The last day *sniff*

Saturday was our last day in Berlin. Since we had to spend time moving to a hotel (Park Inn Alexanderplatz, sehr gut) in the morning the day's activities of going to the Berlin Underground tour and the Stasi prison were scrapped. I spent the remainder of the day shopping, visiting and revisiting sites for photos, and eating anything I wanted that I had not yet eaten on this trip. I got to spend the day with some amazing new friends and had a blast. The group we had this year was different from last year and I will have distinct and fond memories from each trip. Once again I left Berlin feeling like I had not seen enough and could stay for about three more months without getting homesick.
Traveling is one of my passions in life. I love to go to new places and experience different cultures. I think that the memories created far exceed the monetary cost of the voyage. If it wasn't for graduation in May I would repeat this course again next year. I encourage anyone that is interested in studying abroad to look into the different programs our university offers. It is the chance of a lifetime and something you will never forget.

Auf wiedersehen!
Margaret

PS - I forgot to have a Berliner this trip :(

A whole Fun Facts pamphlet?!

Friday was a great day of walking through Berlin. We visited the Opera House, Checkpoint Charlie (Youngman was greatly disappointed to learn that Snack Point Charlie had closed), the Jewish History Museum, the National Gallery, and the State Library. Listening to the architecture students debate about the new building for the Jewish Museum was very interesting. I had no idea that there was so much controversy involved in architecture. This trip has really taught me quite a bit about how much goes into designing a building. I have really enjoyed learing some things about architecture this trip. It seems to increase the depth of the history I enjoy learning so much about. I have appreciated all of the information the architecture students have been willing to teach me and they even let me babble on about different historical sites in Berlin. I must say that Daniel and Jaymon win the award for best fun facts. When we got to the library not only did they have fun facts, but they had an entire pamphlet of fun facts to pass out to everybody. They definitely closed out the presentations on a high note.
On the more serious side, one of the rooms of the hostel was broken into on Friday evening. Many of my travel companions had items stolen...many laptops, which I understand contains a great deal of work for the architecture students. Also stolen were cameras and cell phones which, I'm sure just about anyone can understand, contains vital and sentimental material as well. It was a heartbreaking loss. I felt true grief for my friends affected.

Potsdam and what happens when you run across the street instead of using the Ampelmann

Thursday we got an early start and headed out to Potsdam. Our first stop was the Einstein Tower after a brisk 2K walk up a hill...awesome for me since I haven't run once while here and feel like I needed the exercise. It was a really interesting building to see. I enjoy listening to the architecture students discuss the various structures we have seen. While I am a history major and always go right for the history of a place, the architectural aspect gives places a more multi-faceted history. I usually don't understand half of what they are saying but I'm intrigued by what they talk about and their passion for their studies. Oh yeah, and in case you didn't know...they like models of buildings...a lot.
Next we went to the grounds of the Sanssouci palace and toured the guest house, then walked about a mile through the grounds to the palace itself. My only wish is that we could have seen it in the summer when the flora is in blume, the pictures I have seen of it at these times are beautiful.
In the afternoon we toured a former prison that held enemies of the state for both the Nazis and the Stasi. We listened to a very personal and moving story from a former prisoner of the Stasi (not a prisoner at Potsdam however) and were able to ask him questions about living in East Germany. It is amazing that such horrible things happened such a short time ago and even more amazing that this man could share his touching story with us.

Walking distance with group: 9.10
Total walking distance: Pedometer smashed when fell out of pocket while running across the street :(

Youngman sings "Sunshine Day"...and it works!

Our first stop Thursday was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of the Holocaust. This is truly an exibit that you need to experience instead of view from afar. I find it eerie to walk through the columns and hear the echo of children's laughter and catch glimpses of your friends walking by. It's as if you see flashes of them for a moment and then they are gone, almost as if they are disappearing from your life.
Next we went to one of my favorite places in Berlin: Potsdamer Platz. If you know the history of Berlin regarding the East/West divide you know that Potsdamer Platz was a virtual wasteland as a part of No-Man's Land. It is so amazing to me that everything there has been built within the past 20 years and now it is back to being a commercial center of Berlin, as it was before the Berlin Wall went up. We able to see individual sections of the wall as well as a length of the wall that is still standing.
I also had the opportunity to see the Soviet Memorial in East Berlin. I had no idea it was there and it was enormous! It really was quite a spectacular monument and it was a beautiful day to walk along viewing it...the nice weather must have been the result of Dr. Youngman singing the Brady Bunch's "Sunshine Day". For those of you who don't know, the Soviets had originally built a memorial to Soviet soldiers almost immediately after the end of World War II...in what ended up being West Berlin. Since the Soviets occupied East Berlin and had very limited access to the memorial in West Berlin they designed a spectacular monument in the East. As Emily explained, the contrast in the size of the two Soviet Memorials goes to show how much of a difference planning time makes. I almost skipped seeing the East Soviet Memorial but am so glad that I went.

