Day 1 of Exploration

Hi everyone!
Don't know how long I can keep doing this on daily basis, but I feel like today I really must write otherwise I'll forget a bunch of stuff. Photos of today are loading onto facebook as we speak so you can just go see them on facebook! (add me if I don't have you on facebook for some reason...)

Today I finally pulled out my camera and it was a good day to do so! It was probably 23 degrees and sunny in the afternoon, so really beautiful weather! Around 3pm me, Tristan (the student from Waterloo), my PhD student (Stefan), and his daughter Ylva (not Ylna like I previously posted...) went on a tour to the downtown of Berlin (Mitte, which apparently directly translates to City Centre in German). We walked for something like 5 hours so needless to say by the end all of our legs were pretty much dead. I think the pictures speak for themselves, but here are a few descriptions. We walked through this park called Tiergarten (which literally means Deer garden)- there used to be deer here back when the city ended after this park), we also saw the presiden't house- a house where the president (who by the way has no real power and is just a ceremonial figure) has to leave. The chancellor that actually has power can live wherever she wants! We also saw the Pregnant Oyster, a building that frequently has arts exhibitions (it also has a proper name which apparently berliners don't really use). We saw the new Parliament which is transparent so that the public can feel like their government is transparent. We saw the old parliament which is actually totally accessible for the public now, so I am planning to go there.

We saw the Victory gates which are the super touristy area with lots of different consulates. The American consulate of course requested to build a fence around itself but the German people didn't let them, so instead they built 2 buildings, 1 behind the other, and the front one serves as a fence :). One of the coolest thing we saw was the line that used to divide East and West Berlin before the collapse of the Berlin wall (metaphorical, not literal collapse) in 1989. All the old buildings were in East Berlin (occupied by the Soviets). There is also these cobblestones that run throughout the city indicating where the wall used to be.

We saw the Jewish Memorial. Stefan was right when he told me that it was like no other memorial. There is almost no writing, just these huge concrete blocks that get really tall in the centre and make the centre of the memorial feel really cold and dark. Apparently the blocks are supposed to represent the Nazi spirit, they are small and insignificant in the beginning, as in they don't make a difference, but when you get deeper you encounter serious changes and issues...

We also saw city hall and many parks. The world clock is at the end of my album and it is incredible (I love clocks). Hoping to go there again soon. On a final note, I really like the bears of Berlin. I have so far only photographed 2, but am on the hunt for many more!

Hope all is well! Comment so that I see you guys are alive!

-Alina