Fri 15.2.13:
After German, we got a 4 on 4 game of football going in the snow-laden front yard, which turned out to be a great way to relax and decompress after a long week (also, we successfully pulled off the flea-flicker for a 4th down TD!). I then met Keziah and Sherri at Mustafa's for lunch - omnomnomnom delicious - and then we went to the Ritter Sport Factory :) We made our own creations - my dark chocolate with caramelized almonds, gingerbread, and kakao nibs is quite good (and not devoured after three days, a miracle!) - then explored the store and had a delicious peppermint mousse with raspberry topping while we waited.
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| Is this heaven?? |
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| I argue this is impossible! |
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| Sherri, me, and Keziah |
Once we'd sampled our creations, they went back home but I decided to wander the area for a bit. My first find was the Huguenot Museum, which housed several ancient texts, including a few New Testaments and even the Edict of Nantes, which increased religious equality in the late 16th century. Also, the ticket lady asked me to translate 'eingang,' and after confirming it as 'entrance,' I tried explaining that 'entrance' can also be a verb, and we both laughed when she understood my pitiful mimed attempt at hypnosis :)
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| French New Testaments |
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| An installation in a free art gallery |
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| Perhaps my favorite piece in the gallery |
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| Mama bear looking out for her young |
I retraced my steps to the car exhibit with the Bugatti Veyron, and downstairs found a free art exhibit featuring illuminated urban scenes and various transportation-themed images. I passed Leysieffer, a fancy chocolate store with more exotic flavors than Ritter Sport: lavender, honey, rose petal, wasabi, cranberry, and cinnamon were all visible!
Additional wandering discovered the Berliner Dome (I'm always surprised at how interconnected and close this city is!) as well as the churches in the Gendarmmarkt plaza where the Huguenot Museum is, but now lit up gorgeously!
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| Church 1 |
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| A picturesque Berlin snapshot |
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| Church 2 |
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| Bust of somebody outside an art gallery |
As dusk fell, I saw signs for Checkpoint Charlie and ventured forth. I gazed at the pictures of it circa 1980 (there's also an earlier photo with Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin during a political conference (perhaps Yalta or Tehran?), replete with tanks, and noted the monuments nearby - a few pillars protesting the still-present dictators, and the photos of the US and of the Soviet soldiers.
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| Does the third even merit being on this same signpost? |
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Me, at Checkpoint Charlie
Look closely and you'll see a McDonald's over
my shoulder - typical for the American sector |
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"More Walls to Tear Down" features leaders of non-
democratic countries, i.e. Ahmadinejad, Jong-Il, Gaddafi
(clearly this is now a few years behind the times) |
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| Ad for the English school, on the Russian sector side :D |
I then headed home, changed, and made my way to Jolesch for my birthday dinner. The logistics had been impossible on such short notice, and we felt bad for being so late and so few, but the food was once again well worth it - I had the schnitzel this time, and afterward we shared several delicious desserts. We stopped at Kaiser's for some Getrank and relocated to Zixiang's, reputed to live in the 'porm room.' His host family
indeed used to be porn producers, and Zixiang's room features mirrored walls and a circular bed, but unless you're aware of the history, there's no indication that anything is amiss. And in fact, the room was perfect for a dozen of us to cram into and chill for a while before heading out. Yet, we'd gotten such a late start that by the time we got to the station, we realized we didn't really feel like clubbing, so we turned out and just crashed in my room - more sleepovers haha.
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