Berlin

So it's been several weeks now since we went to Germany... We were there for four days, and saw a lot of stuff. Mostly museums and galleries, so I don't have photos of that, but everything else!

We went on a walking tour of sorts our first night, right after dropping our bags off at the hostel. It was REALLY cold, and unfortunately dark already, so harder to see things, and harder to take good photos. We did see some neat stuff though, like Checkpoint Charlie!

And here is the Brandenburg Gate - very impressive!

Me in my new hat that I made for Germany - I hadn't brought any warm hats, so I had to whip one up out of some wool I bought in Connemara. It was very warm, but unfortunately itchy across the forehead, since it's wool.

A section of the Berlin Wall (sort of). It's marked in the street along where it used to be.

The Reichstag looked pretty neat at night, since the glass dome in the middle was all lit up.

This was a really cool metro station - all glass and air and light.

This is the inside of one of the museums, that used to be an old train station. Exhibits were to the left and right, and one way back down this long gallery area and off to the side.

There was a lot of really neat architecture around the city.

Look at the trees growing out of the balcony!!

We also went to this really strange artists' community. It was in and behind an old vacant building. Behind the building in a courtyard of sorts there were temporary structures, set up mostly as galleries for work.
I really liked these cuties - there was so much really interesting metal sculpture.

Here you can see the back of the big building, where all the squatter artist studios are. The street is through that big archway.

More cool architecture!

I really like these old houses! The one on the right is actually a museum/gallery that a group of us were supposed to go to, only it was unexpectedly closed for renovations. So our prof took us shopping at a fantastic second-hand place instead!! I got some lovely skirts, a really cool hat, and some sewing supplies (more about that later)

I have no idea what this building is. We passed by it after the last museum on Friday, and I thought it looked neat. We were on our way to the Turkish Market, which was an open air market down by the river. It was actually kind of depressing - lots of stalls selling cheap socks, underwear, etc. There were some kitschy things, but the same ones over and over again. The food stalls looked good, but it was mostly produce and supplies, so better if you live in the area. I was very happy about the fabric stalls. There were a lot of really cheap bolts of fabric, so I was able to get some nice green fake-silk for the dress that I'm making.