Surreal
Trip Start
Feb 04, 2012
1
7
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Berlin, Germany
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
This morning started a little later than I had intended because my alarm (which I had set last night in a haze of jet lag) turned out to be 07.30pm instead of am. Because of that my breakfast was rather hurried and I missed my bowl of fruit and yogurt. I spent a while on Skype again this morning, it is really nice to be able to check in and tell my family about yesterday's adventures.
At 10.30am I left the hostel and walked through the melting remnants of Wednesday's snow fall to the train station where I bought my 6.30 euro day ticket. Fortunately the U2 line which passes directly through the underground station 100m from the door of my accommodation was going to be the line which took me to the first stop of the day. I got off the train several stops later in Potsdamer Platz and walked directly west to the Holocaust Memorial.
Comprised of 2,711 slabs of concrete the memorial was designed to create an uneasy and confusing atmosphere which represents a supposedly ordered system which has lost touch with human reasoning. Walking between the stelae this morning I could completely agree with the intentions of the designer. From above the memorial looks relatively low to the ground but as I began to walk deeper the slabs towered above me and I felt like I was walking through some kind of maze. Every now and again another person would walk through a row in front of me which was even more off putting as I had no idea they were there until it happened. Once I had sufficiently disorientated myself I went below the complex to the information centre where I learnt about the Nazi murdering of 6 million European Jews.
The next stop for my morning was the Bradenburg Gate which was constructed between 1788 and 1791. It is the only remaining gate out of several which once provided the entry points to Berlin. During its time the gate has been used for several political events. In 1963 John F. Kennedy visited, the Soviet Party at the time hung several large banners across it to prevent the president from looking into the East side of Berlin. On the 12 of June, 1987, Ronald Reagan spoke to the population of West Berlin where he famously said "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!". In 1994 the wall once again played host to a U.S president, this time Bill Clinton who spoke about peace in post Cold War Europe. On November 9, 2009 the Chancellor of Germany walked through the gate with Russia's Gorbachev and Poland's Lech Walesa as part of the 20 year anniversary of tearing down the wall.
I took a few photos, got some lovely French tourists to take a photo of me and then walked back the way I had come. I was on the hunt for a sign which I had spotted on the way in which revealed the location of a Salvador Dali exhibit. I have always been a bit of a fan of Dali so I couldn't really miss the opportunity to view some of his work in person. As it turned out finding the location proved to be much more challenging than I had expected. I got lost in the Sony Centre, stumbled into the Film Museum and circled around on myself before I finally spotted it.
At 11 euro the entry fee alone wasn't cheap but I decided that I would fork out another 6 euro and have a guided tour. I am glad I did as there were only 3 people in our group including myself and we got a fantastic insight into the techniques he used for the production of some of the 450 paintings and drawings on display. After the tour was finished (about an hour later) I retraced our steps and had a closer look at the art. I really enjoyed a 100 image series that he completed for an Italian commission of The Divine Comedy. Unfortunately the initial project was never published as there was local outrage at the employment of a Spanish artist to complete an Italian work but it was published later by the French. The photo I have included of his work which depicts a man fighting windmills also struck a chord when I learnt that the large black strokes were created with a rhinoceros horn filled with breadcrumbs.
I really loved the gallery, Dali has always inspired me to question my perception of the world and everything within it. I know he is not to everyone's liking but there is just something about a painting of a giraffe on fire being thrown out of a window which resonates with me.
It was 3.30pm by the time I left and I was getting pretty hungry. I caught the U2 back the way I had come and returned to my room for a quick lunch before continuing with my sight seeing adventure. Sadly my evening was not nearly as successful as the morning had been. I had intended on visiting Checkpoint Charlie but in the process I got completely lost and ended up back in Alexanderplatz. I didn't want to waste the journey so I had a bit of a shop, bought myself 2 pairs of knee high socks (also known as socken) and trained back to the hostel.
I think it is probably time that I had dinner. Next time, Dresden.
Annie
