"That it's all just a little bit of history repeating..."

There is something poignant about sitting in a Dunkies across from the infamous Brandenburg Gate and listening to Shirley Bassey's lyrics of this song. Oh Berlin.

Oh Berlin is right. What a juxtaposition of a city. I found myself staying and spending 97% of my time (aka, not when I was jumping over the cobblestone line denoting where the wall used to be and going back and forth) in East Berlin because it is just that much more interesting than the West. And so many stories, both tragic and comedic. I always felt torn in the city, but probably not as torn as the population who lived on either side of the wall. And that all happened in my lifetime.

(Brandenburg Gate for those who have no clue what I am talking about...a huge gate in Pariserplatz that every major political power must march through when conquering the city...Napoleon, Hitler...you know. Has a statue of Victory on top in a chariot drawn by four horses. Napoleon wanted it for the Louvre, so he had some poor guys go up, take it down, and move it to Paris. After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany took it back, reinstated it on the top of the gate, and had it angled so that Victory now looks down upon and points at the very ugly French Embassy, warning them never to try it again!)

Anyway, I met up with Katie and Bryce (from the Prague Quadrennial) and Amy and Malte! (Characters: Amy, friend from Harvard who did lots of theater and wants to continue directing. She won a Fullbright to study theater and intern at theaters in Berlin for a year. Amazing. Malte is her awesome and amazing German boyfriend who is a very successful dramaturg and seems to know everyone in the Berlin theater and music scene. I love them both.) Well, first I went on a free tour of Berlin, just to get a sense of all the layers of history. If you go to Berlin, you MUST take one of the free tours. Go to the Brandenburg gate and look for the really energetic people in the red shirts. If there is an Aussie named Annabelle, take her tour. She is amazing! She is such a Berlin geek that she moved here and reads her whole day long to gather more stories for her tours. She went for 5 hours (one hour over) and none of us knew because we were so engaged and having such a great time! I think my favorite story is how the wall came down...one of the biggest blunders of international press conference history. I won't retell the story for all those who already know it, but if you don't know it...look it up. Also, the Pope's Revenge is quite amusing. I will tell that one. So one of the East Berlin leaders during the communist days wanted to show the world that East Berlin was as technologically advanced as the western world. He had a TV Tower built that could be seen from all over Berlin; however, East Berlin didn't actually have the technology to figure out how to build it, so he flew in some international engineers to finish the project. I should inject that this leader also had all the crosses taken off of churches because communism didn't need the church or religion. A huge metal ball, kind of like the one in Times Square for New Year's only bigger, tops off the tower, and was made in such a way that it reflects light on a sunny day in the biggest cross you have ever seen. It's hilarious. And they call it the Pope's Revenge. Anyway, Annabelle showed us all over the city, so we hit all the sights of mostly East Berlin. I think the most moving is the Holocaust Memorial, but I will get back to the that. Ended on Museum Isle and jumped into the Berliner Dom before it closed. Huge place. Didn't know that I would end up walking up to the top, but found myself with a great view of Berlin. Looked at the time and went on a hunch that Katie and Bryce would be at an opera house (there are 3 in town) at a certain time. Chose the one, the Komische Oper, that was actually having a performance, Die Fledermaus, and happened upon Bryce buying a preztel the size of his head from an outside vendor. Talk about a shot in the dark. I've never seen Die Fledermaus before, but I should probably see it again, as there were no subtitles. It was, however, a cool design (lots of stairs...on a rake...that rotated...and you guys think I'm crazy!), and costumes were all eye candy for Katie. Oh yeah, and it was all centered around a working glass elevator. Ha...ha. Finally got the phone thing settled so I didn't have to use Amy as an operator to reach Katie, and set off on my merry way back to my hostel. (If you are staying in Berlin and need a hostel, St. Christopher's is a great place. Wombats is also opening right next to it, thus making it a great intersection of cheap beds!)

Started off the next grey day at the Jewish Museum. I must say that I hated it, both architecturally and as a Jewish Museum. I thought that the parts that were most moving were the empty "spaces" dedicated to the Holocaust, but they were more of a "look what Libeskind, the architect, can do!" rather than experiencing the space, the events. Not much to say about it because it was terrible. But I follwed that up with an AMAZING space, the Reichstag! Worth the wait in line, the glass dome on top of the Reichstag is such a great structure! And it's not about the view, which is good, or even the view below of the parliament chambers so the politicians never forget that they are being watched by the people. It's just a great space to move about in. It's a double helix of ramps going up to a top platform open to the sky, but it has a heated floor (important on this cold, rainy day). In the middle is a huge mirrored pillar that can only be described as the center structure of the breeding ground in the movie, "The Matrix." Pictures coming soon...hopefully. Ran back with K&B for a quick dinner and then met up with Amy and Malte for a very odd show at the Volksbruhne, which turned out to be the big scaffolded building that flashed across from my hostel. (Some guy swore it was a club.) As soon as I met Malte, I knew the two of us were on the same page. (If you meet him, don't mention the boat. OK?) OK. Well, we were seeing a show with these huge German actors in it directed by a guy Amy is going to work with in the next year. It was hilarious, and I didn't understand one word of what was going on. I am sure it would have been even more hilarious if I understood the text. And it was very German. I now understand when Mike Donahue came back from Berlin and said in his production meeting, "I am a new man." I get it now, Mike. I get it. Went with Amy to say good-bye to Nick O'Donovan, a Harvard grad who was doing his PhD in Berlin for the last year. Never met Nick before, even though we travelled in the same theater and Signet circles, but he is great.

