[INSERT CLEVER TITLE HERE]

I got nothing. There are no clever puns that apply to Croatia or
Dubrovnik. I was working with something like, "A Crow-Ate-cha?", but
decided that it was beyond lame. Anyway...

We got to Croatia via a straight up Wright Brother aircraft. I was
expecting to see the pilot stroll up in a leather cap and goggles; but
alas, no goggles. No cap. But seriously, prop planes are ridiculous.
I feel like technology has progressed past the prop plane. What's
next: a hot air balloon to commute? Riding lawnmower for a joy ride?

We got picked up at the Dubrovnik airport by Pero, a friend of our
hotelier, who is also named Pero. He drove us to the hotel in his
"brand new, 4 month old Audi". Pero was quite the fan of his car, and
I must say, I was too. After 4 days of riding around in a 7-passenger
van with a Jackson Pollack windshield and no shocks to speak of, it
was heaven. Did I say, drove us to the hotel? Oh, no no no. There are
no streets in the Old Town of Dubrovnik; you have to walk everywhere.
This quirk is delightful when going downhill; significantly less so
when traversing back up. While scraping the Euros from the bottom of
our bags to pay Audi Pero, we were met at the car by the son of hotel
Pero [who is also named Pero] who led us down the hill to the hotel.
We dragged our bags up the stairs to the top floor and flung the
shutters open for some air. What a view!! We could see all of Old Town
and even the Adriatic in the distance. The warm air was blowing in the
window and the sun shined on the sill.

While walking to the hotel, I had noticed that there was laundry
drying on lines outside every window. "How delightfully quaint!" I
thought. Not so much. I desperately needed to do laundry, so I washed
out a few things in the sink and started to hang them up on the line
outside the window. I take my first pair of undies and try to pin them
to the line. Unfortunately, I do not seem to possess the skill set
needed to properly fasten undies to a clothesline. Down they go. Onto
the red tile roof of the next building, seven feet below my window. I
stare at the wet plopped heap, willing them to fly up and reattach
themselves to the clothesline. When my mind control fails to work, the
hysterical giggling begins. What are the owners of the building next
door going to make of a pair of pink undies if/when they find them?
But then, I get an idea! [/ Laura suggests]: get the umbrella from
downstairs and try to snag them. I stealthily pad down the stairs,
grab the umbrella and race back to the top floor. I lean halfway out
the window holding the pointy end, and fish for my undies with the
hook. After a minute or two of epic failure [plus some odd looks from
the neighbors], success! I do not try to reattach. I know my
limitations.

After that traumatic event, Laura and I explored in Old Town. The Old
Town is quite lovely, all built with the same pale stone that has
bleached pure white over the centuries. The main drag is called
Stradun, filled with lots of touristy shops and a truly excellent
bookstore. We grabbed dinner and headed to bed at 9:30.

The next morning, we walked outside the city walls to a park located
where the town moat once was. After reading for a while, we looked
into going to Mostar in Bosnia or Kotor in Montenegro for a day trip.
We decided that we had been in the car too much in the past week…and
I'll own up to it. The only reason that I wanted to go to Montenegro
was because Casino Royale was set there. I am a bit of James Bond
dork.

That afternoon, we discovered what was to be our base for the rest of
out stay. It is a tiny little bar that is located outside the walls of
the city on a tiny bluff overlooking the sea. You have an unobstructed
180 degree view of the Adriatic. The sea gently laps at the rocky
coast as you sit under umbrellas soaking up the sun and reading. Life
doesn't get much better. [Speaking of, I read four books during the
five days I spent there. Man, I can get stuff DONE on vacation!]

The next day, Laura and I took a boat tour of the Elaphite Islands.
These tiny islands make up a chain that lines the coast of southern
Croatia. While there is not a lot happening on the islands, the boat
ride was beautiful. This coastline is unlike anything I have ever
seen: no sand, just bleached white cliffs that fall into the clear
cerulean sea [yes, I did just use the word cerulean]. On every island,
there is a tiny chapel built of white stone on the highest peak of the
island. One wonders, how did the builders get up there?