Walking distance with group: 9.13
Total walking distance: 10.62

Sachsenhausen and Olympic Stadium

Tuesday was a tough day. We visited the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It is hard to describe the feeling you get from being in a place where tens of thousands of people were tortured and killed. About the only photos I took were of the entrance gates with the infamous phrase "Arbeit macht frei". I think experiencing something like a concentration camp really puts everything in perspective. It is very unsettling to be there and I always have the feeling that the ground is moving underneath me. I did not see everything at the camp last year so I got to see a few different areas, such as the museum of the Soviet use of the camp and the mortuary...could have gone my whole life without seeing the mortuary.

To lift our spirits a bit we went to Olympic Stadium after Sachsenhausen. It is quite a nice contrast actually to see that Hitler's theories about the "Superior Race" were crushed by the 1936 Olympics after seeing the kinds of horrors were inflicted upon "inferior" people at Sachsenhausen. I was excited to finally get to see inside the stadium since I was unable to last year. I think it's amazing that they still use a stadium from such a historical time period for their soccer team. I would love to be surrounded by that kind of history everytime I go to a Bobcats or Panthers game, but the Cable Box and B of A stadium just don't cut it.

Walking distance with group: 7.83 miles
Total walking distance: 9.64

Hit me up with some fun facts...and you have to do the dance!

Monday was our big walking day. We started at the Television Tower to take in the gorgeous view of Berlin from above. Sarah kept us entertained with some fun facts about the tower and even made up a little fun facts dance...it has already caught on. Being on this trip with architecture students has made me notice things about Berlin that I would not otherwise notice. One student pointed out that you can see a stark contrast, even from above, between what used to be East and West Berlin just by looking at the roofs.
After the Television Tower we walked to Neptune's Fountain and the Marx/Engels statue, then journeyed to the old church and I learned that the area around it is considered by locals to be a "Disneyland" area in that the buildings surrounding the church were designed to look like a vintage European street however, these buildings are relatively new. This type of urban design (look at me whipping out the architecture terms) is typical of Berlin. So many things have been destroyed by war or torn down by a new German government coming to power that many buildings are relatively new replicas of what has been destroyed, so one could argue that many places in Berlin have the same "Disneyland" effect as the area around the old church. Key example: they are rebuilding the Royal Palace that was torn down by the DDR. The facades of the new palace will look identical to the original but the inside will be completely different. Such is Berlin! It's hard to tell sometimes what is original and what is a copy.
Monday was also our scavenger hunt day. Alex, Jaymon, Meghan, and I scurried around Berlin having our photos (Machen Sie Photo bitte?) taken in front of various Berlin sites. We were not even close to winning but we weren't last, didn't get lost, had to talk to complete strangers, and got along great. A very good day!

Total walking distance (including scavenger hunt): 10.15 miles

Just because I'm nodding off doesn't mean I'm not interested!

Today was the obligatory jet lag catch up day. After being awake for 36 hours, I finally went to sleep at 1am. I awoke to the sunshine (yes, sunshine) outside my window feeling refreshed. I looked at my watch to see that it was...6am?!?! Yes, I got a whopping five hours of sleep and could not seem to sleep any longer. We spent the day walking down Unter den Linden, examining various sights, but the highlight of the day was, by far, the Reichstag. The Reichstag has such a powerful, multi-faceted history. The guide that we had this year discussed things that our guide last year did not and the glass dome on top of the structure was open, unlike last year, so I got to see a nighttime view of the city from above. While sitting in the gallery of the I felt the drowsiness start to take over. Several times I felt my head bob as I started to drift off. I feel terrible when I do this on trips where jet lag is involved. I'm afraid that my intense sleepiness comes off as disinterest but I just can't help it! As Dr. Youngman says, I am terrible at hiding when I am tired, which is also why tonight's entry is on the short side. I need sleep!

Walking distance today with group: 6.24 miles
Total walking distance: 8.83 miles