Caitlin's Reise Nach Deutschland

Sorry for the long absence! I failed to post anything for a while because I spent 10 days in Vienna and Munich. That’s quite a bit to write about, so you can view the entry on Vienna on my other blog. (I somehow managed to start writing for Hilltop Views, which has been a lot of fun but also increases the amount I have to write.) Anyway I saved the best for you guys because Munich was my favorite. I spent almost a week there and I’m so glad I had that time to get to know the capital city of Bavaria!

Of the big cities I’ve visited, I like Munich the best. It has a lot of spirit, scenery, and beautiful older architecture that I’ve come to expect from some of the smaller cities. So what did I enjoy the most about my stay there?

The Food. Bavarian food is something else. Munich is the center for a lot of breweries, so there are a ton of Brauhauser, or brewery/restaurants. Of course the most famous for tourists is the Hofbräuhaus, which I did visit, but there are lots of others–and Augustiner was my favorite. Some of the best Bavarian foods that I had included Schweinshaxe, or pork knuckles; Knödeln, or potato dumplings; and Schweinsbraten, which is pork served in gravy with Knödeln. If you haven’t guessed, Bavarians really like pork. On that topic, Weisswurst is amazing! It’s this fresh wurst they make every morning, and it’s so perishable that you have to eat it (or find it) before 12:00. You also have to cut it in a special way–lengthwise down the middle, and then peel the casing off because you don’t eat that. A lot of tourists try to but the locals appreciate it if you know how to eat their special food! I’ve never tasted such good Wurst. It’s also traditionally served with pretzels and Weissbier. How’s that for breakfast?

Munich has a very interesting beer culture. Weissbier, or wheat beer, is served by the half liter and is what you generally drink with the Weisswurst. It’s my favorite type of beer that I’ve discovered in Germany, and I liked the Augustiner Weissbier best. Helles beer is made strictly from water, barley and hops–nothing else. Dunkles is that plus some roasted malt, which gives it a deep caramel color. These, not the Weissbier, can be served in what they call a Maß, or a giant 1 liter tankard. Wow. When I went to the Hofbräuhaus, they looked at my friends like they were crazy when they asked for a small beer (probably .33 liters, common for Koblenz.) You can’t get that there. It’s either a half or a whole liter!

When we went to the Hofbräuhaus, we sat at a table with a local Bavarian who must have been in his 50’s or 60’s. He was wearing a traditional Bavarian or Tyrolean hat and seemed very happy to have the company of 4 young ladies for dinner! Anyway I got to talking to him (auf Deutsch, and hochdeutsch at that, which was a relief because I don’t speak the Bavarian dialect) and he told me a lot about the local culture. He also asked me about America and showed an amazing knowledge of our geography, though he’d never visited. It was really fun, because interacting with locals is always something I like to do but also something that is very difficult to do, just because they don’t stick around very long to talk to tourists.

The Scenery and Architecture. Like most cities in Germany, Munich was almost completely destroyed during World War II. What continually amazes me is how well these people rebuilt everything–and in Munich’s case, with great attention to detail. As a result, it’s a very beautiful city to stroll through, one of my favorite activities while I was waiting for my friends to wake up at the hostel! It also allowed me to see Marienplatz before the other crazy tourists arrived; believe me, it was packed. I enjoyed walking through the Viktualienmarkt, a farmer’s market close to the center of town. They had their own Maypole there, which was left over from last year

because they replace it (of course) on May 1st. You can buy all sort of fresh produce there or get Weisswurst and meat. I’m really excited because when I come back they’ll have changed the Maypole! In addition to that, the churches in Munich are beautiful. I just can’t get over how intricate Catholic churches in Europe are! I’d also recommend visiting the Englischer Gartens–it’s so beautiful there! It’s at least twice the size of Central Park in New York, too. Part of it continues to the other side of the Isar, the river that flows through Munich. Munich is just so unique in that there’s a lot of great old architecture there but also a lot of nature to see within the city. On a clear day, you can even see the Alps in the distance!

