The Berlin bike tours were a sightseeing experience we will never forget! We were able to see so many incredible things, including the St. Mary's Chapel, the Berlin Wall, some French and German Churches, Charlie's Checkpoint, the Tier Garden, the "Memorial for the Murdered Jews," the German governmental buildings, Paris Square, and Hotel Adlon.
St. Mary's Chapel is one of the oldest and still functioning Churches in Berlin. It is a very strict Church, so our friend Will got in trouble for wearing a hat. It is interesting to see how seriously the German's take their most prized possessions. We totally respect them for it. The Church was not very big when it was first built and was reconstructed in the past few decades. It was brick on the outside and made of all different kinds of materials on the inside. What a beautiful and inspirational place it was!
The Berlin Wall was something that we were all anticipating. The wall was not very big and was not in very good condition. However, the history behind it created a big impact. The stories that we heard where people escaped the wall were absolutely incredible! Some included people making hot air balloons and creating zip lines.
The Memorial for the Murdered Jews was definitely not what everyone expected it to be. It was very emotionally draining. The memorial had no names, but had a lot of history to it. Every detail within it had meaning, however the architect refuses to explain each one because he wanted to leave it up to the people for interpretation. The memorial was made of many different sized gray blocks and none of the blocks were the same. It was kind of like a maze! As you walked closer to the middle of the memorial, the blocks grew taller and the paths grew more uneven and wavy. We believed that this created confusion, just how the Jews felt when they were sent to the camps.
Lastly, Hotel Adlon was very interesting because this hotel is the most prestigious hotel in all of Berlin and sits right in the middle of Paris Square. Most celebrities and people of importance stay here, spending over 12,000 euros per night! The most fascinating part is that this was where Michael Jackson held his baby over the railing. Wow - we definitely saw history, didn't we!
The Bike Tours were amazing. We are all so happy that we saw and experienced it and cannot wait to see what else Berlin (and Munich) have to offer.
21 University
of South Carolina, School of Journalism and Mass Communications students and two professors are spending two weeks in Munich and Berlin Germany, as part of a May class. The object is to learn about convergence journalism and develop multimedia stories and communication skills that extend beyond the classroom. During this three-week class students will interview, write, photograph and video Germans and discover how different media's role is in this country.
1 comment:
Love this! Wish I were there.
Post a Comment