On Tuesday morning, I decided to go back out to the café outside the
city wall with the amazing view of the Adriatic. I was the first one
there [or so I thought…] so I lumbered down the stairs to the furthest
point from the entry to I could read in peace. Little did I know that
this peace did not last for long.

I'm reading my book when I hear some splashes. Thinking nothing of it,
I casually glance in the direction of the water. I see the top of an
older man's head just as he spots me. He had obviously just come from
swimming since his hair was wet and he said to me, "the water is quite
cold!" as he walks up to the stairs. I am mid-polite reply when he
comes into full view.

Let me back up. While reading up on Dubrovnik, I ran across a mention
of some nude beaches on a few of the islands near Dubrovnik. I noted
where to steer clear so that I could remain in nudist free zone at all
times. The best laid plans…

Yep, he is nekkid. Ne-kkid. No clothes on. While every muscle in my
body locks into a catatonic state, I sharply jerk my head to look at
the sky, the cliff, my book, anything but him. He, on the other hand,
seems perfectly at ease with situation, not even reaching for the
towel draped on a rock nearby. He does not seem menacing or
threatening…he is not even near me, but I can't run away because he is
in my direct path to the exit. He looks for his belongings, bending
over, turning around, standing with hands on hips…I unwillingly see
this through my peripheral vision, even though I am trying my hardest
not to see ANY part of him. I quickly solve this problem my shutting
my right eye. Ha! No peripheral vision on that side!

I am vaguely hysterical trying to figure out what to do. He is still
trying to make casual conversation, despite my best efforts to ignore
him. Do I mention my large, tall, jealous boyfriend who will be here
any second? Do I pull out my iPod and pretend to have a "phone" call
spoken in loud Spanish? Do I jump off the cliff and take my chances?

As luck would have it, I am saved by an old Croatian lady who appears
to know Mr. Nekkid. She peers over the edge, sees him, then sees me,
and then proceeds to [I am assuming] tell him off in very angry
sounding Croatian. He grabs a towel and slinks off up the stairs as I
silently [and Puritanically] thank God that there are no nude beaches
in America.

The rest of the day was spent trying to get the Mr. Nekkid visual out
of my head.

On Wednesday, we took another boat trip, this time to Lokrum, an
island right off the coast of Dubrovnik. As soon as we got off the
boat, we ran into a peacock. Several peacocks in fact. Apparently they
were brought here a long time ago and have no natural predators. I
found a male and tried to startle him into spreading his plumage, but
no such luck. He just looked at me condescendingly, seeming to be
thinking, "Really? 'Boo' is the best you've got?" I was thoroughly
belittled by a peacock.

We walked through the centuries old botanical gardens that are still
recovering from being bombed during the war almost twenty years ago.
Who bombs a botanical garden? On the island, there are ruins of a
monastery that was founded a thousand years ago. It seems like an odd
place to found a monastery, out in the middle of nowhere on some
island in the Adriatic.

As we were walking along the path, we saw signs warning of a nude
beach up ahead. Still wary from the day before, I slowly backed away
and ran off.

Before leaving in Thursday, we popped by the bar outside the walls to
read for a bit. I had Laura to protect me from Mr. Nekkid…thank God,
we didn't see him. We lumbered back to the hotel [70 steps!!!] and had
Audi Pero take us back to the airport. Unfortunately, we forgot that
the rest of the world is not like Dubrovnik. When we got to Vienna, it
was freezing and we were in our resort clothes, looking slightly
ridiculous.

Today I didn't do much. Of course my last day in Prague was dreary and
overcast. That is…so Prague. I was too sad about leaving to try and be
a tourist, so I did some much needed repacking.

I am coming home tomorrow!! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My
next email will also be my last [unless I think of more really clever
titles]. I hope to see all of you very soon!

Hungry for Hungary! [OK, that was just too easy]

I'm quite the fan of that title. I thought of it even before we left.

