Amusing Ourselves to Death

My newspaper purchase this past Sunday reminded me of Postman's book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. In his novel, Postman critiques the presence of the digital/visual world as a sub-par replacement for the written word.

My incentive to buy the Sunday ABC, a Spanish daily newspaper, was a free DVD: El Pacto de los Lobos. Although the movie isn't an award winner, it's an inexpensive, college-student-friendly way to collect some Spanish films along the way!

Heating It Up

The other day, my senora's daughter-in-law, who now lives with us, asked me if I like to bake. Do I like to BAKE?! She wanted to learn a traditional American recipe, so naturally I suggested chocolate chip cookies. We got to work in the kitchen on Friday morning.

Here's how it went down: My senora's grandson is gluctose-intolerant, so we substituted fructose for brown sugar and granulated sugar. There was no vanilla to be found in the house (nor were there measuring cups -- although the measurements were in grams and cucharadas, anyway). Tragically, there were no Toll House chocolate chips, either. We used... pumpkin seeds and some chunks from a milk chocolate bar. Did I mention that the oven is temperamental? You'll be happy to know that I didn't take pictures. Later that day I spent about 25 minutes in the basement of the main Corte Ingles supermarket searching for "pepitas de chocolate." Better luck next time!

This morning, we prepared a tried-and-true recipe: Blini, or "Russian pancakes." They were thin and small and delicious (justification for eating a ton) -- just like silver dollars from the Quaker Diner! It was the perfect time to break out the maple syrup that I brought from home. A true breakfast of champions, if I do say so myself!

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

I tried hard, really hard, to stay in Madrid for the entire weekend. But, I couldn't resist a quick side trip to El Escorial, about 45 km. northwest of Madrid. Nowadays, the royal complex functions as a monastery, royal palace, and museum.

One of the first rooms we entered was pretty interesting from an architectural standpoint; it displayed all of the tools that the 1,500 workers used to hoist the large slabs of stone during construction. Other fun stops included: The Hall of Battles (a loooong room with "war strategies" painted on the wall to serve as a primer for the king), the piercing blue ceilings in the Salas Capitulares, the Kings' Pantheon (where all of the dead Spanish kings rest), the Basilica with a huge altarpiece depicting St. Lawrence meeting his death on the grill, and the library's model of the solar system with Earth at the center, of course!

[On the peculiar side... Upon entering the Pantheon of the Princes (where children and queens who were not mothers of kings are buried), the audio guide began with the sound effect of a crying baby. Appropriate?!]

Today I learned not only about the severe consequences of inbreeding (as depicted by the portraits of Carlos II in the monastery's museum), but also about my withering command of the English language. While trying to share with some friends the importance of the Pantheon in the wise words of Rick Steves, I decided to pick up the Spanish past perfect tense. "Being died"?? Really, Lillian?

On the Greener Side

Over the past few weeks, I've been uncovering the smaller spots that Madrid has to offer. After class last Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day), I visited the CaixaForum, an art space founded by La Caixa (a Catalan bank). The space rotates exhibits frequently; I managed to catch the modern paintings of Miquel Barcelo. Although the museum offers some interesting exhibits inside, I found that some of the most intriguing work stood outside. Two of my favorites were the iron elephant standing on its trunk and the vertical garden that lined the outside of the building!

On Friday, Ilene and I stood in line for 40 minutes (forgot Friday was a holiday, whoops!) to visit Madrid's Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales (Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns). The small monastery had a "homey" feel as it was much smaller than the others that we had visited earlier throughout Spain. Our guide explained the significance of each tiny "capilla" (chapel) along with an extended explanation for each painting. Weirdly, one of my favorite parts was the most simple aspect: the original glass windows. They had a way of swirling the light that made everything look that much prettier.

Due to the holiday (El dia de San Jose), many buildings and banks were closed, so we headed to a public space that is open all the time: the Atocha train station. Besides housing various modes of transportation (the Renfe, train, bus, and metro) and the March-11 memorial, the Atocha station also maintains an indoor jungle/garden (complete with birds and turtles)!!

Lunch brought us to Mercado San Miguel (Madrid's Whole Foods) for some fresh strawberries and grapes. I saved some green and filled up on simple 1 euro tapas -- slices of bread with a variety of delicious cheeses!

