Berlin

I felt pretty overwhelmed last night when I arrived... This morning I woke up and had a plan only to find a particular clothing store and meet my one connection for lunch- as it turns out, miss N's connection here made my day! C&T have been living here for just over a year and are also outsiders in Germany. We wandered together and ate a traditional German lunch and then spent the rest of the day guiding me around- unexpected, but really I will forever be grateful as I feel far more comfortable here and feel I have a better grasp on Mitte.

C took me for a walk through some 'hofs' and to museum island. It was really cold out there! We also got caught in a rain storm, but warmed up over coffees and cake.

Some photos from this cloudy day... But most importantly:

Photo 2: the Neue Wache was the most beautiful thing I've seen so far- a memorial to victims of war and tyranny. The large room has only a single sculpture called 'Mother with her dead son' and a circular window above it- when it rains, she is rained on. When it snows, she is covered by snow. Exposed. Vulnerable. Emotional.

Photo 6: at Bebelplatz, Humboldt University. I would have never noticed it myself. There is a window in the ground and you look below to a room lined with white bookshelves, but empty. Not a single book. It is the site of nazi book burnings in 1933. The quote on the site is profound: "Where they burn books, they ultimately burn people" ~ Heinrich Heine