Anyway, Harris, Laura, and I hung out in Prague for a few days before
heading off on Tuesday for Budapest. [One fun story: while we were
still in Prague, Laura and I went to a string quartet concert near the
Charles Bridge. We sat down in the pews and waited for the concert to
begin. Someone had been in the seat before me, so it was a little
warm. I was chilly so I didn't mind. But I just kept getting warmer
and warmer. I thought that I was having some sort of episode, thinking
I was going crazy. My bum was really HOT!...Turns out there were seat
warmers. Not crazy. Good to know.]

Anyway, we had hired a Rick Steves recommended chauffeur company to
drive us all the way around Europe, so Jan picked us up to head to
Cesky Krumlov. Laura and Harris had wanted to go there since I wrote
my first email about it and even though it was my third trip, I was
glad to go. We just had time to wander around the little town and grab
a bite to eat before we headed back to the car. We switched drivers
[to Mike] and switched cars [to a ridiculously large van...for 3
people]. Mike is adorable. He is a small guy who taught himself
English by reading thrillers, therefore he uses the funniest phrases.
He says things like "he wet his beak", which is apparently a mafia
term. Also, he loved using the car microphone whenever he wanted to
say something. To three people. It was awesome.

We got to Budapest about dinner time. Our hotel, also a Rick Steves
recommendation [well, sort of], was quite interesting. It hasn't
changed much since Communism...Rick Steves called it [and I quote] "a
dump" and I am inclined to agree. However, it served its purpose. I
can do anything for one night. We went to dinner [where Rick Steves
told us to go] and went to bed early. We had hired a guide [another
Rick Steves pick] and he picked us up at the hotel the next morning
for a quick tour.

[OK, here's the scoop. We are like heartsick thirteen year old girls
when it comes to Rick Steves. We love him. Love him. We are always
saying, Rick likes this restaurant. This is what Rick thinks. What
does Ricky say about it? It's a little weird. It turns out that our
guide, Peter, had met Rick Steves, even led tours with him. Needless
to say, we pestered him with questions about our heartthrob.
Apparently, he is just awesome as we hoped. Yes!]

Anyway...Peter took us to the top sights of Budapest since we only had
a few hours to see it all. Our first stop was St. Stephan's Basilica.
Hands down my favorite church that I have seen in Europe. It is a
Baroque church, but nothing like the opulence of St. Nicolas in Prague
or St. Peter's in Rome. It is a very tasteful Baroque church [not a
gold covered baby in sight]. Google it. It is awesome.

Peter was a great guide. He is a native Hungarian, so he could explain
all of the history, especially life under Communism. We stopped at the
Parliament, saw the castle, and all of the different architecture. The
architecture is the best part of Budapest...it spans centuries and
every different style possible. We ended up at the Szesheny Baths, a
historic spa in the center of the city park. It is NOT a nude bath [I
had been concerned]. The thermal waters underneath Budapest feed the
baths. There are several different pools with different temperatures.
It was such a great experience, floating in the natural water
surrounded by a beautiful building. Damp and prune-y, we got in the
van and headed to Krakow. The drive was beautiful. We drove through
Slovakia, a wild and unspoiled wilderness of a country. Driving
through the Carpathian mountains, it is easy to see why Rick Steves
[sigh] loves it so much.

I got sick in Krakow, so I am not the person to talk about it. I spent
most of the time in the hotel. I did make it to the salt mines. These
salt mines are famous in Krakow. They are the oldest operating salt
mines in Europe. The miners carved intricate sculptures into the rock
salt to create several chapels [Poland is the most religious country
in Europe], along with statues of national heros. They LOVE Pope John
Paul II. There is a huge salt statue of him in the biggest chapel.
They conduct weddings in there, so if you have a hankering to get
married 120 meters below the surface, this is your place.

We left Krakow the next morning to come back to Prague, but we stopped
in Auschwitz. It is an incredibly moving place and very difficult to
see. You actually stand in the gas chambers. You actually see the sign
that says Arbeit Macht Frei. It is hard to get your mind around such a
place. Even though it was so hard to see, it was definitely worth
going.

