Renata's First Day in Berlin, Part One: Museuminsel

Bright and early Saturday morning, I took the bus down to the train station (or Bahnhof), and I took the train to the part of Berlin I had been looking most forward to visiting – Museuminsel, or Museum Island.  Basically, it’s the oldest part of Berlin and there are a lot of museums there.  My sort of place?  Most definitely.

           
As I made my way into Museuminsel, Frederick the Great was there to greet me on his horse.  

Then I passed the German History Museum and the Altes (Old) Museum.  While these places looked wonderful, they were not on my schedule for today.  I was on course for the Pergamonmuseum, home to one of the world’s largest archaeology collections, including an actual Greek temple, a Roman marketplace, and the gates of Isthar.  

I got sidetracked by this:

Lined up along the Spree River was one booth after another.  It was a mix of handmade items, tacky souvenirs, and vintage miscellaneous.  I was in a browsing mood, not a shopping one, so I didn’t buy anything.  What a fun atmosphere, though!

And then I got sidetracked (again) by the beautiful Berliner Dom:

And then I watched this guy for a bit:

So, as I was immersing myself in one delight after another, I walked past the museum without noticing.  I ended up going a bit out of my way to find it again, and to do so I had to cross the street.  While waiting at the stoplight, a lady from an Asian tour group came up to me.  She literally posed next to me, asked somebody to take a picture of the two of us, thanked me, and then proceeded to walk away.  Um, okay.  I really should have asked her to send me a copy. 

Anyway, I finally made it to the museum, stood in a long line, and made my way inside.  Everything was stunning, and huge.

 The entrance to Pergamon altar:

Temple to Athena:

Roman Marketplace Entrance:

Ishtar Gate of Babylon:

They were so big, I couldn't take a whole picture of them!

Up next  was the Neues (New) Museum, home to a large collection ancient artifacts, in particular Greek and Egyptian.  This is also the home of the famed bust of Nefertiti.  Nefertiti is to Berlin what La Joconde (Mona Lisa) is to Paris.  No cameras were allowed the small room that housed her. In fact, I did not notice the sign coming in to the area (Honest!) prohibiting cameras and my first inclination was to take a picture of the crowd around Nefertiti.  It was then I got yelled at (in German).  I am mostly frustrated that I didn’t use my limited camera time for a better picture.  Instead, this is all I have:

 If you want to find out what all the fuss is about, do a Google image search.  You'll find her.

              These are items excavated from the supposed location of Troy:

Mummified children -- Roman, I think.  But I'm really just guessing.
(Notice how realistic the painted faces are):

Part of an Egyptian tomb:

A whole mess of sarcophagi:

The Neues Museum was actually kind of morbid, come to think of it.

And I'll leave it at that, because I am probably boring everyone by now.  However, if you find this sort of thing just as awesome as I do, I am going to try and put together a Picasa album with more to look at.  (Don't worry, I will still pare down the exorbitant amounts of photos I have been taking.)

Part two of my first day in Berlin will be covered at a later date.  Among other things...

              

Kleinmachnow Rambles

     Even though Kleinmachnow is close to Berlin, it has a small town feel to it. Once school is done for the day, I don't have much time to venture very far before I need to be back for dinner at the boarding house and to get notes in order for homework help time.
     Thus, I have taken the opportunity to explore the immediate area. There are some wonderful walking paths, all of which are bustling with bikers and town residents out for a late afternoon stroll. Kleinmachnow also has a small "downtown" area, which is laughed at by those who commute to the school from Berlin, but which I find charming.

 Why, yes, it does look a bit like Excelsior & Grand!

 Along the walking path.  I bet Germany has more leaves left on trees now than Minnesota!

 Graffiti-covered shack-type building.

 One of the walking paths ended here.  Very German-looking.

 And then I came across this river.

 I consider it an important goal to discover what building this is peeking over the treetops.  Maybe on my next walk.

Accents, Accents Everywhere!

I have to say that this school I am student teaching at is a fascinating place. It is an English-speaking international school and the diversity of students is amazing. For those who haven’t heard this already, I am staying at the school’s boarding quarters. We have roughly 20 students at the school, at the high school level, who board at our school. In order to earn my keep, I am going around to the students’ rooms each night to help them out with homework and to make sure they are staying on top of things at school. Already I can tell that this is going to be fun. We have boarders from all over -- Russia, Iran, China, and Portugal, to name a few. Plus, the boarding school is next door to the building that houses my second-grade classroom. If I never wanted to step outside and get fresh air, the two buildings are connected by tunnel. Needless to say, I’ve got it good.

The school covers early childhood to high school and is based out of three main buildings, a few portables, and a brand-new, huge gym area. Apparently the main buildings were used by Nazis as secret weapon research facilities during World War II. Rumor has it that video technology was first invented here in 1945 and was incorporated into some sort of high tech bomb. I don’t remember all of the details, just the fact that Nazis used to do some not-so great stuff here. So, it’s great that this place has been changed and turned into something good.

