What, are those leaves?
I was sitting on the balcony, and suddenly, I noticed that every tree in my neighboorhood is in bloom. It's fascinating, I didn't notice before, maybe they all sprouted last night. The weather is warmer, picnic season is upon us! Even the breeze is treating us nicely, instead of the horrid cold wind that seemed to never give up. Finally, the endless cold has broken.
We had a week of German language and culture classes, which I'll just say were, okay. Not the teacher's fault (a lovely young student who herself was conscripted to the task, not necessarily by her own desire). But I already know the numbers in German. In fact, a German colleague told me she couldn't hear an English accent. Whoo-hoo! Now, just to cram some vocabulary into that German syntax matrix I've been working on. Until then, it's pidgin German.
I wandered through Tiergarten, Berlin's Central Park equivalent, and then visited the remainder of the Berlin Wall in Potsdamer Platz. It's very hard to describe the scene there. You'll send down below, it's just several segments with accompanying historical text and photographs. I really recommend looking into the history of the Wall, understanding its context and what has become of the psychology behind the Wall since it came down. It's terrifying to imagine that on Midnight, August 13, 1961, whatever side of the Wall you were on is where you stayed. Granted, the concrete wall we imagine didn't go up for some time, but the tanks and the fence were there. There are palpable fragments of the Wall around the city, either in the mindset of Berliners or in the reactions to its demolition. There are still truly West Berliners and East Berliners. Then a couple pictures of us having drinks. Okay, there we go.
A view of the Spree, the central river, near my place.
View of the Siegessäule down the Straße des 17. Juni. Fernsehturm in the left background.
Lake in Tiergarten.
Rower in the Tiergarten.
Siegessäule and some sculptures.
More Tiergarten.
Portion of the remaining wall, in Potzdamer Platz. This is the Eastern side, light on the graffiti.
Berlin Wall pieces, all that's left.
Detail of the Wall, Western side.
Close-up of graphic from wall display. Shows the demolition of a church to make way for the death zone, and refugees from the East climbing through windows to get to the West.
Sign once present to show the departure from the West.
Wall detail.
Close-up on wall portion with graphic of Rosa Luxemburg at the top.
Original path of the Wall, currently cutting across a street. This cobblestone boundary will eventually cover the entire Wall's former route.
Stella, Katie, Marina, Arnold, and Karen.
Laura, Kiki, me, and Stella.
We had a week of German language and culture classes, which I'll just say were, okay. Not the teacher's fault (a lovely young student who herself was conscripted to the task, not necessarily by her own desire). But I already know the numbers in German. In fact, a German colleague told me she couldn't hear an English accent. Whoo-hoo! Now, just to cram some vocabulary into that German syntax matrix I've been working on. Until then, it's pidgin German.
I wandered through Tiergarten, Berlin's Central Park equivalent, and then visited the remainder of the Berlin Wall in Potsdamer Platz. It's very hard to describe the scene there. You'll send down below, it's just several segments with accompanying historical text and photographs. I really recommend looking into the history of the Wall, understanding its context and what has become of the psychology behind the Wall since it came down. It's terrifying to imagine that on Midnight, August 13, 1961, whatever side of the Wall you were on is where you stayed. Granted, the concrete wall we imagine didn't go up for some time, but the tanks and the fence were there. There are palpable fragments of the Wall around the city, either in the mindset of Berliners or in the reactions to its demolition. There are still truly West Berliners and East Berliners. Then a couple pictures of us having drinks. Okay, there we go.
A view of the Spree, the central river, near my place.
View of the Siegessäule down the Straße des 17. Juni. Fernsehturm in the left background.
Lake in Tiergarten.
Rower in the Tiergarten.
Siegessäule and some sculptures.
More Tiergarten.
Portion of the remaining wall, in Potzdamer Platz. This is the Eastern side, light on the graffiti.
Berlin Wall pieces, all that's left.
Detail of the Wall, Western side.
Close-up of graphic from wall display. Shows the demolition of a church to make way for the death zone, and refugees from the East climbing through windows to get to the West.
Sign once present to show the departure from the West.
Wall detail.
Close-up on wall portion with graphic of Rosa Luxemburg at the top.
Original path of the Wall, currently cutting across a street. This cobblestone boundary will eventually cover the entire Wall's former route.
Stella, Katie, Marina, Arnold, and Karen.
Laura, Kiki, me, and Stella.