Paris Holds the Key (To My Heart)

Paris, oh Paris. What a beautiful city! The buildings are old and white and appear even brighter because of the river Seine. It was so romantic. I get why so many writers and artists flock there! Although the weather threatened to be rainy, it was beautiful! 

I loved seeing all of the art in Paris. Colter and I spent about 5 hours at the Louvre, but I could have spent a year there. I am taking an art and architecture class and it was very surreal to view pieces by all the masters I studied. Carvaggio, Delacroix, Géricault, Ingres, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Renoir, Raphael, Rubens, Vermeer: they are all there! And yes, I saw the lovely Mona. I found her to be even more mysterious and stunning in person! 

 P.S. Note how the green "walk" man is really skinny in France. ha!

 It rained for a few minutes and the courtyard was abandoned! Colter took the opportunity to snap a picture.

My favorite museum was the impressionist museum: Musée d'Orsay. I love how the Impressionists used color and light to express emotion. Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gaugin, Van Gogh oh my! Monet was solidified as my all-time favorite artist after I went to the l’Orangerie Museum and saw his eight water lily murals. Up close all you can see is large brush strokes, but from far away it blends into a breathtaking landscape. 

Another fun thing Colter and I decided to do (at the suggestion of Maeser) was watch the Eiffel Tower light up from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was really magical! However, we decided to do it on the summer solstice so we had to wait a while for it to get dark... Speaking of the Eiffel Tower:

We also had a wonderful relationship with the parks. Our favorites were: Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Tuileries. I spent a couple of afternoons sitting in a park, listening to my ipod, watching people, and enjoying the sunshine. Also I made a deathly hallows with french pebbles on the french ground:

Which brings me to the food. I ate a crepe every day! They don’t mess around with their crepes in Paris. When you order a nutella banana crepe, they put a whole banana in there! I also loved the paninis! And, of course, the pastries! 

Lastly, stereotypes. Some of the French stereotypes I found to be correct: there were lots of beautiful women, the city was very romantic, there were crepes everywhere, and I frequently saw people carrying baguettes around. Contrary to popular belief, I found the Parisians to be very friendly and helpful! Ah, what a wonderful trip! I will never forget the six days I spent in Paris...

And last, and probably least, check out my tan line: 

That is what happens when you wear Toms everyday in Europe for 2 months.

Au revoir!

Last Week in Berlin

Below are some pictures of my last week in Berlin. I miss it already! I became so accustomed to living there. I was so sad to leave! I will miss the history and the museums. I will miss the organized, practical public transportation system. I will miss the amazing bread! I will miss my host family. Here is how I spent my last few days there:

We went to the GDR museum. It was really interesting to learn about East Germany. I also liked that it was interactive! I sat in a Trabbi (the East Germany cars) and Katelyn and I dressed up like soldiers.

We also watched the Fußball game from the fan mile that stretches between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column (Deutschland won!):

We also went up the dome of the Reichstag (or Parliament building). It is an interesting combination of old and modern architecture. 

 We spent our last Sunday at the Charlottenburg Palace. I am not a huge fan of baroque/rococo so I didn't love the gaudy interior. Maybe my inner American revolutionary spirit rebels against monarchies on principle. But anyway, I loved the gardens:

Synagogues, Soccer, and Sanssouci

First of all, here is my favorite piece of art from the East Side Gallery. I wasn’t able to upload it last week but I thought it was worth sharing. I love it.

Last Tuesday I went to the Neue Synagogue. 

I obviously realize that Jews and Germany have a tragic, violent history; however, I didn’t expect there to be so much security around the synagogues still today. There were guards all around the building. We had to put our stuff through a conveyer belt and walk through a metal detector. One thing I learned during our tour is how entrenched the Berlin Jews were in German culture. Two religious tapestries that hung on the wall contained script written in both Hebrew AND German (something that would have shocked orthodox Jews). The Berlin Jews showed their nationalism in the design of their synagogue, which was influenced by the Christian churches nearby. There was even a saying that if the Jehovah came to Jerusalem, all of the Jews would gather except for the Berlin Jews because they loved their country so much. I think that it adds additional significance to the Holocaust. Reminders of “The Final Solution” can be found all over Berlin. For example, walking down the street you sometimes see little gold markers on the ground, marking places where Jews were taken from their homes. Here is one:

