Today we took a short train ride to Lake Wannsee where we boarded a ferry across the lake.
A German flag blows in the wind behind the boat.
Aboard the ferry, a second one passes by.
Professor Freeman and teaching assistant, Andrew, enjoy the ride.
A sailboat cruises by.
Swans swim elegantly in Lake Wannsee.
A group of us smile for a photo.
Today we went to beautiful Viktoria Park, a little park that professor Freeman discovered accidently on a previous trip.
Some locals decide to play in the stream below the memorial in the park.
The steps that lead to the to memorial.
The view from the top of the memorial.
Overlooking the street from the top of the memorial.
Raquel, professor Freeman and I.
We left the hotel at 10:30 a.m. to begin our walking tour. Our tour guide, Alex, was American and from Titusville, which is not far from where I am from. For the next four hours, Alex led us through the most historic parts of Berlin. We saw Humboldt University, which is the institution in Berlin where students and faculty burned books in the square that were written by Jews.
We saw the most expensive car in the world, which is a Bugatti, and it is worth 2.3 million Euros.
Alex informed us that the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, was asked what his thoughts were on Berlin’s economic issues. He replied that Berlin may be poor, but it is sexy. Poor but sexy is now a common motto for Berliners.
Alex took us to the Brandenburg Gate, a common tourist attraction in Berlin.
Alex also showed us the very elite Adlon Hotel, which has hosted guests such as Obama and Michael Jackson. It costs 9,500 euro to stay there for one night.
We then went to the memorial for the Jews of Europe, which is a large maze of cinderblocks of all different sizes. The artist has never revealed his meaning of this but has said that wants viewers to create their own interpretation of his piece. I think this is a wonderful way to allow individuality.
On the second day of our trip, we went on an eight-mile bike tour around the city of Berlin. It ended up raining all day during our tour, but we didn’t mind. We had an amazing time peddling through the city and seeing all of the historic sites.
Sophie, our tour guide, took us to an area of the city where street art is a common theme. Among the paint, there is a club/art gallery called Urban Spree.
The owner, Pascal, has turned the old building into a nightclub and art exhibit where street artists from all over come to decorate the walls with their work. As I talked to Pascal, I was exhilerated by his passion for the artists. He told me that Berlin was the perfect place to open his bar because of the freedom and creativity behind the artists pieces. It was also intriguing that the art is promoted through word of mouth, and only genuinely talented artists are able to show their work there.
He said that street art has been around for as long as cave men beginning with grafitti, and he is amazed at how far along the art world has come. When I asked him to tell me his favorite piece, he said it was too difficult because as each piece developed, so did his relationship with the artist.
At the end of the day, I took a little piece of Pascal’s free spirit and Germanic perspective with me.
A flute player shows off his talents at Urban Spree.
For more information on Urban Spree, you can visit their website at
As we arrived at the Hotel Transit in Berlin, Katie and I realized that we had been traveling for five days, while our classmates were just beginning to be overwhelmed with jet lag. Over the past few days, we had been to the Black Forest, Bavaria and Belgium. We arrived around 12 p.m. at the hotel and realized some of our other classmates were already there. After we settled into our rooms, our teachers assistant, Andrew, guided a few of us along the streets of Berlin. We ended at a beautiful, green park in the heart of Berlin. We hiked up hills, walked along cobblestone paths and even encountered so many dandelions that it looked as if it had snowed. After the park, we walked back to the hotel to await the arrival of professor Freeman. At around 5:30 p.m., all 22 of us, including professor Freeman and Andrew, went to the tower that overlooks the Berlin Wall. We walked along the memorial garden that is meant for those who suffered during that time. That night, we had dinner at Prater Biergarten. It was complete with two different windows; one to order food and one to order drinks. For dinner, I had my first lamb brat and soft German pretzel. To say the least, it was an amazing first day.
The Berlin Wall
Barbed Wire that surrounded the wall
Prater Biergarten
Berlin 2013 