Currently, I’m still at the observation stage in my student teaching, so I haven’t been able to do a whole lot yet. But here’s the thing: kids with accents are flippin’ adorable. And they all say my name really cool. (They call me Renata instead of Miss Olson because they call their teacher by her first name as well.) Plus, all the adults have really awesome accents too. We’ve got Australian accents, New Zealand, German, French, British, my mentor teacher is from Scotland, there are lots of people with American accents (boring), etc., etc., etc. Generally, it’s just sort of cool. Not sort of cool -- like, really awesome.

Travel is Broadening

My first flight was only to Chicago*, which was painless enough.  In fact, I seem to have spent a lot of time in the O’Hare Airport in the past, but haven’t actually been to the city itself since I was very little.  I should change that.

                The second flight, and the bulk of my time in the air, landed in Munich.  When the beverage cart went by, I thought about how I didn’t buy anything at the first 2 airports I had been to.  Thus, I decided to splurge and order one of those $6 wines – you know, the teeny, tiny bottles.  I ordered red (this is important later).  I was having the best time.  Mary Poppins was playing on one of the channels, and I was just generally enjoying myself, despite the cramped quarters and ear popping.  

              I was sipping wine and marveling at the perfection that is Julie Andrews when the flight attendant came with my vegetarian meal.  The food tray took up way too much space and down went what was left of the wine (I told you the color was important).  Thankfully, I had already drunk most of it.  This was my first thought upon the occurrence.  I hate to see good money go to waste after all.  Then, I remembered I was wearing my most favorite, comfortable, light blue sweater.  And then I realized that I was in a plane, very close to other people.  To my relief, the kind lady sitting next to me was undamaged by the wine, except for her free blanket which we all got from the airline.  So I gave her my blanket and ran (well, if running means stumbling over everyone else) to the restroom.  I am happy to report that my sweater is almost wine-stain-free.  There are still a few questionable spots.  Well, at least it's an older, well-worn sweater.

                Anyway,   take this bit of advice:  First of all, alcoholic beverages on a plane are way over-priced anyway, so you might as well pass.  Secondly, it’s best to go with a colorless drink.  And drink it fast.  If I had chugged, rather than sipped that bottle of wine, my sweater would not have been sopping wet for the remainder of the flight.  I’m just sayin’.

 By the way, 8 hour flights are absolutely horrid.

Oh, and I am now typing from Berlin (actually Kleinmachnow, a suburb of Berlin).  More about that later.

*Betsy and the Great World  connection – Betsy takes a train from Minneapolis to Chicago during the first part of her journey.  (Like me, only not in the air!)

You Know, There's a Betsy-Tacy Book for Almost Every Situation...

   People keep asking me, "So, Renata.  What are you going to pack?"  And, yeah, there are the usual answers like clothes, toothpaste, outlet converters, and a good selection of bangle bracelets.  But one of the most important items coming with me on this trip is my copy of Betsy and the Great World by Maud Hart Lovelace.

   Unfortunately, my copy of the book looks nothing like this, being a paperback reprint from the mid-'90s.  Just looking at this cover makes me wish I was traveling in 1914, all glamorous on a ship, my red scarf blowing in the wind. But then we all know that the wind would make my cheeks red, my ears sore, and the whole romantic setting would be lost.  And then there's that whole pre-World War I deal that might complicate things as well... 

         (Side note -- if you are not familiar with the Betsy-Tacy books, please click here immediately: http://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/.)

     I know it isn't quite like the other books in the series, but Betsy and the Great World always struck a chord with me.  Maybe it's because I always dreamed of exploring the "Great World" myself.  Granted, it took me a while to get around to it, but I am glad to have my chance at last.  Betsy (i.e. Maud) did not go to Berlin and spent the majority of her German experiences in Munich.  I hope to somehow finagle a three-day weekend during one of my first few weeks of teaching so I can spend some time there.  It seems so wonderfully, stereotypically German and the Betsy-Tacy connection makes the place even more appealing to me.

By the way, the first chapter of the book is entitled, "Traveling Alone."

To Pink or Not to Pink?

     For those of you who haven't heard already, I shall be leaving for Berlin in a few days to finish up my semester of student teaching.  Do I speak German?  No.  Am I thrilled about going to Berlin over any other place in Europe (the U.K. included)?  Most definitely not.  I do, however, recognize this as being a wonderful opportunity.  And I really don't feel like passing this one up.

     I will be leaving this Saturday (October 23rd) and I will return Wednesday, December 15th.  I have never been out of the country (besides really brief stints in both Canada and Mexico), not to mention I will be traveling alone the entire time.  I think I can handle it, though.  I mean, why not?

     So, I just completed my first rather strenuous round of student teaching (complete with overnight camping trip) and now I finally have some time to breathe, plan, and prepare.  You have no clue how excited I am to have this time -- if only that time wasn't up Saturday morning!

     Do you want to know what was seriously going through my mind right now?  Well, my luggage is an embarrassing shade of magenta.  Don't get me wrong: the luggage was a gift from my mother a few years back and I love it dearly.  It's just not very ... sophisticated.  At the same time, it's good, sturdy luggage that doesn't need to be replaced.

           Then, lo and behold, I found this image whilst doing a search for retro-chic traveling pictures:

                                                   Huh.  I can make that work, can't I?