Adam woke up in time to meet me for a 4 pm movie showing of Celda 211 - a big time winner at the 2010 Goya Awards. Although intense thrillers usually aren't up my alley, this film proved to be an exception! [I also understood a lot more of the movie, a testament to my ever-so-slowly-improving Spanish.]

An Indulgent Weekend

This past weekend, I traveled to La Rioja and the Basque Country (northern Spain, different language!) with my program. The excursion could easily be summed up in four words: cathedral, gastronomy, Guggenheim, and bus, but I'll take the time to elaborate a little more!

Despite a later-than-anticipated start on Friday morning, we boarded the bus for Burgos and arrived at the Burgos Cathedral shortly after 1 pm. The cathedral was built in two phases, making for a unique European gothic structure. Two of my favorite details of the cathedral were the black walnut choir stands and the flycatcher - a sculpture that is perched in one corner and sings on the hour. After touring the Burgos Cathedral, I can now proudly say I have seen the three largest cathedrals in Spain! The perimeter of the cathedral and the paths leading to the cathedral were bordered by pruned sycamore trees that had been sculpted to form a sort of connected archway (for shade during the summer) -- so cool!!

We then ventured to San Millan to see the famous twin monasteries: Suso (the upper, historical site atop a cliff) and Yuso (the functioning monastery in the valley). Apart from being a UNESCO world heritage site, the monasteries are also home to the first written Spanish phrases! Our tour guide at Yuso also showed us some old (huge & heavy) choir books, which were quite impressive (sounds kind of boring, I guess you had to be there...).

Next stop: Santo Domingo de la Calzada. And, you'll never be able to guess what we saw. Another (cold, dark) cathedral! This cathedral is one of many that lies along the pilgrimage route to Santiago, so our guide shared lots of historical anecdotes, but the live rooster and hen perched above the saint's tomb definitely set this cathedral apart from others.

After concluding our grand tour of religious establishments, we spent an uneventful night in Haro. However, the next day brought some delicious excitement. The day began with a bountiful brunch (more like a pastry shop, complete with croissants, chocolate filled pastries, and even ice cream) at the hotel. Shortly after finishing our first meal, we headed to a local bodega (vineyard/winery), Cune. We had an interesting tour of the bodega, which houses some funky history: rows and rows of barrels beneath a roof designed by Eiffel, as well as a wine cemetery with old bottles dating back to the late 1800's. I learned that "dead" wines are most content when they are in a warm, moist room (a perfect condition for mold, hence the abundance of mold covering the storage area). Our visit concluded with a mini wine tasting and lesson. We sampled Monopole (one of the first wines from Rioja) and Crianza.

Full of sugar and wine, we boarded the bus for a two hour trip to San Sebastian, a city in the Basque Country along the Bay of Vizcaya (only 20 km from France). One could also argue that San Sebastian is home to the most Michelin-starred restaurants, therefore it is automatically a tourist magnet. We indulged in a 6-course meal (on behalf of Vassar-Wesleyan) on the second floor of Restaurante Branka while looking over the bay. Although a brief recap can't do the menu justice, here's a quick summary: foie with peach sauce, eggs "revueltos" with mushrooms, crab cakes with pumpkin seed crackers, and tender steak, followed by two dessert courses - a sort of orange sorbet drenched in orange juice and then warm "torrijas" (fresh toast) a la mode. Three hours after sitting down, I peeled myself from the chair to take a walk along the beach towards the old town (in attempt to burn off 1/6 of the feast).

We spent the night in Bilbao and bounced to the Guggenheim Museum in the morning. Formerly an industrial city with little to offer, Bilbao seems to have recently turned around given the presence of the Guggenheim. Abby and I spent some time at night exploring the flower-filled plazas, the super high-tech crosswalks (the whole thing lights up), the Zubi Zuri bridge, and other modern sculptures scattered throughout the neighborhood.

The Guggenheim blew my mind. The titanium structure itself (designed by Frank Gehry) was a piece of art. Two of my favorite sculptures (by Jeff Koons) stood outside the building: "Puppy," a 43-foot tall flower-covered structure, and "Tulips," a stainless steel bouquet of the said flower in balloon animal form! Unfortunately the second floor of the museum was closed, but the rest of the space had quite a bit to offer. The featured exhibit was Robert Rauschenberg's Gluts, a compilation of "assemblages of found, mostly metal, objects." A Texas native, Rauschenberg used the sculptures to express "his criticism of the economic situation" in Texas due to a surplus of oil in the market. Another main feature in the museum was Richard Serra's The Matter of Time, a permanent installation that encourages the guest to view, touch, and experience the sculpture, which occupies the entirety of the largest gallery.

