Category: Photos

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Potsdam Palaces

Potsdam 1

Potsdam is a small town not far from Berlin and easily accessible by train. Its palatial landscape can be attributed to Frederick II the Great, who lived form 1712 to 1786. Sanssouci, Freddy’s summer palace was intended to rival Versailles when originally built. It was built to encourage relaxation and while visiting, I can understand why. The gardens are far reaching complete with fountains and flowers, and the rooms are more than elaborate. A style very popular with Freddy the Great known as Rococo can be seen throughout this castle as well as the others buildings scattered around the park. Before the afternoon is over, I am able to visit four palaces, get trapped in the rain once, and stop several times for snacks. The combination of the natural green with the grandeur of the castles suggests fairytales, and when it occasionally rains, I feel like that tale is reaching its dramatic climax where good must fight evil eventually culminating in the “good guys” living happily ever after.

Potsdam 2

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Jewish Museum and Holocaust Memorial

Both the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin make an architectural statement equally strong to its exhibits. The Jewish Museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, starts on the bottom floor as a series of zigzagging hallways. These hallways then help to divide the museum into three areas– Continuity with Germany history, Emigration from Germany, and the Holocaust. This is all compounded by the empty spaces, irregular windows, and interactive exhibits. Although I am clearly biased, the Jewish Museum or Jüdisches Museum is a highlight of my Berlin experience and I recommend Jews and non-Jews alike to go at least for a quick look.

Jewish Museum Berlin

Designed by another great architect, Peter Eisenman, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (the Holocaust Memorial) sits on a 5-acre site and consists of thousands of concrete slabs. These slabs of varying heights are arranged on a rolling landscape in a grid-like pattern. Eisenman leaves the interpretation of these slabs to the viewer, and not having one “correct” interpretation of the memorial forces individuals such as myself to stop and think for much longer what each slab may symbolize. The site may represent a cemetery or maybe train cars used to carry the Jews. The disorientation of the slabs may reflect the feelings of Jews during the time of the Nazis. In addition, there is little signage indicating the purpose of this site or even that it is a memorial. The subtly of the memorial just like its openness to interpretation add to its value and to its uniqueness. Finally, below the memorial is a small museum discussing the stories of specific individuals and families that suffered during the time of the Nazis. Individualizing the Holocaust is a saddening experience because I start to learn how real families suffered. That said, personalizing the Holocaust is effective when trying to explain the atrocities committed under Nazi Germany.

Holocaust Memorial Berlin

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The Reichstag

Soon after arriving in Berlin, I realize that I would like to walk up to the top of the glass dome above the Reichstag. The Reichstag is Germany’s parliament building that was burned down in 1933 and rebuilt. The idea of the glass dome is that the German government is supposed to be transparent and when the parliament looks up at the ceiling, they can see the citizens of their country walking above them. Unfortunately, it is probably more often that they see citizens from everywhere else walking the spiral ramp around the dome.

Reichstag 1

I go to visit this popular Berlin landmark and am turned away because the Reichstag is currently under a terrorist threat. They allow people to visit by reservation only, and reservations can only be made online. Back at the hostel, I try to make an online reservation; however, inconveniently, the english translation of the website does not have the required page. Therefore, with the help of the hostel staff, I navigate the german site and eventually sign up for a time slot. I feel that the challenge involved in seeing this site only made it more desirable for me to try and go, but I am not entirely ready to admit that.

Reichstag 2

On the day of my reservation, I venture back to the Reichstag, go through the necessary metal detectors and scanners and eventually find myself at the base of the dome. There is a great audio tour that recognizes where I am standing and lets me know what I am seeing when I look out over the city. And when I look downwards, I can see Parliament working below. In addition, the architecture of the dome is as impressive as its views. There is even a shade that rotates with the sun to ensure that Parliament is never faced with unwanted glare. The day is relatively clear, the dome uncrowded because of the hurdles required to visit, and the Berlin cityscape shines from this high perspective.

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Berlin

Berlin is a very livable city, and by this, I mean there is so much to see and do for both locals and tourists, that it seems it would never become dull. If something one day brings me to Berlin for an extended period of time, I will not complain. Its full history, albeit very controversial at times, has created a city complete with a diverse cultural scene, a young vibe, and a population proud to call themselves Berliners.

