Hmm.... how do I start telling what has happened this last two weeks? Well, first we've had two field trips already (and by we I mean the people from the study abroad program), so we've been to Berlin, Riga, and Geneva. Pretty sweet, huh? My favorite place among these cities is definitely Berlin. Although the place we stayed at wasn't at the "shiniest" part of town, but the fact that it was really close to all the main sights in Berlin compensated for it.

I must confess that I have a very unusual fascination with the Brandenburg gate. There's just something about it that makes me feel greater. The beauty of its Neo-Classical architecture and all the historic events that have taken place around it add to its appeal. Napoleon and Hitler marched through it to make of statement of their power, and it still remains as reminder of the division between East and West Berlin after WWII. It's a powerful sight when you take this into account.

The Reichstag was larger and more beautiful than what I had imagined. The Coppola at its top provided a very beautiful sight of the whole Berlin, and it's certainly a landmark.

This is a mirror structure inside the Reichstag's Coppola...look closely and you can see my reflection in the middle of it.

I also visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This monument has a very versatile psychological effect on its visitors. I had the chance to visit it both at night and during daytime. Before explaining my impressions, I should describe the monument a little bit. The monument is basically a city block covered in concrete slabs of varying sizes and heights arranged more less in a grid. The ground slopes up and down and it resembles waves at certain points. Some people say the place resembles a graveyard, and to some extent I can agree. This is how I felt on my two visits:

The night we visited was rainy, and we all started walking into the monument carelessly. The sound of the cars passing through the highway nearby was still audible, and the street lights shone some light onto us. As we walked further and further, things got darker and quieter. It was creepy, very creepy. Catching a glimpse of someone else waking around the corner made me feel very vulnerable; like someone would jump me any moment. The center of the monument was obscure and silent. On the ohter hand, the morning experience was completely different. The sun shone brightly, kids jumped from slab to slab; the place seemed more like a park than anything else. However, there was still a grim feeling to it.

This is a short version of how was Berlin. We only spent two days in Berlin and the main purpose of the visit was to visit the German Ministry of Economics and Technology and the German industry Federation. There, we were briefed on what they do and what were their specific agendas. The lectures were really interesting, but I had to write a paper on them so I'm done talking about that for some time. Plus, I gotta go to class :s. More trip stories to come! Bis gleich!

Another pic with the Brandenburg Gate... daylight view and with some friends from the program...

Posted by Sebastian at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)