Week Eight

Cultural

It’s hard to believe we are already 2/5 through our Erasmus journey, it feels like we've know everyone for a very long time, yet it seems like only yesterday that we arrived in Amsterdam suitcases in tow wondering what the next 5 months had instore.

This week was one of the most exciting weeks for me personally, not only did I teach an art lesson to my class which I loved every minute of, but we got to travel to the city of Berlin. I have wanted to see Berlin for a very long time so the 12 hour bus journey did not deter me, we were all extremely tired when we finally arrived but eager for the two days we had to explore the city. Our bus driver was what can only be described as a complete legend; he explained to us what was happening in English throughout the journey and made it a wonderful experience for us when he didn't really have to do that as it was a Dutch company.

The first day we walked all day in the snow and cold seeing the city up close and personal, we saw the Reichstag, the Brandenburg gate, the holocaust memorial, the museum of natural history and the Berlin wall. The city is very big compared with Belfast, Nijmegen and Amsterdam, the old and new buildings blend together so well to create a beautiful city. I loved the architecture of the Berliner Dom (Berlin cathedral) the copper roof reminded me of the city hall in Belfast, also the statues and wood carvings on the door remind me of some of the churches here in Nijmegen and Eindhoven. There is so much to see in the city and take in, it’s like a cultural paradise there is the parts of the city that you become stunned by it’s beauty yet parts that you become haunted by its past. The city is alive with the history and it embraces this and yet you can see through the various building works and improvements that the city is striving to embrace the future.

On our last day we decided to go to the German historical museum which was very interesting, it was good to be able to compare parts of the German history to both Irish and British history. The museum had a whole floor dedicated to the depression and Nazi Germany and the Second World War as well as a display about the bombing of Dresden and the Berlin wall, the museum itself was in a very pretty building but would need most of a day to walk around and appreciate.

We also got to visit the Atle Nationalgalerie where I got to see one of my favourite paintings by Monet along with a few works of Renoir, I was so happy although the others did not share in my excitement they were nice enough to come along with me. We walked to checkpoint Charlie and ate a Currywurst ,our American friend Beth had been excitedly talking about getting one from we arrived in Germany so I think with such a build up we were bound to be slightly disappointed. We also visited the Jewish museum which was huge, there were parts of it that were very upsetting, reading the stories of some of the people as well as seeing some of the artefacts belonging to the victims. There was so much to see in the museum documenting Jewish history and origins and we just didn't have the time to view everything. The holocaust tower was eerie, you walked in and the door slammed closed behind you, leaving you in the dark and cold, it was a huge empty void and although you were in with other people you still felt utterly alone, it cemented in my mind how horrible the Jews must have felt and it was utterly heartbreaking.

Locks

The one thing I loved about Berlin above all else was the locks that couples and friends had locked around the bridges over the river, it was lovely to see a little part of peoples own personal history left in the city. I will definitely go back someday as there is so much left for me to see there.