Brandenburg Gate

My first day running around the city, I start at the famous Brandenburg Gate and stroll my way down Unter den Linden. I quickly run into Tim and Adam, two friends I met in Munich who had been staying in the hostel next door. We continue onwards to the city park as we all enjoyed our afternoons. Basing myself at the Wombats Hostel in Berlin, I had easy access to the subway, which in turn makes getting to any other landmark uber convenient. From the moment I arrive, I am excited to to spend several days in this very alive city.

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German Engineering

There are two museums in Munich in which I let my inner-nerd come out, the Deutsches Museum and the BMW Museum. The Deutsches Museum, the world’s largest museum of science and technology, is too big to handle in one afternoon, but I run around anyway spending extra time in the New Technologies section, the Transportation section, and the Materials and Production Section. Specifically in the Materials and Production area, I have a fun time looking at the power machinery of old. The exhibition is laid out in chronological order demonstrating the development of machine-tools and engines. On a different afternoon, I visit the BMW Museum, which is adjacent to the BMW headquarters and factory. Not only do I enjoy learning about the history of the BMW brand and its many cars over the years, but equally impressive is the unique and design conscious architecture of these many buildings. Through these two afternoons, I have at least received a flavor for the excellence of German engineering.

Deutsches Museum

BMW Building

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Munich Walking Tour

I get to know Munich through the NewEurope Free Walking Tour. At first, I am skeptical of the tour as a large number of people make their way to Marienplatz. Large groups, soft speaking tour guides, and crowded cities are all part of an equation that usual pushes me towards a self-guided tour. However, I’m with a couple friends I met at the hostel, and I decide to wait it out a little before making a decision. Before the tour starts the group gets divided up several times eventually placing me in a group of about twenty-five.  It is still a sizable number; however, the tour guide can project her voice and as a result, I become more optimistic about the tour to come. By the end of the tour, I would highly recommend this activity, which is offered in several European cities by Sandeman’s NewEurope Tours. The tour is free with the guides expecting tips based on their performances. This, in turn, creates a great incentive for the guide to provide an excellent tour complete with jokes, fun stories, and a lot of entertaining background as we walk around the city.

As seen during Munich walking tour

Walking tour

Street musicians in Munich

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Never Again

A message repeated throughout the many museums and monuments of the Holocaust is that retelling its story is critical so as to prevent anything similar form happening again. I fully agree with the message and the sentiment; however, I feel that it ignores the many examples that have occurred between WWII and today. I will admit that determining what events should classify as genocide can be difficult; however, below are examples of others that could be included:

  • Soon after WWII in 1947, the partition of India, in which a newly formed border was created separating the Hindus and Sikhs, resulted in 500,000 to 1,000,000 dead because they were on the wrong side of that border.
  • In Australia, between 1900 and 1970, twenty to twenty-five thousand Aboriginal children were taken from their homes and separated from their families. Some now call them the “Stolen Generation.” (As a side note, the way that Native Americans were treated when European first settled in North America can also be interpreted as genocide.)
  • In Pakistan, during the Bangladesh War in 1971, there are estimates ranging from 300,000 to 3 million people killed by the Pakistan Army. Targeted during this killing include the Bengali intellectual, cultural, and political elite along with Hindus.
  • The Rwanda genocide in 1994 is estimated to have killed 800,000 people. This genocide, lasting 100 days, was performed by the Hutu militias against Tutsis and pro-peace Hutus.
  • The first president of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macias Nguema, killed or exiled up to 1/3 of the country’s population (80,000 out of 300,000 are estimated to have been killed).
  • The Khmer Rouge from Cambodia, whom I commented on in an early entry, are responsible for killing about 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.
  • Indonesian occupation of East Timor resulted in approximately 100,000 deaths between 1974 and 1999. Many of deaths resulted from malnutrition and it is rumored that the Indonesian military used starvation as its main tool of “exterminating” the East Timorese.

These are only a handful of examples of mass killings that have occurred since the events that took place in and around Germany under the Nazi regime. I agree that the history of the Holocaust should be retold to try to prevent it in the future; however, I also feel we need to try to recognize its signs and instead of learning about how it affected history, learn how it can be prevented in the future.

