Berlin, Germany Part 3: Walking Tour + Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

Monday
On Monday morning Caroline, Meghan and I took a 4.5 hour English walking tour around the city. Our guide was Torben, a German-born guy who grew up on Long Island and is now a history student in Berlin. Though we saw a few things we’d already visited on our own, it was nice to get the historical context for everything. It was a great tour and he was a very informative guide.


One of the sites we took some time at was Peter Eisenman’s (architect behind DAAP) Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is an interesting project that I found affecting, though others take issue with (with good reason). Though I think the abstract nature does a good job at alluding to tombs, the feeling of being lost and isolated, and even the idea of the hidden (at the time)breadth and depth of the event, there are people who end up playing Hide and Seek and letting their kids run around on it. This obviously isn’t the most respectful thing in the world, but then again, the metaphor of life rising from death is also powerful.


Some things that are slightly dubious: the Jewish community wasn’t really part of the planning, as the memorial is more of a reminder of everyday Berliners’ compliance in the Holocaust; and there is no real signage to indicate what the memorial is (just some plaques with rules, such as no jumping from the sculptures). However, I think those are issues that Eisenman isn’t really responsible for, so whatever.


Here’s the largest remaining section of the Wall.


Checkpoint Charlie, site of the former entrance to the American-occupied area of the city.


Giftshop and Museum about the wall. Only an “r” away from being an even better photo op.


After the tour we stopped at an Einstein Cafe for an afternoon snack. I had some amazing homemade Apfelstrudel. I don’t even normally go for fruit-based desserts, but this was too good to pass up.


We decided to head to the Reichstag, one of the city’s best-known landmarks, and home to the lower house of their Parliament. Behind that building is the new governmental complex featuring some nice architecture by Stephan Braunfels.


Here’re some pics of the Reichstag, including me on the roof in front of the dome (which was closed due to cleaning).




And a look at the Victory Column in the Tiergarten which we passed at a couple points on our journey (and I passed quite often on my morning runs).


It was nearing late afternoon, so we headed back to the friary briefly before taking off for the main event:

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at Columbiahalle

One of the main reasons for the timing of this trip was to see Dave Matthews during a rare European tour. I think this was the 9th time I’ve seen he and/or the band live, but the first at a general admission concert hall.
It was probably the closest I will ever be to Dave in my life (since the band only plays stadiums and amphitheaters and you have to be in the fan club to even have a shot at decent seats, etc.) and quite a good show.

Unfortunately, the tickets stated point-blank that no photography or video was allowed, so I left my camera at home. Of course, they only patted me down from the waist up so I could have easily taken it (and many other people had theirs). That was the only disappointment of the evening.
(Here’s a tiny pic from the website. I was much closer than this)


The setlist was a good mix of old, new and solo tunes. The last acoustic Dave & Tim (sans band) show I went to was several months before Some Devil released, so it was nice to hear some of those songs as well as “Old Dirt Hill,” one of my favorites from 2005’s Stand Up.

They played for over two and a half hours so we definitely got our money’s worth.
For anyone still reading, here is the setlist:

Bartender
Save Me
Stay Or Leave
Satellite
Crush
Old Dirt Hill
Smooth Rider
Everyday
Lie In Our Graves
Oh
So Damn Lucky
Where Are You Going
Gravedigger
Tim Solo
When The World Ends
Jimi Thing
(Still Water)
Don’t Drink the Water
#41
Crash Into Me
Dancing Nancies
__________________

Some Devil
Sister
Ants Marching
The Maker
Two Step

We returned to the friary exhausted and happy.

Tuesday
Before we departed Berlin on Tuesday afternoon, we went with Fr Hans-Georg to visit the city’s other friary in Pankow. They run an impressive soup kitchen (and free store, housing, etc.) serving 500 meals a day. It was again nice to have the opportunity to connect with other Franciscans and hear about their work as well as share a bit about ours.

It was soon time to catch our flight, so we headed to the airport, ate some Burger King (hooray!), and EasyJetted back to Geneva by late afternoon.

All in all, a wonderful—albeit tiring—trip that I’ll certainly carry with me.