Part 72: Yellow Buses and Dancing Houses May 1-2, 2013

Prague is one of those places everyone tells you you should go.  Unfortunately, Prague is not a main air destination and neither is Sofia.  That makes plane tickets between the two very expensive.  However, after a little search, I bought a cheap plane ticket to Vienna and a bus ticket to Prague. 

After tearing up a little bit at the “Four Paws” display in the Sofia Airport (sad animal stories always get me), I made it to Vienna and made my way to the hostel that was the nearest to the bus station as I could manage while still staying within my requirements for safety and cleanliness. 

After breakfast the next morning, I set off in the rain to find the place along the road where the “big yellow bus” would pick me up.  The website made it sound really obvious and I found the correct street, but the sign for the bus stop was tiny and on the opposite side of the street, so I completely missed it, walked about 2 blocks too far, looked back, saw that the big yellow bus had arrived, and hauled myself back to it. 

Once aboard, I was off to the Czech Republic.  I like taking buses and trains sometimes.  Although they are not as fast, you pass through towns and countryside that you normally wouldn’t get to see.  I got to Prague and proceeded to follow the instructions to my hostel.  Unfortunately, the hostel did not update said instructions to account for a lot of road construction in the area.  The tram that normally goes right by no longer did.  So, after trying the tram a couple of times (I thought maybe I just got the direction wrong), I just found the right cross street and walked.  Luckily, it wasn’t that far anyway.

After dropping off my stuff, I headed out to see the sites.  I took tram 22, which would become my most frequented tram, and just chose a place that looked interesting to hop off.  I walked down the streets past beautiful buildings and through nice courtyards until I reached the Charles University Botanical Gardens.  I just wandered through a gate in the wall and looked around a bit.  It was only May, so they weren’t in full bloom yet, but there were still a lot of pretty spring flowers. 

 

I continued winding my way through the New Town down to the Dancing House.   This building is shaped like a man and a woman dancing, so some call it “Fred and Ginger.”  Apparently its official name is the Raisin Building.  Apparently some official names are dumb. 

From there I walked down the river towards the castle admiring buildings, swans, and the national theatre before crossing the Vltava River.  I walked through a part with giant faceless baby sculptures and some sort of maritime structure with penguins on top.  I was on my way to the Lennon Wall and after turning through many old streets (a couple more than once), I arrived. 

The Lennon Wall has been filled with John Lennon inspired graffiti.   It originated after Lennon's murder and evolved into a way to complain and rebel against the Communist regime in the 1980’s.  The government was not amused and called the artists “agents of Western capitalism,” which of course, was the lowest of the low behind the Iron Curtain.  Most of the original graffiti is covered with new graffiti, some of it in line with the John Lennon/Beatles theme and some of it is of Spider Man, but it was a quick stop, it was free, and the history is interesting.   

I meandered back across the river and took some pictures of the Dancing House and the castle lit up at night.  I found out that the Old Town Bridge Tower was still open.  The tower was completed in 1380 as part of Prague’s fortification system.  138 stairs later, I was on the outside of the roof taking in a great view of Charles Bridge and several of Prague’s other towers and churches.  On my way back down, I passed a creepy sculpture at the top of the stairs that I hadn’t even noticed on the way up and stopped to take in a room with an impressive beamed ceiling lined with old coats of arms.  After exiting the tower, I was done for the day and hopped back on the tram to my hostel. 

Part 71: Red Sea Snorkeling and Bazaar Shopping April 5-6, 2013

Hurghada is an interesting town.  Apparently it is a very popular vacation spot for Russians- important enough for all the signs to Arabic, English, and Russian.  After completing the long check-in process, we got to our rooms where we frantically showered and got dressed for dinner.  We ate on a covered deck right by the sea.  It was our last night as a group, so we stayed up a long time, eating, dancing, attempting S’s poi balls, and talking to a very drunk Russian.

The next morning we boarded the Prince Mosleh and cruised out to snorkel in the Red Sea.  Every place we’d been in Egypt prior to this day was hot.  However, the day we were spending in the water was windy.  Very windy.  The wind made it a little chilly but the water was incredibly blue, as was the sky, and I was getting in regardless of the temperature. 