I was really intrigued by the integration of the museum into the city of Bilbao. The titanium exterior allows for different lighting at all times of day, and the museum's curves mold into the landscape. Several artists on display have made a point of creating art using materials that are native to Bilbao. For example, Serra's larger-than-life sculpture series is constructed from oxidized metal, a material used for boats that dot the local harbor.

The five hour return-ride to Madrid gave me time to catch up on some much-needed sleep! The excursion exposed me to many things that I may not have tried or seen on my own without the scheduled trip. The weekend was quite a success (what's not to like?!), but I'm definitely looking forward to a weekend here in Madrid (finally).

Siempre es el amor travieso

I guess I missed the memo that I was supposed to wear my fur coat to the 6 pm (aka senior citizens) showing of Doña Francisquita at Teatro de la Zarzuela last night! Zarzuela is a light operetta that is typical of Spain. This particular play, which premiered at the Teatro Apolo de Madrid in 1923, was a "comedia lírica en tres actos." It told of the flirtatious relationships among multiple overlapping love triangles.

If it weren't for the English plot synopsis in the program, I would have been completely lost. Although I only grasped about 30% of the dialogue despite the subtitles (hey, opera is hard to understand in any language), I did come to appreciate the costumes, the reference to Spain'scarnevale celebration, and, most of all, the sopranos' glass-shattering pitch!

Czechin' It Out

I promise that’s the only pun I’ll make for the entire post. So, here goes Prague: Friday morning began with a walk throughout the cold cobblestone streets. At 11 o’clock, we headed to the Old Town Square (home of the famous astronomical clock tower) to begin a free walking tour (by the same company who led the sweet stroll in Berlin). We visited Our Church of the Lady Before Tyn (with the lopsided Adam and Eve towers), the Powder Tower, the Estate Theater (where Mozart first performed Don Giovanni), and several other sites before stopping for lunch at Bohemia Bagel just as the snow flurries began to pick up. This famous bagel joint gave Lox Stock some stiff competition – I got a turkey club sandwich on a parmesan oregano bagel! As soon as my toes had regained some feeling, we started off again and headed for the Jewish neighborhood, past the Wenceslas Square (near the country’s Museum of Communism), the Rudolfinum (home to the Czech Philharmonic), and the super sized Metronome before ending at the foot of the Charles Bridge. Along the way we picked up historical tidbits and recommendations for places to return to throughout the weekend.

The Charles Bridge (literally) blew me away – both the wind and ornate statues were pretty powerful! Our tour guide had taught us that patting the bronze dog on one of the statues brought bad luck (pregnancy for women) but that rubbing the Saint would bring good luck. [Let’s just say that a lot of misinformed tourists will find themselves pregnant in the next few months…] On the other side of the bridge, I came to my ultimate destination, tucked away from the main drag: Troulihar Marionety. This two-room shack housed the handiwork of artists from a local collective. I fell in love with a few wooden friends – a charismatic bee playing the tuba, a ratty fisherman, a jolly chef with check pants and a pig under one arm, a Zazu-esque dodo bird, and a wrinkly witch. Knowing how indecisive I am, you can imagine how hard it was hard for me to decide who to adopt!

The John Lennon wall was a nearby, so we headed to see the layers and layers of paint and graffiti dedicated to John Lennon’s face and the Beatles’ lyrics.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and getting a feel for the area. We stopped at two cafes along the way: first at Cukrakavalimonada for some hot pear cider and later on at Grand Café Orient (housed in a Cubist building!) for some traditional Czech cake. Afterwards, we headed to the National Marionette Theater for a performance of Don Giovanni! The performance was incredible; at times I lost track of the plot and just focused on the puppeteers’ dexterity! A (progressively drunker) Mozart marionette made some comedic interjections throughout the play and attempted to interact with the audience by spewing his sheets of music throughout the seats. A thunderstorm and some spilt wine made for a wet stage!

We had dinner at La Bodeguita del Medio with hopes of warming up a little by means of some Cuban food. We shared a long-straw Cuban mojito (for 5 people, oops!), and I ordered beef tenderloin with balsamic sauce, parmesan and rocket salad, and potatoes aux gratin followed by fruit with chocolate fondue for dessert.

