll treat you the same way. That did happen on several ocassions and really made for a nice conclusion to our travels. I'd go into more detail, but the pictures below should do all of the talking. Most of you should recognize each of the landmarks below, except for 'Crocojazz,' which Dave and I really hoped was a group of crocodile-musicians, though we were not fortunate enough to find out if this was the case. After our time here (which included meeting up with an old friend we knew as an exchange student from high school), Dave flew back to the US and me to back to Denmark.
This one took forever, hope you enjoy it. Be back soon with more adventures.
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