As we were cruising out to a reef, I could see little jelly fish in the water below.  I currently have a 60% sting rate for salt water body jelly fish stings.  I really started to worry once I saw those little guys floating along.  However, once we reached the reef, they seemed to be gone and we all jump in for a tour.  I saw parrot fish (which eat coral and poop sand) and angel fish and even clown fish.  It was really nice. 

We also jumped off the top deck and attempted to get pictures of us jumping off in sync.  J finally succeeded in making a time lapse photo series of all of us plunging into the water.  I then tried to get dry and warm(er) and we all ate lunch.  We visited one other snorkel site before heading back in. 

Then it was back on the bus to Cairo.  As we followed the coastline north, we saw Sinai in the distance, including a mountain sharing the name, if not the exact location, of the mountain Moses climbed.   We debriefed and said goodbye to those with early flights.  Those of us who did not need to sleep early stayed up and talked before another round of goodbyes.

Several of us had an afternoon flight, so we asked S where we could go shopping.  He recommended Khan el-Khalili Bazaar.  The next morning the hotel called us 2 cabs and after briefly commenting on their extremely sketchy un-cablike appearance, we were quoted a reasonable fare, so we got in and hoped we ended up in the right place.  The jalopy I rode in pulled up to the bazaar with the other car right behind us.  After surviving that adventure we began to shop.  I bought some embroidered tunics and several scarves (some were gifts, I swear!).

 After making it through the bazaar we needed to head back to catch the airport shuttle.  However, first we had to catch a cab.  That was a little nerve racking since we couldn’t call one and we were on our own.  We stood on the corner and flagged a decidedly more cab-like cab down, asked the price to get back to our hotel, and piled in.  We made it back with no problems.

We all boarded the airport bus and weaved our way through Cairo traffic for the last time.  It turned out that R from Australia, the first fellow Contikian I met upon arrival was on the same flight as me to Vienna.  We were seated together right across the aisle from a horrible child that cried and through temper tantrums for the entire 6 hours.  This child also refused to sit down when we were about to land and instead of making her (I mean really, she was like 3), once the flight attendants made their final check, her mom just let her stand back up.  She was standing on the floor when the plane landed.  Parenting fail. 

I said “goodbye” to R and proceeded up the stairs to catch my flight back to Sofia. By that time, I’d spent so much time in the Vienna airport, I barely had to look at the signs to know where I was going.  I successfully made it back to Sofia and had serious trip hang-over for about the next month.  It was probably the best trip I’ve ever been on.  The people were great, the sites were great, and the experience was once in a lifetime.  I’m so glad I got to go and I sincerely hope that Egypt stabilizes soon so others can have the same opportunities and the all the people who work in the tourist industry get their livelihoods back. 

Part 70: King Tut, Tomb Traps, and…. More Temples April 4, 2013

The next morning, there was a dust-tinge mist floating around as we wound our way through the mountains to the Valley of the Kings.  We stepped into the visitors’ center which had a very cool replica that was clear so you could see all the tombs through and underneath the mountains.  (top picture here) One place just had steps that went down and down and down.  Apparently, archeologists still haven’t found the bottom, which is kind of cool.

We then got on the standard golf cart tram that took us down the road to the valley entrance.  The Valley of the Kings was used to bury Egyptian royalty for over 500 years.  The tombs are amazing.  They are carved everywhere, just like the temples, but since they are protected from the weather, the brilliant paint is still present on the walls and it is amazing.  It was probably my favorite stop on the trip just because the tombs are like stepping through a warp hole back in time thousands of years.  Some of the paintings are so well preserved that they look like they were painted yesterday. 

Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in the Valley, but here is a panoramic view of it and here is one of the inside of Ramesses IX, which we got to go through (I think.  It looks familiar.  I didn’t take notes on exactly which ones we visited).   I’m also pretty sure I remember hauling myself up this giant walkway found in the tomb of Taousertet and Sethnakht, and if this wasn’t the one, it was an equally steep and long climb.  We were all feelin’ the burn. 

Interesting facts I remember (since I’ve taken far too long to write this post, most of the details are gone from my brain):  Ramesses IX’s tomb, like nearly every tomb in the Valley, was robbed in antiquity, so there is no gold or jewels inside.  However, it also means there is Coptic and Roman graffiti on the walls.  One was a picture of 2 priests. 