After a 5 hour bus ride [blerg], we got back to Prague. Harris is
flying back home this morning through Frankfurt. I am writing from the
Vienna airport. Laura and I are on a layover to Dubrovnik, where we'll
be for 5 days. I am super excited about Croatia. I am finally feeling
somewhat better, so I hope to make the most of this trip.

I'll be home in a week! I am so excited. For the past two weeks, I
have been craving a cobb salad from Charley's. Definitely on my list
of things to do list.

See you all soon!!

Prague-nosis: not quiiiiiite ready to come home.

But close.

Mom and Dad have just touched down back to Charlotte. We had a great
week. I went to the airport to pick them...they arrived with only 2
suitcases and two carry-ons...I was so impressed!!! The Parnells are
not light packers.

I haven't done a lot of the touristy things since the first month or
so, so I was great to rediscover Prague. We did some fun things that I
had done, like the Jewish Quarter, the Castle, Old Town Square, and
some new things that I hadn't done, like take an old car on a drive
through the city, go to two different concerts [strings + organ and
classical guitar duets], and took a lunch cruise on the Vltava. One
day, we took a day trip to Cesky Krumlov, a tiny city in southern
Bohemia that I had visited my first weekend in the CZ. It was very
different without the subzero temperatures, long underwear, and 6
inches of snow. It was a gorgeous day and the town wasn't overrun with
tourists. There is something magical about Cesky Krumlov...like living
in a fairy tale or a postcard. [I'm headed back there on Tuesday, and
I'm not complaining].

Harris and Laura arrived on Wednesday and we had a great dinner at
Kampa Park, one of the best restaurants in Prague. It was tres
awesome, right on the Vltava with an amazing view of the Charles
Bridge. The next morning, bright and early to catch the bus to Vienna.
I had already been to Vienna on Spring Break, but it is such a great
city that I didn't mind. We got to the hotel [which was right across
the street from the U...excellent!] and decided to do a quick bus tour
in the afternoon. We got a quick tour of the town. That night, we went
to a concert at the Kursalon, a famous concert hall in Vienna. It is a
classical music concert, plus dancing and fun costumes! Man, it
delivered like Dominos. They knew their niche, and they found it.
Super touristy, but totally awesome.

The next day, it was the National Labor Day in Vienna [read: lots of
protests and the like]. Mom and I headed to the Imperial Palace [I do
love me a good palace] while Laura, Harris, and Dad went to the
National Art Museum. We met them for lunch at a lovely little outdoor
cafe near the art museum. I had my first [and last...] wiener
schnitzel...redonkulous. After lunch all of us headed to the art
museum for some culture. This museum is incredible. It was built by
Franz Josef in the late 19th century near the end of the Hapsburg
Empire. It is amazing what you can build when you have unlimited
funds. The museum has a huge collection, from Roman sculpture to
Rubens to Egyptian hieroglyphs to Velasquez to Vermeer. The Vermeer
was my favorite...just incredible. We went to a locals place for
dinner which was a nice change from the generally tourist oriented
places that we had been going. The downside of going somewhere off the
beaten track is that NO ONE speaks English. Our poor waitress was
reduced to exaggerated hand gestures and speaking German really loud.
We eventually got our dinner [almost what we ordered] and headed back
to the hotel.

The next morning, we headed to the Belvedere, another art museum. I
didn't go in [I was feeling weird, plus I had already seen it], but
the grounds and exterior are beautiful. We got on the bus and headed
back to Prague. Mom and Dad left the next day and Harris, Laura, and I
started on our Eastern European adventure. I'll leave that for another
blog.

Czech-cellent.

Sorry I've been such a poor correspondent, but trust me, you haven't
been missing much. The semester wound down, which unfortunately meant
that I actually had to do work. I aced my beekeeping exam, a very
important accomplishment in my life. If you need any info on bees, I'm
your go-to person. Yesss.

I got an A in philosophy, Lit, and Czech as well. There you go Mom, I
know that makes you happy. I ended up really liking Czech. I think
I'll continue with it when I get home. I wonder if Rosetta Stone makes
a Czech version. Must keep up. Even though it is completely useless in
the US, how cool would it be to say that you spoke Czech?