On Saturday morning, we woke up to snow! But a few inches of snow didn’t stop us from trekking up to the gigantic metronome atop the former pedestal of Stalin’s enormous statue. The modern monument serves as a reminder for the time lost while the Czech Republic was subject to communist rule. Given the weather, the view wasn’t particularly memorable, so we continued on to the Prague Castle.

The castle property was incredibly overwhelming. We fell into the tourist trap and purchased an audio guide in order to avoid the long lines and attempt to understand some of the background behind the buildings. (Ironically, we waited in line for over 45 minutes just to buy the audio guide.) Afterwards, we wandered throughout St. Vitus’ cathedral with the beautiful St. Wenceslas Chapel, St. George’s Basilica (home to the crypt of the Madonna holding baby Jesus), the Royal Palace (with its famous window of defenestration), Golden Lane, and the Daliborka Tower. Despite the beautiful architecture of the large buildings, my favorite stop within the castle grounds was the Toy Museum – on the top floor there was a multiple room exhibit displaying every type of Barbie imaginable (collegiate cheerleaders, pregnant Barbie, 80’s deco Barbie, president Barbie, professor Barbie – identity crisis?!?) in honor of her 50^th anniversary! I came across both one-of-a-kind versions and other models dressed in outfits that I remembered having as a kid. [I also didn’t fail to take note of the following commentary: “To feminists… the fashion doll stands for a superficial woman who lacks a dependent life, is governed by consumption, and obsessed with her slim figure.”]

Lunch at a nearby Restaurant U Císaru brought old Bohemian goulash with dumplings topped off with Bohemian pancakes with blueberries! Re-energized, we headed to the Strahov Monastery Library. After buying our ticket and heading upstairs, we came to find that the only thing on display was… a construction site! The receptionists had failed to mention that the library was under renovation. Luckily, one of the rooms was still open, and we got to see tons of medieval books.

We trekked back across the bridge to the Mucha Museum near Wenceslas Square. Although the space was small (5-rooms), the museum, dedicated to the works Czech art nouveau Alphonse Mucha, was interesting nonetheless. Afterwards, Adam indulged in a Thai foot massage (poor bunions) as I did a little shopping (win-win situation)…

We then made ourselves comfortable on the floor of the Dobra Tearoom (an awesome little nook with four locations in Prague and two in the United States – one being in Madison, WI) and sipped on some fresh infusions. Dinner at Pivnice u Zeleneho Stromu (near our hotel) brought some more typical Czech cuisine.

We spent Sunday morning in the Jewish neighborhood seeing all that there is to see. We began with the Maisel Synagogue, which has been converted into the permanent home for an exhibit on Jewish culture. The building had burned down at one point, so the only true remaining part of the original synagogue is the balcony where the Orthodox women sit. Next came the Pinkas Synagogue (my second favorite of the bunch). The walls of this synagogue bear the handwritten names of the 80,000 + Czech victims of the Holocaust. The museum also houses an exhibit of art produced by children from the Terezin concentration camp. As the only tokens of these children’s existence, the drawings were incredibly sobering.

Describing the Old New Jewish Cemetery (a mistranslation on behalf of the Germans) as “crowded” would be an understatement. The small plot of land holds between 100,000 and 150,000 bodies. The Czech Jews typically buried at least 12 people per headstone given their limited space. [It was really interesting to see the cemetery first-hand given that it had served as a source of inspiration for the architect of Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, which I had seen the weekend before.]

After leaving the cemetery, we cruised through the Ceremonial Hall, which had an exhibit about Jewish death traditions. We then headed to the last stop on the tour: the Spanish synagogue (the most beautiful synagogue in Europe, in my opinion).

We squeezed in one last lunch at Velryba – noodles with salmon, broccoli, roasted red pepper, and mozzarella– picked up a few more gifts, and made our way to the airport. [Once in Madrid, I found out that the Metro line I needed to take was “interrupted” due to construction, so the final logistics of the weekend weren’t so pleasant, especially at 1:30 in the morning!]

Despite the cold, Prague was beautiful and fun! I feel so lucky to have been able to walk across the beautiful Charles Bridge, explore the castle, pick up some Czech garnet, and dine on some fiiiiine goulash! Back to reality… or Rioja next weekend!

