Monday, October 19, 2009 - I so wish we had more time in Berlin. We were only there 3 days, arrived exhausted from a 7-hour train ride, it was near-freezing and rainy the entirety of our stay, but most of all, I was insanely busy at work each day we were there. It seemed I couldn't go to sleep or even wake up without some sort of emergency. I am thankful, however, for my buddy at work Aaron, in whom I have found a horribly knowledgeable scholar in theology.. Of course! I can't really go anywhere without finding them. I was complainingwhining to him while in Berlin how frustrated I was that I couldn't get out and see anything because of my stinking job. Aaron's response was "Let me get this straight: If it wasn't for work, you would not be in Europe but because of work, you don't get to see much in Europe. Right?" I felt pretty ungrateful and humbled, and realized I needed to change my attitude a little. A little kick in the arse every now and then is pretty healthy.
Berlin
Berlin is considered 'the' place to be in Europe today. I've heard this from plenty of people. I was even told from an Amsterdamer that "Berlin is today what Amsterdam used to be." What she meant by that was, the city is transforming itself on a daily basis; nearly any business that starts there does well, and it's horribly cheap to live there. Amsterdam is a beautiful, built-up place that does very well, but it's enormously expensive.
JudaicaI was impressed to see what Berlin has done with the events of WWII. We took a 4-hour walking tour that hypothermiad me that was however very interesting. Some highlights for me:
(Berlin Holocaust memorial)
-Throughout the entire city are gold bricks in the sidewalks commemorating a holocaust victim, their name, date of birth, and exactly how they died.
- The City Hall building has been re-designed very symbolically. It's gigantic glass dome where the politicians work on the bottom floor. Winding up toward the top of the dome are walkways for tourists, all the way to the top to look down on the politicians. This is to be a reminder that in opposition to times in the past, the government is not to reign over the people, but vice-versa. As a constant reminder are ordinary city folk literally ever above them.
- We walked to Hitler's bunker where when the American & British troops were finally invading and thus, since things were all over for Hitler, he fed a cyanide pill to his wife, to his dog, watched them die, then fed a cyanide pill to himself and then blew his brains out. Where was this bunker? A small patch of ugly grass between a couple parking lots. The bunkers are somewhere below that ground but because Berlin doesn't want that kind of attention, they've refused to memorialize it in any way. Even better, our walking guide directed our attention to a couple piles of dog dookie on the grass. Apparently Berliners walk their dogs especially to this little patch of grass to have their pets deficate & urinate there. It's also the one designated area of town where after Berliners have had a bit too much to drink at the pub, they come to this patch if they know they're going to hurl. Nice.
-Throughout the entire city are gold bricks in the sidewalks commemorating a holocaust victim, their name, date of birth, and exactly how they died.
- The City Hall building has been re-designed very symbolically. It's gigantic glass dome where the politicians work on the bottom floor. Winding up toward the top of the dome are walkways for tourists, all the way to the top to look down on the politicians. This is to be a reminder that in opposition to times in the past, the government is not to reign over the people, but vice-versa. As a constant reminder are ordinary city folk literally ever above them.
- We walked to Hitler's bunker where when the American & British troops were finally invading and thus, since things were all over for Hitler, he fed a cyanide pill to his wife, to his dog, watched them die, then fed a cyanide pill to himself and then blew his brains out. Where was this bunker? A small patch of ugly grass between a couple parking lots. The bunkers are somewhere below that ground but because Berlin doesn't want that kind of attention, they've refused to memorialize it in any way. Even better, our walking guide directed our attention to a couple piles of dog dookie on the grass. Apparently Berliners walk their dogs especially to this little patch of grass to have their pets deficate & urinate there. It's also the one designated area of town where after Berliners have had a bit too much to drink at the pub, they come to this patch if they know they're going to hurl. Nice.
- The Berlin wall, of course.. or what's left of it.
Perhaps we'll have more time to see more of Berlin again in the future. The positive for this trip for me was an improved attitude in general.
Brasileiros
Estava movimentado demais no meu trabalho, entao nao fizemos muito em Berlim, infelizmente. Mas fiquei impressionado de Berlim, e que eles fizeram muito com as acontecimentos da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Eles dedicados muitos sites por as vitimas do Holocausto. Eu espero para voltar um dia por mais tempo.
I heart Berlin. :)
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