The landscape architects has their open house on Wednesday. It is
really fascinating what they do. Their project was to redesign a
neighborhood in Prague that was designed by the Communists [read:
UGLY]. They all had different designs, incorporating different
landscape techniques [parks, graded green spaces, pedestrian walkways,
ponds, sculpture, etc.]. Very cool. I know that I'll look at "spaces"
differently now.

The fashion students also finished this week. Their assignment was to
make costumes for "Midsummer's Night Dream", stage a 10 minute play
and make a cocktail dress. The girls were starting to work on the play
and I offered my expert opinion and ... ended up
in the play. I was the narrator and had to make my own costume. I
think it turned out really well...I made a long black skirt with a
train that had blue petals [in graded colors and sizes] that looked
like a flower. I also made a headband and necklace. I am quite proud
of my little outfit, seeing that I've never sewed before. Last
Saturday, we had a photo shoot for the costumes. They hired a makeup
artist to make us look fabulous and then had a professional
photographer take our pictures. It was pretty awesome.

We had our fashion open house yesterday where we staged the play and
then the girls had a fashion show for their cocktail dresses. It was
super fun.

After, we all went out for a farewell dinner to the monastery where we
all went out the first night. Wait, let me back up. Earlier in the
day, someone decided that we needed to have a mustache party. See, all
of the boys have been growing out their beards [or trying to...] the
whole semester. So yesterday, they all shaved down to mustaches. Not
to be outdone, the girls constructed our own mustaches. Mine was made
out of blue felt. It was fabulous. Anyway, we all went out to dinner.
With the mustaches. We got some strange looks. The best part was that
someone had brought their eyeliner, so EVERYONE got a mustache,
including our professors, the assistant, and they head of the program.
It was AWESOME. Probably the weirdest thing I have ever done [and I do
theatre], but so awesome.

Mom and Dad are arriving tomorrow! I am so excited to see them. Harris
and Laura arrive next week and then we all take off for Vienna. After
we get back, Laura, Harris, and I are heading to Budapest and Krakow,
and then Laura and I are flying to Dubrovnik for almost a week. Life
is not too bad.

I'll be home on May 16th. It seems very close and very far away at the
same time. Three weeks!! However, you may not see me for a while even
after I return. See, I was crazy and booked my flight to Frankfurt at
6:00 AM. Which means I have to be at the airport at 4:30 AM. Which
means I have to leave the hotel at 3:30 AM. Which means I have to get
up at...oh I don't even want to think about it. Blerg.

Apart from being pooed on, it was an awesome day.

Last Wednesday, I went to the zoo [were you thinking something
else?]. The Prague Zoo is one of the best in the world, or so
Fernando, the State professor over here with us now, says. I love
zoos, so I was super eager to go and it did not fail to deliver.
Besides the poo.

It was a really beautiful day: 70 degrees, sunny, slight wind. I saw
the lions, tigers, bears, [oh my], giraffes, gorillas, weird birds,
emus, yaks, antelopes, and unfortunately, bats. Yes, bats.  I have
never been a fan of flying rodents, and this incident did nothing to
quell my fears. I innocently went into a dark room with
lizards.....AND BATS. Bats. And, of course, I got pooed on. Poo. On
my dress. Poo. POO!!! I do not wish bat guano on anyone. It was
horrible. I think that I have become less prissy during my time
here, but really. Poo. On my clothing. Veto.

I had an amazing weekend. I got to do all of the things that I
hadn't done...Petrin Hill, funicular railroad, mirror maze,
observatory tower, Wallenstejn Palace and Gardens, Kampa Park, and
my fav, wandering. I followed Parnell protocol and took naps in
three public places.  I brought my towel and zonked out. It was
lovely to sleep in the sunshine. It sounds like I didn't do much,
but it was good to relax.

