Berlin is amazing!

3.21.10
Walked around our area for breakfast- the area by the way is amazing. very eclectic and the best kebabs and falafal you could every imagine. After we walked to the Jewish museum by Libeskind. It was meant to be a linear building and procession through the exhibits- but it was really confusing. So far Libeskind hasn't made too great of an impression on me. I feel like he is always trying to do something wild and crazy out there architecture, but he misses the basics- like circulation and clear modes of egress. The museum was just confusing- the content was excellent however. I learned a lot about Judism and the prosecution its undergone.
We met up and split into a few groups. Justin Allison, Chris and I went to see the part of the Berlin wall that is still standing. We had to run for part of it because it was pouring (!) and we stopped to get kebabs and made a pit stop at the hostel to blow-dry our clothes. On the way to the wall we saw a movie being filmed- it was part of a chase scene- I had never heard of it. 'The last white man' look for it in a year. Anyway, the wall is awesome. Artists from all over the world did paintings on it- its weird to think this was so recent! The wall came down when I was 1! I bought a piece of the wall too. I couldn't help it. I'm helping the economy...we just walked around in that area after and went back to the hostel to watch the UMD game on the computer. Such a let down! We were so close!! At least we could watch a game- we were deprived of sports. Can't wait to play soccer and run again...

3.22.10
Went to the Eisenmann Holocaust memorial before our tour of Berlin at 11. The memorial was amazing. It was cement blocks at different heights on a sloping surface. You walk in it and at some points you are completely surrounded by the pillars and you can hear footsteps but not know where they're coming from and you see people walking out of the corner of your eyes- you never know if you're going to run into someone around the corner. Effective. The tour was excellent as well- and Adam was hot. Good ole Georgian boy. We saw the hotel Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window (!) and it ended on Museum Island. A few of us sketched the Altes Museum and went into the Pergamon- it has the Ishtar gate!! Then we went to see the Reichstag during the day and to an amazing new train station nearby. Technology/structure overload! The circulation was amazing though. I liked it a lot. We had dinner at a place the man at the hostel told Zach and I about- it was ok, good atmosphere but a bit pricey. I tried this beer called Duvel- really good. High alcohol content (whoops) but really good. We met up with the others and decided against a pub crawl and just went back into the same place for more drinks.

3.23.10
Jenny, Chris, Zach and I went to an OMA building int he morning- excellent- and met with Dave and Emma to go to a concentration camp. The one we went to was just north of Berlin called Sachenhausen. There was SO MUCH information there. There was basically 5 museums in one. You walked in and it freaked me out as to how planned it was- it reminded me of when I saw Salt Works last summer in France. There were architects who DESIGNED these camps. They kept most of it there for you to see. You could go in two of the barracks and the kitchen and prison. You could even walk INTO the execution trench and crematorium. Walking around the camp it was so arid and it just hung in the air that something terrible happened here. They estimaed about 20,000 people were killed there. Heavy for a Tuesday morning, but I'm really glad I went.
When we were back in the city Jenny and I went to a contemporary art museum designed by Mies van der Rohe- excellent building and it was my type of art so I had a good time. We met with everyone else on a street Allison's friend told her about. It was in East Berlin- very cool area. The amount of street life reminded me of Paris. Good vibes. We went for gelato before going back to the hostel. Early morning tomorrow- flying to Frankfurt!!