It's Berlin Time!

I am happy to report that I am currently sitting in my new home for the next two week in Berlin, Germany. I spent yesterday traveling over the Atlantic Ocean and landed safely this morning at 7:30 a.m.. I got off the plane excited for my new adventures, but unfortunately my checked bag wasn't as excited to come along. I am waiting on its delivery, hopefully soon.

Following my baggage drama, I found my way to meet my Airbnb contact, Jannik, to get the key to the apartment I will be staying in. (From the airport, I made a bus to train transfer at the Alexanderplatz station, but unfortunately I didn't see the "Fast Lane." I'm hoping it is just in another section of the train station.)  My two dance friends, Ryoko and Elizabeth, are meeting me here, at the apartment, tomorrow evening and we will all be sharing the place together. It might be tight, but completely adequate because we are close friends.

After I settled in, dropped my bags off, and sent an email to my parents telling them I was alive, I went for a five hour walk around Berlin. Now, I am sitting on the couch exhausted with my legs and feet swelling as I type.

I want to share with you the Hot Spots I've already seen Berlin and take you through my day. The red type is factual information about each location Hot Spot and the bold black type is my tour guild voice taking you from spot to spot. Within these texts you can find links to the official websites, so you can learn more.



Saturday, August 3, 2013

I started my adventure by walking North of my apartment (right next to the Eberswalder Str. U2 train station) to the State Ballet School Berlin. I wanted to see the school and determine whether it was a manageable walk to take every day. It's a little over 30 minutes away, so it's possible, but not ideal when we'll be dancing for six hours a day.

State Ballet School Berlin. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

The State Ballet School Berlin offers state certified diplomas for dance education unique for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the only school in Germany where the students are educated academically along with their dance training. Interestingly enough, the Ballet School united with the Academy for Acrobats in 1991. 





Next, I grabbed a five euro lunch (salad, banana and tea) at a grocery store and took the streetcar South to the Museum Island.

Altes Nationale Museum. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

Museum Island is the northern tip of the Spree Island. Six thousand years of history and culture are stored along its museums. You can start your historical journey in Egyptian times, through to Christian and Islamic art, and through to 19th century European art.

It houses the following museums:

• The Altes Museum (Old Museum) offers artifacts from Etruscan, Greek and Roman art.
• The Bode Museum is a collection of sculptures and treasures from the middle ages until the 18th century.
• The Museum of the Ancient Near East houses some of the oldest examples of script on cuneiform tablets from Uruk. It also presents the Processional Way and the Ishtar Gate from Babylon recreated with thousands of colour glazed bricks.
• The Münzkabinett (Numismatic) Museum offers Byzantine art from the 3rd to 19th Centuries, as well as a selection of valuable coins and medals from Antiquity to the 20th Century.
• The Neues Museum (New Museum) is a collection of Egyptian and Early history. The bust of Nefertiti is the central attraction.
• The Pergamon Museum is a three-winged museum by Alfred Messel. It exhibits ceramics, glass, metal and ivory, as well as the sandstone facade of an early 8th Century palace from the Jordanian desert. It is currently under reconstruction.

While I was wondering the Island, there was a wonderful crafts fair (Kunstmarket am Zeughaus). I started speaking (in English) to a local artist about his pottery as I admired his beautifully glaze mugs and bowls. I bought one of his light green with a teal glaze-drip handmade mugs. I will have such wonderful memories went I sip my tea in his mug in Raleigh, NC.

Kunstamarket. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

The Berliner Kunstmarket is a art market where local artists and antique collectors are able to present their goods; it is open on Saturdays and Sundays. Berliners loved the art and culture of this market so much that it has been expanded four times.  You can find traditional fine art (paintings, graphics and sculpture), new art (photography, digital art) and fashion design. Every artist must be involved in the creative process to be able to present the work at the market. Kunstamarket offers new fashion designers the opportunity to sell their own creations to a culturally interested audience.

