I had a similar breakfast at the hotel, the tea was again very satisfying...who would have thought Germany would be so cold? * sarcasm*. The train ride was about 45 minutes, and the majority of it was through the woods of Berlin and Potsdam. Once we arrived we were given a guided tour of the "Einsteinturm" or Einstein Tower; this is a solar observatory that is dedicated to the one and only Albert Einstein. The building was very unique and inside at the top of the telescope was very captivating. Our tour guide was a physicist and he was ironically very reminiscent of Einstein himself...he seemed like a genius with a likable demeanor!
Afterwards we visited the building I was responsible for, Sanssouci Castle and received another guided tour. The inside of the building was extremely ornate with Rococo style architecture...i'll let the pictures help me out again with the beauty of the building!
Once we came back to Berlin we went to the Holocaust Memorial. This memorial was very successful in my opinion, just like the train station in Madrid its design promoted the right feelings and experiences. After that we went to the Jewish museum and had another guided tour of the facility. There were two very haunting exhibits within the museum, the "memory void" and the "Holocaust Tower". The "Holocaust Tower" is a tall empty space with a single opening at the height of one of the corners, at night the space is completely dark except for the one small opening; the idea was to exhibit the feeling of a "hope" out of reach during the Holocaust. The "memory void" is also an empty space but the floor is covered in various sized iron faces...it is meant to be walked on and each time you step the movement of the iron faces against each other makes loud "screams" that echo throughout the void.
Our last stop of the day was at "checkpoint charlie", this was the entrance/exit during WWII into the American controlled sector of Berlin...I felt another eerie sense standing next to such an important and historically rich site within Berlin. Dinner tonight was not as "German" in fact it was Indian! Kathrin, our professor, recommended an Indian restaurant for dinner, my curry chicken was very appetizing. It was a long day of walking and sightseeing...once again I am exhausted, but more to come for tomorrow.............BERLIN PHILHARMONIC!!!!!!
Solar reflecting components of the telescope!
I would have thought Einsteins tower would have been bigger! What is Sans Souci there is a street named for that downtown. Dad
ReplyDeleteSanssouci is the name of King Frederick the Greats summer palace during his reign. It is French for "with out concerns"
Delete