Some of the tombs actually did have traps.  Nothing like what’s seen in Indiana Jones or The Mummy, but traps nonetheless.  Basically, the entrances are loooong and some are incredibly steep.  On the steep entrance about half way down will be a pit cut into the rock.  So, the grave robbers enter, start to slide down the ramp and end up starving to death in a hole. 

The ancient Egyptians didn’t map out where everyone was buried and the entrances to tombs were hidden to try (unsuccessfully) to prevent robberies.  Therefore, when the new pharaoh started excavating his final resting place, the workers would sometimes run into someone else’s tomb.  Basically, they would say, “whoopsy,” fill in the hole, and change tunnel direction.  This haphazard digging and zero planning is what kept King Tut’s tomb hidden so well. 

King Tutankhamun’s tomb is world famous because it was found in tact.   It was not robbed because the tomb of Ramesses XI was basically built on top of it.  I paid the extra 10 Egyptian pounds to go into King Tut’s tomb, because “when in Rome,” as they say.  Plus, King Tut’s tomb is being permanently closed to the public this year because they are having trouble controlling the climate inside with visitor’s going in and out.  The plaster is basically falling off the walls.  My Contiki group was one of the last to get the chance to see the inside. 

King Tut’s tomb isn’t very impressive compared to the other tombs we saw.  It is small and less well preserved.  The walls are covered in plaster and painted rather than carved and it is only 2 rooms with a short entrance hall.  However, I got to see King Tut himself.   He was a tiny person.  Also, having seen the amount of treasure that came out of that tomb at the Egyptian Museum, I was amazed.  That tiny tomb must have been packed from floor to ceiling. 

After finishing up at the Valley of the Kings, we were back on the bus and off to the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.  This temple is pretty amazing and very different from all the temples we’d seen previously on the trip, and we’d seen a lot of temples.  The temple was built between 1478 and 1458 B.C.  It is very near the Valley of the Kings and there are even tombs in the surrounding cliffs.  On the way in, you pass two little frankincense tree stumps.  These were brought by the queen from Punt, an ancient land along the Red Sea, although historians still aren’t sure of its exact location. 

After leaving Hatshepsut’s Temple, we stopped briefly at the The Colossi of Memnon.  They are basically two giant statues of Amenhotep III that have been at their current location for 3400 years.  They aren’t really that exciting.  They used to stand at the entrance to Amenhotep’s temple, but that temple was on a floodplain (poor choice) and is now pretty much washed away.

Our last temple was Karnak, the granddaddy of them all.  Karnak is about 1.5 miles away from Luxor and was once fully connected by the Avenue of the Sphinxes.  It was added onto for two thousand years.   As you can imagine, that gave it plenty of time to grow to an enormous size.  My favorite part was the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re.  In this area there are 134 columns between 10 and 21 meters tall in 16 rows. 

Our last stop for the day was an art gallery that makes its own papyrus in the traditional manner.  We watched a demonstration on how it is grown, cut, soaked, and woven into paper.  Then we got to look at paintings done on papyrus.  Most were recreations of scenes from ancient temples or tombs.  I, of course, loved the bright colored mostly blue painting of Cairo that was 500 US dollars.  I talked them down to $300 and bought it.  I really perfected my haggling skills on this trip.  I hate it.  I much prefer just paying the price on the sticker, but if I have to do it, you better believe I’m not over paying.  The excessive amount of scarves I brought home on this trip attests to that. 

That evening we boarded the bus and drove through the desert to Hurghada on the Red Sea coast.

Part 69: Sleepy Tiki goes to a Temple April 3, 2013

The next morning we were put (with our real or pretend husbands, depending on the situation) into a horse and buggy to go to Edfu temple.  Edfu was built around 240 BC and is one of the best surviving temples.  It is missing very few pieces and is dedicated to the very popular god, Horus. 

Around the outside of the main part of the temple, the story of Horus and Seth is displayed.   Seth kills and dismembers Osiris and his wife, Isis, pieces him back together and brings him back to life long enough to get pregnant with Horus.  Seth kills Osiris again and Horus goes out for revenge.  The myth has some weird sections including Isis tracking down body parts and making a golden phallus for her dead husband.  For the full myth, click here.  Several of the temple’s reliefs were scratched out by Christians who used the temple as a church and wanted to get rid of the pagan images, but most of the pictures were still intact.

