The Third Reich and the Opera

So where did we leave off.....

Yesterday afternoon, Rob and I took a 4 hour walking tour about Germany during the Third Reich, which was fascinating. We learned about Hitler as a child, and eventually were taken to the bunker where he took his own life (now just a gravel parking lot). We saw the monument that the Soviets made to their fallen soldiers, the Tiergarten (originally royal hunting grounds, then wiped out by WW2). We were also taken to the Jewish part of Berlin, the site of the only successful anti Nazi protest. The most interesting part about this protest is that is was led by women who used pots and pans as their weapons!

In the evening, we went to see Angels and Demons. We needed a bit of a break from walking around, plus we thought it would be a neat movie to see after having been to Rome, where the movie was filmed.

This morning, we slept in a bit then headed over to old East Berlin to meet up with Kimi, a friend of mine from Carleton who is in town for her own European adventure!! We spent some time checking out the East Side Gallery, which is the longest remaining stretch of the wall. It is now a sort of outdoor art gallery. The wall has been recently whitewashed, and the artists who had painted the wall originally were invited back to repaint it, so as we were walking we saw some artists painting the wall. The art is really interesting, and we got some really great photos that we will share with you when we get home.

Our last venture of the day was to see the opera, Un Ballo de Maschera, an Italian opera in German. Due to some unforeseen circumstances at dinner, we were a bit late. When we got to our seats and settled in, we quickly realized that we had no idea what was going on. I cannot really describe what was happening on stage, but somehow we got the idea that the play was set at a hotel and there was some sort of love triangle. Additionally, two people were hanged in the lobby of the hotel... We have no idea how or why it happened, and it seems like none of the actors on the stage did either... Needless to say, we had no idea what was going on.

We left after the 2nd act due to the language barriers, but all in all, I really enjoyed the music. I stopped trying to understand the words and just listened to the emotions in the songs. It still did not help me understand the plot, but at least I enjoyed the work of some talented musicians.

We have no tours planned for tomorrow, but we do plan to see the Holocaust Memorial and the Picasso museum.