As I walked around through the Kunstamarket, I passed some interesting characters. There was a man playing music on the rims of wine glasses and a man selling pretzels alongside his son paying the saxophone. 

Glass music. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

Pretzel and Saxophone family. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

Next, I walked towards the Lustgarten ("Pleasure Garden" in German) to find the Berliner Dom.

Berliner Dom with the Lustgarten to the left. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

The Lustgarten is situated between the Berlin Dom (Cathedral) and the Altes Museum. It is used by locals and tourists as a resting and meeting spot to lounge in at their leisure.

The history behind this garden is quite interesting. The plot of land was first used as a garden to grow fruits and vegetables for the nearby City Palace, Stadtschloss. In 1640, it transformed into a royal garden that involved ornate landscaping including flower beds and herbs. In 1713, the pleasure garden was reduced to a military parade square. In 1830, the Altes Museum was built and the area was once again designed to serve as a suitable accompaniment. Again, in 1934, the garden was paved down to make a parade square by the Nazis. After WWII, the area became part of East Berlin and yet again became utilized as a public space for public gatherings, as it is today.

I used the Lustgarten to rest my legs before investigating the church I saw ahead. I found out it was the Protestant church of St. Petri - St. Marien. The exterior of the church reminded me so much of the Cathédral St-Etienne that I saw last summer in Toulouse, France. (Here is my blog post about it.) Both churches have such an interesting mix of history presented on its exterior that you can't help but want to learn more about it. I sat in the church for a few minutes to take in its beauty while an organist played wonderful music.

The interior of St. Petri - St. Marien church. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

The St. Petri - St. Marien church began construction around 1270 as an early Gothic hall church. In the 15th century, it acquired the tower at the front. In 1720, a mechanical organ was built into the church and a couple years later the gilded decorations were added. Finally in 1790, the architect Carl Gotthard Langhans (the architect of the Brandenburg Gate) crowned the tower with a Baroque and Neo-Gothic dome. 

St. Petri - St. Marien church with Fernsehturn TV tower in the background. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

Next, I found myself at Media Market. Originally, I was attracted to the art around it. I didn't actually go into the shopping mall because I am in no need of more electronics, but the art and architecture was intriguing.

The Media Market is the German and Europeans market leader in costumer electronics industry. They offer household appliances, costumer electronic, and telecommunications. Unfortunately, I could not find any information on the wall art and sculpture online.

Media Market. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

At the Media Market I found a "Sausage Man" who didn't need a cart to sell sausages. New York City needs some of these portable food sellers around Times Square!

Sausage man. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

As I was about to call it a day because I was getting tired, I walked into a festival at Alexanderplatz. The entire square was full of shopping tents, street performers, and interactive games. The shopping tents were different than those of Kunstmarket craft market. These vendors were selling hippy cloths, jewelry, bags, and such. People of all ages were having a great time and it was fun to photograph them. By researching the event did I learn it was a Peace Festival.

The Friedensfestival Berlin is an organization that encourages the Berlin community to agree with the objectives of the United Nations pertaining to peace, equal rights, non-violence, and social progression. The "Peace Festival" invites empathic and creative minds for an active engagement towards world peace. Whether through information booths, the stage programs, the street theater, or the oasis of peace, everyone can get involved.

Friedensfestival Entertainment. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu. 

Friedensfestival Entertainment. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

Friedensfestival Food. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu. 

Friedensfestival Street Art. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu. 

Friedensfestival Street Theater. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu. 

I got a second wind of energy from the Festival and decided to walk back to the apartment. I wanted to get a feel for the Mitte neighborhood I am living in. Of course, I stopped into almost every fashion store; my excuse was because they are all having sales! These are two funny sights I spotted during my walk.

Fashion in Berlin. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

White Trash Fast Food. Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

I found myself back home with some wine and meat I got at a market next door. What a beautiful sight to look out to as I share with you my wonderful first day in Berlin. 

