Wednesday was our free day. After visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial, we had the whole day to ourselves. I decided to visit Audre Lorde’s old house after reading this article in the NY Times. I took three trains to Lorde’s house in Dahlem. I was so surprised at how ordinary the neighborhood was. It looked like it could be anywhere. It reminded me of Asheville, NC. I think a family was living in Lorde’s house, so I did not stay long. I walked to Grunewald forest, Lorde’s old stomping grounds, where I sat on a bench and watched people walk by.
I took two trains to Kreuzberg and looked for a bathroom. There were no bathrooms at the train stations, which is very inconvenient. I have a longer story about my quest for a bathroom that will not go in the blog. If you go to Berlin, bring cash. A lot of the street vendors and small restaurants only take cash. I learned the hard way. When I tried to pay with card, I got shouted down before I could look in my purse for cash. That currywurst wasn’t worth it. I met up with my friends at the end of the day, and we had lots of stories to tell.
On Thursday, we walked down Karl Marx Alle and took in the Soviet architecture. The apartments looked like fancy cells. Stasi officers lived there as a reward for their work. We went to Treptower Park to see the Soviet War Memorial. Another group led a discussion on Svetlana Alexievich’s The Unwomanly Face of War and Soviet women’s role in WWII.
To end the Soviet-themed day, we went to the Stasi Museum and learned about Stasi informants and surveillance. We even sat in a conference room where Stasi officers gathered.
The last day was low key. We went to the Deutsche Kinemathek where we learned about German cinema and saw a screening of Berlin: Symphony of a Great City.
We ended our trip with lunch at Der Blaue Fuchs, a Georgian restaurant that Mette picked out. At this point, I wanted to stay in Berlin. There were so many sights I did not get to see because of time. Even though it was only a week, I feel like our class is much closer because of this trip. Our study of literature revealed the different layers of Berlin. I saw the city through many different eyes.
A North Carolinian in Copenhagen 