We said auf wiedersehen to Berlin for the second time yesterday as we made our way home from this beautiful city. We had eight days filled with music, art, and history in a city that has so much to offer, and we made some new friends along the way.
We left our hotel at 6:00 am. (midnight EDT) and arrived home at 10:30 pm. after traveling on a U-Bahn train, a bus to the Berlin airport, a flight to the Dublin airport, a bus from the plane to the terminal, a flight to Boston, and a bus to Portland where we picked up our car and drove home. It was a long day, but we arrived home to find the huge rhododendron in our front yard had bloomed profusely in our absence.
Our Rhododendron Welcomes Us Home
I still have many photos to upload to this blog, and I’ll do so over the next few days. You can find them in the Berlin section of the Photos tab. We’re happy to be home, but already thinking about our next adventure.
Thanks for following our journey and we hope to see you again, in person or on the interwebs.
Today was our last day in Berlin, so we tried to visit a few places we missed when we were here in December, or that were too covered in ice and snow for us to appreciate at that time. We began this morning in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This installation consists of 2711 concrete blocks of different heights, placed on uneven ground and meant to reflect a feeling of uncertainty. Unlike most memorials, it’s a quiet place to wander, and reflect, and bring your own meaning to the experience. The number of blocks is not significant; it’s merely the number that would fit into the space. There’s also an underground exhibit beneath the memorial, but it was closed today (and every Monday). We also visited the Sinti and Roma Memorial remembering genocide of these groups during Nazi rule, and the White Crosses memorial honoring those who died at the Berlin Wall during the Cold War.
Soviet War Memorial
Getting around the Tiergarten area was tricky today because many streets were blocked off in preparation for the FIFA World Cup and the European Football Championship. We managed to find the Soviet War Memorial and the Beethoven–Haydn–Mozart Memorial and several statues including Amazon on Horseback and some animal sculptures by Rudolf Siemering that are copies of sculptures around Siemering’s equestrian statue of George Washington in Philadelphia. There are many other statues in the Tiergarten, and we would have tried to find them all if we had the time and energy.
Philharmonix
This evening we had dinner in an Italian restaurant (as one does in Berlin) and then went back to the Berliner Philharmoniker to hear Philharmonix, an ensemble composed of members of the Berlin Philharmoniker and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a fun concert with a mix of classical, jazz and pop tunes played by some highly skilled musicians.
Tomorrow, we say goodbye to Berlin and head home via Aer Lingus.
Today was the first day in Berlin when we left the hotel without jackets, though we did take our umbrellas ensuring that it would NOT rain. We began our adventures at the Futurium or The House of Futures where the central question is, “How do you want to live?” It’s one of those exhibits where you wear a bracelet that collects data as you answer questions throughout and gives you a summary of your answers at the end. The focus was on how human lives will change in the coming years due to environmental and political factors.
Solar Panels on the Skywalk of the Futurium
Our visit ended with the Skywalk where we strolled around the perimeter of the roof to admire the view of Berlin and a huge array of solar panels.
The Spree River
After our visit to the Futurium we took a walk along the Spree River and waved at the tour boats that went by. Then we caught a bus to the Deutsche Oper where we had an early dinner before attending the last of our four Ring operas, six hours of Götterdämmerung.
The Orchestra Gets a Bow in Götterdämmerung
This one had everything you could ask for in a Wagnerian opera: weddings, potions, swords, a beheading, fire, and a lot of angst. The ending was glorious as Valhalla went up in flames and the ring went back to the Rhine. Actually, the whole thing ended with a woman sweeping the stage, as if say, “We’ve told you a story and now it’s over.” This “play within a play” concept explains (maybe) the omnipresent piano that characters occasionally pretended to play and other directorial choices in the production.
Tomorrow is our last day in Berlin. It’s our last chance to visit the sights we’ve missed, and in the evening we will go to our final event, a Philharmonix concert.
We had no events scheduled for today, so we decided to take it easy and enjoy the warm, sunny weather. After breakfast, we hopped on a train to the Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum for an opportunity to stop and smell the roses. Unfortunately a large part of the park was closed due to construction and renovation. What we could see was lovely and made a nice break from all our indoor activities. The rose garden was particularly impressive with its low bushes and pergolas covered with blooms and the walkways lined with lavender plants.
