Yes, we are back from our five-week adventure in New York, Prague and Berlin . . . and it is wonderful to be home and into some, sort of, kind of, semblance of a routine again. But the experiences, the art and architecture, and the spirit of each place will still live on for a while. And we can’t settle in tooo quickly . . . because in 3 weeks’ time it’s back to the wilds again! Kruger and Mapungubwe, here we come. Talk about contrasts. In the meanwhile, I can’t leave Berlin behind too quickly because … well … it was only 6 days ago, and it’s still rolling around in my mind. So, with contrasts in mind, here are some images from Berlin in black and white.
At left is, of course, Berlin’s outdoor Holocaust Memorial, but interestingly enough, Berliners have had the courage to face their past … they’ve bluntly called it “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe”. It’s a well visited site. At right is a statue, discovered at the entrance to an underground metro, that appears to fit aptly with the theme. It remembers one Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake as a heretic in Rome in 1600. His words are engraved in a plaque nearby:
“It seems to me ridiculous to say that nothing exists beyond the sky. There is no single world, no single earth, no single sun: there are many worlds …”
Staying with madness, here’s a bit of black-and-white psychedelia for you.
A historical, stern-looking face glowering over the streetscape versus a hip, modern, laptop-wielding urbanite painted on one of the Berlin wall panels.
An assemblage outside the painted wall of a very alternative hotel in grunge-arty East Berlin.
Artful crazy paving somewhere along the walkways of the Spree River.
Reflections on a modern façade at the entrance to the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz which, when the Berlin Wall once ran right through it, was an utter wasteland. Today it’s a centre for movies, theatre and contemporary architecture.
And that is Berlin wrapped up!