Vier Museen
Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam The Vincent Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam was extraordinary. It is so often that you hear about amazing artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, but it is rare to really experience and see an enter collection of beautiful work. Van Gogh has a unique style that is ingenious. I liked the set up of the museum because each section explained what was going on in the life of Van Gogh and then showed the paintings from this period. From gaining insight into his life, I was able...
Read MoreAbandoned Iraqi Embassy
I met with a friend one sunny Saturday afternoon to go to an abandoned Iraqi Embassy. Basically, when the Berlin Wall still stood, Iraq had 2 embassies in Berlin. When the wall, separating East Berlin and West Berlin, came down in 1989 Iraq decided to completely abandon their Eastern residency. They did not care about any of the files, furniture, and other items left in the building and on the property. The building at this point, in fact, has trees growing through the roofs. The building is...
Read MoreMy Keiz
Keiz: Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany Location: Former West Population: 94,113 Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf In 2001 Berlin underwent some reconstruction; there had been over 25 “Keiz,” but under new law many were combined. This is when Wilmersdorf was merged with Charlottenburg to create Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf; most of the excitement of the area happens in Charlottenburg, here you can find sights such as the Charlottenburg Palace, Museum Berggruen, and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtinis Kirche....
Read MoreNobody Cares
It is not out of the norm to see trash laying around in Berlin. There was one day where I sat on a bench in Volkspark along with some Germans. As we sat and talked I found myself distracted by a McDonald’s paper bag that was laying on the ground in front of us. This bag had obviously been laying there for a couple of hours because it was wrinkled and beginning to tear. Nearly every dog that passed was immediately attracted to the smell; children and some adults 🙂 on bikes jumped at the...
Read MoreBerlin Expectations
Before getting to Berlin I had certain ideas about the city, but I was still uncertain of how exactly it would be. I was aware of the former separation between east and west Berlin, the wall, and everyone kept telling me how different Berlin was compared to the rest of Germany. For Berlin I also expected a fair amount of tourists, as well as a wide variety of inhabitants from other countries....
Read MoreJudisches Museum Berlin
The Jewish Museum in Berlin was interesting and throughout provoking. The museum contains a vast variety of information about the history of Judaism. The exhibitions in the museum are divided by themes covering all of German Jewish history. A lot of the museum gives specific details on people’s lives, and it shows the differences between German and Jewish lifestyles. Each level of the museum gives extensive knowledge and information about being a Jew, what it means to be...
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