Rain Rain Go Away, Anish Kapoor is Here to Stay (hee-eee-eee-ee)

Ellie:  “Today the jet lag really hit us. We all slept late and were not productive this morning excepting John, who escaped the family to go to a museum about Germany’s last 2,000 years of history.”

John: “The German History Museum was really awesome. They had Roman weapons, a 9^th century statue of Charlemagne, full plate armor exhibited, 17^th century muskets, a copy (in German) of Martin Luther’s theses, authentic Napoleonic War uniforms for all sides, pictures and clothes from the German Empire, equipment from World War 1, propaganda from World War 2, and newspapers from the Cold War. Needless to say, I felt like a kid in a candy store.”

Ellie:  “The rest of us walked about, trying to find a bank that had a “money box” so we could exchange our money. We were successful on our third try.  It started to rain right as we stepped into the Martin Gropius Bau, an art museum hosting an Anish Kapoor (an well renowned artist from India) exhibit. A German lady at our hotel recommended this exhibit as something “fun for kids.” I think that was the most interesting art I have ever seen! I did not know that tubes of wax being shot into a corner is considered art? I guess you learn something every day. 

"When I am Pregnant" by Anish Kapoor.  Interesting as it only showed the bump from the side, when looking straight at it, the bump disappears.  Very cool!

"Shooting Into a Corner" by Anish Kapoor.  The art here was a tube of wax loaded into a cannon and shot into the corner of this room.  Hearing protection was required!

The reflection of Ellie, me and Leah in a hexagonal mirror.  This has a title too, just can't remember it.

Leah & Ellie window shopping in Berlin.  The traditional German Dirndl (dress).  Ellie promised she would wear it to school and church if we buy her one.

Ellie:        “Next we went to Rittersport Schokoladewelt, or Rittersport Chocolate World. We were thinking about creating our own chocolate bar (that looked pretty cool) but there was a huge line so we just bought some yogurt chocolate (the best!) and went on our merry little way. We tried to visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, but it was being renovated and we could only see the very top of one of the steeples.

Last, we got to experience German shopping- where we soon learned that they all apparently have skinny frames (needless to say, John’s broader, more masculine physique couldn’t fit into the skinny jeans). Mom needed a heating pad, as her American one short-circuited the first day she tried plugging it into the adapter.  Apparently the 110v to 220v is not always straight forward, as some devices can only handle 110 volts, so they are very unhappy when you plug them into 220v outlets.  We learned quickly that we need both adapters AND converters.  Uncle Jared is going to help us with that need when we arrive at his home.  So we went to several “apothekes” but to no avail. She wondered if Germans do not have aches and pains? She then went on a wild adventure across Berlin, and ended up getting to the correct store at 6:29pm, one minute before closing time. Luckily it all worked out in the end. We enjoyed food from La Piazza in the comforts of our own (rented) apartment.”