hey hey. 

We had another breakfast at the hostel! Yay. Actually not that interesting. What was interesting was the people outside the restaurant. These big groups of kids age 5-10 were walking in lines (Matila style) with their teachers. When they got to the windows we became fish in a fishbowl and the kids would wave and make faces. Quite a funny way to start the day. 

We took the metro to Museum island. Berlin in a moment of great wisdom said,”why not put all the Musuems in one place. #efficientanduniform” I’m not sure they used a hashtag, but I think they would appreciate it nonetheless. I believe there are six museums in the island, but having a limited time we chose The Alte Nationalgalerie. Some of my favorites were: 

Louis Corinth – The Blinded Sampson

Giovanni Segantini – Returning Home

Max Liebermann – Flax Barn In Laren

Victor Müller – Snow White

And literally everything Caspar David Friedrich.

 He’s an amazing landscape artist. I will talk about him some more in Hamburg. 

(The pictures won’t load right now so I encourage you to google them. It’s worth it. Promise.)

For lunch I had a hot dog and Al tried curry wurst. Yes. It is that spicy. 

We did another tour focused on the Third Reich in the afternoon. The guide was a teacher from England who enjoyed history so much he just moved to be near it. I think if Alison could she would too. 

We ended the day in the museum part of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is without a doubt the most powerful and emotional place we have visited. Dachau was almost unreal because it was difficult to comprehend the amount of people who were held there. The Memorial in Berlin aims to take the incomprehensible number of six million and focuses on a much smaller number. As you walk the rooms you are presented with first hand accounts of people being led to their death. Sometimes they hid their notes in walls, they would throw them out the window of whatever was transporting them, andin one case a postcard was found and forwarded on to the intended recipient. The sheer desperation and confusion in their words absolutely breaks your heart. 

When we walked out of the museum Alison and I were deep in thought and I had a hard time shifting back into present day Berlin. 

For me, the memorial did its job. 

It reminded me to appreciate everyday and everything I care about. It inspired me to fight injustices and spread tolerance. It taught me to believe, to persevere, and to fight for the dream of peace. Start small. As we say in Alternative Breaks. Take the step. Make the difference. 

I needed the reminder.