Heron in a pond at Berlin Botanic Garden
We spent several hours strolling through the Botanic Garden and then went back to the hotel to watch some tennis and soccer on TV (something we didn’t need an English translation to understand). There’s a grocery store across the street from our hotel, so we decided to grab some sandwiches, fruit, and a bottle of wine and have dinner in our room. In all, it was a restful day that we both needed.
Tomorrow we will visit the Futurium and maybe learn a thing or two before we head to Deutsche Oper for our final opera in the Wagner Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung.
We began today with a visit to the DDR (German Democratic Republic) Museum, an exhibition of life in East Germany during the almost 41 years of its existence. The museum is full of interactive exhibits that chronicle the DDR years and give a taste of what life was like in East Germany before reunification. The museum was also full of tourists and school groups so it was a bit crowded, but still worth the time we spent there.
Cruising on the Captain Morgan
Near the entrance of the DDR Museum is the start of a one-hour Spree River cruise on the Captain Morgan. The rain had stopped and we finally had some sunshine, so we decided to take the tour. It was quite relaxing and somewhat interesting. The tour guide spoke in German, but switched to English occasionally for the benefit of the four or five English speakers on the boat. We didn’t drink any Captain Morgan on the boat, but we did have a beer.
Siegfried Bows
After a late lunch (or early dinner) of Currywurst, we made our way to the Deutsche Oper for the third opera in the Wagner Ring, Siegfried. As with the first two operas, the orchestra and the singing were superb, but I was really impressed with the stagecraft in this one. I never take pictures during a performance because it’s verboten here as in most theaters and opera houses, but I do wish I had a photo of the dragon because it was awesome! (There are some great photos here and a video here that are worth a look.)
After six hours (including two intermissions) of Wagner, we were ready to call it a day. Tomorrow is a free day with no performances, but I’m sure we will find some interesting ways to fill the time.
Today started out sunny so we decided not to take umbrellas as we made our way to the Gemäldegalerie, a museum of old master paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries. This is a huge museum with more than we could see in one morning, so we counted on Rick Steves to guide us to the most important pieces. As we left the museum, we regretted our umbrella decision because the thunder crashed, and the lightning flashed, and we were soaked by the time we got back to the hotel.
Kaiserbass (otherwise known as a tuba) in the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum
After drying out a bit, we had an early dinner and then took a bus to the Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin, the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum. We had fun looking at this collection of old European instruments and comparing them to contemporary ones. Paul was itching to play some of them but the signage was clear that that was verboten.
Stefan Dohr and Jörg Widmann receiving flowers
There was no opera tonight, so we had booked tickets to hear our favorite orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker and we’re glad we did. The musical instrument museum is next to the concert hall so we didn’t have far to walk. The program tonight began with the premiere of a new work by Jörg Widmann, Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, featuring the principal hornist, Stefan Dohr. I found this piece strange but very amusing, and it certainly demonstrated the virtuosity of the French Horn player as well as this amazing orchestra. In the second half the orchestra played Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6. Our seats were just above the orchestra where we had a good view of tonight’s conductor, Sir Simon Rattle and it was a real treat. Paul is now convinced that we must hear this orchestra when they come to Boston or New York this year because we are now Berliner Phiharmoniker groupies.
When we returned to our hotel after the concert, we turned on the BBC channel to hear the news because we knew something big was happening in New York.
Tomorrow we will visit another museum and then attend the 6-hour long, third opera in the Ring, Siegfried.
When we first arrived in Berlin, we purchased museum passes that are good for three consecutive days, so we’ll do most of our museum hopping at the beginning of our stay. Today we visited the Alte Nationalgalerie on Museum Island where we saw an exhibit of landscapes by Caspar David Friedrich. I found this exhibit fascinating because Friedrich did not just paint beautiful scenes he viewed, but composed landscapes from his imagination combining elements almost like a collage.
Two Men Contemplating the Moon by Caspar David Friedrich
I would have like to stay much longer and explore more of the Alte Nationalgalerie, but we had tickets to an Espresso Concert at the Konzerthaus Berlin, featuring a young violinist and a pianist performing pieces by Amy Beach and Robert Schumann. It was a very pleasant way to spend and hour in the afternoon, although it took us almost that long to find the entrance to the hall because of construction on the street surrounding it.