In addition, most museums I visited did not recall other examples of mass killings and I feel when the take-away message is to prevent something similar form happening again, explaining that it already has will only help emphasize the point.

Never Again sign at Dachau

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Biergärten

Munch, a city known for its Oktoberfest, must have great beer gardens. After all, the city swells to about 10x its usual size for the two weeks of Oktoberfest. As I made my way through a handful of these beer halls with friends I’d met from my hostel, the Euro Youth Hotel, I enjoyed tasting many of the varieties that Munich has to offer. In addition, beer is most typically served by the liter, which presents challenges based on the sheer amount of liquid and the weight of the mug as the night progresses.

The two most memorable beer halls were the Englischer Garten, where I sat on a picnic bench next to a large Chinese tower enjoying my beer and a book during a sunny afternoon, and the Hofbräuhaus, an über festive and famous beer house in Munich.

To both exaggerate and demonstrate the size of these beers, the below photo shows how the beer can be distorted to reflect the keystoning affect that often occurs when trying to photograph large buildings from below.

Beer in Munich

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Linköping, Sweden

I will begin by noting that the “k” in Linköping sounds more like a “sh”. And I think it has something to do with the umlaut over the “o”.

Train in Sweden

After taking a train through the very green Swedish countryside, I arrive at Linköping Station in the late afternoon. Matilda and Jesper are waiting for me, and we go to a nearby park for beach volleyball, drinks and snacks. Matilda had alerted a couple of her friends, they in turn passed the message along to some of their friends, and there are probably enough people to field two full games. Everyone is nice to use English when they remember, and on top of that, their English is great. Unlike some other European countries, Sweden doesn’t dub their television and movies. As a result, although the movies still have subtitles, many Swedes are very adept at conversational English.

Brunch in Linkoping

The following day, which is also Ascension Day (Kristi himmelsfärdsdag), is a national holiday, and Matilda invites me to a brunch with friends from her university. It is a delicious home-cooked potluck breakfast. Matilda and I contribute some scrambled eggs and American banana pancakes, for which I couldn’t use Costco’s mix so I had to start from scratch. The meal is a feast and I meet a long-table’s worth of Matilda’s friends. One fun fact that comes to light is that many young Swedes who want to travel will start by working for about 6 months in Norway, the richest country per capita in the world. They live cheaply and make descent wages and are then prepared to travel the second 6 months of the year around the rest of the Europe or the world.

Vadstena Castle

After brunch, Matilda and I venture to the nearby town of Vadstena, known for its Abbey Church and its Castle. After making the mandatory stops at these two well-preserved landmarks, Matilda and I enjoy a game of mini-golf before watching the conclusion of a city-wide tractor race. We approach a sign that describes this tractor race, and as we read it more closely, we see that it is occurring today and that it should be ending soon. As we are gripped by pure excitement watching the tractors roll in, we eat a traditional shrimp sandwhich, which is a slice of bread, a layer of eggs and mayo, all topped off with a mound of shrimp.

Downtown Linkoping

In the late afternoon, Matilda gives me a quick tour around Linköping, much of which is closed because of the holiday, and we finish at the city’s famous ice cream shop. Along with my ice cream, Matilda insists that I try some traditional salted black licorice, which was about as weird as it sounds. We hurry back home, change to get ready for fotboll (Swedish for soccer), and are off to meet some friends at the field. I am quickly reminded that I haven’t played fotboll for ages, and it shows, but I have fun nonetheless.

Matilda and I eating ice cream

The day ends as the sun sets after 10pm with Matilda, Jesper and I sitting outside enjoying some tea, cheese and crackers, and other delectable snacks. My stay in Linköping was short, but I feel so lucky to have been able to tour around with Matilda, meet her friends, and explore some of the quieter areas of central Sweden.

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1912 Olympic Games

Almost a century ago, the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm came and went without too much to note other than the USA walked away with most medals, it was the first time that the decathlon was featured, and it was the last to issue solid gold medals. (Thank you wikipedia.) Although it may not have been an Olympics with many defining features, I figured it still warranted the short subway ride to go see the stadium. While visiting, they were preparing the stadium for some event. This meant that some of the gates were left open, and I pretended I belonged there (with my camera and map) and explored.

Stockholm Olympic Stadium