Instagram Photo by Cecilia Iliesiu.

Starting tomorrow, I will have my days full of dancing and being a tourist every other minute. I will say "Auf Wiedersehen" ("Goodbye" in German) for this month and hope to check in after my trip. I will be updating my photography travel blog almost daily, Capturing Cecilia's Canon, as a way to keep my friends and family up-to-date with what I am doing.

I have come a long way since I started this blog on June 2^nd and I can say I am better off having shared my research with you, my viewers, through this blog than I would have on my own. I hope you will travel to Germany some time in your life because I can already tell it's a wonderful city full of endless possibilities. 

Haben einen schönen Sommer! Have a wonderful summer!

48 hours in Stuttgart

As I am continue my list of places to see and things to do in Germany, I stumbled upon this fabulous blog called the 48 Hour Adventure. I figured I'd use this opportunity to introduce this blog to you and plan my few days in Stuttgart with my wonderful cousin Ana Despina. She recently moved there to attend film editing school and I am lucky enough to be able to visit her for a fews days after my ART of dance program in Berlin. This post is quite appropriate for me because I will only have about 48 hours in Stuttgart with Ana Despina. I will not only use the information from the original 48 Hours in Stuttgart post, but I will also find new ideas and other places.

Hot Spots

Wilhelma Zoo

• Schlossplatz: Castle Palace & Garden 
• The Opera House for their world-famous ballet company 
• Wilhelma Zoo with its botanical garden & historic park 
• Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Museums
• State Gallery Stuttgart 
• Wine Village 

The Stare Challenge in Zurich

I want to share with you an attraction that's made Zurich's Hauptbahnhof train station a Hot Spot. Digital Buzz blog always has fun, short updates on the latest social and digital trends. They make you realize how technically advanced the world really is. As in previous posts, "Fast Lane" in Berlin and TUM slides in Munich, this project is a fun way to engage the public to make a happier world.

The Stare Challenge installation is not necessarily art related, but more technologically driven to promote a product and engage the public. The person's goal is to be able to stare at an image of the Samsung S4 for 60 seconds, without looking away. Your rewards is to receive a free phone of your own. Trouble is there are distraction, such as barking dogs at your feet, animated guitar players, arguing couples, motorcycle crashes, etc.  This is a creative and interactive campaign that involve personal and interactive events so that the product goes viral. It certainly will create a buzz on the new Samsung product and make travelers more likely to stop at the Hauptbahnhof station! I know I will!

I leave for Germany in four days!

Top Ten Hot Spots in Berlin

I am going to be a bit of a tourist in this post and list my top ten attractions in Berlin. I am getting a bit anxious about my trip to Germany because I have so much left to do before I go. This list of Hot Spots should help me make sure I see all the important sites while I am there.

Clockwise: Brangenburg Gate, Reichstag, Berlin Dom, Holocaust Memorial

1. Brandenburger Gate
2. Reichstag 
3. Berlin Dom or Berlin Cathedral 
4. Holocaust Memorial 
5. Grunewald
6. Bauhaus Archives - Museum of Design 
7. Charlottenburg Palace & Gardens
8. Berliner Dom 
9. Potsdamer Platz 
10. Checkpoint Charlie 

This list was a compilation of several tourist websites.

A View on Cities: Berlin Attractions 

TimeOut: Berlin’s Top 10 Sights 

TimeOut: 20 Great Things to do in Berlin 

Every Trail: Berlin Sightseeing 

Although this video does not list my Hot Spots in the same order, we have similar attracts that must be seen in Berlin. I am creating a list of must-sees so that I can check them off as my time there flies by. I leave for Berlin in six days!