And Baby Makes Five...

Last Friday, my senora's son moved in with his wife and 16-month-old daughter, Ana. She is just learning how to speak, and it seems as though she has mastered some version of my name (without the L's)! Because her mother is Russian and her father is Spanish, her babble is multi-lingual (with an occasional "bye-bye" thrown in). She is super "rica" and smiles 24/7!

Translating Tabloids

Looking to make use of idle time at the airport before my flight to Prague (while procrastinating from writing a Spanish paper), I picked up a Spanish copy of Spain’s InTouch tabloid. I justified the 1,50 € purchase by telling myself that I was improving my colloquial Spanish. While flipping through the pages, I came to notice a few things. First and foremost, I began to question whether Spain has any celebrities of its own, for the publication focused 90% of its energy on American stars. I also couldn’t help but laugh at the mistranslations of movie titles and misspellings of American landmarks. Also, the Spanish publishers constantly refer to each celebrity (and child) by age (in parenthesis after their bolded name). Despite some minor glitches, I got my plastic surgery updates and caught up on the newest Brangelina gossip.

Friends in High Places

It pays to have friends in high places. The Bautista Moreno family lives on the eleventh floor in an apartment on the eastern side of Madrid. For several summers, their daughter Angy was an exchange student with the Conways. After briefly getting to know Angy in Nantucket a few summers ago, we reconnected in Madrid this semester! Her family invited us over for a delicious Spanish dinner last Wednesday night. It was really refreshing to get to know a family with children our age (better able to give us advice for nightlife than our señoras) and to reconnect with a past acquaintance!

Tiny Dancer

It has always been pretty clear to me that I'm not a tiny person, but today I also learned that I am not a dancer, either! I had my first flamenco dance class today at "El Horno" in Lavapies, a funky neighborhood in Madrid, and it was a cultural experience, to say the least.

The teacher was a great dancer from southern Spain. He sang and tapped his dancing cane to the beat, but it was to no avail. Despite my years of music lessons, I could neither capture the syncopation, nor step to the tempo. The majority of the eight women in the class were in a similar position to me, and our instructor was thankfully not only musically inclined, but also incredibly patient. He taught us how to count (with an emphasis on the third, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth beat) and led us through several short sequences.

One additional challenge to the class was learning the vocabulary. Learning to dance in English would be difficult enough for me, but I had to quickly pick up the words for heel and toe (and more) in Spanish! I definitely stepped (or danced, if you will) outside of my comfort zone (while working up a sweat at the same time!. The class gave me a new found appreciation for the hard work and great talent that is required of a professional flamenco dancer.

[I'll considering taking a photo at the end of the semester, and if you're lucky I'll post a video!]

Ich bin ein Berliner

After developing a relationship with the floor of the Easy Jet terminal at the Barajas airport (and then the sounds of the engines “warming up” as we taxied for over an hour), we eventually took off for the capitol of Germany and arrived at Schöenfeld Airport around 5 pm, about 18 hours later than planned.

In order to make up for lost time, we headed directly to the Jüdisches (Jewish) Museum in central Berlin. We whet our lips at the special Kosher & Co. food exhibit, which began with a mosaic crafted from various types of bread. With the purchase of our ticket we were given a plastic spoon that could be swiped over plates in each room. Each of the plates held the code to a secret recipe that I will be able to access online! We saw some pretty intriguing items including tools for making matzah, an array of ornate challah loaves, and a “bug checker” that is commonly used by Orthodox Jews (since bugs aren’t kosher)!

Although we didn’t realize until later that our communication with Mel and Bennett was flawed, we headed to the main portion of the Judisches museum to begin the ominous journey sans friends. One of the most perplexing aspects of the museum was the layout and architecture; the building is in the shape of a lightning bolt, which is intended to disorient the visitor. The first floor consisted of an axis of hallways – one led to the Holocaust tower and the other lead to the Garden of Exile. The exhibit began on the second floor, and from there we zigzagged our way through a series of exhibits beginning with the Tree of Life and culminating with explanations and activities relating to modern day practices. Some of my favorite sections were the “Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution” portion with a feminist Haggadah (obviously), the display of kippahs, and the presentation of circumcision tools (Adam didn’t really find it very captivating). The museum was incredibly interactive with stimulating audio, visual, and palpable tokens along the way!

