Westminster Trip Days 11 & 12 (final posting)

June 24, 2008 – 00:44 Local Time

Wow…what a day this had been in Berlin! (Just FYI, I type “Berling” almost without fail in my efforts to type Berlin, so there may be a few errant composer references here and there – I’ll proofread soon, haha!) We started the day, as always, bright and early for a 9am bus tour of the city. After going to bed at 2am (couldn’t sleep), this wasn’t a pleasant thought at the beginning. However, our guide was the single-most wonderful guide we have had this entire journey, and she made it all worthwhile. Her bubbliness alone was motivation enough to be there, let alone her personality, her knowledge, and her outright enthusiasm for this wonderful city.



This tower (above) is all that is left of a beautiful church which was bombed in WWII. It was, literally, two blocks from our hotel. Next to it is a fascinating memorial sanctuary - the circular wall is comprised entirely of mortared-together squares of blue glass, all different shades, making up a breath-taking sea of color.

Next we were off to the Olympic Stadium, the site of the rather ironic 1936 Olympic Games. I think it must have been difficult to put on an event which thrives on world unity while preparing to invade other countries.



Next, we were on our way around the city for a somewhat long bus ride. Along the way we passed the the Senate House, the Brandenburg Gate (which was somewhat obscured by the World Cup Semifinals construction going on), and finally the longest existing stretch of the Berlin Wall. I guess I didn't know what to expect about the Wall. It was about ten feet tall, and completely covered in paintings. A good deal of that was graffiti, sure, but the "base coat," as it were, was made-up of commissioned painting. They were of a stark political nature and quite disturbing for the most part.







After the tour, we spent a couple of hours in the Checkpoint Charlie district. I have to confess that I have a huge lack of knowledge when it comes to Communist times. This was a really neat experience for me, because everything was new. It was unfortunate that we didn't have the time to go to the museum. However, we had some tasty Greek food and enjoyed some fun shops of relics and art relating to the 1945-1989 period.



The afternoon was all to ourselves, which was fantastic! Nathan and I went to KaDeWe, a HUGE (7-story) department store in the middle of the Kurfürstendamm (high-end shopping district). We (foolishly) made our way to "Men's fashion" and became immediately and totally depressed. Never in my life have I seen a place with an Armani department, and a Versace department!!! It was incredible! Of course, the least-expensive thing on the floor was a t-shirt for 80€ ($120), and let's not even TALK about the jeans!!! We made our way to the electronics department, and things became a lot friendlier. I found a copy of Maria Callas' Medea. The only sad part is that it's a Region 2 DVD, so I have to play it on my computer until I can afford a Blu-Ray player, haha.



We spent the rest of the night just hanging out in the hotel. We decided to stay up all night, since the bus was leaving for the airport at 3:45am...blech! It was just WAY too ridiculous. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 6:00. The worst part was fighting with non-English-speaking (well, mostly) to convince them that Nathan, Polly and I actually did have tickets that would carry us back to our homes. We finally got on a plane, passed through Brussels and Chicago (with not a hitch in customs), and landed safely back in Nashville. What a fantastic trip! Thanks to everyone for reading! I love you all! ~AJR