Stadtmitte

Guten Tag!  Yngvildr (my blog, see the first post for an explanation) has been bugging me to post some more pictures.  Fortunately, I actually visited places that were worth taking pictures at, so both you and Yngvildr get to reap the benefits!

Yesterday I finally made it over to Mitte/central Berlin.  I went to the Jewish memorial first, which is a square block of different-height pillars; none of them are even, and the ground ripples and dips, so the whole thing is pretty surreal.

It's commemorating a tragedy, but yesterday it was sunny and there were a bunch of families with kids there, who were running around playing tag and hide-and-seek.  It's apparently a pretty controversial installation, since it's right in the center of the city, a block away from Brandenburger Tor, within sight of the Reichstag and Fernsehturm, and some people argue that it shouldn't be so prominently displayed.  Personally, I see no problem; it provides a space for people to confront Germany's past, while not being limited to morbid thoughts.  It's something that certainly can't be overlooked, just as the Holocaust cannot (or at least should not) be overlooked, but it also allows for healing and moving past.  The children who were running around certainly appreciated it, though obviously without realizing the painful reasons for its presence.

After that, I walked to Brandenburger Tor, which was huge and awesome, but the sun was behind the gate so the picture isn't super, though it hopefully gives an idea of how pretty it is.

The statue on top is meant to commemorate the triumph of peace over war, after the German war against France in the early 1800s.  Walking east away from the Tor puts you on Unter den Linden, one of the major streets of the united Berlin.  There's a ton of restaurants, cafes, hotels, and stores, which makes it an enjoyable walk.  I walked along there with the goal of finding a delicious chocolate place I had heard of, but wasn't entirely sure what the street was.  I walked along one for awhile and came across Galeries Lafayette, a French department store/gourmet grocery, similar to KaDeWe but much smaller.  They had a lovely dessert display case, though nothing caught my eye that wasn't an entire cake, and I managed to take two pictures before one of the ladies working told me no pictures were allowed (yeah, I have no idea what they're worried about).

I apologized and then she was nice and said it was no problem, but I took that as my cue to head out (well, that and the fact that I'd already seen all the food).  I ended up meandering over to Gendarmenmarkt, which is reputed to be one of the prettiest squares in all of Europe.  After visiting, I can tell you that it probably is!

There's 2 churches on opposite ends of the square, one donated by some French king or something in the 1700s, called the Französischer Dom, and the other built soon thereafter by some German king, called the Deutscher Dom.

They look almost identical, and are quite lovely.  There's another epic building on one of the sides of the square, though I don't know what it houses.

After being a tourist and taking lots of pictures, I headed to the chocolate place.  It was awesome.  And huge.  Kinda like Brandenburger Tor!  Of which they had an enormous chocolate replica, as well as ones of the Reichstag, Fernsehturm, the Titanic (??), and Gedächtniskirche, which was the coolest one:

I went up to the second floor, where the cafe is, and sat by a window overlooking Gendarmenmarkt.

I got a delicious Johannesbeere Törtchen, which was moist and creamy and cakey and the perfect ratio of sweet to sour.

And a hot chocolate with whipped cream to go along with it, since I couldn't go to a chocolate cafe and not eat chocolate!  Blasphemy, indeed.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  I'm going to go back to the area today so I can go to Operncafe (65 different desserts!) and get some more souvenirs for people.  I might make my way to Checkpoint Charlie, too, though I don't have any particular desire to go there, beyond just being able to say I went.  But first, I definitely need a nap.

I really can't believe I only have 5 days left here.  It's so surreal that I've been here almost 2 months!  It seems like I just arrived a few days ago (while also feeling like forever, go figure).  I'm really excited to see Jasper and Sweden, but also really sad to be leaving my friends and Berlin.  I'm annoyed with myself for not getting out more and seeing more, but I also realize that I've been so busy learning and hanging out with Ric and Peter and the girls from my class, that between that and needing more sleep than a cat, I haven't had a lot of energy/time!  Besides, I'm pretty sure I'll be back before too long.  I just need to find a good program here and get a grant (yeah, "just", like that's so easy).  And hopefully next time I can visit Peter in Italy and check out the beautiful vineyard and drink legit coffee!  Today in class we were talking about un-real situations (in connection with Konjunktiv II, one of the German subjunctive tenses) and I said that I wished I could go on a world dessert tour, though I would happily expand that to include all types of food.  Now I just need to win the lottery!  And have a magic metabolism.  Okay, what was I actually talking about before I got distracted by food...post-grad, right!  I'd like to find someplace in eastern Germany, especially Berlin, because it's a fraction of the cost of the other big German cities (Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt).

Also I AM SO EXCITED FOR MY BIRTHDAY!  Only 2 days to go!  They're saying it may rain, but I'm going to ignore those haters and insist that it be sunny but not too warm, thank you very much.

Until next time!