Sunday – Day 31 – Part A
August 21, 2012
Today’s post is separated into two parts. Not for reasons of length, but to separate the content.
Today I confronted the darker side of Germany’s history, visiting again the Holocaust Memorial but, this time also going into the Holocaust Museum Memorial underneath.
For the entire duration of my trip to Germany there was this shade hanging quietly behind in the back of my mind. No amount of rationalizing that Germany today is different from that of the third Reich is sufficient to create an equivalent barrier in my perception of the country.
Koen mentioned to me that as he was feeling the tendrils of the evil left behind that I must be even more so affected. And, indeed I was.
I won’t go into depth on the details of the memorial, but as I stood silently in front of the following sign, I felt paralyzed by the realization that the horrors were no longer in some far off European city but, carved in barely faded blood onto the stones on which I was walking.
Yehi zichrum baruch.
Day 30 – Shabbat
Today’s photos are for good reason, not all supplied by me, thus credit where due. As per most Shabbatot that I’m away, the day was mostly spent walking around.
Koen and I visited the TV tower at Alexanderplatz and also the Pergamon Museum, two touristic features of Berlin.
The TV Tower
Later in the evening we returned to Theresa’s apartment where we met with her boyfriend Lucas and a friend of his to head out to a late night movie.
Statue of Victory at the Pergamon
The cinematheque to which we were taken was located in what I could only describe as the ‘indie’ part of town. The narrow streets were filled with crowded outdoor bars and the sound of many languages could be heard following faster than the drinks. Street art lined the walls and a cobblestone pathway drew us ever deeper through the winding alleys. Finally we came upon the theatre, within which were posters from the numerous films screening, none of which I had heard of.
It was explained to me that the cinema only showed films after they had been strictly vetted by staff to ensure their quality, and tonight’s film “We Have to Talk About Kevin” was no exception. Nominated for Best Feature Film at the Cannes Film Festival last year, ‘Kevin’ is a psychological thriller, directed by twenty two year old first timer Lynne Ramsay. The film was most enjoyable but struck home on an emotional level in relation to issues concerning mental health, the relationship between parent and child, and the long lasting effects on parents when their offspring go awry.
Friday – Day 29
August 19, 2012
Friday was our second, ‘last’ day with Nicole and thus we spent it in the best way possible. Walking around the city together and spending time as friends. Unfortunately for most of the day I had forgotten my memory card so some of the photos and videos aren’t mine.
First up was a visit to the photobooth to take a series of pictures in which we all scrambled to get into the frame, mostly unsuccessfully. These photobooths are scattered all around Berlin and apparently quite popular with Theresa having taken photos with every ISSI group to visit.
Following that we walked in the direction of the city, aiming for a park dedicated to the memory of the Berlin wall, with an intact section still along it. On our way we came by a fantastic market, in which there were fromageries with a gallery of european cheeses, a fish stand with fresh fish being tossed onto a grill and eaten nearby. Fruiterers, artisanal pastas and jams lined the sides and Theresa and I jumped to buy some fresh fruit for our lunch.
We walked the rest of the distance to the park carrying our load of fruit: blackberries, plums, apricots, grapes and two German squished looking peaches that were naturally fat.
When we arrived at the park we found swings lining the wall, and after a heated discussion about the benefits and costs of nuclear power we set a-swinging. After my turn on the swing I sat back to try and calculate the frequency of the swing when it was not being driven (given by sqrt(g/l) ) but the estimate was a bit far off and I left the swings dissatisfied. Maybe I should’ve taken a look at it as a non-linear oscillator.
From there we wakled to Potzdamer Platz, another big public square, and visted the Sony Center, a large construction with nice restaurants and shops inside, before settling down
on the grass nearby.
Potzdamer Platz
Much of the rest of the afternoon was taken up following round an akapella group around the U-Bahn and to tourists locations while they were promoting themselves. One of the singers was Theresa’s friend from her frisbee team and thus we were committed to staying the whole time.