Today was my first day alone in the city! Mrs. Thiermeier had some other errands to run, so I decided to go out on my own. We had a pretty late breakfast – didn’t finish till noon…and then I left probably by about 1:30 or so. I walked from my apartment up to Nollendorfer Platz and then took the U-Bahn (the subway, although ironically it runs above ground for the route I was taking today) to Potsdamer Platz.
I walked around Potsdamer Platz for a while. It was incredibly crowded (it was lunch time, which figures), but there were some neat things to see. Interestingly, American style malls are catching on in germany, and there was one there at Potsdamer Platz. There are a few differences though – the design is much cooler than most malls I have been in (the entire ceiling and most walls are purely glass), and the store choices are different. In most US malls, you have to go elsewhere if you want to buy groceries – here they had a Kaiser’s Supermarkt within the mall itself. Also, the food court idea isn’t really done – most places to get food have their own small seating areas, instead of general public seats for any restaurant.
I got lunch quickly while I was there – a good sized piece of fresh bread with some veggies and coldcuts, all for 2 euros! Food is so cheap here! I stopped at the suermarkt and got a drink as well.
After that I headed over in the direction of the Berlin Philharmonic building. I wasn’t going to that building in particular, but rather to the Music Instrument Museum that is located right next to it. Inside they have a rather impressive collection of classical instruments, dating from the early baroque to modern synthesizers. Included in which was a Stradivarius violin (Cremona, 1703):
Now I would consider myself pretty well versed in what instruments are out there in the classical world, but there were some here that I had never heard of before! There was a type of harpsichord that used the damper system of a piano (unheard of in harpsichord making technique), a double piano (it had two keyboards!), and several other instruments that looked utterly bizarre (one of which is included below - and by bizarre, I mean I have no idea how to play them).
Overall, I was really impressed with the museum, the only annoying thing was that I couldn’t touch a single instrument! It was very hard to resist the urge to play a few notes, but I held back. The pics I took will have to suffice for now.
When I was done at the museum, I headed back to the apartment, practiced piano for a while, and went for a run soon after. After I got cleaned up, I headed upstairs to the Thiermeiers for dinner. Nina had a few friends over, so we hung out for a while. They headed out later on, and I watched tv for a bit before heading to bed.
When I was done at the museum, I headed back to the apartment, practiced piano for a while, and went for a run soon after. After I got cleaned up, I headed upstairs to the Thiermeiers for dinner. Nina had a few friends over, so we hung out for a while. They headed out later on, and I watched tv for a bit before heading to bed.