More of King Ludwig II’s Castles. My favorite Bavarian historical figure, King Ludwig II, was born in Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. Although it’s not considered one of his

castles since he didn’t build it, it is gorgeous nevertheless! Admittedly the exterior blended in with the cloudy sky a bit too much for my liking, but the interior was fantastic–and I was allowed to take pictures! I also learned a lot about the other members of the Wittelsbach family (the ruling family of Bavaria) since 1664.

In one of the museums on site, they had King Ludwig II’s carriages, which were incredible! I couldn’t believe how detailed they were, how incredibly fancy and overdone. It’s a

wonder they were even functional. They also had his sled that he used for night trips to Neuschwanstein Castle during its construction. There are famous pictures that depict that so it was really cool to see them in person. Every time I see more that belonged to him, I become more and more sure that he really was the Fairy-Tale King.

Just two hours from Munich is Schloss Linderhof, a small palace that Ludwig II built and the

only one that he lived to see completed. Of course I went to see it! Unfortunately winter had stuck around and there was still snow on the ground that weekend so the gardens were underwhelming, but the palace and the grotto were amazing! The palace itself was built in the French style–Ludwig II like Versailles very much and one room in Linderhof was covered floor to ceiling in mirrors. Details on the walls were coated in 22-24 carat gold. It was lovely! 

One of my favorite things at Linderhof was the Venus Grotto. It’s the largest artificial cave in Europe, inspired of course by Wagner’s Tannhäuser. It’s really technologically advanced, with lights that change the color of the cave to green or blue or red and man-powered machines that would generate a current for the boat if Ludwig II wanted it. Apparently the water could also be heated if he wanted to swim, which would indicate that he could swim even though he drowned later in Lake Starnberg. Well that adds to the mystery a little, I think. Anyway it was a very impressive cave and I would have loved to have been there for a private performance of one of Wagner’s operas–word is Ludwig II had a few operas performed for him in that grotto, and they honored it fittingly by playing music from Wagner’s operas  as we walked in. 

Learning and exploring the City I scheduled the trip for 6 days so that I would have time to see as much in Munich as a could and not feel rushed. I just like anything in Bavaria and I knew I would like Munich. One day, I went on a bicycle tour if Munich with a friend of someone I worked with at the International Office. It was one of the best days in Munich because I learned so much that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been with someone who knew the city. For instance, there’s an alleyway by Odeonsplatz with a bunch of gold bricks that weave their way through the regular pavement. You don’t pay much attention to something like that–there’s no sign and people walk over them every day without knowing what they mean. But apparently during the Nazi era, there was a statue in Odeonsplatz that you were required to salute or the police would arrest you, and they were watching. So anyone who objected to that would cut through the alley to avoid the statue and still get to their destination. Thus, the route is honored with gold bricks today. It’s little things like that that are so very interesting.

I saw Schwabing, an area of town where artists used to live and where Rainer Maria Rilke and Thomas Mann once had apartments. I saw the University and the Sophie Scholl and White Rose memorials where they once dropped anti-Nazi flyers. (Members of the White Rose were arrested for protesting the Nazis and distributing flyers and letters speaking

against the regime. They were all killed.) That was something we learned about in Taos and it was really interesting to actually see all that in person. I explored the Englischer Gartens, beautiful even in the winter. I saw Königsplatz, once the center of art and culture in Munich and then later the home to Nazi rallies and book burnings. Now it houses Egyptian and Greek museums, which I unfortunately did not have time to visit (I think you’d need a lifetime to see everything in Munich, really.) I visited some churches, and one rococo church that was absolutely gorgeous. It seemed to be more of a castle than a church on the inside. It looked like it was meant for royalty! I wish we had churches like that in America. I also saw the church where King Ludwig II is buried and visited the crypt, which was a little sad but worth it. They really do have nice coffins for kings. I saw the new Synagogue and the Bavarian Opera House. I learned which