We then walked to the original site of Checkpoint Charlie and visited the adjacent Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. The detailed exhibit paid homage to the many successful passages (via hollowed out surfboards, loudspeakers, low-riding cars, and homemade harnesses) and failed attempts (in the case of Peter Fechter) through the checkpoint.

Upon checking in at our hostel (first time in a hostel!) we met up with Mel and Bennett, dropped our bags, and headed out for a typical German dinner nearby at Alt Berliner Beirsalon. We downed some Berliner Kindle and filled up on some currywurst, schnitzel, and apple streusel while enjoying the live (American – Katy Perry and Coldplay covers, to be specific) music. Per Mel’s recommendation, we ended the night with a drink at A-Trane, a local jazz club, where we stumbled in at the encore of Andy Kissenbeck’s Club Boogaloo!

Next day: we woke to our alarm at 6:45 am, and five showers later we were out the door to pick up some delicious German pastries nearby and head to Schloss Charlottenburg (a royal palace) and its surrounding garden, home to the Mausoleum and Bellevue teahouse. Although the palace hadn’t opened for the day, we skidded through the icy trails of the beautifully groomed grounds.

We then returned to the plaza near our hotel in order to meet up with a tour guide to begin our free (tip-based, really cool concept) 3½-hour tour of Berlin! Our quirky tour guide hailed from Virginia but had lived in Berlin for the past two years. He had a carefree attitude and knew his schpeel (though he didn’t have to walk backwards)! We went on a whirlwind walk through the city and hit up some major spots including the Brandenburg Gate, Hotel Adlon (where the King of Pop dangled his baby out of the window), Reischtag (the Parliament building), the Holocaust Memorial (an incredibly disorienting, well-designed constant reminder), the Berlin Wall, the site of Hitler’s bunker where he committed suicide, Checkpoint Charlie, Gartenmrkt, the memorial for the Nazi Book burnings, and the Berliner Dom, among others. We also stopped to see examples of Nazi architecture, which was designed to dwarf the civilian and reinforce the power’s status. The tour gave us lesson of Berlin History 101 lesson (and I got to check off several points on my to-do list!)

The tour conveniently ended at Museum Island, home to several of Berlin’s largest most prestigious art spaces. We visited the Pergamon Museum, which is known for the Zeus Altar and Gates of Babylon (among other peculiar ancient Roman, Greek, and Islamic sculptures, artifacts, and paintings). [It’d be unfair to ignore the amount of time that I spent in a store looking at Christmas ornaments and Nutcrackers (family tradition…) as Adam, Mel, Bennett, and his roommate patiently paced around the store.] After the brief stop, we headed to Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s Fifth Avenue (Madrid’s Gran Vía). While the guys were at Nike Town Berlin, Mel and I got lost in KaDeWe, an upscale department store with a gourmet market on the sixth floor. The thousands of sausages, wheels of cheese, pastry platters, and shelves stocked with marzipan could have occupied us for hours. Salivating, we left and headed to dinner at Dicke Wirten, a local German pub. I filled up on pork, bread dumplings, and cabbage!

We slept in on Sunday morning (no later than 7:45 am) before hailing a cab to drive to Nicolassee, the neighborhood in Berlin where my dad lived for two years with his family. Although I got the street (Cimbernstrasse) correct, we accidentally had a photo shoot in front of his neighbor’s house (32) instead of his (32A… details!) Regardless, it was fun to travel outside of the city center to get a taste of residential Berlin. Our cab driver informed us that diplomats now inhabit the area, so I suppose that a lot has changed since the “good ol’ days.”

Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts was a taste of home (but even better – an everything bagel with pesto, mozzarella and tomato) before heading to the Gemäldegalerie to take in some of Germany’s most highly regarded artwork. Given my luck, the Neue Nationalgalerie (20^th century art) was rehauling their exhibit on the day we paid a visit, so we checked out the modern Sony Center and Filmhaus (Museum of German film history) on the nearby Potsdamer Platz instead.

The trip was a welcomed change of pace from the museum-hopping routine that I had grown accustomed to in Madrid and Paris. It was an interesting feeling to be able walk freely throughout these streets that had been so arbitrarily divided only twenty years earlier. Better yet, I felt a unique connection to the city knowing that my dad had, at one point, called this city home. Most importantly, we were joined by two of our close friends who made the trip infinitely better!