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Published: June 12th 2005
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Berliner Dom
Not bad, for Protestants. ;) It's amazing to consider that this cathedral, and all the gorgeous museums on the Museuminsel (Museum Island), were in East Berlin. I got to attend Gottesdienst (worship-service) at the Berliner Dom today. The Dom is immediately adjacent to some upscale hotels and shopping, so I guess they get quite a bit of tourist traffic and although they do offer English translation in the balcony, I skipped that and sat with the Germans. I figured I wouldn't really get any less out of the sermon than I do in English. 😉 I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a woman in the pews whipped out a noisy 35mm camera and took
flash photos of the choir-and-organ-loft during the opening. Great things about the Abendmahl: whereas St. Mark's Cathedral at home ushers the faithful up to the altar in an excruciatingly orderly manner, at Berliner Dom it was a classic free-for-all as if everyone were trying to crowd on or off an S-Bahn train. Also, for some strange reason, they used Weißwein instead of Rotwein, which had me briefly wondering if I had accidentally stepped into the special alkoholfrei water line.
The service lasted longer than I expected, plus I had a very lengthy and entertaining adventure trying to locate an ATM and then make smaller change so I could use the public
Socialist realism paradise
A mural on the Karl-Marx-Allee, one part of the former East Berlin that still feels very Easty. toilets (helpful hints:
always use a free toilet when you find one, even if you don't think you need it, and
never put all of your coins in the collection plate), so I was more than an hour late meeting Drea at the
Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand (German Resistance Memorial). We agreed that
this is what a museum should be. Uncrowded, well-organized, vast amounts of detail, and benches to sit while reading. The English audio was still painfully abridged, by necessity, but well-done and I could have picked up a translation book for €3 if I'd wanted one. We thought the concluding message was particularly powerful: although only a tiny, minuscule minority of Germans actively resisted the Nazi state, the stories of those who did, prove it was possible. I was glad to recognize and honor them.
We dined in an Australian restaurant in Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz. This huge center of commerce and consumerism used to be a "death strip" bisected by Berlin Wall. Some people, perhaps including myself, believe the entire former path of the Wall should be marked and commemorated, and are uncomfortable with skyscrapers being built on top of it. On the other hand, the restaurant served
Eis
Bones enjoys a delicious German Eisbecher (ice cream sundae) in an Eiscafé along the Karl-Marx-Allee. Strongbow... yummy. I'm such a capitalist tool.
We wrapped up the afternoon with a stroll down Karl-Marx-Allee, just east of the Alexanderplatz. Y'know how I've been going on about East Berlin's stylish, modern, commercial, consumer, normal makeover? Well, there's at least one architectural time capsule, and Karl-Marx-Allee is it. Rows of Soviet-style block housing, murals and reliefs in the Socialist Realism style, and general decrepitude... but also cranes.
We stopped along the Allee for delicious Eis. Ice cream in Germany is no casual affair... scoops are small, but the quantity thereof is generous, and a typical serving is an elaborate sundae dish often involving
liqueur. I tried to imagine an American ice cream parlor serving dishes with alcohol, but the liquor license and ID-checking would just be a nightmare. Besides, it wouldn't be long before parents with picket signs would show up and accuse the proprietor of marketing alcohol to kids by associating it with a sweet treat....
"Bones" is having a terrific time, too, but I'm not sure where or when I'll be able to upload his travels. Stay tuned!
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