One last time

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Winding it up

Today, my last day in Berlin, I spent my time doing a final “walk-through.” I made sure that I saw all the locations I had meant to see. I walked my legs off, again. And I assured myself that I knew where things are and how to get there. In particular I walked through the Gendarmenmarkt, Nikolaiviertel, the area around Oranienburger Tor and the shops in that neighborhood, and Alexanderplatz.

There were a few places I didn't see on this visit. The inside of most synagogues are not accessible except for Shabbat services. I didn't particularly want to go to a different synagogue each week, so I saw only two synagogues. The Gemeinde is housed in the so-called New Synagogue on Oranienburgerstr,, where it maintains a museum, which I didn't visit. Only one synagogue, according to the Jüdischen Gemeinde, has visiting hours for tourists, for which they charge an admission fee. In addition, I didn't visit the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, which is, ironically, located in Oranienburg, north of the city.

After walking around one of the historic districts, I went back the LOXX miniatures exhibit, so that I could take more photos. Again I'll say the place is amazing. I think I liked it more than most of the other exhibit/museum places I visited.

I walked Unter den Linden again, and I made a point to stop at the Singakadamie (Sing-Akademie zu Berlin), now the Gorki Theater, where several important musical figures either presented or premiered works.

I took a few hours out of the middle of the day to pack, since I will be leaving relatively early tomorrow morning. Since I had walked so much and taken so many pictures, I also had to download the pictures to free up space on the memory card and charge the battery.

In the evening I went to a Recital Night at the Hochschule für Musik (Music University), where students would be playing selections. When I got there, the program was posted on the door, and it looked interesting. Only when I was seated and had time to review the program more thoroughly did I notice that the first player was in the “2. Kl,” which I figured out means second grade. The last student on the program was in the first year of college.

Nevertheless, I stayed and was not disappointed. The kids played some really demanding music, including Wieniewski, Lalo, and Prokofiev. I'll provide the program to anyone who wants to see it. Even the second grader played completely in tune, with vibrato, position shifts, double stops, and good bow control. At the end I asked the teacher if these kids were studying after school or somehow as a specialty. He confirmed that they do a normal school program up to their graduation, and study and practice in addition to that.

After the concert, I thought I would go to a kneipe (bar/joint) recommended by one of my German teachers. When I got there, it was empty; after all, it was only 9:00. So, instead, I went into an Indian restaurant next door for dinner. With a final stop at Potsdamer platz to try to get some night-time pictures, I made my way back to the hotel.

There was a WWII picture on one of the channels. I joined it in progress; it was about a deportation train and was in German. I tried watching it, but either my mind was too cluttered or I was too tired; I couldn't follow the dialog at all. I eventually turned it off and went to sleep. I don't know the name of the film.