Berlin and Health Update

Wow I can't believe I haven't in blogged in so long! I still haven't shared Berlin with you and that was a long time ago! First things first, I'm doing well and feeling much better. I appreciate the support from everyone and have certainly learned a little more about myself. 

Ok, Berlin.... it's a great city! I wish I had planned more time there but for the first time since one this trip I actually purchased a round trip ticket (I still don't have a ticket back to the state) so I had to leave. I would suggest at least three full days if not four and especially four if you love museums. As per usual I'll give you the highlights. I went on a walking tour first and saw the main things, parts of the Berlin wall, the parking lot over Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide (did you know he married Eva Braun the day prior?), Checkpoint Charlie, The Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and a lot more. It was a great tour! The museums I went to were the Topography of Terror (my favorite by far, it's the Nazi history museum, really well done, and free!), The German Historical Museum (has way too much stuff in it so it's a bit overwhelming but I liked it), and the Pergamon (I still don't understand what this museum is, complete waste of 14 euros). I also went on a paid tour of the street art culture in Berlin.   

Berlin Wall outside the Topography of Terror

Brandenburg Gate

I was very impressed with how the Holocaust Memorial was done. The designer (an American Jew) never stated when it meant which I also kind of like. It makes you question what he meant and come up with your own conclusions. I felt a lot of things walking around the fairly large area... disoriented and  isolated, the blocks reminded me of grave stones but also could represent individuals with their entire identity and individuality stripped away. Underneath the memorial is a small museum on the Murdered Jews of Europe (that is actually what the memorial is named). I didn't spend too much time in there because I was a bit Holocausted out after the Nazi museum and German History Museum and I've been to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem twice which is just an outstanding Holocaust museum and this little one doesn't hold a candle to that. What I did find interesting is the section that followed several different families from different European countries through the war. It of course is horribly sad but interesting to see where these families came from and what happened to them.

On the street art tour I learned all about different techniques used, different tags people use to mark who they are, and much more. There are several people who "tag" all around the city and I enjoyed spotting their artwork. Some of the artwork is legal but most is not and the city does spend a considerable amount of money trying to get rid of the illegal art work.

The fists are all over Berlin and usually on train stations

This was done using stencils

This is Little Lucy who hates her cat, she is planning some
way to kill her cat, here she has a gun in her jacket

She's holding something in her hands
but I don't remember what

Another gun... present for the Kitti

Little Lucy is hanging her cat

In an effort to be legal about it a group
of people started knitting their artwork,
it's not permanently defacing property
so it's not illegal.

They once knitted an entire subway car covering all the poles
and seating in knitting

The East Gallery is the longest running section (1.3km) of the Berlin Wall that is still intact. All the artwork on the East Gallery is legal and each section is a specific artist's work. A lot of them are political statements and several have painting done of them by others or just people signing in sharpie and whatnot.

I took a lot of photos in Berlin on my iPhone which unfortunately is no longer working and I don't have those photos. One part of the wall is covered with very large photos of other walls in the world for example the Ireland and Northern Ireland border, the fence in Arizona between the US and Mexico, several photos were also from Israel as well as Iraq. 

One night for dinner I stood in line at a tiny Doner (the Turkish version of a Gyro, very popular all over Germany) stand for an hour and it was totally worth it! Best Doner ever! It was filled with eggplant, zucchini, cheese, delicious sauce, perfectly cooked potatoes, oh man I would stand in that line again for sure! Anyway, I took pictures but those are on my broken phone too :-(