"Fast Lane" in Berlin

I wanted to continue with my series on the contemporary public art in Germany’s Hot Spots, as I did with TUM slides in Munich. These fun art installations give culture to otherwise dull structures, such as university buildings or subway stations. In this post, I want to share with you Volkswagen’s Fun Theory. The project is dedicated to making everyone’s life as simple, as easy, and as fun as possible. They want personal, environment-friendly, and entirely different projects that will upgrade our lives. The award entries are truly fascinating and makes me wish I came up with the ideas myself. Most of their installations have been in Stockholm, Sweden with Piano Stairs, Speed Camera Lottery, and Bottle Bank Arcade Machine. All these projects promote good behaviors for the soceity in a creative way that compels you to do it. I love it!

Interview with Hinako from Dusseldorf

Since my trip to Germany is two weeks away, I’ve been in major planning mode. My main destinations are Berlin for the dance workshop, Stuttgart to visit my cousin, Heidelberg to visit my distant family, and Dusseldorf to visit my good friend. I am so grateful to technology for how easy it is to keep in contact through Facebook and Skype with family and friends across an ocean.

Hinako and me at a café in Rome, Italy (August 2012).

I am dedicating this post to my good friend Hinako in Dusseldorf. She and I grew up in New York. Although she was a few years older than me, we spent a lot of time together in school. We were close enough to call each other sisters. She moved to Germany six years ago to continue her career in dance. Unfortunately, time flew and we lost touch. 

TUM slides in Munich

A few months ago, a friend of mine shared this link on Facebook and she commented how she wished her college had an inner building slide to get from class to class.  Only recently did I realize that this installation Hot Spot is located in Germany. These giant four-story slides are in the interior of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In 2002, the Munich-based artists, Johannes Brunner and Raimund Ritz, were inspired to make the slides look like a parabola due to their location in the Math and Computer Science department. The two “Parable” slides allow students to forgo the elevator or stairs and ride a tube from the top to the ground floor. It’s like having an amusement park in your university. Below is a funny video showing you the slides.

2 Cute Cafés in Frankfurt

I want to get back to touring German cities as a local. A good way to scout out the local vibe is to take a break at a coffee shop.  Recently, I’ve started doing my work at a few local coffee shops in Raleigh. I love the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere and don’t forget, it’s a great place to meet new friends.

To find local Hot Spots abroad, I highly recommend the blog Spotted by Locals. This blog lists many major cities in Europe so you can explore the wealth of Arts & Culture, Food, Theater, etc there. There is one blog per city that has a few local authors contributing to it, allowing you to get a well-rounded view of the city.

For this post, I have found two local coffee shops in Frankfurt that I thought seemed super cute. They have coffee, food, and culture all in one. Their actual websites are posted on the link I provide, but they are in German so good luck reading them.

Revisit the Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin

I wanted to revisit a post I did a few weeks ago on Berlin’s Friedrichstadt-Palast. I had updated the Palace’s Wikipedia page because it was missing information on its current events. There have been no changes to my text, but some photos of the current theater have been added.

As I mentioned on the Wiki page and on my blog, the Palace specializes in complex state-of-the-art performances with hundreds of performers and elaborate sets. It certainly would be a different type of performance than one I would see at one of Berlin's three opera houses.

3 Opera Houses in Berlin

While introducing Berlin’s neighborhoods a few posts ago, I mentioned the State Opera house was in the Mitte district. Since then I’ve done more research and found that there are not one, but three opera houses in Berlin. What a delight!

For me, as a dancer and a performing artist, European opera houses are a sea of history. I love to walk into these fabulously decorated architectural gems, stroll on the red carpets, and feel the spirits of famous artists who graced their presence in these houses. I was lucky enough to have seen the Paris Opera Ballet perform La Fille Mal Gardée at the Palais Garnier last summer in Paris. This summer, I plan to relive that memory by visiting Berlin’s opera houses.

Berlin’s three opera houses are the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Komisch Oper Berlin.

BMW in Munich

You can probably guess from the title that this post is about “the ultimate driving machine.” It is no joke when the company brags about their customers creating a special bond with their cars because I have a friend who would have a panic attack if something happened to his precious BMW M3. Although BMW cars are a bit luxurious for my taste, I feel like royalty being a passenger in one.

