the street art of berlin

3 of 5

So after Prague, on Sunday we drove to Berlin. Berlin is amazing. I had no idea what to expect, but it's literally an artist's (my) paradise. If only it weren't in Germany...

Anyways, we got there and went to the Jewish Museum (yet AGAIN being a jew!). It actually was really really cool. It was more of a history of Jews instead of just focusing on the Holocaust, so it was a new perspective. It also was a very interactive museum, which was interesting, too. The building is like zig-zagged and super big. There was this room you walk in where there are bronze faces that you walk on called the memory room. You walk on them and they make loud noises and it's like you're walking on the dead people. It was so creepy, I had to leave. And then there's this Holocaust Tower that was so moving. You stand in this room that's pitch black and really cold, and there's a tiny opening at the top of it that lets in the only light. And there's a ladder but you can't reach the bottom of it. And this woman closes the door, and you're not sure if it's locked or not. Super creepy, but really effective. I also ran into some girls from my sorority there! Small world.

It was freezing and windy, so after the museum, we went and got AMAZING burritos near our hostel. It made me miss Anna's Taqueria and Tango Mango!! We went on a bar crawl that night, but I was so tired that it kind of sucked.

Monday we did the walking tour of Berlin, where we had a really cool guide. I learned so much about the history of Berlin and the Berlin wall. We saw the Brandenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and Museums Island, plus more. We also stood where Hitler committed suicide, which was really creepy. I just couldn't imagine that we were standing right there. Right before that we walked through the Holocaust memorial there, which was so abstract but so moving. It reminded me of the buildings they lived in at the concentration camps, or graves, or how there was so much below the surface (because it looks flat, but the middle goes down so the blocks are towering above your head).

Right after that we did an alternative tour of the street art and artists of Berlin, which was the best tour I've ever taken in my life. We walked all around and learned about the techniques of street art and the street artists of Berlin. We also went to this house called Tacheles, which is a building covered in graffiti where artists live and have studios and sell their work. It's about to be taken over by the government because they don't have any money, so I could have been one of the last people in there. It's really sad because the artists built up the area and they don't have anywhere to go, so there's a big fight to save it. We then went to the East Side Gallery, which is part of the Berlin wall where they brought in artists to paint it, and it's so long and AMAZING. omg i loved it.

On the tour we also saw this house that this man built because he wanted to live somewhere but people wouldn't let him, so he built himself a house on a piece of land and now people visit it all the time. Such a cute story. Oh, and I ran into the girls from my sorority AGAIN!

We had burritos for dinner again..oops...and then got on the overnight bus to go to Amsterdam!!

berlin was such a surprise to me. I had no idea how cool of a city it is,...it's so underrated. I really want to go back and learn more about the street art and artists of Berlin!