Berlin in Three Important Lessons

Quick note on Prague - I forgot to mention that we saw 7 individual weddings on the first day.  SEVEN brides!  Crazy!

Day 6:

Tuesday was a little dull.  We took a fairly looong train from Prague to Berlin.  We arrived and checked into our hostel (Lette'm Sleep).  Nice, clean, basic.  Then we went to the Jewish Museum.  The more abstract representations were really cool, but we were a little too tired (and hungry) to enjoy the historic exhibits.  After (finally) finding an place to eat (and consequently eating), we went out for a nice glass of wine.

Day 7:

The next day we started with a nice breakfast in our room.  We found a nice grocery store for some croissants, cheese, jam, juice, etc.

Then we made our way to the Bauhaus design museum.  And despite the fact that the sing was huge and brightly colored, we still managed to walk right past it.  It was also at this point that we learned lesson number 1: distances are long in Berlin.  Walking a metro stop or not taking a bus is a very bad idea.

Lez loved the Bauhaus museum.  The Bauhaus was a design school that emphasized funtion and design over tradition.  For instance, the desk lamp with the cup-shaped metal (or now plastic) lamp shade?  Bauhaus.  Those chairs that don't really have legs, but more of a square loop of metal pipe (here for example)?  Bauhaus. 

Next we realized that not only is Berlin big, it's also quite cold. (lesson #2).  We walked (and bussed) along to the Brandenburger Tor.  It was too cold to really wander around and enjoy the Pariser Platz so we moved on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  What is especially interesting is that the designers drew inspiration from cemetery we had just seen in Prague (click here to compare).

Then we moved onto the first museum district of Berlin (Berlin is so big that it practically has two museum districts).  We started by passing by some historic buildings: Humbolt University, St. Hedwig's Church (or "The Upside-down Tea Cup"), the Neue Wache (an old guard house transformed into a national memorial), and the Opera house.

Finally we went into the Pergamonmuseum, which houses some really amazing ruins.  The main Pergamon Alter depicts Gods fighting the Giants.

Next we went to the German History Museum (no photos, sorry).  If I had a full day, I could have spent it here.  They literally track history starting from the wandering Germanic tribes all the way through to 1994.  It's cool because they explore history through the artifacts.  Some things that they fail to highlight but do exist in the museum include: the Gutenberg Bible, a painting by Bosh, Napoleon's hat and sword from Waterloo, The Triumph of the Will, and some parts of the Berlin Wall.  Yeah, really awesome!

Then we went to the Berliner Dom and climbed out to the top of the big dome.  Rewarding views of the city!

At this point we learned lesson #3: There are no ATMs ANYWHERE in Berlin.  We searched for forever and ended up having to ask three people before we could find one.

Our evening plan WAS as followed: Dinner near the Reichstag (because, wouldn't you know it but all there aren't many restaurants near the historic sights because NOTHING is near anything because Berlin is so big) and then a tour of the Reichstag.  Well, part one worked wonderfully.  We had a really great meal at a place called Café No!  Lovely meal, good prices, wonderful atmosphere... perfect.

Unfortunately when we got to the Reichstag, we were turned away because apparently they changed their policy in November (so recent that none of the guidebooks have been updated yet): Now you need to make an appointment to get in THREE DAYS in advance so that they can do a background check on you.  Yeah.  So we didn't get to go in, only take a few pics from the outside.

Day 8:

This day was a little sunnier so a little bit warmer (as long as the sun stayed out).  We started at the Deutscher Dom.  This used to be a cathedral, but when it was bombed flat in the war, it was rebuilt and turned into a museum about the evolution of German Government.  Kind of interesting, but a little dry because it's all in German, so the best you can do is the English Audio Guide (makes skimming a little difficult).

I did find this picture especially interesting.  It's a map of Europe depicting the reactions to the revolutions in the late 1840's.  England basically ignores her starving, France has sent all it's rebels elsewhere and is telling Germany to do the same, Germany is kicking out the rebels (many of whom go into hiding in Switzerland), Hungary isn't doing so well, and then there's this silly guy dancing in Denmark.



Next we went to Check Point Charlie, a museum at the old Berlin Wall gate.  Inside were some really cool stories of escapes (like the man who built his own hot air balloon, or the woman who was snuck out between two hollowed out surf boards on the top of a car).

