Day 3

May 18, 2008

Today we went on a walking tour of Berlin. Personally, I would have preferred to set this up more than a day after our bike tour, but it's a good idea to save as much time as we can later for working on our projects.

One of the first stops on the tour was Museum Island in the Spree River. We saw the Old National Gallery building, surrounded by construction sites where other museums are being refurbished or restored.

A man gestures at the Old National Gallery building while discussing it with a companion

As we walked to the edge of the island, we noticed an elderly man with a young child (his grandson, perhaps?) looking out at a market set up across the river.

We proceeded to the Neue Wache, which means the New Guardhouse, memorial just off the island. I shot a few angles, but my favorite was as wide as it gets from the corner. I had to wait until the entire group left the building to shoot it, though. For details on the competitive nature of this location, see the rest of the group members' blogs. I personally feel that this composition encompasses what I felt experiencing the memorial best.

We were crossing a street a few minutes later when we ran across a pair of children on scooters. It looks like one got a head start when the pedestrian crossing light changed. 

After passing through the Brandenburg Gate, we proceeded to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is popularly, but not officially, known as the Holocaust Memorial. 

A view of two paths through the memorial

I will admit that I was not pleased that so many people felt it necessary or acceptable to jump around the memorial as if it were just a pile of concrete blocks. While I admit I don't fully understand what it meant to me, its intent is clearly stated. I think that perhaps the abstract nature of the memorial is what has allowed it to become such a part of the local scenery rather than an extremely serious place for contemplation and mourning. 

A boy jumps from block to block while a woman embraces a man at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Later in the day, after the walking tour was complete, as well as lunch and our meeting with one of our local contacts, a group of us decided to split off and get ready for our pub crawl. We got a little bit lost trying to find the U-lines at Potsdamer Platz, but our detour through the regular rail part of the station made for a neat shot. 

The pub crawl was fantastic. Our guide, Mac Redinbaugh, turned out to be an interesting character, and has agreed to be a subject for my project. We got to see a nice cross-section of Berlin's night life, and I held my ground for the whole night...and my stomach contents, for that matter. I believe I will experience the crawl a few more times before this trip is out, since it looks like my project will be related to it.