On Sunday, my philosophy teacher took the class to a small town
called Lany about an hour away by train. We [unexpectedly] walked
two kilometers to see the summer house of the Czech presidents. The
gardens were beautiful [I wanted to take a nap there, but the armed
guards deterred me]. The house was an incredible early Baroque
mansion...I could learn to deal with it. There were huge fountains
and statues. Oddly enough, it reminded me of the gardens of a
plantation near Kiawah...Magnolia maybe? Anyway, I could have stayed
there all day, but we had to visit a fairly boring museum on
Maseyrk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. We made our way home
after a delicious lunch at a local tavern.

Yesterday was Easter. I was homesick because it was the first time I
had ever been away from home for Easter. I had this picture in my
head: Daddy in a seersucker suit, Mom in her lavender outfit going
to church ...of course I talked to them later and they were NOT
wearing these outfits...oh well. They'll be here in two weeks.

Here in the CZ, they have the oddest Easter tradition. Men chase
around women with these decorated birch whips and hit them. To
retaliate, the women throw water on the men. The only way the men
will stop is if the women give the men a painted Easter egg. It's a
pretty bizarre tradition, and it actually happens!! I saw several
instances today. Clearly a man came up with this tradition.

The semester is ending and I actually have to do work now! What a
thought. I'll write soon!

I petted bees yesterday.

I am not kidding. They are rather fuzzy.

Yesterday, the Bees and Beekeeping class went to the Bee Institute, where our professor works. To get there, we had to take a train to the middle of nowhere and then take a boat to cross the Vltava. I was pretty excited to take the boat trip... unfortunately, it took about 30 seconds. Oh well, what can you do.

The Institute has millions and millions of bees on their site. Dalibor, our professor, took us to the hives to show us the bees. Its rather odd to approach a bee hive on purpose, but we were armed with smoking machines, plus Dalibor assured us that they were 'nahce behs' as he says. He pulled out combs and showed us the bees. Bees just covered the combs. It was like the combs were moving...yech. I wasn't sure how I was going to react...some of you may know that I have a debilitating fear of large bugs. They make my skin crawl and I unintentionally flip out. Luckily, the bees past the size test and I was fine. In fact, I found them really interesting [as long as I stayed three feet away from them.

It was the most beautiful day that we have had in Prague: 70 degrees!!!!!!! I have never been happier to be outside. The sun was shining and we wandered around the Institute before heading back to Prague.

I got up late Saturday and went to Bohemia Bagel for lunch with some of the people from school. While I was eating my quiche, I ran into a girl I went to Country Day with. It is a small world. Last year, I ran into a girl I debbed with in the Colosseum. Let's see if I meet anyone else I know in Prague.

That afternoon I headed over the river to check out the Little Quarter. It is the part of town that the Charles Bridge connects with Old Town. My first stop of the day was the Church of St. Nicolas. It is the finest example of Baroque architecture in Prague. The dome is so high that it looks fairly unstable. The inside is covered in frescos from top to bottom. There isn't a single bare surface...everything is covered in gold or frescos or marble. It is one of the few places that I have ever been where I have been overwhelmed. It is honestly unbelievable. It looks like a movie set. I kept closing my eyes to see if the beauty would diminish.

The best part of Prague is wandering. I wandered all over Little Quarter, turning down charming little streets, poking my head into shops. I stopped on several parks just to take the view in. It is my favorite thing to do. I find all sorts of fun things, like the John Lennon Wall, a section of graffitied wall that is emblazoned with his face and peace symbols. I found the tiny bridge to the tiny island in the Vltava . I found an 11th century church. Indeed, I even found an anti-Obama protest!

I had been wandering for a while when I ran into tons of police officers. I remembered that Obama was in town [and realized that I was at the American embassy...the American flag really should have tipped me off sooner...]. I assumed that he was going to be visiting the embassy so I waited around for a while. Instead of Obama, I got to see the anti-Obama protest. They were protesting the proposed radar system. They were yelling, "Yankee go home!". I wanted to correct them and tell them that he is actually a midwesterner, but I refrained.

I wandered a bit more and headed home.

