They're here! We had two days and sooo much ground to cover. Although I too, am a temporary stay, being able to take friends around to some of my favourite places makes me feel like I can legitimately say "Welcome to my city!" Although to be honest, most of the places we checked out were a first for me as well haha.
There were three things requested for the weekend: good food, graffiti, and museums. And so, off we went...
There were three things requested for the weekend: good food, graffiti, and museums. And so, off we went...
My friends have been travelling separately and did this rendezvous in the middle of their travels to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Berlin and then will be splitting off again to England, Jamaica, and France. And in each city they stopped at, one friend would join them for a bit while another one left. I thought it was a pretty cute plan, I should gather a wandering troupe!
Brunch in Kreuzberg. La femme.
Kreuzberg has been the best place for cheap, good food. We moseyed around the flat for a bit in the morning, played rummy and then made our first stop here for brunch. Who can say no to eggs and cheese?
1. A protest! and we hopped off the train. 2. Brunch bread, 3. Potato
Potsdamer Platz, Berliner Walk of fame
Science Center Medizintecknik - Science Center of Medical Technology
Otto Bock is a German prosthesis company and a manufacturer of wheelchairs and other medical products. A really cool one albeit, and the owner is a multimillionaire, so this is like a display of his work/what he does. The company is like the Apple of orthopaedic technology, because the owner believes that if you are going to have to wear prosthesis, why not do it in (technologically advanced) style. And another really cool addition? They focus on bionics!
1. understanding via touch (put your hand in), 2. the exhibition space
The current exhibition was about the ageing society, showing charts and info graphics about the process of ageing biologically, life expectancies, etc. Everything was English and German, and super informative, and interactive (at this point, what German museum ISN'T interactive?) I would love to go back just to thoroughly read everything wall to wall.
What changes when you go from walking to running and whatever's in between?
1. world's first fully microprocessor controlled prosthetic leg 2. driving a wheelchair on a virtual course. It rumbles when you cross cobblestones and tilts when you roll down a ramp
learning time
The center has two (three if you count ground, but Germans don't) floors. The second floor lets visitors operate and understand how these high tech prosthetics technically work for the people who depend on them to be independent. The first floor analyses the human body as a heap of muscles and tendons and nerves that work together to create movement, and the ground floor exhibits human mobility, primarily through walking and grasping. Everything was really nicely integrated and information was organized (unlike Checkpoint Charlie).
Projected touchscreen surfaces!
1. how our natural movements are mimic-ed and fine tuned for prosthesis, 2. balance test
1. Place your hand here, 2. cool righ'?
Did you think I walk fast?
We made a stop at the Holocaust Memorial designed by Peter Eisenman. I've been meaning to come here, so I'm really happy we did. It really is impressive, but not in a flashy way. Drab and austere, it was unassuming. We were walking towards Brandenburger Tor, and we sort of veered towards it as the blocks caught our eyes and as we walked deeper and deeper inside it, we realised this was the Holocaust Memorial we were looking for.
The floor is uneven in a sort of undulating manner and the pillars (representing the murder of six million Jews) grow taller and taller until you feel slightly disoriented and cannot see who is approaching from your sides. ("Marco Polo" becomes applicable here) We wondered about the lack of graffiti, and it turns out that each slab is coated in a "graffti-proof" coating provided by the same company that made the Zyklon B gas used in concentration camps. Funny coincidence isn't it.
Sol LeWitt for the United States embassy, five pointed stars.
Chocolate fountain. made some chocolate, ate some chocolate.
Another place I've been meaning to go to, Tacheles, pronounced tac-hel-les, is this partially demolished squatted building that has been taken over by an artist collective(s). The place is closing soon, so I've been urged many times to go see it before it stops existing. The entire building is smeared in graffiti and you can talk to the live-in artists and sculptors working on their projects while you wander around the building.
Imma pull your hair
spray can in hand
This makes me think of Don Quixote... and Christmas
Metal shop in the backyard
"And the world is your oyster," she told them.
This man is trying to persuade us to join Kappaland, where you can be the dictator president. "Buy a square millimetre of this land! An opportunity not to be missed!"
1.German beer?, 2. banana beer?
goodnight!
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