Say It with Berlin: Day 6

  Day 6, a.k.a. the final day in Berlin (not counting the day we leave). Today's itinerary was very chill and relaxed. We only had 1 spot to go, which was the Jewish Museum. 

It was a strange, zig-zaggy building

  Designed by American-Polish architect Daniel Libeskind, it's facade and its strange interior design all have its own meaning, but its too long to describe it here, so I'm just going to link it righttttt.... hereeee.....

  We not only learned about the history of the Jews during the Nazi regime, we literally learned about its ENTIRE history, all the way back to the 10th century, and beyond. In the first part of the museum, which includes the 3 axes (see the link above if you don't know what I'm talking about), the entire design of it and its exhibition was meant to bring out something out of you. It could be sorrow (mostly sorrow), hate, joy (if you're that kind of person), relief, or any other emotions in your lexicon. 

  Following that, was the "Jewish museum" museum (the zig-zaggy building), the part where it functions like any other museums. It has artefacts, history lessons, all those kind of shindigs. 

  Unfortunately, the museum was TOO big for us to finish touring (no wonder they sold a 3-day ticket!). So, we all left for lunch, and then we separate and do our own thing. Some of us went to the zoo, some of us went to do their hidden agenda, some of us got ice-cream. The photographer personally decides to take the bus, and then a stroll around town, before heading back to the hostel. So if you're wondering why are there lots of irrelevant photos, well, blame him. He claimed: "It's our last day in Berlin, gonna take some final shots of the city."

Yeah, sure.

SOME PICTURES

exterior of the Jewish museum

Interior of the Jewish museum

...at their imminent "journey". Ruth Prager wrote:
"My dear children, Ich don't know what to tell you because my heart is so full and words say so little. I had always hoped that we would be reunited, but we're probably at a fateful juncture (Schicksalswende). We're packing four our journey and awaiting our future."
Gift from Stefan Prager (child of Ruth Prager) 

Rooftop of the Holocaust tower. Do ask your child about it.

The corridor pillars of the Garden of Exile. The pillars are the only proper squares in the entire exhibition.

Memory Void/Shalaket a.k.a. Fallen Leaves. Ask your child about this too.

The Zodiac Wheel. Notice how the twins of Gemini are wearing traditional Jewish hats.

The new church, with the old ruined church at the background. Each individual squares of the new church is actually a piece of glass.

Humboldt University I (Unter den Linden)

Humboldt University II (Unter den Linden)

BEER OF THE DAY?: No beer! We have to wake up at 6am the next morning!

Here's a picture of a banana train, as compensation.

Say It with Berlin: Day 5

  Day 5 started out normally, when suddenly, A TWIST! Today, Dr. Buffinga won't be leading the group! Instead, it was one of us!

ONE OF US. ONE OF US. ONE OF US.

  Meet Victoria Pumphrey: she's one of us in this trip. She wears jeans everyday, and she knows the city's train route inside and out. I may be exaggerating a bit, but I'm probably not. Look at the map she's holding! Only a master artisan of the train systems can wield such piece of artefact!

  Anyways, she brought all of us to Checkpoint Charlie at first. Checkpoint Charlie was the checkpoint (for lack of a better word) bordering the American side of Berlin, and the Soviet side of Berlin. Very soon after the Berlin Wall was constructed, there was a standoff between the Allied tanks, and the Soviet tanks. It was tense moment, but thankfully, the incident was resolved peacefully, and the tanks were retreated.

Checkpoint Charlie

  After that, we all went for lunch (but not before getting lost in the city first). Lunch was nice. It was Italian. An Italian man served us, so it felt authentic.

  The reason why we went to the Italian restaurant was because it was right next to our destination, the Berlin Underground Museum. No, it is not about the Underbelly of Berlin, it is not about the secret mobsters of Berlin. It is about... a lot of things. By trying to explain it, it will sound very very messy, and unorganized (which is very un-German), so it's better for me to link their website, and for you to read it's description. Click here for the website. Click here for an absolutely cute video of a kitten. Click here for nothing to happen.

  I'm sorry if there is a lack of pictures, the museum doesn't allow photography in it, but take my word for it, it was extremely educational and entertaining. Through that tour, we know how life is during air-raids. We know the location of Adolf Hitler's bunker. We learnt about many things, especially when you mix zinc sulphide and carbon sulphide together, you'll get an awesome dab (ask your children about this).

We all got back to our hostel safely, and called it a day. It was a good day today, and today was good.



