Teufelsberg, and Wannsee - Closing an Insane Week.

Okay, so I'm typing this up quickly before I turn in for the night because I've had an excellent day and I want to document it.

First things first, today, I got to pet a cat for the first time in months and it was incredible.

Additionally, I went to Teufelsberg, which is German for Devil's Mountain. Located in the forest of Grundewald, It's a mountain created from rubble from Berlin following World War II. As one of the highest points in the city, during the division of the country, the United States constructed a listening station to help eavesdrop in on the Soviets to find out information about troop movements and other important details. Nowadays, the station is in between states, as it is owned by a private investor who cannot do anything with it due to city rules and regulations. So, it sits in a state of disrepair, decay, and spray paint.

Tours are regularly offered and so I accompanied a friend and his host parents on one. Our guide was an American who had previously worked there when the listening post was operational and the entire tour was fascinating. Almost all of the station is covered in graffiti and street art, and while we were there, a group was working on a project, filming, painting and playing loud music that filled the derelict buildings. The course of the tour took us through the main building, and up to the top of the highest radome, where the view was stunning and the aesthetics (meaning: graffiti) were awesome.

The entire place has this wild and free feel to it, something that is very different compared to what it probably felt like more than twenty years ago when it was highly restricted and controlled. Nowadays, street artists and 'free spirits' have taken over, making it an entirely new world. I'm not really giving my visit any justice, but it was pretty hard to describe what it was like there.

Afterwards, I went to the homestay of my friend, and had dinner with him and his host family. They're an incredibly fascinating couple, having lived through the last sixty or more years of German history. Each one had stories about life in divided Berlin, and those, complimented with a delicious dinner, made an excellent afternoon. Afterwards, my friend and I walked along the lake at Wannsee, near where they live, and then returned for cake, after which I headed home.

I took a regional train back to Berlin, and before I switched to the U-Bahn at Alexanderplatz, I took a small stroll around the base of the TV tower, and saw a beautiful dusk stretched out before me. Then, I headed home where I completed homework and did laundry.

Yesterday, I met up with another visiting friend, and between taking the wrong train and helping clueless but funny Brits, we visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the accompanying Information Center (very good, highly recommend it), the Brandenburg Gate, and East Side Gallery. We also had a lovely lunch at Alexanderplatz, where I managed to communicate mostly in German with our waiter, which made me very happy. That evening, I attended a dance performance produced by Meg Stuart with my host brother which was interesting. I enjoyed it mainly because I was able to get to know him even more through our conversations while on the U-Bahn.

Between having three friends visit, painting the East Side Gallery, attending classes, exploring Kreuzberg and Charlottenburg, and visiting Teufelsberg, it's been an insane week that has only confirmed even more something that I've known for a while. Berlin is a city like no other. It's 'sexy but poor' but has an aura all of its own. The people, the cultures, the building, the history, everything contributes to what makes Berlin, Berlin, and even then, you can not fully identify what causes it to feel so special. I picked the right city to study abroad in.

Life is good. Time me to sleep. Gute Nacht.