After lunch, we went to the OTHER museumy part of town.  I was a little museumed out, so we spun through the Gemaldegamerie and the New National Gallery (not to be confused with the Old National Gallery, the New Museum, or the Old Museum... really, Germany?  You couldn't be a little more creative?).

Of course our bus took so long that we gave up and ended up walking (oy) to our metro to get to dinner.  I will say though, I did like the neighborhood our hostel was in.  Smaller, more people, more shops.  The problem with Berlin is that it's SO big and SO spread out that it feels empty!

Day 9:

This was mostly a travel day, but we did get to go into the New Museum and see Nefertiti's head and other Egyptian stuff.  That was kind of cool.

Stay tuned for... I feel like Munchen on some pretzels and beer (sorry for the terrible pun guys)

For more pictures, click on The Berlin Bear:

Prague: Blending the old, the nouveau, and the down-right bizarre!

Day 4:

After a good nights sleep, Lez and I were ready to take on Prague (well, after a really nice free breakfast at our hotel... yum!).  Prague is litterally something out of a fairy tale!  Beautiful buildings in pretty colors, tile roofs, etc.

We started at the Jewish Museum, which isn't one location, but six separate synagogs within a short distance of each other.

The first stop was the Pinkas Synagogue (no photos allowed inside).  What is so amazing about this synagogue is that there are 77,297 hand written names of Czech Jews who were sent to Nazi death camps written on the walls.  Actually there are 77,297 names RE written on the walls after the communists erased them.  Each name was probably about a half an inch tall and written in simple calligraphy with the first letter in red and the walls were completely covered in names.  Floor to ceiling covered.

Outside was the Old Jewish Cemetery.  It was the strangest, most interesting cemetery I've every been to because all the tomb stones were piled on top of each other.  It looked like a mouth that was badly in need of some braces and teeth pulling.  (Keep these photos in mind for my next post on Berlin).  Kind of eerie, but also really cool to look at.

Next was the Ceremonial Hall, which had a really interesting exhibit on Jewish medicine and funeral practices.  One thing that stood out to me was that, according to the museum, the rich and the poor were buried exactly the same.  There was no difference in dressing the body or other rituals.  Another fun fact was the reason why so many Jews became doctors: they didn't see medicine as interfering with God's plan, but rather illness as a sign from God that that person needed help.

After the Ceremonial Hall was the Old-New Synagogue.  To be honest, I was kind of "eh" about this one, but it was built in the 13th C, so that's kind of cool.  Fun fact: in the 13th C, only Christians could build buildings and they were really good at building four ribbed ceilings.  Only problem is that this makes a cross (not the best in a Jewish building).  So they tacked on a random rib.  It looks really awkward, but at least it's not a cross any more.

Then we went to the Maisel Synagogue, which contains the treasures of the destroyed Jewish communities of WWII.  Hitler planned on turning this into a museum: "Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race."  Next was the Spanish Synagogue, designed in the Moorish Style (don't believe me?  Compare pictures from Spain!)

We really wanted to make sure we got all of the Jewish museum done the first day because it would be closed the next day (Saturday).

Next, we went to the Old Town Square.  It's bustling with food vendors selling sausage, churches, and the really cool Astronomical Clock.  Not only did we get to see it ring (yes, see... it' a very elaborate CooCoo clock!), we also got to go up it and see the town square from above.  Oh, and did I mention that every hour a trumpet plays!

Then we saw the Powder Tower, the Municipal House, and the Mucha Museum.  Really cool to see the old, Gothic Prague of the Tower next to the Art Nouveau Prague of the Municipal House.  And the Mucha Museum was AMAZING!  I love his work... so romantic and whimsical.  And the swirly bits are just so cool!  We ended our touring at the Tyn Church, just off the Old Town Square.

That evening we saw a Black Light show.  The theater is completely pitch black.  I mean COMPLETELY dark.  And the performers (dancers/gymnists) are wearing body suits that are black in some places and neon in others, so under a black light all you see is the neon.  The effect is so cool and the way they use this illusion is really creative.  (Czech out the website here for an idea of what I'm talking about).

Day 5:

On the second day of Prague, we crossed to the other side of the Vltava River, going over the Charles Bridge.

We started at the Strahov Monastery and Library.  I LOVED the library (of course the English Major loves the library).
 

 Next we had lunch (ok... so maybe we had a bit of a late start this day) and had an amazing view of Prague. 