TIP: When approached by "deaf" people, immediately put your hands into your pocket. There's a high chance they're pickpockets.

SOME PICTURES

Mini Brandenburg Gates on the train door!

BERLIN BEER OF THE DAY: Berliner Kindl, Pilsner

Taste: yeah sure!

Say It with Potsdam: Day 4

  Today was a special day. Today, we're going out of the city of Berlin, and into the neighbouring city of Potsdam. Potsdam is a 45 minute train ride away from Berlin, therefore we have to wake up extra early today.

 

The lovely and quiet city of Potsdam

  Potsdam was a huge change from the busy city of Berlin. There were way less cars, way less pedestrians, way less traffic in general. It was a very quiet town. 

  At first, we were wondering, why are we here? Potsdam is just like Berlin, but less "choices" (as Berlin is the capital of Germany), but then Dr. Buffinga brought us to a place in which Berlin does not have, and it was a truly amazing place. It was none other than, the Sanssouci palace. 

The palace entrance

  The Sanssouci palace was once the summer home of Frederick the Great. It was his go-to spot when he wants to avoid responsibilities and duties of the Berlin court, and relax. He usually holds party in this palace of his, and invite famous people of the time to his home, one of them would be the French philosopher, Voltaire. When he's not home (as in, not in the palace), it was sort-of opened for public. Basically, anyone who dressed well enough could enter the summer palace when he isn't present. (Even the king's quarters!)

  The entirety of the area consists of a few major buildings. There is the main building, the Sanssouci, the orangery, and the new palace. There is a huge garden separating all the buildings, making it a really long walk between all of the buildings.

A segment of the huge garden

  Dr. Buffinga briefly explained to us the thought process behind the architecture, and the gardening landscape of the garden. While English gardens strive for a more "natural" look, the Prussians went for symmetry. Almost every hedge, bush, tree, fountains, were symmetrical, as though that they were above nature and the Almighty.

  The past few days have been extremely hot. Now, our prayers have been answered, and a huge rain comes crashing down unto us. Like flowers to a midsummer's evening watering, we embraced the rain. We walked through the palace, soaked in sky juices, back to the train station. It was already almost 4pm by the time we reached the train station (we left our hostel at 9am), and we were all tired. The road (or rails) back to the hostel was a wet, tired, and joyful one. We shared stories on the train, a bit of banter here and there, some of us even took naps!

We reached our hostel, completely soaked. Despite our bodies completely wet, our humour is still dry. Why is the mushroom always invited to parties? Because he's a fun guy! Goodnight, as we all do our laundry, and probably have a very nice sleep tonight.

SOME PICTURES

Symmetry, in all it's glory

Say It with Berlin: Day 3

  I'd like to point out that I was wrong about yesterday's post. Not everything from the itinerary of day 1 and 2 were done, so there were some leftovers today. We went to the Reichstag (which was a day 2 thing) and the Hackescher Markt (which was also a day 2 thing) for the first half of the day.

The Reichstag

  Our first half of the day was practically quite rushed, as we were trying to finish off all the itinerary of the previous days. Part 2 of today was to the Museum Island. The Museum Island have 5 museums, a cathedral, and a lovely park. The Museum Island is also in the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

  It was at Museum Island where we all split up. Dr. Buffinga bought us tickets (the ticket gives us free access to every museum on Museum Island), and then it was practically our own time. We all split up, and went into different museums. Eventually, we would see each other whilst moving to a different museum, but that's not the main attraction. The museum exhibition was amazing. There was the usual arts and sculpture exhibitions, but what was special was that there was an Egyptian exhibition. Once upon a time, there was a German expedition to Egypt. Many, many thing were dug up. There was hieroglyphs on the walls, Egyptian sarcophagus, and things such as the notes that the German archaeologist wrote, explaining their findings, and thought processes. There was also an ancient Greek exhibition in the other museum. Whilst the Egyptian has beautiful human-shaped sarcophagus, the Greeks have a lion-shaped sarcophagus. It was said that the lion serves as the deceased's protector in the afterlife.

  

Die Alte Nationalgalerie (The Old National Gallery)

  Sadly, Museum Island closes at 6pm, that was why no one had time to visit all the museums. Perhaps, all of us could collect our own individual stories, and tell them as a collective. Most of us called it a day right after Museum Island, and we all went back to our hostel.

SOME PICTURES

BEER OF THE DAY: Warsteiner

Taste: There are better beers around, try something else instead