I also had the opportunity to go to a Käthe Kollwitz museum. She is one of my favorite artists. She was a German painter, sculptor, and printmaker who lived through both world wars. She was an influential advocate for peace and her work shows her empathy for the less fortunate. Ironically, she died before the end of WW2 and never lived to see the peace that she fought for. She did a lot of mother-child themed pieces. Most of her work is very sad but very touching. Look her up! Here is one of her drawings:

On a lighter note, I went to the zoo again! We went to see the aquarium which was pretty impressive. However, mostly I just want to show you a picture that I took outside the zoo. I love elephants:

We also had the opportunity to go up the Fernsehturm. It is a TV tower built by the GDR and is one of the symbols of Berlin. It is the tallest structure in Germany and had an amazing view of the city. The sky looked really cool that day:

Fun fact: When the sun shines on the Fernsehturm the reflection usually appears in the form of a crucifix. Berliners call this unintended effect the “Pope’s Revenge”. Reagan even mentioned it in his famous “Tear down this wall” speech:

"Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexanderplatz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw: treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere, that sphere that towers over all Berlin, the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed."

This Saturday I had to travel to Potsdam to see a play for my opera class. We decided to make it a day trip and see a bit of the city (including the palace Sanssouci). The gardens were gorgeous! Here are some pictures:

 On Saturday Germany beat Portugal in a soccer game. They set up huge TV screens on the street from Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column. It was filled with fans. Because extreme nationalism and Germany have a bad connotation, Germans didn’t display flags until a few years ago at the world cup. I went to a soccer game Friday and it was great to see everyone dressed up and singing cheers about “Deutschland”! I am really glad they have been able to regain some of their nationalism without people pointing fingers at them. I even bought a German jersey! I can’t wait for next game on Wednesday. Los Deutschland!

P.S. I tried to climb the Berlin Wall. I wasn't very successful. 

Life Philosophies

I have had a very thoughtful week. A lot has been on my mind and I have been discovering new things about myself and the world. Throughout this process, I have been coming up with little life philosophies. I am not attempting to be Aristotle or anything. These are just my thoughts....

On Friday we saw The Marriage of Figaro. It was phenomenal. One of my favorite performances I have every seen. Here is a picture of the stage:

It was very well cast and all of the characters were exactly as I imagined them. The singing was impeccable. And, the plot was hilarious! As I was laughing my head off, I was reminded that Germans don’t often vocalize their amusement. Our group of Americans got some weird looks, but it was too funny to not laugh. So I laughed. Which brings me to my first life philosophy:

When it is hilarious, laugh. Also, it is acceptable to find many things hilarious. They are. I plan on laughing my way through life. 

Saturday we decided to wander around Berlin and get “out on the town”. We went to what was supposably the biggest chocolate store in Europe. They had cool chocolate statues like this:

I bought some delicious chocolate truffles. And you know what?

Everyone deserves a little chocolate now and then.

We walked by the Brandenburg Gate and discovered a little known place called the Room of Silence. It was founded by a group promoting peace. The idea is that people of all religions, colors, and backgrounds are welcome to enter the room, meditate, and be silent. At first it felt a little uncomfortable to sit in a room and be completely quiet. However after a few minutes it felt amazing. I couldn’t remember the last time I had “quiet time”. Life philosophy #3:

Take a moment to be quiet. Your mind and body need it.

We also went to the Holocaust Memorial. It is very modern and controversal. I love it:

Through a strange string of events, we found ourselves at the East Side Gallery on Saturday night. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. It is an international memorial for freedom and one of my favorite things I have seen so far. It was real, authentic art. Here are some pictures that do not do the gallery justice:

Later that night we watched the sun set from a beautiful bridge. It was so picturesque and perfect. It was one of those moments that I will go back to when I am asked to go to my “happy place”. Which brings me to philosophy #4:

It is fun to reminisce. However, it is more fun to recognize the magical moment while it is happening. Recognize it, and enjoy it.

And now for my last thought: The longer I live (not that it has been very long) the more I realize that everyone is affected by pain disappointment and tragedy. It is unescapable and we are all doing our best.  So, we have to decide if we are going to add more pain to people’s lives or if we are going to try to help alleviate the pain. In the wise words of Ingrid Michaelson:

“Everybody everybody wants to love. Everybody everybody wants to be loved”.