Carpe-ing the Diem

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Sometimes when travelling, I love to just pack myself a lunch pack up a few things, and head out the door without any specific destination or goal. I just wander around and see what I see and soak up the world around me. I feel like one can spend so much time looking at things in Berlin that one is not able to step back and actually see Berlin itself! So, to fight this tendency, I decided to set off for an adventure today. It was a wonderfully sunny and nice day and I figured it would be perfect for hanging around.

I decided to start off the day at the newly built new-old center of Berlin: Potsdammer Platz. Earlier, this square was one of the busiest intersections in Europe and has the location of the first stoplight in Berlin Unfortunately, the line between East and West went straight through it and the former bustling area turned into a neglected wasteland. After the wall fell, it was completely rebuilt and has several of the very few sky-scrapers in Berlin. They are all shiny, new modern constructions mainly out of steel and glass. There is also the ever-popular Sony Center, which is a combination mall and office building with a center square of which the roof is a model of Mt. Fuji. I spent some time just walking around Potsdammer Platz and absorbing it all. It is probably the one place in Berlin (except for train stations) that can be said to properly “hustle and bustle.” Berlin is definitely not a city that hustles or bustles, despite its 3.5 million residents. This is the one area which has actually the feel of a big city.

A short walk past Tiergarten (Berlin’s large central park) is the Reichstag, which is the main elected ruling body in Germany. The building is a curious mix of turn of late 19th century Classicism and a ultra-new modern dome on top. Next to it is the Brandenburg Gate. I walked through the gate (admiring how impressive it was on the way) and then all the way down Unter den Linden - Berlin’s major East-West street. I walked down the historic street which has so many of the architectural achievements from the reign of Friedrich the Great.

Along the way, I ate my sandwich. I should mention a little about the sandwich I made because I do not think I will be able to have anything like it in the states (well, perhaps at specialty shops or whatnot). Anyway, my host mother suggested that I make a sandwich from Turkish bread (which is sort of like a very thick, large pancake with little furrows in it. Its amazingly good) and then inside put cut up hard-boiled eggs and a form of bacon that they have here. It is hard to describe; probably the closest way would be to say that it has the consistency of ham, but is in the shape of bacon. Then I put lots of pesto sauce in there. It was wonderfully good!

I finished the day back in Sony Center, where I made a few sketches and soaked up more of the atmosphere. It is a day that is a little hard to describe, but will nevertheless remain one of my favourite days in Berlin.

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