After lunch, we went to the Prague Castle.  The main highlights were the Old Royal Palace and the St. Vitus Cathedral.  The Cathedral was HUGE and really cool.  The stained glass was kind of modern looking and there was a window that Mucha designed (I recommend you click on the photo so you can zoom in to see the faces)!  I think Mucha's window the best stained glass I've ever seen.  The Royal Palace was cool too and Lez loved taking pictures of all the awesome ceilings.  Fun fact about the Royal Palace: the 30 years war started here at the Window of Defenestration.  In 1618, 3 men were thrown out of a window and survived!

We ended our day with the Communism museum.  It was very informative and easy to understand (except when the time line jumped around).  What I found really interesting was Communist Propaganda.  They said that they were good because they were against the Nazis from the beginning, unlike the other parties.  Also, they had their own witch hunt (like our McCarthy Trials), except their trials could end in a lot worse than just being black listed.

Overall, I really loved Prague.  It was so cute and a really interesting city.

Stay tuned for... Gorbachev, Tear Down That Wall!

For more pictures, click on Segway Batman:

2000.

Way back yonder in the summer of 2000, I came to France.  I was 9, about to turn 10 in August.  I remember it was 2000 because the Eiffel Tower had 2000 written across it in lights. 

Well, my mom sent me some pictures from that trip...

Versailles

The Louvre

Pont du Gard

I may have changed (hopefully) but the places still look basically the same! 

On the Road Again!

Well, actually, just came home from my 10 day Spring Break Trip!  And what a whirlwind it was!  Like my last big trip, I'm going to break it down into several posts because, between finals, laundry, and just enjoying my last few days in Montp, I don't have a ton of time, so blogging will have to get put in between things.

So let's start at the beginning (a very good place to start):

Day 1: Paris.

No trip to France would be complete without a trip to Paris.  I left Montpellier around lunch (by my self) and arrived in the late afternoon (it's about a four hour train trip).  There, I met up with my friend Willow.  We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the Tuileries and the Champs Elysées before meeting up with my friend from Lehigh, Jess.  Jess is studying in Paris and took us to an AMAZING crepe place!  Not a lot else to report on day one, other than my hotel room was about the size of a closet.  But clean and friendly, and for a single traveler, it did the trick (Hôtel du Cygne).

Day 2: Versailles

Just as no trip to France is complete without Paris, no trip to Paris is complete without Versailles.  Rick Steves (my travel guru) says that if you can only see ONE castle in all of Europe, it's Versailles.  And he is totally right!  First of all, we got in for free since we have long stay French visas.  But besides that, it is definitely the prettiest place ever and we had amazing weather for it too.

We started out at the main palace, seeing everyone's beds topped with ostrich plumes, the hall of mirrors, and Louis's pretty face plastered on every single surface (imagine you're an artist and the king says to you: I want you to paint a picture of Apollo... but I want him to look like me).

It was great... once you get past the huge throngs of tours.  But the best part of Versailles is that, once you get out of the main palace, it feels practically empty because a) the tour busses don't go past the main building and b) it's freaking HUGE!  After the main house we went to the gardens.  Every tree or bush was cut into a perfect square and marble statues dotted the walkways.  Incredible!

 

Next, we went to the Grand Trianon and then the Petit Trianon, Louis's OTHER chateaux at Versailles.  Napoleon apparently lived in the Grand Trianon because the main palace was too big... nice attempt at being modest.  You're still living in Versailles.

Finally, we wandered to Marie's village.  In order to get away from the royal life, Marie had her own country village built on the grounds, complete with farm animals and a vineyard.  I personally thought that this was the prettiest part of Versailles, but most people don't get to it because it's a bit of a trek away from the main palace.

After Versailles, we took a nice coffee break.  Willow continued on to England while I stayed in Paris.

Day 3: Paris

The next day, I explored a little bit more of Paris, hitting the major stuff (the stuff that people say "WHAT!  You didn't do the ___?!" if you don't do it).  Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower.  But it was rainy, so I spent most of the day in the Louvre.

 

But I didn't have all day because I had a flight to catch to my next destination: Prague.  And who should I meet in Prague but my very own sister, Lesley!  (Well, it was a little more planned than that.)  We both got in kind of late so we checked into the hotel, did a little planning, and then passed out.

Click on me at the Eiffel Tower for more pictures of Paris and Versailles:

Stay tuned for... Prague, another city to Czech off my list.