I arrived on Thursday morning - luckily without a glitch - but very jet lagged. John was waiting for me at the airport and we returned to his apartment and proceeded to sleep for the next 4 hours. Once we awoke, we enjoyed a day of shopping, eating and getting to see a little bit of the city that John has been calling home for 5 weeks now. We decided to go grocery shopping and eat dinner at home. And enjoy a beer on the public transportation system - something very different than we are used to at home. On the menu: gerkins (pickles), kaviar & crackers, and wine.
On Friday, I shadowed John to class and a field trip for the day. (Picture below is of John and myself in his studio). His professors were nice enough to let me sit in on some presentations about the Berlin Wall and even attend the "Checkpoint Charlie" Museum with them where we heard all about life in Germany while the Wall was up and how people attempted to escape. Friday night we headed to the airport to pick up my roommate Paige who we convinced to visit from Seville. Friday night we went out for dinner and then got a taste of Berliner clubs which were interesting but perhaps a little "too much" for our worn out selves. The weekend would be for sightseeing, doing touristy things and catching up!
Saturday was a beautiful day in Berlin so we did and saw many things. The three of us went to the Berliner Dom, the famous Brandenburg Gate, walked through local street markets, saw the Holocaust Memorial and still-standing parts of the Berlin Wall. For dinner, we went to KaDeWe, a beautiful six-story mall in a very nice area of Berlin. The top two floors of the mall are exclusively food - raw bars, restaurants, and Teppanyaki-style eateries. We ate at the buffet on the gorgeous top floor. Needless to say, we were all stuffed after this. Later that evening, we went out for a drink near John's apartment in Kreutzberg at a cozy little lounge offering exotic, more "American" drinks.
Sunday was another beautiful day but, unfortunately, was Paige's last day in Germany. After enjoying some Dunkin Donuts' coffee and donuts, we said goodbye to Paige and she headed back to Spain. The rest of the day was spent resting (yet again - I cannot seem to catch up on sleep at all here) and then headed to studio for a bit for John to try and get some work done for Monday. We got Chinese food for dinner that evening - just Lo Mein, but it was very good, perhaps even better than that we get at home.
Lunch every day has typically been doner (standard German calzone-like food); Falafel (which has become my personal favorite, usually served panini-style with lettuce, cucumbers and other fixings); or the favorite around here - the soup lady. Every day she makes a "soup of the day" which today happened to be a DELICIOUS chicken noodle and vegetable. She also serves scrumptious coffee, croissants and other pastries.
Monday was another class day for John - but not until the afternoon which was nice to be able to sleep in a little bit then spend a few hours reading and helping John research the architecture in the village to which he will be traveling this upcoming weekend. Monday evening John had purchased tickets for us to attend the Philharmoniker Berlin! They are a nice orchestra that plays in a huge, gorgeous symphony hall in Potsdamer Platz (also one of my favorite places that I have gone to in Berlin). We enjoyed the first hour but admittedly cut out at intermission - we were already very tired and wanted to do/see more in my remaining time here. The pictures below are the two of us enjoying appetizers (pretzels and champagne) at the bistro right before the show.
From there, we went to Lindenbrau, a three-story pub-style restaurant also located at Potsdamer Platz. We decided to order the "1-meter bier" in true German fashion. This is basically a sampler size (.20 liters) of 4 different kinds of beer. We also dinner which was for me, chicken! (it is almost impossible to find any type of chicken in Berlin) and for John, a much more German dish - sausage and sauerkraut. We ended up both sharing his meal which is pictured below along with me and lots of bier.
From here we walked to a portion of the Wall which is remaining and not being fencing. It is a ritual at this section of the Wall to place of piece of chewing gum on it - so we complied.
Today is Tuesday and I am enjoying my last hours here in Berlin. While John typically has the day off from class, he is leaving bright and early Thursday morning for Switzerland is trying to get a good deal f things done before then. So we leisurely woke up and got ready, took the scenic route to studio - stopping along the way for art supplies and food, of course! Tonight we will go out with a bang as it is one of John's friend's birthday as well as my last night. I depart at 7am tomorrow for the airport to catch my 9:45am flight back to the states. This is very bittersweet as I am so sad to leave John and the wonderful week that we have had in this great place, but ready to catch up on some much-needed sleep!
My words cannot possibly do justice to the amount that I have learned and respect that I have gained for this place. Berlin has taught me a lot of history and how lucky I am. I have also come to admire John even more for how he has been able to adapt to life here and make it his home for 3 months, but also his readiness to return to home when his time here is through because there is just no other place like it in the world. I'll miss him until he comes home, but glad to have been able to share in the memories of this exciting time for him!
-Steph
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