Final Bows for Die Walküre
Our evening entertainment was the second (and my favorite) of the Wagner Ring operas, Die Walküre. The orchestra was marvelous, the singing was wonderful, and the staging was interesting, if a little weird. (Click on the link above to see what I mean.) I do like what they do with fabric and lighting, but that piano is still a mystery to me, and I was hoping the Valkyries would ride in on horses. We sat next to our new Scottish friend (a university professor from Edinburgh) and had a drink with him during the first intermission. In the second intermission, we met and conversed with an interesting Berliner with excellent English who is an opera lover and a judge (although he said he had no opinion on the legal woes of Mr. Trump).
Tomorrow we will use up our museum pass and then attend a concert with our favorite orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker. Stay tuned!
Today started out wet and dreary, but that didn’t deter us from walking through the Tiergarten park in the rain (that’s what those nifty little travel umbrellas are for) to the Victory Column. This tower is a famous tourist attraction in the center of the park and is reached via tunnels under the surrounding street ( a welcomed respite from the rain). There’s a viewing platform at the top of the column, under the statue of Victoria, Goddess of Victory. The platform is reached via 285 stair steps that we opted not to climb.
One section of the 360º Pergamon Panorama
From the Tiergarten we made our way to Museum Island and the Pergamon 360º Panorama exhibit. The panorama depicts the ancient city of Pergamon and is viewed from three platforms at different levels of the rotunda where it is housed. It’s a stunning display, and my photo above does not do it justice. The lighting constantly cycles through dawn, daylight, dusk, and darkness and the changing light and different levels allow you to see the acropolis of Pergamon from varying perspectives. This is a temporary exhibit while the actual Pergamon Museum undergoes a restoration that will take many years.
The pulpit in the Berlin Cathedral
From the Pergamon Panorama, we made our way to Berliner Dom, the Berlin Cathedral. This church was built during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the Italian High Renaissance style. It’s an amazing cathedral with a 360º viewing platform in the dome. We decided not to attempt the 270-step ascent to the top.
Final bows from Das Rheingold
After dinner we went to the Deutsch Oper Berlin for the first opera in the Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold. We have seen recordings of the Met production of this opera a few times, but this production was very different. There’s a piano center stage throughout that serves as a trapdoor for entrances and exits and seems to serve as a symbol of something. (I’m not sure what, but maybe I’ll figure it out by the end of the week.) Although some of the staging was mystifying, the singing and the orchestra were splendid. We were seated next to a gentleman from Scotland, and it was nice to have a conversation in English that we can continue in the next three operas.
Tomorrow we will return to Museum Island to make use of our Museum Pass and then attend an afternoon concert and an evening performance of Die Walküre.
As much as I love traveling, I don’t really love the actual travel part. When I was young, I thought flying was fun, but that was when airplanes seemed more comfortable and security was less restrictive. That was also when I had more energy and fewer aches and pains. Unfortunately, when we were young we didn’t have the time or resources to travel just for fun.
After a long, exhausting day of bus, plane, and train rides, we arrived in Berlin (via Dublin) and managed to make our way to our hotel. The trick to fighting jet lag is to not give in to the urge to sleep when you first arrive, but to wait to go to bed at a normal time. We almost managed that. After a quick nap, we set out to reorient ourselves to the city and find a place for dinner. It was a lovely evening and we were able to dine outside where we could people watch as we ate.
Paul with his Erdinger Kristal beer
After dinner we took a little stroll to Potsdamer Platz where we happened upon a peace rally with music and dancing that looked like something from my college days.
Peace rally at Potsdamer Platz
Tomorrow we will do some touristy stuff and then attend the first opera in the Wagner Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold.
We are going back to Berlin! I didn’t think we would return so soon to a city we’ve already visited, but an opportunity arose that we couldn’t resist. A bucket list item for most opera lovers is the Wagner Ring Cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, and when we heard that Deutsche Oper Berlin would be performing all four operas this week, we booked our tickets. We also booked tickets for a couple concerts while we were at it.
We’re looking forward to seeing Berlin again. In December it was very cold, snowy, and icy but so beautiful and full of history, art, and music (and Christmas Markets). One week was not nearly enough, so we appreciate the opportunity to explore this city and nearby areas some more and to enjoy springtime in Berlin. (Ear worm alert! Now that I’ve typed that sentence, I can’t get this song out of my head.)
Once again, I’ll be posting daily (hotel wi-fi permitting) on this blog so you can visit Germany vicariously through us. If you have recommendations for stuff we should do in Berlin, please leave a comment.
To Italy and Beyond 