routes were best to get from one area of town to another, and I really do recommend taking a bicycle through Munich sometime. You see so much of it! Just avoid Marienplatz; after about 10 in the morning it’s so full of tourists you can’t get anywhere. I learned that there’s a weird Michael Jackson memorial (left) in the middle of the city. Apparently the Michael Jackson fans took over the statue of a classical musician and the police tried to clear it away but it didn’t work. Now it’s a big draw for tourists. I’m a little confused and I suppose the original musician wouldn’t like that but it was interesting!  I saw quarters of Munich designed in an Italian style and quarters designed in a Greek style. I saw an old graveyard and learned that graveyards are much prettier and peaceful in Munich, and people go on walks through them with their dogs. I even found an English movie theater and saw a film there because I’d been dying to see something on the big screen that wasn’t overdubbed and I had the time. I went to a medieval art museum (the Alte Pinakothek) that had so much art in it from Dürer to Raphael and da Vinci that it was exhausting to try to look at all of it. All in all, this was one of my favorite cities in Germany! One of the luxuries of being a student on vacation is having the time to wander about a beautiful city like Munich for a week, and it’s a week I won’t soon forget.

As I write this, I am looking out my window at all the snow falling to the ground, adding to the white blanket that was made overnight. It’s the end of March and the beginning of my Easter break, and for some reason still freezing. Holland was no different, and although they didn’t get snow while I was there, it sure was windy! I spent almost 5 days in Holland visiting a friend from St. Edward’s, and I am so glad that I went. Not only is Holland beautiful, but it is also the first country I have been to outside of Germany! It’s good to have some sort of context for the country I’m in–what are its neighbors like, what am I experiencing here that is European vs. German? So, without further ado, my trip to Holland!

One of the great things about traveling within the EU is that they don’t check passports upon crossing the border. There’s no border check, no questioning why you’re there. Nevertheless, I knew exactly when I crossed the border to the Netherlands for several reasons, the first being the Dutch language. It’s almost German….but not quite. The Germans like to joke that it’s a dialect of theirs and for the most part they can understand it but they couldn’t tell you why or respond properly in Dutch. To me, all the writing looked like those emails people used to forward: If you are radieng tihs tehn you are sepcail bcuaese the wrdos are jmubled haha! If I stared too long at a text I would realize all the weird differences, but just glancing at something, I could usually understand it. Not the speech though. That was impossible. Fortunately they all speak English; I just felt a little bad not being able to communicate with them in their native language.

The second way I knew I was in the Netherlands was all the canals. Built mostly on marshland, Holland especially is just full of canals. It allows the people to live there without experiencing flooding. I guess I didn’t know that much about the Netherlands because I thought the canals were just in Amsterdam, but the picture below was taken in Leiden, the city where I was staying (about 40 minutes from Amsterdam.)

Leiden is a very beautiful place, and completely different from what I was expecting. It has a lot of character; all the little houses sit right next to each other, and everything looks incredibly historic. Actually, the only really new buildings I saw the whole time were in a section of Amsterdam rebuilt in the 1960’s by architecture students. It’s really ugly and the only reason they did it was because it had been the Jewish area during the war, and once the Jews left or were killed, their houses were abandoned and used for firewood during the brutal winter of 1945 I believe (possibly ’46.) Everything else is like something out of an old film, and all the streets are paved in cobblestone or brick.

And now I’d like to point out something in the above picture: the bicycles. There actually aren’t too many of them in this picture, relatively speaking. Because the Dutch loooove their bicycles and they are literally everywhere and used to transport everything, even the whole family. Even if the Dutch are expert bicyclists, I constantly felt as if I was going to be run over–bicycles are silent. You can just be walking along the sidewalk minding your own business when–WHOOSH–two or three bicycles go past you, missing you by 3 or 4 inches. Amsterdam was especially hectic because they like to play a little game of chicken with the tourists.

Before I talk about Amsterdam, one more thing about the smaller town of Leiden: they had at least 2 windmills in the center of town. You know you always hear about windmills, but I never thought they’d just be sitting there in a city like that. I loved that though. Some expectations, such as the idea that the Dutch have tons of windmills, do turn out to be true.

