UF in Berlin 2005

Two days ago...

051505_holocaustmemorial_1, originally uploaded by morgpet.

Update time... I finally found cheap wireless internet!! YAY!! 2 euros for unlimited time!! In a bike store called "FAT TIRE".

So two days ago... May 15, 2005... We took an English walking tour of Berlin that lasted about 4 -5 hours! But it was awesome. We walked everywhere and saw so many things. The picture above is of course the new holocaust memorial that is the controversy at the moment and as we learned, more so while it was being built. First of all, it's no where near where any holocaust victims ever suffered, it fact it's positioned directly over an old bomb bunker for a Germany official (I forget his name). But yeah they rediscovered the bunker during the construction. Not only these facts, but also the funding made many people unhappy. The government basically lowered the budget of all other holocaust memorials that are on actually victim sites to fund this memorial that is located in "downtown" site seeing area. So pish posh it's been getting mixed reviews. You certainly could get lost in it though, we almost lost two of our photographers! We were about to leave without them when Andy spotted them across the courtyard with cameras in hand. We didn't have time to go through the museum that is underground right there, but the line was very long and I'll be going back before I leave Berlin.

After our extremely long walking tour that started out rainy (but became pleasant after only 30 mins) we met John MacDougall, an AFP photographer/photo editor. He didn't have too much to advise us on, just to live and learn. But he did provide contacts for some of us for our stories. What we most enjoyed hearing from him was how he felt just as unsure of his future when he was our age as we do now.

posted by Morgan @ 8:48 AM