Monday we had a good day in Utrecht, did some shopping and tried some local food and lived as the locals do, sitting and drinking coffee by the canal.
Tuesday we headed to Den Haag (The Hague) to visit the ICC, the International Criminal Court, where we sat through part of two hearings relating to war crimes committed in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was fascinating. We're observing from a very sterile little watching gallery, looking through big glass windows at the teams of lawyers, at least 10 or 12 on each side, and the panel of judges and high priestesses and gods staring back at us. There were security guards pacing around - I got in trouble for having water, Jes got in trouble for falling asleep, you weren't allowed to read unless you were taking notes, no photos, no talking, no smoking, no dancing, no fun stuff. The prosecutor was this Snape look-alike, all long dark robes and greasy curtained hair framing his face. He spoke with an American accent - learned, he was German maybe? Or Dutch? - but in this arrogant and patronising tone where he's just slice the defence team in half with a one-liner, and then the defence would retaliate really politely and reasonably. I was instantly on their side, I think because they appeared to be the underdog, and the team included this dumpy little man and a nice-looking lady with a lovely accent. They were so softly spoken but smart and clearly persecuted at high school, so I was immediately friends with them. Snape was just a meany - Jes was on his side, she kept yelling "Go Snape!"
I ditched Jes in the afternoon and went into Den Haag proper to the Mauritshuis, to see Girl With A Pearl Earring - the painting, not the film. It was in this beautiful little gallery (the Mauritshuis) which is actually an old house. I was expecting her to be all under lock and key Mona-Lisa-styles with security and whatnot, but she was just... there. Hanging in this little room, a few people wandering around and looking at her, it was so not a big deal, which was nice - no throngs to battle. You couldn't take photos, but she was totally captivating. Her face is full of little cracks, but her skin is so alive and glowing... whatever. Really cool. And weird to see it in real life, when the phrase "Girl with a Pearl" has been thrown around my house for years, Mum having taught the text (the book, this time) to her students for a while now.
And then that was it for Utrecht, and the Netherlands!
That's me and Ding Ding, Maud's housemate Jiva's cat, having a bit of a snuggle on our last night. He was 13, skinny as a rake, and roared like a little lion. He was so old and cranky, it was great, but he loved cuddles and kisses and sitting on laps and chests and faces. We miss him heaps.
We got the train to Berlin - about six hours or so - which was mostly uncomfortable, but ok. We slept a bit, listened to Wicked a bit. Getting the train is kinda great, because there's no getting out to the airport and then getting back in again at the other end - you just arrive in the centre of Berlin! Unreal.
Right now we're sitting in the bar of our Berlin hostel - The Heart of Gold - with our American buddy Kelsey, eating late breakfast and chatting and planning our day.
Yesterday we did a walking tour of Berlin, hitting a whole bunch of places - Checkpoint Charlie, parts of the Wall, the Brandenberg Gate, Hitler's bunker, a whole bunch of stuff. It was so tight.
That's me and one of the last little bits of the Berlin Wall that is still standing.
It was like a 3.5 hour walking tour, with this American guide called Jessy. She was really into Berlin's history and stuff, so it was great to have all her little sidenotes and things to latch on to. It seems like Berlin is a lot about it's history - about accepting it or denying it, reconciling with it, moving on from it while still trying to remember it. For example, Hitler's bunker - it's a carpark now, just a normal everyday carpark with grass and puddles and gravel and concrete. There's one small sign saying that this is the site where he killed himself, but you can't go visit down there, it's all filled in. If you were walking through, you'd have no idea it was there. It's kind of this interesting thing where it's not really being 'presented' for the public, because that would be weird I guess, but it's not hidden either. Having someone help talk and walk usthrough the whole thing was really ace. We're thinking of doing another walking tour later in the week, either a 'cold war' themed one, or one out to one of the concentration camps. I was skeptical that it would be lame, but it was ace. Better than wandering around aimlessly trying desperately not to look like or behave like a tourist.
That's Hitler's bunker. Not the bunker itself, but underneath the carpark. It's not special at all, is it? As in, it hasn't been made special by anyone. It's just a bit of ground.
Me and Jes in front of the Brandenberg Gate. It's pretty big.
The photos above are so tight. Ok. The mural was put up way back when (here comes a history lesson...) as like a Communist morale-booster. Look how happy everyone is! All working together! Scientists and families and workers, all in together, it's all amazing and everyone is smiling and happy happy and wow, how great is this. Obviously it wasn't so great, and the people began to protest and demonstrate and march. This freaked out the powers that be, and one day they shot them all. The photo, on the ground in front of the mural, has been placed there to mirror the mural, but the picture is of people at that march. It's the same dimensions, and so when you stand there it's this really interesting image of what the hope and plan was - happy faces and smiling children - and the reality. Apparently the mural is one of the last tokens or images of Communism that still exist around the city. Most of it's gone, removed, destroyed.
The photos above are of the Jewish Memorial in the centre of Berlin, which I think is called something like "A Memorial to all the Jews who were killed in the Holocaust". There was all this controversy, apparently, about it being Jewish-specific, but since then a number of other memorials have gone up around the place for gays, writers, intellectuals (same things??) and gypsies etc. It's really cool, the memorial. The ground is all uneven a-la Fed Square in Melbourne, and it's basically a massive site with, I think, 2311 'blocks', the meaning of which isn't really known. The guy that designed the whole thing was deliberately vague about it, and there's no sign or anything saying 'Welcome to the memorial!' or 'This is what it's about', it's just there. You can wander in and around them, and they get taller and shorter and you can literally get a bit lost. I guess it looks a lot like a graveyard - the blocks are about the size of a grave, maybe - and I think someone said the artist did say he got inspiration from a Jewish cemetary in Prague.
The morning started out so pretty and beautiful. We sat in a park and ate raspberries and grapes and drank water and lay in the sun. It was great. Here is us enjoying the amazing weather:
Mid-way through the tour, we noticed the massive grey clouds rolling over the city. It was dark dark dark, and then the wind picked up, and then the rain came. We got so so so wet. The photo isn't so great, it doesn't really do the wetness justice, but anyway:
We were frozen. But then the sun came out again, of course, and everyone was happy. Crazy Germans and their crazy weather.
We ended the day with noodles and beers, which were super cheap - we paid 4.50 euro each, and the beers were enormous, look:
The noodles were good too, the chicken a little suspect - we're not convinced it actually WAS chicken, and my tummy has been feeling a little interesting since, not in a very bad way, but it's been gurgling a lot. I think it's not used to Asian food, either, cos we haven't had noodles and stuff for a while.
More photos:
They have these bears all over the city, painted bears, everywhere. They have ones for certain countries, too. Here's Australia's:
And here's a random one on the street. Kelsey and Jes climbed it, so I thought I'd give it a hug.
Hope you're all well. Tomorrow is 2 weeks til I get home.
xd
PS. We had a crazy plastic bag-scrunching girl in our dorm, there's a big story there but I'll save it for next time. And then there's the Norwegian girls with the 4am-lights-on fetish. But I saw one of their nipples so it's ok.
PPS. All the photos I post here and plenty plenty more are going up on my flickr account, and you can look at them all here!
1 comment:
ohmygodijustsawthebenkwellerphoto!
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