I made two trips to Amsterdam that week. Amsterdam is a strange city. My friend is a big fan of city tours, and though I normally don’t like them, I was glad that I went because I learned a lot about the city’s history. Now whenever someone thinks of Amsterdam, they normally think of two things: prostitution and pot. The city is so much more than that, but I am glad that I learned a little about the reasoning behind those two things. I’ll share just a little here: first of all, prostitution is legal, pot is not. However, no one get arrested for smoking marijuana. Why? Well apparently the story goes something like this: back in the 70’s, Amsterdam had a lot of drug problems. (10,000 hard drug addicts.) The police got to thinking, what if marijuana isn’t a gateway drug, and the people get introduced to hard drugs in jail after getting arrested for smoking marijuana? So they just stopped arresting people for marijuana altogether and now the number is down to 300. Thus, the famous coffeeshops are very obvious about their presence (both in smell and location. I swear the whole city smelled like pot.) They can’t advertise, but it’s pretty apparent what’s going on.

Also on the tour, we were given a lot of history about Amsterdam’s trading history. Apparently they were really successful trading, especially do the New World, and had their own East India company. New York city was originally a Dutch colony. I’m so used to thinking about the English history of America that I forget sometimes how many Dutch settled the early US.

Another interesting thing is the architecture. Our tour guide explained that because the ground is so marshy in Amsterdam, the buildings would often shift on their foundations and begin to lean left, right, or forward. The Dutch didn’t bother to fix the foundations and instead let the buildings rest on their neighbors’ houses, sometimes replacing the windows to be aligned with the angle of the street and adding to the lopsided look of the houses. In addition, sometimes the houses’ angle made it easier to lift objects onto the second or third stories using the hooks attached to the walls.

My favorite thing about Amsterdam, however, was definitely the Van Gogh museum. As someone who enjoys museums immensely, Europe is great because of its great art history. I have never seen a Van Gogh in person but always enjoyed the reproductions for their color. However, upon seeing 75 of his paintings in person, I am struck by another detail: texture. Everything was so incredibly textured to fit how the object really looked. Sea foam had form and the center of the sunflowers were rough in contrast to the smooth petals. They had many of his famous paintings, including The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers (one from the series), and the Bedroom.  I absolutely loved the exhibit and now, wherever I go, if a museum has a Van Gogh painting I will always pay it a visit.

Holland is such a lovely place. Although I missed the tulips on account of winter lasting so long, I am glad that I got to see it. And I am also glad to have spent some time with a friend from St. Edward’s, to see a familiar face and speak English for a while. Now I’m off to new adventures over Easter break!

Though I visited Neuschwanstein Castle only a week ago, this story begins long before that. I have wanted to visit Neuschwanstein ever since I was very young, and my interest was reborn after coming to college. I remember the first time I saw Neuschwanstein; I was 5 or maybe 7 years old and after seeing a picture of the castle, I asked my mother if it was real–for how could something like that exist outside of stories or my imagination? “I’m sure it is,” she said. “Really?” I asked. “It looks like a fairy tale castle. Where is it?” “I don’t know, but maybe you’ll find out and can visit it someday,” my mom suggested. I never imagined that 15 years later I would be standing inside that very castle thinking of that moment.

The castles in Schwangau are both gorgeous, but they are even more impressive one you know the history behind them. So before I begin my story, I’ve written a short history crash-course on Ludwig II and his beautiful castles.

History Behind the Castles

Neuschwanstein Castle is situated above the town of Schwangau in Bavaria. It was built by King Ludwig II from 1869—1886 and never finished due to his death. The royal family had a summer residence at Hohenschwangau, a smaller castle not far from Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau, an older castle, used to be the residence of the knights of Schwangau before it was reduced to ruins by Napoleon. Ludwig II’s father, Maximilian II, rediscovered the ruins and built the current castle of Hohenschwangau on them. This summer residence served as an inspiration for Ludwig later when he decided to build Neuschwanstein castle nearby and originally called it “New Hohenschwangau.”