Bayerische Motoren Werke (translates to “Bavarian Motor Works”) started as a manufacturer of aircraft engines that then transitioned into cars. Below, I share with you the history timeline behind the company.

Rapp engineering his motors.

• 1913: Karl Friedrich Rapp established his own aircraft engines in a former bicycle factory near Munich. Unfortunately, the business didn't do so well.

• 1913: Gustav Otto set up a business building small aircrafts. Otto’s father was the inventor of the four-stroke internal engine.

Neighborhoods in Berlin

Berlin will be my home for the first two weeks in August, so I have started to become familiar with the neighborhoods. I want to be able to find the best local cafés, trendy art galleries, and historic sites. Due to the 40 year division of East and West Berlin, the city’s center today is dispersed into vibrant individual boroughs. I will be dancing and living in the Mitte district, but I plan to explore as much of Berlin as possible. Below I’ve listed three Berlin neighborhoods that strike my fancy (with their respective photos and links).

Reeperbahn District in Hamburg

Reeperbahn Street, Hamburg, Germany

Although I’m not keen on strip clubs or erotic theaters, I still must mention the Reeperbahn District, Hamburg’s most visited Hot Spot. It is Europe’s biggest red light district and is home to the legendary nightlife mile. I seem to be reminded again of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, as I did with Dresden’s International Dixieland Festival. (On the right, I have two comparative photographs of the two cities.) The street transforms at night with bars, restaurants, cabarets and clubs popular for locals and travelers.

You might be wondering where its name came from. In the 18^th century, heavy hempen ropes, that were used for sailing ships, were produced on this very street. So, Reep translates to “heavy rope.”

Heidelberg Castle in Heidelberg

I recently found out that I have distant relatives in Heidelberg, so I have added a destination to my trip. When I started telling my friends I was going there, they told me unanimously to make sure the Heidelberg Castle is on my must-see list, or as I call it, Hot Spot. With an entrance fee of only 3 euros, there is no excuse!

The castle is perched 300 feet above the town, so you can only imagine the breathtaking views. It began construction in 1300 and was at the peak of its glory in the 16^th and 17^th centuries during the Wittelsbach dynasty. Interestingly enough, each building highlights a different period of German architecture. Sadly, the Heidelberg Castle was never completed, but the magnificence of its former glories are reflected in its grandeur . You can stroll the castles interiors, the Otto-Heinrich pharmacy wing, the pleasure gardens and endless scenic trails that help you relax in the solemnity of country life.

There is a humorous legend that circle the castle walls. In 1751, the world’s largest wine barrel, known as the Heidelberg Tun, was constructed to house the wine paid as taxes by wine growers. The court jester who guarded the cask was supposedly a big wine drinker. Legend has it that he died when he mistakenly drank a glass of water.

Below is a short video introducing Heidelberg and its magnificent castle. The views are astounding.

Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin

Berlin’s Hot Spot is Friedrichstadt-Palast. It is Europe’s biggest and most modern show palace with quite an interesting past. It opened in 1867 as Berlin’s first market hall. Then in 1873, it converted into a circus arena. After World War II, the abandoned building reopened, but had to close a few decades late due to the building’s unstable foundations. Finally in 1984, Berlin opened the doors to this spectacular new entertainment venue.

Viktualienmarkt in Munich

The Hot Spot for today’s post is Munich’s Viktualienmarkt, meaning “victual (food or provisions) market.” Located near the Marienplatz Square with the New and Old Town Hall, the bustling outdoor food market is the heart of the city’s old town. With 140 stalls, it truly is a feast for your senses. Each stall is decorated to its liking, such as with garlands of sausages or pyramids of vegetables. You can fill your basket with flowers, Bavarian specialities, exotic fruits, local cheese, fish, and so on. Bargaining has no place in the Munich conduct, so don’t be tempted to haggle with shop owners.