Back in Berlin

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Hi all--unfortunately, no time to post a blog while I was in Bonn, I wanted to add a journal entry with a location other than Berlin for a change! Oh, well. Bonn was really fun, and more beautiful than I had expected it to be. My American travel books don't have much to say about it, which is too bad, because it is a really nice small city. For those that know Tom, has he ever told you that he goes to school in a castle? Well, he does, since most of the university buildings seem to be former castles. Although Tom seems to find the yellow paint rather off-putting, I thought they were quite striking. The city wasn't bombed during the war, so it still has a lot of older, very pretty buildings, especially in the neighborhood where Tom lives. Also, Bonn sits right along the Rhein, with a nice pathway along the water for strolling and watching the boats go by. Cologne is only 15 miles or so away, and we ended up there every day I was there. On Friday night we ended up at a "Cuban" bar on the main strip of nightlife in Cologne, where I drank two fruity drinks without spilling them on myself (unlike the first night I was there, when, in front of Tom's roommate who I had met 5 minutes earlier, I spilled half a beer down my front for absolutely no reason--I swear I hadn't even had 5 sips of beer yet and I wasn't that tired... some things are just inexplicable, I suppose).

Other notable Cologne experiences: we went to the Cathedral there, which is HUGE, old, unbombed, and has 5 hundred something steps to the top of a tower with a view over the city. Later, after shopping for a couple of hours for the perfect pig figurine I thought I might give to Josh as a coming home present, I was beginning to lose hope when I found... something even better! Sorry, can't spill the beans here, but just try to imagine what might be better than a porcelain pig. I know it's hard to imagine, but I swear it's true.

In other news, yesterday I went to the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin, which was really great. It was a bit like being at a student exhibition of a really talented group of students and teachers, as a lot of the exhibits were projects completed by students like Paul Klee in classes taught by people like Wassily Kandinsky. Then there was the section of actual furniture, rugs, tea kettles and the like, which is a bit like shopping at an upscale version of IKEA, only less crowded. And more expensive--the museum actually ends in a gift shop that is so like the regular exhibit it is difficult to tell where one starts and the next begins, except that little price tags advertising sugar bowls for 60 Euro, etc., start to appear. Blurring the line between art and commercialism is a specialty the Bauhaus does indeed do well. (I've posted a picture here, but if you want to see more pictures of the really cool Gropius designed building, go to this link: http://www.bauhaus.de/gebaeude/ansichten.htm

I'll be back home a week from tomorrow, which means that this next week will probably be pretty full; still a lot of sights I want to see and people I want to hang out with more before I leave. But I'm glad to have things packed in and to be busy for this time and have my return date coming up so soon. If there is one thing I've learned about myself on this trip it is that I get more out of my time while travelling if the length of my trip is limited. One week just seems like a more manageable time to be a tourist than does 8 or 10 weeks. Also, I actually have a final exam coming up, so I suppose I actually need to spend some time out of school studying a bit. However, don't think I'm going to let that cramp my style too much. 😉

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Photos

Bauhaus Archive
View of the Bauhaus Archive from the street--you can see the Walter Gropius designed building behind the hedges. Even the street lamp has that Bauhaus look...