Planned to go to museums, but it turned out to be, finally, a nice day, so I headed into West Berlin to the Tiergarten, a huge park, instead. Quite nice. Saw the golden Victoria on a stick and many other statues. Ended up at the zoo, and for whatever reason, was possessed to pay to get in and see the "cute" polar bear, Knut. That had to be a low point of the day. Waiting in a HUGE crowd for a bear to come out of a hole. What to people do on ground hog day?! He bounded out for 5 seconds, enough time for most people to catch a photo, I wouldn't dare aim my camera at a hole, and then ran right back in. Problem is...he isn't a cute cub anymore. He isn't a cub at all. In fact he looks like all the rest of the polar bears who are seperated onto the other side of the habitat and don't have any fans. Sigh. Meandered through the birds, giraffes, and elephants for a bit until running up to Potsdamer Platz to meet Amy at the Sony Center. Potsdamer Platz is one of those places completely torn by the Wall. It used to be the busiest intersection in Europe before the war, so much so that it got the first European traffic light. Then the Wall went up right in the middle of it. The boundry wall on the Eastern side, making the no go zone or shoot to kill zone, cleared out most of the rest of it making it no man's land for years. Only now it is becoming the commercial center again, or rather a fantasty land of glass and steel for huge companies like Sony and Deutsche Bahn. Amy showed me around more of town until we got a Bat signal from Malte saying that he had just spent 3 hours of his life trying to copy one article that may or may not be helpful in the production he is working on. He stationed himself at a chocolate and ice cream store, brooding over the lost hours of his life, so we showered him in hugs. Amy took him home for a nap while I met up with K&B to go the Ampelman store. Ampelman is the pedestrian traffic guy in East Berlin, designed by a cartoonist to get pedestrians to notice the signal more often. After integration, he went away, replaced by the western traffic little guys, but people demanded Ampelman. He's made a comeback on smaller streets and on plenty of merchandise. Keep a look out for him!

Started my day at the German History Museum, which I award with a gold star. It is one of the most fabulous history museums I have been to. Took me hours to go through and covered every decade from the earliest times of the Germanic tribes to after integration. It is amazing. It is a must go see when you are in Berlin. Then I got a call from Amy saying to go to the Komische Oper because Malte, who used to work there, was going to get us into a dress rehearsal of a farewell gala concert for this up and coming amazing conductor. Apparently he is leaving the opera orchestra to go free lance. They were playing a Sibelius, a flute concerto, and Rochmoninov's "The Bells." It was a fabulous concert and the conductor reminds me of Seiji...love it. And it was great to hear what he worked on. Missed Cello a lot...must bring him to NYC. Had a late dinner with friends from the hostels at a sushi restaurant. Very random, but a great day!

Lucky Friday the 13th was spend stressing over getting a room in Paris. Finally got the guts to call places and deal with the French. Made reservations for a place next to the Louvre for 7 nights...why would a hostel NEXT TO THE LOUVRE have rooms only a few days in advance. I am skeptical, but hopeful. Headed to the Pergamon, which has a fabulous collection of massive ancient art and architecture, like the gates of Istor (Babylon) and the Egyptian Museum which has the famous bust of Nefertiti. Both museums are fabulous, but they are free if you go on Thursday nights. However, then you have to pay for the audio guides, but the guides are worth it. Walked into the Radisson hotel to find a bathroom, but rather found a massive fish/shark tank in the middle of the lobby which had an elevator going through the middle of it! (Turns out to be part of an aquarium experience, but definitely worth the free peek!) Met up with K&B to say good bye (they were saving a lot of money, something like 5 billion dollars, by going on a night bus...yes bus...to London from Berlin) and then went to sushi with A&M to say good bye to them, as they were leaving for the weekend. You all must come visit me in NYC next year! Got a peek at the Gehry structure inside the DZ Bank building in Pariserplatz which is very interesting. Wandered through the Holocaust Memorial. Again, best Holocaust Memorial I have ever experience, and I think a big part of that is because it is all the experience. You start out on street level overlooking a field of concrete pillars that are all the same width and length. However, they vary in height as you descend an uneven, hilly network of paths into the grid of pillars that become much taller than you. The architect never wanted to say exactly what it all meant, he wanted it to be a unique experience for everyone, and I think it works in an incredible way. It is actually a very scary place to walk through, as you never know when someone is going to pop around the corner, or when a voice will come in and then disappear as people are running or walking through this landscape. If you are talking to someone, and they suddenly turn a corner, you lose them. Other times, you bump into someone walking perpendicular to you. I thought it was a very good memorial to the times and the escalating fear and confusion felt as people were moved out of their homes to the camps. It also reminded me of a deserted neighborhood (actually very much like the streets of Pompeii), like the moment everyone had been evacuated. Very creepy, but very moving. Go, experience it.

Decided to spend my last night at the movies. The Sony Center was advertising Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 3-D! 3-D! How awesome was that going to be! (Is it in 3-D in the States?) I got up to the ticket counter and the lady wouldn't sell me the ticket. "It's in German." Are there 3-D subtitles. "No...dubbed, poorly...in German. You don't want to go. Go see the normal one in English. Nicer voices. Nicer movie. And you don't have to pay the extra 12 euro for the 3-D part." But it's 3-D. Well, she was right. The English version is the best, and what a fabulous movie! My favorite of the 5 so far, by far. This director knows what he is doing, and the kids are getting to be better actors. Totally made my night. Can't wait for Book 7 to come out...I will be in Paris. Courtney promises a launch party. I hope so.

Well, in conclusion to that long post, I loved Berlin and would definitely go back. There was so much to see. So much to experience. So much to learn. So much to remember. A living memorial might be a good word, but also a city picking up the pieces and moving forward. Definitely an interesting place to visit.