WARNING: this is a long post and contains several bad puns!
I was still in Germany a week ago (hard for me to believe it was that recent), and while I have SO MUCH to say about my few days of "first" impressions of Egypt, I don't want to do any disservice to my great couple of days in Deutschland.
I was still in Germany a week ago (hard for me to believe it was that recent), and while I have SO MUCH to say about my few days of "first" impressions of Egypt, I don't want to do any disservice to my great couple of days in Deutschland.
First, a brief outline of the Germany portion of our program:
Sept. 7-8 Munich and Dachau Concentration Camp (a very bi-polar two day period)
Sept. 9-13 Berlin and Leipzig (where I tried my hand at tour guidery)
The most important part of Munich/ München was that Christina and I dragged most of the group to the Hofbräuhaus München on the first night. Both Christina's and my mom had demanded this visit of us, and it was done. Not only did we enjoy HUGE steins of beer, but we also managed to sing the St. Olaf fight song, "Um Ya Ya" (watch this video at minute 1:55 to see my graduation class sing it) TWICE. Everyone in the place loved it and a British ex-pat asked us to sing it a second time in honor of his friend's birthday :)
 |
| Proud Oles at the Hofbräuhaus (the two guys in front just happened to be there--we never even talked to them)! Author on the far left :) |
Our only full day in Munich started with a brisk run through the streets with Tess, followed by an excellent walking tour of the city with our tour guide, Ralph. The tour was focused on the acceleration of Hitler and the Nazi Party influence in the area leading up to and during WWII. We visited, among other places, the Nazi HQ building, which is not only still standing, but is currently in use as the music building of the Munich University. Standing in the foyer--which, despite the lack of recognizable swastikas, was still full of Nazi-age architecture--was weird. I don't consider myself a superstitious person, but I swear I could still feel Hitler's presence in the place... stomping around in his office... giving orders...plotting terrible awful things... Talk about creepy. I was definitely ready to leave when our tour moved on.
 |
| The Nazi-HQ-turned-Music-School.... See those nail pocks on the second floor between the windows? That's where the giant swastika was. Behind those windows was Hitler's personal office. |
It was both interesting yet also disturbing that, in such a beautiful city with such a rich history, the theme or topic that so many people go there to learn about is such a dark and evil one. I understand that, to some degree, it is important to learn more about how and why things got so bad, so as to (hopefully) prevent such disasters in the future, but I also think that Hitler and the Nazi party did enough damage to Munich and all of Europe while he was alive and the Party was thriving--can't we give poor Munich a break from all that already?
 |
| Our guide, Robert, explaining one of the Dachau CC memorials to us. |
That afternoon was even more dismal: we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp, which lies just 20 minutes outside Munich's city center, where we were staying. We really lucked out in the tour guide lottery though. Robert, an American ex-pat who has been in Germany for over 10 years now, was our extraordinary guide through the museum and memorial of Dachau CC. Now, I've toured a concentration camp before, and I've been to a few Holocaust museums (all of which are very well presented), but this was by far the most informative and impressive visit yet. He knew his stuff, but he wasn't above answering our many questions; even those of Finn, our 11-year-old "little brother" on the trip. I really can't express how good of a tour guide Robert was and unfortunately he doesn't officially work there anymore (St. Olaf just pulled some strings), so I can't even tell you to special-request him if you ever go there! Too bad. I can say with complete confidence that he was by far the best tour guide I've ever had anywhere. And I've had my fair share of really excellent tour guides.
Unfortunately, our tour guide luck ran out for a while when we got to Berlin. I was so excited, especially after Ralph and Robert, to share my love and excitement for Berlin and her history with my classmates and hopefully learn some more myself, but my wish didn't come true. Not even close.
::commence rant::
Let's just say that, for how great Robert was, our tour guide in Berlin was that bad. We're talking the complete other end of the spectrum. I was crushed. It took all my will-power to stay in my seat on the bus and not steal his microphone, or worse, just walk off the bus and start giving my own tour. It was bad. I tried my best though, to make it worth our while by asking lots of leading questions that I hoped would spark stories about the city's history or the significance of certain monuments (like the Holocaust Memorial, for instance, which the artist purposefully left ambiguous so people would read their own interpretation into the work. When I asked about that, I got an explanation that "ze Holocaust vas ven Hitler killed all ze Jews" wow, thanks. I didn't know that!), but all I got were condescending and concise answers that offered only the most basic information that you might find in a super-abridged version of a guide book of the city. He knew more about where all the stores were in the city "THERE! ON ZE LEFT! RALPH LAUREN AND COACH AND YVES SAINT LAURENT!" than he knew about basic structures. Now, I wish I did remember his name, just so I could tell you all to avoid him at all costs if you ever want a tour of Berlin, but I tend to block out bad memories, so I've already forgotten his name.
 |
| Favorite photo I took at the Mauerpark flea market. There were LOTS of clock-necklaces. |
::end rant::
The rest of our time in Berlin was great! A few highlights were:
- making our own chocolate at the Ritter Sport Schokowelt (not my video). Mine was dark chocolate with raspberries, cocoa nibs, and carmelized almond pieces... and I managed to savor it until yesterday--R.I.P. Best-Chocolate-Ever!
