Guten Tag

Guten Tag from Berlin! Currently I am writing this post from the lobby of our hotel "Mercure", which is a couple of blocks from the famous Checkpoint Charlie (formerly known as the border crossing between East and West Berlin). This is just one of the many symbols of World War II scattered throughout this large city. Berlin has surprised me with its modern architecture and stark remembrances of the Second World War. I have great expectations about Berlin that I know will be fulfilled.

On the first day of our arrival, mom and I set off to see the Gemäldegalerie Museum. This museum is known for its collection of artwork by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Vermeer. Although all of these famous artists had beautiful works of art on display, my favorite paintings were by artists that I have studied in school. For example, I particularly enjoyed the paintings by Angelica Kauffman and Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun.

After the museum, we walked all around Berlin. Mom and I walk everywhere we go and we try to avoid taking the German underground or a taxi as much as possible. The best way to get the feel of a city is to spend as much time exploring and roaming around in it. On one of our adventures, we decided to go to Reichstag (Germany’s Parliament). While we were on our way, we stumbled upon The Holocaust Memorial. This is a monument that commemorates the murdered Jews of Europe during WWII. The memorial looked like a sea of rectangular concrete slabs that eerily reminded me of the same size of a coffin. After seeing this, I began to notice a trend within Berlin: there is always something significant around every corner.

When we finally reached Reichstag, the line to go into Parliament and the glass dome was very long. In fact it was so long that we decided to skip that for the day. Slightly disappointed, my mother and I headed back. While we were passing the Brandenburg Gate, my mom and I noticed that it was completely fenced off. There were numerous police men around and we had no idea what was going on. It seemed to us that there must have been a private concert going on in the middle of this famous square. We also noticed that there were two people getting out of a car in the center of the area and were heading in our direction. The man and women talked to the crowd for a minute and then left towards the gate. As they started to walk away, someone in the crowd yelled it’s our president. My mom and I had been in Berlin for less than 24 hours and we had seen the President of Germany and his wife.

Throughout the rest of our trip, we visited the Jewish Museum, the Topography of Terror, and the Pergamon Museum. The Jewish Museum has a collection of photographs, items, and art that describe the history of Jews in Germany. The architecture of this museum is not only famous but also very memorable. The building resembles a lightening bolt and has zigzagging hallways. The Topography of Terror is an outdoor exhibit of National Socialism in Germany during 1933-1945. The museum’s location is where the actual Gestapo (Secret State Police) headquarters were in Germany. Now all that stands there is a small building (full of the museum collection), a large barren area of land, and a section of the Berlin Wall. This site was one of my favorite stops in Berlin. Its chilling stories of Hitler, the Gestapo, and their victims were very fascinating. The Pergamon Museum was full of ancient artifacts from Greece, Rome, and Babylon. This museum physically filled every inch of their rooms with monuments. It had the original-sized Pergamon Altar from 160 BC Greece, the Ishtar Gate from Babylon, and huge oriental carpets draping the walls. The museums in Berlin are amazing and unfortunately, unlike London, not free! But in the end, it was worth every penny.


On sunday we took the train to my other favorite site in Berlin; the Schloss Charlottenburg (aka Palace Charlottenburg). This palace was given to Sophie Charlotte by her husband, King Friedrich I of Prussia, in 1699. Schloss Charlottenburg was partly modeled on Versailles and style was heavily influenced by the Rococo movement. I particularly enjoyed the vast garden, which I would classify as a park. It was full of ducks, trees, families, and rivers. I think it is the perfect place to read and relax in Berlin. I admired it very much and wish I would have brought my book.

So far my trip to Berlin has been amazing and I can’t wait to go to Prague! I will upload some photos from this part of my trip very soon. Many hugs to everyone back at home.