Oh, I haven't mentioned my adventures at the post office!! So, if you didn't know, my beloved computer died while I was on Spring Break, so I had to replace it. Apple doesn't have any stores here, so I had to order it from America. Anyway, it took forever to get to Prague because it was insured, but that was just the beginning. I got a note [in Czech of course] telling me that the government was going to charge me 19% tax on the computer. Um, veto. Jakub, one of the assistants who works at the Institute, wrote me a letter explaining the situation and sent me off to the post office.

Now, most people will tell you that everyone in Prague speaks English. This is a lie. A big fat honker of a lie. I was sent to three different offices [and going in at least four wrong ones before I found the one I was supposed to be in], getting a different stamp on my mail slip at each, before I got the package. Lots of hand gestures and over-enunciation of English [and Czech on their part] was involved. Two hours after entering the building, I had it in my hands.

But that doesn't matter now! My new computer is lovely. Plus, I got to upload all of my pictures [finally!]. Attached are some of my favs, from the very beginning.

It has just hit me that I'll be home soon. I mean, by soon, a month and and week, but that seems like small change now. We only have two weeks of class left.  I can't wait and I'm dreading coming back all at the same time. Is that normal?





Retiro Park in Madrid





Cesky Krumlov





St. Nicolas Church in Old Town Square





Our Lady Before Tyn Church in Old Town Square





Jewish Cemetery





Castle from Vltava




Karelskirche in Vienna





Big Ben





Sony Center in Berlin

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Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome....to Berlin!!

Springtime for Laura-Nelle and Germany!

...okay, I'm done with musical references...for now.

I got back from Berlin yesterday, and I had a great time! Berlin is a very cool city, but very different than any other European city I've ever been to. I thought it was interesting to see what happens when you can start a city over.

We got up early on Friday morning to catch the train to Berlin. It is a 5 hour train ride through some lovely country. We went through Dresden, a very modern city. Since it was flattened during WWII, there are ZERO old buildings. We arrived at the Berlin train station around 2 and headed to the hostel in East Berlin.

Pegasus Hostel was not super amazing. Although it was cute on the outside [painted blue and yellow, big courtyard] the actual hostel part of it was not awesome. We had to walk up 5 flights of stairs to get to the room and we had to share the bathroom with a bunch of Spanish teenagers. The bathroom was quite the adventure. Let's just say that I never had felt the need to wash my hands after getting out of the shower before. Gee-ross.

That afternoon after we settled in, the entire group headed out to a local park. Since the trip was headed by Fernando, a land arc professor at State, this was the first of many parks that we visited. This park was very unusual. It is adjacent to where the Berlin Wall stood and is on the land of an old train station. There was a no-man's land around the Berlin Wall, so this station was completely abandoned for the entire period that the wall stood. When the wall fell, landscape architects came in to create a public park. They decided to create a very natural space...no plantings, just letting nature take over. They filled in the train tracks with fine gravel to make perfect walkways through the park. We saw our first sculptures of the trip placed throughout the park [they wouldn't be the last...Berlin is big on sculpture in public spaces]. 

We continued walking through the city, studying landscape architecture. We went to the Sony Center, one of the coolest buildings that I have ever seen. I have attached a picture... how awesome is it? We got dinner at the food court because we were desperately hungry and headed back to the hostel for the night. On the way back to the hostel, I saw a prostitute, the first one I had ever seen. I then proceeded to see my second, third, fourth, all the way up to my twenty-second. Yes, I saw twenty-two prostitutes on one street. It's legal here, in fact they are in the process of creating a union! They seem to have a uniform: a puffy coat [can't get cold while a-walking], drawn in by a corset, leggings, knee-high patent leather boots and long straight hair extensions. Seeing them was quite the experience.

