Hello everyone! Sorry about the lack of posts, we are very busy and the internet is quite sketchy here. Anyway, the last two days have been great. Friday, we started with breakfast at the hotel like usual. It’s going to be hard to face Estes breakfasts again after this. We then left for the Jewish museum in Berlin, which had the history of the Jews in Germany from as far back as we can trace, which is several hundred years BC. That was interesting and eye opening, as I got to see the anti-Semitism from not only the Nazi period but also the periods before that. This is part of the reason everyone went along with the anti-Semitism in the Nazi period; they just thought it was another episode like others in the past. No one was able to foresee the events coming soon. Then, we went to the tv tower in the East (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernsehturm_Berlin). This was very cool, as I could look out of the “dictatorship windows” (Dr. Moser Quote) and see all of Berlin. Pictures will come when the internet is acceptable. Then, we went back to the hotel and I left, walked to Zoologischer Garten S-Bahn stop and rode to Hauptbahnhof and picked up Felix! It was so good to see him. I was also quite proud of my navigation of Berlin by myself without my Google Maps. I think that is quite an accomplishment. We then went to the apartment of the friend he was staying with and dropped off his stuff and rode back to Ersnt-Reuter Platz on the U-Bahn, which is a little closer to our hotel. We all then went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, which was very good. I know I have been saying that for every meal, but it is so true. The food here is way better. Each time I visit this continent, I want more and more to live here, and I hope to realize that dream someday.

Next was Saturday. We woke up and had breakfast as usual, and then we went to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, which was an engaging display of Germany from Roman times (the Romans never got to Berlin however) to recent history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Historisches_Museum). I loved this museum! I got to see so many neat things. For example, I got to see the original portrait of Martin Luther (the guy who invented Protestantism and therefore Lutheranism). I have seen that picture so many times in textbooks and I was shocked to see it in real life. Also, a lot of what I saw was written in Latin or a combination of Latin and German, so that kind of messed with my head, as I could pretty much read it but not really. I also got to see Napoleon’s hat that he wore at his defeat at Waterloo. I saw a Nazi uniform and many weapons from WWI and WWII. There were original propaganda posters as well. The museum was excellent, and I would enjoy coming back one day where I could spend the entire day there. We then visited the Berliner Dom, the Protestant cathedral in Berlin. I kept having to remind myself it was Protestant because it was so pretty and Catholic-esque. We then went to a shopping area and I went to the Ampelman Store. The Ampelmann is the cute little crosswalk guy in Berlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelmännchen). My internet isn’t working so I can only hope that link works, but if it doesn’t, just google Ampelmann Berlin. He is actually the East Berlin crosswalk man, but now he is all over Berlin. I fell in love with him and had to buy tons of stuff at the store. It was expensive but definitely worth it. Then we went to the department store to look for European wallets. They are so much smarter than us silly Americans in so many ways. One example is that their wallets have a built in coin purse, and I found a good one for relatively cheap, under 20 euros. Then came my favorite part of the trip so far. Dr. Moser said he was going to the east to see a very old trolley and I went along. Everyone else went back to the hotel on the S-Bahn, but he and I went together to the east. On the way we talked about everything from Randolph Macon to his family and travels. I learned so much about him and it made me even more sure about coming to this school and having him as a teacher and mentor. We arrived out in the east and took lots of pictures of this cute little trolley that still runs and is about a hundred years old. On the way back, we had equally wonderful conversations, and it made me feel really special. Then, we all went to dinner, including Felix, to the only Norwegian restaurant in Germany. It has served the King of Norway! I had elk and special berries that we do not have in North America that were excellent. Like I said, all the food here is exceptional. Felix and I hung out until he had to go back, and it was so great to see him.