When in Berlin Week 2: Museums and Views and Classes, Oh My!

June 10

This day was our day trip to Wittenberg. Our first destination was Lutherhaus, the home of Martin Luther. I think this town's main source of pride is that Luther lived here considering the train station we stopped at was Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

The Lutherhaus is a museum with exhibits in both German and English. The English translation was...interesting.

After lunch, we went to the Schlosskirche and climbed to the top of the tower. This required climbing up not one, not two, but FOUR spiral staircases! My legs and cardiovascular system were suffering, but at least I got this view.

There was also a Renaissance fair in town at the time, so we had to walk in the sidewalks to avoid the parade of people in medieval clothing marching down the street.

June 11

Finally, my first free weekend of the trip! I could have just stayed in the room OR I could have done something with my life. Aiden and Gabriella were going to the Altesmuseum on Museum Island, and I decided to go with them. The museum was full of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, including the Stele Giustiniani, shown here:

Each of us went at our own pace. It took me two hours to go through the whole thing. Aiden took half an hour shorter. Ten minutes after I was done, Aiden texted, "Where are you, Gabriella? We're waiting on the second floor." Gabriella's response: "There's a second floor?" Anyway, we all met up and got lunch from the market on the other side of the S-bahn tracks.

June 12

I spent my Sunday afternoon going to Zehlendorf to see a photography exhibit by Thomas Florschuetz, an East German photographer. We were guided through the exhibit by art critic Ulf Erdmann Ziegler who talked, like, a lot, but at least I was able to get this:

June 13

Today was my first day of classes. We were in too much of a hurry to take a first-day-of-class selfie before class, so I took this in the break between classes.

Our afternoon activity was navigating Berlin's public transportation. We traveled on the S-bahn, U-bahn, and the bus. Here we are on the U-bahn.

Afterwards, we got ice cream on Friedrichstrasse.

June 14

A little context behind this photo: one of the essays we had to read was "Primal Sound" by Rainer Maria Rilke. The first page includes detailed instructions on how to make a phonograph. One of us got up and drew on the board while the rest of us shouted out the instructions. This is the finished product:

Here's a photo of Oranienburger Strasse that I took on my walk back to the hotel from the Mensa.

That evening was German language night at Weihenstephaner Restaurant. Professor Reynolds taught us basic German while we ate German food.

June 15

Wednesday's afternoon activity was a trip to the Sony Center. Andre treated us to coffee and cake at Corroboree Australian Restaurant. I got this delicious cheesecake!

Also, the Sony Center has a really cool ceiling.

June 16

Yesterday, we went to the Berlin TV Tower for 303-meter-high views of the entire city, and yes, there were pictures.

I was also able to find the Adina.

The elevator had transparent ceilings and moved at six meters per second. It was kind of disorienting looking up while it was moving, so I didn't.

And finally, a story:

After I was finished with my laundry, I went back to the Adina and got in the elevator. With these elevators, you have to scan your room card and then push a button. The thing was I couldn't find my room card in time, so the elevator door closed on me, and it took me straight to the seventh floor. I couldn't find my card in my purse, and the door to the stairs wouldn't open, so I sent a nervous message to the WhatsApp asking for someone to rescue me. As it turns out, the door was a push door when I was pulling it, so I went down six flights of stairs carrying a bag of laundry to get to my room, and Gabriella let me in. She gave me a second room card that she got after she got locked out. The kicker: my room card was in my purse the entire time.

So let's hope I don't do anything this stupid next week.