The next day, we headed to the longest section of the Berlin Wall that still exists, about 1.8 kilometers. Halfway down, there is a little shop that sells Berlin Wall memorabilia. I bought a little piece of the Berlin Wall, which I have always wanted to do. I felt a little naughty. We continued to walk through "spaces" as the landscape architects call them, wandering down a bridge and through some residential neighborhoods. We ended up at the Jewish Museum, the most unique building I have ever seen. Actually it is two buildings. The original is a Baroque building that houses the Jewish history in Berlin up until the Holocaust. The Holocaust Museum is in a separate contemporary building, connected through an underground tunnel. The building itself is wild. I can't really describe it; I am attaching a photo of it. We didn't have time to go through it...I really wish we had gone. We had lunch at the Museum of Modern Art, again, we didn't go into it...notice a pattern? We walked around for a few more hours, looking at lots more SPACES. 

The highlight of the day was the Holocaust Memorial. It is a grid of rectangular blocks of granite that all have different heights, but they seem to be about the same size due to the extensive grade changes [see all that land arc has taught me?]. I have attached a picture, but it can't really show it well. We walked through the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most famous sites in Berlin [an important landmark very close to the wall].  We finally went back to the hostel and went to dinner down the block. It was a typical German restaurant, i.e. delicious. I got chicken and potatoes...yum!

On Sunday, we got off to an early start and headed to the Pergamon. The Pergamon is a museum that houses Greek monuments that have been reconstructed. No, really. The building was built to house an ancient Greek temple...very cool. I really like Greek sculpture, so I really enjoyed this museum. Afterward, we decided to get lunch at a bratwurst stand. Yum! Now I know why they are famous. Delish. The bratwurst stand was at one end of a flea market, so we wandered through. 

After looking at some more "spaces", we ended up at Checkpoint Charlie, the most well known checkpoint in the Berlin Wall. There was a cool exhibition about it, explaining how people escaped. It was a pretty intense place. Maybe I'm just stupid, but I didn't understand the complexity of the Wall's implications. When it was built, no one thought it would be both a physical manifestation of the Communist regime and a symbol of hope of what was on the other side. We went to a museum about the wall, where they have not only kept the wall up, but kept the no man's land and a few of the watchtowers. It was pretty sobering to see the incredibly defined "Us vs. Them" mentality of the wall. Next to the museum was a memorial church. See, there was a beautiful cathedral close the wall. In the early eighties, the Communists tore it down just to show that they could. This new church has earthen walls, made from the rubble of the cathedral. It is stark and beautiful. 

After the Wall museum visit, we went to a famous park [I forget the name] that had a playground at one end. Clearly, we were drawn to this playground. We found a merry-go-round...you can guess what ensued. After, we walked along the Spree, the river that goes through Berlin, looking at the new architecture. This is such a cool city! The architecture is so rocking... juxtaposing 18th century buildings with contemporary buildings in a seamless way... it should be the model for cities with lots of new growth [ahem...Charlotte]. 

For dinner, we went to another German restaurant. Unfortunately, the menu was only in German, so we had quite the adventure deciphering the dishes. Every time we encountered a word we knew, we would shout it out to the table...Shockingly, this approach didn't work so well, so we ended up ordering things with not a clue to the ingredients. It ended up fine though, we all got some good German food.

On Monday, we had to catch our train, so we had a short day. We got up early and went to the Bauhaus museum. The Bauhaus is an art school that focuses on basic art training to create everyday items. Everyone [except me] knew that the Bauhaus philosophy is the basis of the NCSU Design School. A lot of the art exercises that were on display at the Bauhaus are exercises that State students do in their introductory classes. Pretty cool!

We took the bus to the center of town to see the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church that had been bombed in WWII. The Germans decided to keep it as is, bombed out and all to show the horrors of war. It was pretty powerful to see how Berlin must have looked after the war. I have attached a picture. 

We got Italian food for lunch and headed back to the train station to go home.

Final Berlin wrap-up:

1) I have been saying 'danke shern' for the past week. In Prague. I have serious issues.

2) Berlin was different from any other European city I have ever been to. The contemporary buildings are so well designed that they aren't an eyesore compared with the older buildings.

3) German food is awesome. No lie.

4) In Germany, they choose the best design bid for a new building. In America, they pick the cheapest. You can tell.

This week's adventures up next!

 

Sony Center

Jewish Museum

Holocaust Memorial

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church