Ludwig II is also known as the Märchenkönig, or Fairy Tale King, of Bavaria. He had great interest in the arts, including theater, opera, and literature. His favorites were Wagner’s operas, and it is thanks to Ludwig that we are able to enjoy Wagner’s later works today, as the King saved the composer from bankruptcy. People often said that he preferred to be in his own world, or perhaps more accurately Wagner’s worlds, but he did make an effort to travel and meet the people of Bavaria.

At the beginning of his reign, Bavaria was a country with its own rich history of rulers. However, in 1871, Wilhelm I united Germany and was crowned emperor. Ludwig II retained kingship of Bavaria, though his power was now diminished under Kaiser Wilhelm I. Nevertheless, he continued to build elaborate castles: Neuschwnastein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee. Neuschwanstein, the most famous, is designed after the worlds depicted in Richard Wagner’s operas such as Parsifal and Lohengrin. It is meant to be a “fortress of the Holy Grail,” according to Ludwig, a fantasy castle straight from medieval legend. The rooms were designed not by an architect but by Wagner’s stage designer and include a gigantic throne room, singer’s hall, and Ludwig’s elaborate bedroom connected to a secret artificial cave.

Ludwig was deposed in 1886 after being declared insane by a physician who had never examined him. A few days later he was found dead in Lake Starnberg and the circumstances remain a mystery today. His legacy and castles continue to fascinate people from around the world and Neuschwanstein is one of the most iconic structures in all of Germany.

A Real Fairy Tale Castle

I woke up early Saturday morning, unable to sleep due to all the excitement of getting to see Neuschwanstein. That turned out to be a good thing because I got the first tours of the day–when you buy 2 tickets, you always see Hohenschwangau first. I was joined by a Japanese student who was backpacking through Europe. His English wasn’t very good because anything he knew, he had taught himself, but we could communicate a little, at least enough to make sure he knew how to get to his tours. When I told him I was from Texas, he grinned and made a lasso motion to ask if we really had cowboys there. Foreign impressions of Texas are just great; I’m actually very proud of the Hollywood idea everyone has.

Hohenschwangau is beautiful. It feels like a real medieval castle, even though most of it comes from the 1800’s when it was rebuilt. It offered a great view of the town and Alpsee below, which was all covered in the last of the winter snow. Everything was like a frozen wonderland, especially the garden and courtyard areas. Though it was only a summer residence, the inside was elaborately decorated and painted with murals straight from medieval legend. The Queen’s chambers depicted the typical life of a medieval noblewoman , and the king’s depicted the typical life of a knight or a king. The Queen’s room was heavily influenced by Moroccan and eastern art and architecture, while the King (who had a separate room with a secret door leading to the Queen’s) slept under a painting of the night sky guarded by angels. Ludwig later inherited his father’s room, where a telescope still stands pointed at Neuschwanstein to watch construction progress. A piano Wagner played sits in the corner, silent now and not to be touched again. I’d really recommend visiting both castles, as this puts Ludwig’s history into perspective. Altogether it was an impressive and beautiful castle, although as I would later discover, not nearly as fantastic as Neuschwanstein.

Some other tourists joined me for the walk to Neuschwanstein, apparently because I looked like I knew where I was going. Altogether our group came from Bavaria, Spain, Japan and Texas. It was very funny watching us all try to communicate with one another; our common language was English, but I spoke some German and sometimes translated in a way for the Japanese student because he only understood accent-less English. Though I lost them after the tour, I very much enjoyed having the company–it’s so rare here that people go anywhere with strangers. In addition, I loved learning from them as we walked up to the castle! Apparently Neuschwanstein is a big deal in Japan and that’s why so many Japanese tourists visit. It’s iconic.

Neuschwanstein was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It is just as beautiful as in the pictures, situated at the foot of the Bavarian Alps and covered in snow. It really does look like something brought to life out of a fairy tale or perhaps a painting.

