Salve!
For the next four days I will probably be using that word a lot (it means Hello in Italian) because bright and early tomorrow morning I am leaving with two of my friends to enjoy four days in Venice. But before I begin talking about what I am up to now, let me start where I left off with my last email. After a seven hour train ride we arrived in Berlin and were escorted off in a charter bus to the hostel we would be staying at. It was not the best location, considering it was a 30 minute subway right away from downtown, but it was on the lake and my room had the best view, so I couldn´t complain too terribly much. On our first day in Berlin I acted as the tour guide for 3 of my friends (along with the help of my Rick Steves travel book..) and took them on a site seeing tour of the city. There is a great public bus in Berlin that drives right by many of the well known sites, so we took that for awhile to see the Victory Column, the Keiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and the Tiergartens. Then it was off the bus to explore East Berlin. First stop was the Brandenburg gate, which stood on the death strip during the time of the Berlin Wall. We also went to see the Topography of Terror that day, which is an outdoor exhibit on the former site of Hitler´s gestapo and SS command center. It was sad, as well as frustrating to read the stories of all the people who had been killed due to their unsuccessful attempts to stop Hitler. At this site I also had a chance to see a surviving stretch of the wall, which was something I had been looking forward to seeing on my visit to Berlin.
While in Berlin I also had the chance to visit the Jewish museum, which recounts the history and culture of the Jews. The building was designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind, who is in charge of redeveloping the NYC world trade center site. I really enjoyed the museum because the architecture and design of the museum really helped to convey the message and themes of the exhibits. For instance, the slanting hallways throughout the museum provided me with a feel for the chaotic history which the Jews have endured and the glass exhibits which housed momentos from different Jewish families, reminded me of the somber history of these people. After spending at least an hour in the interactive reflection areas I was feeling pretty exhausted, but I still had 2 floors of the museum to look through! Despite my interest in the history of the Jews, I found myself going through these two floors fairly quickly and only stopping at selective things. I have found that after two months of visiting museums, I am losing my motivation to read everything I see. That night I went with 2 of my friends to visit the Reichstag-the parlimentary building. Only recently was this building rebuilt and a huge glass copula was installed that houses a huge spiral staircase. The view was incredible and staring down at the Brandenburg gate from the rooftop of the Reichstag, I could almost picture the excitement that must have resonated throughout the streets of Berlin that night of November 9, 1989 when thousands of people rushed into west berlin from the east.
The next day I had a chance to visit the longest remaining stretch of the wall, referred to as the Eastside gallery. This part of the wall is regularly whitewashed so that new artists can paint murals regarding their interpretations on the wall, freedom, etc. As I walked along the wall looking at each mural, I often found myself frustrated that the wall was blocking my view of the beautiful river which lay on the other side. It was hard to beleive that only 16 years ago this is how citizens of East Berlin felt every day, only they were not only missing out on a view, but often were seperated from family or friends. Being in Berlin and reflecting on all of the events that took place in this city not so long ago, it is hard not to feel incredibly blessed for the freedom I enjoy in America. After visiting this wall I was off to a Turkish market in Kruezberg, which is the Turkish neighborhood in Berlin. There were tables set up everywhere and vendors sold everything from VCRs to loaves of bread and everywhere I looked women with their heads wrapped in shawls were pushing around baby strollers. If I hadn´t known better, I would´ve sworn I had stepped into Eastern Europe.
Last Thursday I visited the Pergamon museum, which houses the altar of Pergamon and the famous Ishtar Gate from the city of Babylon. I really enjoyed this museum, because it was so incredible different from any of the other ones we had visited yet. However, me and my friend Linda were a little too excited about the free audioguides that were included with our entrance. We listened to every bit of information we could and before we knew it, we had run out of time. That night we went to see the "The Marrage of Figero," at the Komische Oper. This is a famous opera composed by Mozart, but that night it was performed with a modern, comical twist. There was cross-dressing, plenty of sexual innuendos, jellyfish in giant stone towers , spinning pink flamingos and a giant pile of apples. Although it was a little bizzare, the music and singing was INCREDIBLE and I´ll have to admit the comedy kept me entertained when I got confused with all of the German.
Last Thursday we arrived in Heppenheim. It´s a little town, which no one seems to have heard of, but I have really been enjoying our time here! It is about an hour away from Frankfurt and a half hour from the university town of Heidelburg. We are staying in a youth hostel that is in a castle and getting there is about a 30 minute walk--all uphill. At first I thought they were joking because from the train station the castle just looks like a tiny speck. However, they were completely serious and now on my final day here I have finally mentally trained myself to handle the hill. Two of the days here we spent at the local pool because it was in the 80s. It was a really relaxing way to spend our last week of the trip together. Just lounging in the sun and swimming when it got to hot. ´When the weather cooled down a bit I went on a day trip with some friends to the local city of Stuttgart and the past two days my class has gone on two day trips. One to Heidelburg and yesterday a boat trip down the Rhine.
Last night was the last night all of us will be together. I am in disbeleif that we are actually all going our seperate ways. I knew this day would come, but with all that was ahead of us, it always seemed miles away. It´s funny to think that only two months ago I sat with these same people at the Amsterdam airport, fearing I would never learn their names and trying to make sure I didn´t get them in any of my pictures--after all, why would I want pictures of people I didn´t know. Now, I cannot imagine what life will be like without my new family members to talk to every day. It is like graduating high school all over again, things between us will never be the same again. Only, I think it might be even harder this time because there are so few of us that have shared such personal, unique memories with eachother. Aside from the saddness I feel about this though, I am excited to have all of these new friends in my life and most definitely excited to return to Seattle to see all of my friends at home that I miss so much!
Anyways, last night our group put on a talent show (I was in 2 acts, both which involved dancing) and my friend Tim composed a little poem that included each and every one of us and all of the fun memories we have shared. This morning was our finals for both German as well as European Civilization. It is so nice to have that over with! Now I can start getting excited about my upcoming adventure, including my 24 hours of solo travel back to the Munich airport next Tuesday. There I will meet back up with my friend Tina for our long flight back to Seattle!
I hope to be able to write once more when I am in Venice, but if not I will try to send out an email when I get home. I´ll be back the 8th with plenty of stories and pictures to share with everyone. I look forward to seeing all of you and sharing with you all that could not properly be expressed in email!
Ciao!
