This past weekend was the first time we've really had the chance to explore the city on our own - like without already pre-planned excursions and events. And it was nice - nice to have the time to go where we wanted to go, without worrying about being on a schedule. We were able to explore at our pace and stay as long or as short as we wanted to ... it was actually really fun.
So where did we go, you may be asking yourself - well we decided to go to one of the most well-known landmarks in Berlin - The Brandenburg Gate! Even though it was really touristy and there were lots of people, it was still a lot of fun! We got to play tourists for the day - instead of students - and take our pictures in front of the gate, go to all the gift shops and everything.
It was actually really interesting there, because there were so many different things going on in the square. There were horse carriage rides, street performers - lots of them, and people just trying to make a political statement. It was actually pretty cool, there were a couple Native Americans there and the one guy was playing the most beautiful music I've ever heard!
And then there was the guy who was completely covered in sand and just sitting as still as a statue - at first I didn't even realize he was a real person!
While we were in the area we also had a chance to go to the Tiergarten - this huge park in the middle of Berlin with all these paths that lead to different statues and bodies of water. It was actually really nice there, it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city - and there were soooo many dogs running around - I miss my puppy!!! (More about dogs and the city to come in a later blog).
While we were in the Tiergarten we came across these guys who were like camped out by a bunch of shiny rocks, painting on them. We had no idea what was going on, but eventually found out that this man had sailed around the world and collected 10 stones, 2 from each continent. He then proceed to sculpt, paint, and inscribe them - as part of a representation of peace and united manhood, 5 of these stones will remain in Berlin, while the other 5 will go back to their continents. They will be positioned in just a way so that on the 21st of June their surfaces will reflect the light of the sun - these rays of light will travel around the world to meet their sister stones in Berlin at high noon - creating 5 invisible straight lines. It's all a representation of the 5 steps towards peace - Europe is Awakening, Africa is Hope, Asia is Forgiveness, America is Love, and Australia is Peace. It's a pretty cool concept - I think.
We also had the opportunity to see the Holocaust Memorial, which was really intriguing. It was all these boxes of different heights creating all these different paths. It wasn't what I was expecting at all, but still really interesting!
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