The best part of the whole trip was the second time I went to the castle, early Sunday morning. There was fog over the mountain so that you could barely see the castle from below and even when I climbed up to the castle, the towers were still covered in fog. I was completely alone because the tours hadn’t started yet, so I sat in the courtyard and listened to the waterfall below and the birds in the trees nearby. I sat in the courtyard of Neuschwanstein Castle. Something normally so crowded with tourists, and yet I managed to get there early enough that there was room for me to sit down and listen to something other than the confusion of 10 different languages all at once. It was beautiful. And then, as the tourists began to arrive, the sun came out from the clouds that it has been hidden behind for 2 months and shone so brilliantly that the snow sparkled and the castle seemed as if it were waking up with the arrival of its visitors.

Of course, being a photographer, I absolutely had to return to Marienbrücke, the bridge opposite Neuschwanstein that Ludwig II built in 1866. (He replaced the old wooden one with a stronger bridge made of metal, which is what stands there today.) I’d gone the day before but I also have a crippling fear of heights and couldn’t get more than 2 feet onto the bridge. A German tourist finally felt sorry enough for me that he talked me onto the bridge far enough to take a picture. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. But I went back, nevertheless, and got the picture of a lifetime.

Turns out if I walk backwards across the bridge, I feel safe enough to take the picture. No one said phobias made sense.

As for the inside of the castle, it is beyond words, at least beyond what skill I have with words to describe it. What I can say is that Ludwig made it very elaborate, beyond what is normal for most castles, I think, although my experience with castles is admittedly limited. My favorite room was the singer’s hall, which he had painted with scenes telling the story of Parzival, complete with a forest mural behind the platform where he would have sat. In fact, every room told a story either from German legend or Wagner’s operas (and in some cases, both.) There is also a room dedicated to Lohengrin, the opera I saw in Berlin for the very purpose of understanding this castle just a little more. Also, Ludwig II built an artificial cave connected to his room. There was a cave. In the castle. Basically, whatever he wanted in this castle, he had built.

All in all, this was my favorite trip so far. I got to see the most beautiful castle, eat Bavarian food, learn about the history of Bavaria at the local museum, and spend 2 days hiking around the castle as much as I liked. I was almost sorry to go, especially because I don’t know if I will have a chance to go back again before I leave Germany. But I have hung a giant Neuschwanstein poster in my room along with a Bavarian flag as reminders. And of course, I will always have the memories–and 400+ pictures I took that weekend!

How can I describe Berlin? It is completely different from any other city I have ever visited. As the capital city of Germany, it is also the largest, but not in the way that Americans would think of a “big city.” We identify a big city as one with skyscrapers; a defined skyline is one of the first ways in which we will judge whether a city is “big” or not. Berlin, however, has no skyscrapers–I have heard Germans refer to them as “ugly American buildings.” Instead, it has all the size of a big city without much of a reference point as to where the center is, at least when looking at it from the train. It has 12 different boroughs which are all incredibly distinct from one another, so that when you step off the U-Bahn a few stops down the line it’s like you’re in another city entirely. It’s very multicultural and I heard more English in Berlin than I have since I left America, plus half a dozen other languages. Berlin is a beautiful city, with some areas having very traditional old architecture styles and others seeming rather new. Graffiti is, apparently, not illegal and seems to be Berlin’s favorite way to decorate apartment buildings and doors.

I’d decided to go to Berlin after I found out that Die Deutsche Oper was performing Wagner’s Lohengrin last Saturday. Of course Berlin is a must-see while I am here, but it is around 6 hours away by train so I thought I’d see as much as I could while I was there. I stayed in a hostel because my friend, who I met through Die Deutsche Sommerschule, is still searching for an apartment there. (Everyone wants to live in Berlin and it’s impossible to find housing right now.) Four days is hardly enough to see everything, but I managed to visit more places than I thought I would while I was there. My hostel was right next to a large bus stop and train station so it was easy to get to the main areas of the city. Everything in Berlin runs almost 24/7 too, a big relief for late nights spent exploring or at the opera.

Like many tourists, my first stop was the Brandenburger Tor. I took a class about Berlin while at Die Deutsche Sommerschule and knew that if I visited this first, I could follow Unter den Linden (the main street) to other sightseeing places. Plus, it’s just so impressive! I was in awe seeing it for the first time. There’s something about finally standing in front of something that you see everywhere–books, postcards, posters, films–that is at the same time very special and surreal.

