I left Estonia on a bright Estonian day and headed for Berlin. The flight only took about an hour but the bus ride from the airport to the hostel took about another 45 minutes. The plane ride was pleasant but the bus ride was crowded and uncomfortable. Finally we arrived at the Hostel at 11:30.
Our hostel was called Hotel Alex. It was located on the Eastern side of Berlin, near some old buildings and next to both a tram stop and a bus stop. Its location was extremely convenient and it was near a few restaurants. I was travel weary that first night, so I spent some time on-line, drank a beer with my new roommate and then went to bed at about 1 am.
The next morning we had an optional tour of Berlin. I decided to go on this tour. It would have been nice but it was cold. The winds were a howlin’ and the snow was a fallin’. The sights we saw were mostly the historic sights, like the Reichstag, the Holocaust memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall and a flurry of other culturally significant sites. The tour was exhausting, but I would have felt bad had I missed it.
After the tour I went to lunch at a Dunkin’ Donuts. It was pretty funny eating at a chain that is so Eastern American, that hasn’t made it to California yet, but has a number of franchises in Berlin. I thought of Dad, and knew that if he were in Berlin, he’d have stopped at the Dunkin’ Donuts.
Museums and Cathedrals were the next stops on my agenda. They were all nice, but I won’t get too into that stuff. I was mostly anxious to get out of the cold and find a place to watch the super bowl in the evening.
I ate dinner with some folks from my program at a restaurant that cost too much. A simple chicken dinner with a beer cost me nine euros. I went back to my room and edited some articles for the Bulldog, wrote the sports round-up and took care of my other administrative duties relating to my Sports Editor job.
At around 11, I met with some guys to watch the super bowl. One of the guys played football for Claremont. I covered his game against Redlands. The Bulldogs had made the Claremont game their homecoming and handled of the Athenas appropriately, kicking their butts 49-0. It was fun watching the game with that group of guys. We all had played football in high school. Most of the breaks in the action were spent talking about the “Glory Days,” so it was kind of funny when Bruce Springsteen played that song during half time.
Besides the Deutsch announcers, the German coverage of the game was a lot different than the American coverage that we were used to. There were no commercials at all during the game and the German television’s replay capacity was somewhat limited. The German’s sideline reporter didn’t have much access. All he was able to do was interview fans.
It was a great game, but I didn’t get to sleep until 4:30 in the morning and I was due to be awake at 7:30, so that made Monday pretty rough.
We were to wear business-formal clothing for both our lectures on Monday. Our first trip was to the Defense Ministry. A Coronal gave us a lecture on German foreign policy with special attention to the German’s involvement in Afghanistan. It was a good lecture and I found it to be in stark contrast with the military point of view of the Estonian Government which showed just how much foreign policy decisions and attitudes are shaped by a nation’s history. Estonia, which is a nation that has a long history of military vulnerability, will be quite to dedicate troops to ally causes if it means security in return. Germany, on the other hand, is very sensible to any questions of its exertion of military power.
We then viewed the Reichstag, which is the beautiful building in which the German Parliament holds chambers. The building was reopened for use by the Parliament in 1999, before that Germany had its capital elsewhere. Prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, Germany had two capitals. The Reichstag is only a few yards from where the Berlin wall once stood. Old pictures of the imposing building next to the wall are daunting, especially when taking in the building now.
The Reichstag was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. American bombs had brought down its roof, including its epic and beautiful dome. But it has been rebuilt and the dome has been replaced. The new dome is quite a sight to see. It is constructed of a series of mirrors accompanied by a walk way that visitors to the Reichstag can take to the top of the dome. From the top of the dome, visitors can see the whole city. And it is quite a site. But perhaps more significant and impressive, at least it was significant to me, were the mirrors. The mirrors on the top of the Reichstag reflected the images of the people walking up the dome down to the floor below so all members of Parliament can simply look up to see that it is the people they represent.
Our hostel was called Hotel Alex. It was located on the Eastern side of Berlin, near some old buildings and next to both a tram stop and a bus stop. Its location was extremely convenient and it was near a few restaurants. I was travel weary that first night, so I spent some time on-line, drank a beer with my new roommate and then went to bed at about 1 am.
The next morning we had an optional tour of Berlin. I decided to go on this tour. It would have been nice but it was cold. The winds were a howlin’ and the snow was a fallin’. The sights we saw were mostly the historic sights, like the Reichstag, the Holocaust memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall and a flurry of other culturally significant sites. The tour was exhausting, but I would have felt bad had I missed it.
After the tour I went to lunch at a Dunkin’ Donuts. It was pretty funny eating at a chain that is so Eastern American, that hasn’t made it to California yet, but has a number of franchises in Berlin. I thought of Dad, and knew that if he were in Berlin, he’d have stopped at the Dunkin’ Donuts.
Museums and Cathedrals were the next stops on my agenda. They were all nice, but I won’t get too into that stuff. I was mostly anxious to get out of the cold and find a place to watch the super bowl in the evening.
I ate dinner with some folks from my program at a restaurant that cost too much. A simple chicken dinner with a beer cost me nine euros. I went back to my room and edited some articles for the Bulldog, wrote the sports round-up and took care of my other administrative duties relating to my Sports Editor job.
At around 11, I met with some guys to watch the super bowl. One of the guys played football for Claremont. I covered his game against Redlands. The Bulldogs had made the Claremont game their homecoming and handled of the Athenas appropriately, kicking their butts 49-0. It was fun watching the game with that group of guys. We all had played football in high school. Most of the breaks in the action were spent talking about the “Glory Days,” so it was kind of funny when Bruce Springsteen played that song during half time.
Besides the Deutsch announcers, the German coverage of the game was a lot different than the American coverage that we were used to. There were no commercials at all during the game and the German television’s replay capacity was somewhat limited. The German’s sideline reporter didn’t have much access. All he was able to do was interview fans.
It was a great game, but I didn’t get to sleep until 4:30 in the morning and I was due to be awake at 7:30, so that made Monday pretty rough.
We were to wear business-formal clothing for both our lectures on Monday. Our first trip was to the Defense Ministry. A Coronal gave us a lecture on German foreign policy with special attention to the German’s involvement in Afghanistan. It was a good lecture and I found it to be in stark contrast with the military point of view of the Estonian Government which showed just how much foreign policy decisions and attitudes are shaped by a nation’s history. Estonia, which is a nation that has a long history of military vulnerability, will be quite to dedicate troops to ally causes if it means security in return. Germany, on the other hand, is very sensible to any questions of its exertion of military power.
We then viewed the Reichstag, which is the beautiful building in which the German Parliament holds chambers. The building was reopened for use by the Parliament in 1999, before that Germany had its capital elsewhere. Prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, Germany had two capitals. The Reichstag is only a few yards from where the Berlin wall once stood. Old pictures of the imposing building next to the wall are daunting, especially when taking in the building now.
The Reichstag was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. American bombs had brought down its roof, including its epic and beautiful dome. But it has been rebuilt and the dome has been replaced. The new dome is quite a sight to see. It is constructed of a series of mirrors accompanied by a walk way that visitors to the Reichstag can take to the top of the dome. From the top of the dome, visitors can see the whole city. And it is quite a site. But perhaps more significant and impressive, at least it was significant to me, were the mirrors. The mirrors on the top of the Reichstag reflected the images of the people walking up the dome down to the floor below so all members of Parliament can simply look up to see that it is the people they represent.
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