Wrapping Up Berlin!

The Burgers! 

We got to Berlin towards the evening as we had left Leipzig after 2pm, this gave us a little more time in Leipzig which of course was nice. Once we arrived in Berlin, a group of us wandered around trying to find a place to eat dinner. We wandered and wandered and didn't find anything that was ideal for all of us. Someone found a place called Anna Koschke, so we decided to give it a try (no one looked at the menu before we headed in). We walked a few blocks and when we got there, there was two people sitting at the bar, each with a cigarette in hand. The lady looked at us and said hello, but we weren't sure if she was the waitress or not. We decided to just take a seat in a booth. The lady walked over after a few minutes of us looking around and confused and she gave us a menu we began looking through the menu... beer and snacky foods. Not what we wanted after a day of travelling. While we were looking through menu she lit the table candle and sang along to a song with the lyrics, "skin and bones"... CREEPY. We left. We were all irritated and hungry so we at a burger place down the road from our hostel, the burgers were delicious!!

Memorial Blocks

The next morning we got up and went on a tour around the city where we learned a ton about the city, past, and present. On the tour we saw many different memorial sites from the Holocaust. They were blocks of cement of all different sizes. We were asked to walk through and reflect on what we thought these blocks symbolized, meant, or how they made us feel. Since they were all laid out in a way that you could see all the way through looking to the left, right, and forward from wherever you stood in between the blocks it was like seeing a mirror if you and someone walked through at the same time. This made me think of all of the people during these times that would be walking side by side and suddenly one persons life takes a turn and they are no longer there. That is what I felt these blocks resembled.

Our Seats at the Berlin Philharmonic 

The highlight of Berlin would hands down have to be the Berlin Philharmonic performing the Mahler 6. We were blessed to sit in the benches right behind the orchestra. It was an experience like no other on this trip thus far. As a musician my eyes immediately went to the conductor as soon as he lifted his hands to give the down beat of the piece. The first note I knew we were in for a show. I watched the conductor intently for at least the first half of the movement and then I realized, even though I was dressed in concert black and was on the stage, that I didn't need to strictly watch the conductor. I needed to let my eyes wander around the orchestra and see how they interacted with one another. In particular the Double Basses and the Percussion section stood out to me the most. I have never seen a section move together and be so into the music on their stand so well. They were truly in the moment. The percussion section was funny to watch because it was very easy to tell that they spend time together outside of the larger orchestra rehearsal. They would wink at one another or chuckle together. If one of them made a mistake in form or anything like that you could see it on all of their faces because they work together and see each other at their worst and their best as well. AMAZING. In between each movement the conductor would be wiping sweat from his forehead, and the crowd would cough. It was very apparent that the conductor gives it his all during the piece and the crowd doesn't want to ruin that. Between each movement I would look around at my fellow peers to see the way they reacted. In our group alone we had, open jaws, tears, and smiles. This concert will be one I remember forever.