This is the Reichstag building, where the German parliament meets. It’s also a very popular tourist destination, and not difficult to find as it is almost directly behind the Brandenburger Tor. (it doesn’t look busy here because it’s about 9:00 in the morning.) I had a map of Berlin but didn’t like to use it that much because then it was painfully obvious that I was a tourist, so I wandered around finding things based on my knowledge of Berlin from the class this summer. It worked out well and felt a bit more like an adventure in the end. I must have looked like I knew what I was doing because people kept asking me for directions–in German. I blend in without the camera; with it, people ask me for money and speak to me in English. Oh well, I have nice pictures now!

Museumsinsel was without doubt one of my favorite parts of Berlin. It’s an area of the city which houses 5 different museums; visiting 2 took me almost an entire day, and I ended up rushing through the second one a bit. They were very impressive; the Pergamon Museum was my favorite. Inside, they’ve reconstructed (as in, transported) the Pergamon Altar (depicting scenes of the Greek gods at war), the market gate of Miletus, and the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. Absolutely breathtaking to step inside a room housing such large structures from the ancient world. The second museum I visited was Neues Museum, which is actually a very old museum damaged so badly during WWII that it only re-opened 4 years ago. On a side note, that’s something I noticed a lot in Berlin. They’re still repairing some war damage, still re-building things completely destroyed 70 years ago. Thinking about it, it’s only been 23 years since the wall fell and the city has come so far in that time. It really has grown fast. Anyway, the Neues Museum was interesting for a number of reasons. First, it has a huge collection of Egyptian antiquities including 4 copies of the Book of the Dead and the bust of Nefertiti, a 3,300 year old artifact in surprisingly good condition. Second, the building itself has an interesting history and layout. Listening to the audio tour, I learned which rooms were damaged the most, what they used to house, and why they are designed the way they are. Often the rooms were designed after what they contained, eg, painted in a Greek style for the busts of the philosophers. Some of that has been preserved while other rooms are more neutral. It was very strange, because oftentimes the collections were arranged by who donated them or when they were found, which meant that I had to read the captions very carefully as something from the Stone Age would be sitting next to a Greek artifact or a Medieval sword. I would definitely go back and take a closer look at things and visit some of the other museums.

The Berliner Dom is the most beautiful Protestant church I have ever seen. Church architecture is fascinating to me, but I usually find that Catholic Churches are the most intricate. This was a pleasant surprise for me and I would have liked to go inside but there was a huge line and it was getting late. Tourist tip: the big grassy area outside the Dom is full of traps. That was the one bad thing about Berlin. This girl came up to me asking if I spoke English and having never encountered this, I said “yes,” thinking maybe she was lost. DON’T. She started asking me for money and I realized I’d read on the internet that these people take money from American/English tourists. She was very persistent and I just had to walk away. Sad, really, but the smartest thing to do when you’re alone like that.

Holocaust Memorial. It looks from here to be rather flat but actually, you can walk through it and the stones are all different heights. You can’t see anybody in there because the ground slopes downwards. Very well done–without so much as a word written anywhere, the memorial still speaks; it communicates to the emotions.

And finally, East Side Gallery. Though they’ve marked all over the city where the wall used to be, this is the only place where a large part of it still stands, covered in paintings and visited daily by tourists. It’s really amazing to see the inspirational things painted on that wall, making the symbol of division one of re-unification and hope.

All in all, I had a wonderful time in Berlin, sightseeing, visiting my friend, going to the opera (which was amazing!), and just wandering around. However, I was really relieved to return to Koblenz on Monday. Koblenz is quieter and smaller than Berlin; it just feels more relaxed to me. I think if I were with a large group of people I would feel alright studying in Berlin, but as the only St. Edward’s student in Koblenz I feel more comfortable there. Still, I would definitely go back to Berlin if I got the chance–there is too much to do there for just one visit!