- Mauer Park Sunday flea market! I didn't buy anything, but I had a great time taking pictures :)
-Stumbling on the outdoor Mauer (wall) memorial, which starts just next to the Nordbahnhof station just north of the city center
-taking some of the group to Potsdamerplatz for dinner the first night
 |
| Brandenburg Gate covered in "peace" |
- - stumbling on a music-and-lights show on the Brandenburg Gate (Ode to Joy while "peace" in world languages was projected on the Gate, with "Japan thanks the world for all their help" after it finished). I teared up, for sure.
- By far the biggest highlight of our time in Berlin was seeing Cabaret: The Musical at TIPI am Kanzleramt theater. When we were in Munich talking about the things we absolutely had to see in Germany, she told me she really wanted to go to a cabaret bar because she had been the lead in Cabaret when her high school staged the show, and it takes place in pre-WWII Berlin. Not two days later, we were out running and passed a billboard ad for Cabaret. We took down the website name and set our minds to going to that show.
 |
| Emelia and I at Cabaret in Berlin. See? Eleg-tent. |
It was an absolutely amazing performance. It's been a while since I've been to a professional show, and we weren't really sure about the quality we should expect at TIPI, but whatever expectations any of us had, they were blown away.
We were so moved to be there in Berlin, where we had been learning about the effects of the Nazi party on society, and watching such a relevant portrayal how a specific part of that society had responded.
The actors were incredible too. Out of all the songs in the show, I found I was familiar with two of them: "Life is a Cabaret" and "Maybe This Time". I'm really sad we didn't get programs at the performance, because I know the leading actress is going to be famous someday and I want to be able to say "I saw her in Cabaret!".
Let me show you what I mean. Watch this clip of Liza Minnelli playing Sally Bowles, the heroine of the show and then imagine what we saw: instead of a purely celebratory performance (which is the traditional way to play it), our Sally turned this song into the climax of her character's breakdown. At the beginning, she's loud and proud and convinced that leaving her lover (the "hero" of the show) for her career was a good decision, but then she starts to breakdown and question whether life--her life--really is a cabaret... by the end, she's a crying mess belting out the last few notes and the MC (the real hero of the show, in my opinion) has to help her off stage. WOW.
The whole show was great, to be honest, and it was well-worth spending a little extra cash (thank god for student tickets!) to see such a spectacle (that also tied into our studies--double bonus!).
On our last full day in Berlin, Tess and I went for a photo-run. Here are some highlights:
 |
| In front of the Bundes Reichstag (parliament building) |
 |
| Crossing 17 juli St. (Brandenburg Gate in background) |
 |
| Imitating Beethoven in Tiergarten |
 |
| Gorgeous scenery in Tiergarten (I wish I'd had time to go back and paint this!) |
 |
| The paths of Tiergarten |
 |
| Looking out over the Spree River |
I know this post is getting long, but bear with me...
 |
| Arielle, me, Julie F, and Tess with the Berlin Friendship Bears on Kufürstendamm |
Wow. Terrible pun. Sorry, I couldn't resist. But really, I only have a little left to tell you!
Our last full day in Germany was spent in Leipzig, a city just an hour southwest of Berlin by train. We had two information sessions at the Universität Leipzig about famous psychology-related-specialists Wilhelm Wunt and Gustav Theodor Fechner, who both spent a lot of time at the Universität.
We had the rest of the afternoon free, which I spent mostly with Emelia and SB (Sarah Beth). We shared lunch on the patio of the Bräuhaus am Thomaskirche...
 |
| mmm... Pesto Gnocchi and Mushroom Risotto (yes, Mom, I liked it!) |
...and while Emelia and SB caught up on their journaling, I sketched our view of the Thomaskirche:
 |
| Thomaskirche, where J.S. Bach worked and composed for 25 years |
After a while, our side of the square we were sitting on got shady and cool, so we moved to another café in the platz (square) just down the street. We shared an ice cream sundae (lavender and raspberry ice cream with raspberry sauce... is your mouth watering yet?) and played cribbage all afternoon in the sunshine.
 |
| Ice cream, cribbage (I won 3 of the 4 games we played that afternoon!), and sunshine. Not a bad way to spend a Monday afternoon. |
Overall, a good time was had in Germany. Then it was time to GO... to Egypt!
No comments:
Post a Comment