This summer, I had the opportunity of traveling to Germany and the Czech Republic through a Wilson Language Grant, and it proved to be a fantastic opportunity. After nearly thirty hours of grueling travel, I arrived in Berlin, which proved to be a most interesting and unique city. The Amstel hostel was a most accommodating place to sleep, and it was quickly made clear to me how serious Germans take not only their breakfast but also their foosball. Downtown Berlin has the feeling of a ghost town in certain areas, since the recovery from both WWII and Soviet occupation are still underway. The stark differences between the former East and West Berlin were quite interesting and apparent in everything from the streetlights to the architecture. The new train station in Berlin is extremely impressive and modernist in both appearance and efficiency, and they acted as a hub of operations for my forays into Berlin.
We took a walking tour with an extremely charismatic tour guide who was a native of Berlin who showed us a number of historical sights and governmental buildings, while giving her own perspectives on various views. Another powerful part of my week in Berlin was the Holocaust memorial erected on the former bunker of Josef Goebbels, which is one of the largest and finest pieces of modern art in Berlin.
A view from inside the Holocaust Memorial
I also saw the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate, both of which are striking feats of German architecture.
Inside the Reichstag A group photo in front of the Reichstag
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