That afternoon we just sailed down the river.  We even got to go through a lock, which the nerd in me loved.  I grew up just upriver from lock and dam #19 on the Mississippi but I’d never gotten to go through a lock and I was having a physics moment. 

While we were on the boat, smaller boats would come up and rope onto ours and the men in the boats would yell up and try to sell you things (mostly towels).  If you wanted to buy it, they would toss it up to the top deck and you would toss your money down.  I didn’t buy anything and I mostly avoided the edge to avoid cat calls anyway. 

That evening we docked in Luxor and visited the temple.  The temple complex is huge.   We first ambled down the Avenue of Sphinxes.  This road, which connected the Luxor and Karnak temples was originally 1.5 miles long and had 1,350 sphinxes.  About 50% of the sphinxes have been uncovered.  SA, our guide, told us that there was a family that had one in their basement because they dug out the basement after the house was built, discovered it, and just kept it in there. 

After that, we passed the 80 foot statues of Ramses II and entered the giant temple complex.  There is currently one giant obelisk in the front.  There used to be two but the second is in Paris.  Inside the gates, on top of the pharaoh’s chapel sits the mosque of Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj.  The mosque was built in honor of a 13 century Sufi Shaykh when the Luxor temple was buried over 40 feet under the sand.  When the temple was excavated in the early 1800’s, the mosque was incorporated into the site. 

The temple has many courtyards with huge columns.  We also saw the goddess of education in a leopard print dress that didn’t come all the way up (let’s just say, it was not school appropriate).   The temple has many sections in many styles since it was constructed and expanded upon for so long.  One part even had a Roman painting. 

That evening, you could see the sun set over the mountains that hold the Valley of the Kings, our destination for tomorrow. 

Part 68: Wakey, Wakey, Contiki! April 2, 2013

The next morning we were off to the Aswan airport to catch our flight to Abu Simbel, two amazing temples carved from stone.  It was weird to fly there, but apparently it’s a long trip by bus and it is decidedly less safe.  So, we flew into the Abu Simbel airport and got on a bus to the temples.

The two temples were built by Ramses II.  One was built to honor his wife, Nefertari, and the larger one was built in honor of Ramses and to intimidate Egypt’s neighbors.  The temples are extremely impressive.  After hearing a brief history of the site and how the temples were moved piece by piece up the hill so they wouldn’t be flooded when the new dam was built, we were allowed to explore.

I went to the smaller temple of Nefertari first.  The statues outside are over 30 feet tall and are of the king and queen.  Apparently this is the only time in Egyptian art where the queen is shown at equal height to the king.  The inside is covered with carvings and hieroglyphs.  Pictures of the queen, the king, and the gods cover every available surface.  They used to be painted, but now the paint is only visible in some areas. 

The large temple of Ramses is impressive.  The statues of Ramses out front are over 60 feet tall, the sun god sits over the door, and some knee-height queen statues.  Inside there are huge columns and on October 22 and February 22 the sun shines into the temple and perfectly illuminates the sculptures along the back wall.  Again, the inside is covered in pictures of Ramses, other gods, and hieroglyphs. 

Pictures are not allowed inside the temples (even though some members of my group did manage to sneak a few).  The temples were very impressive.   Their immense size alone and the fact that they were constructed over 3,000 years ago makes visiting them a little surreal.  It was one of my favorite destinations of the trip. 

After our visit, we flew back to Aswan and enjoyed our juice boxes on the plane.  The rest of the afternoon was spent on the boat, cruising down the Nile.  I was, as usual, the most fully clothed person on the pool deck with my cover up, hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen (hey, this skin does not do well with UV exposure) and I managed to grade a few papers from my chair under the canopy.  We sailed all afternoon until we docked to visit Kom Ombo, the crocodile temple. 

Kom Ombo was started between 100-200 BC and it is a double temple.  Half the temple is dedicated to the Horus, the falcon god that everyone loved.  The other half is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god that was decidedly less popular.  They paired him up with Horus so that people would still worship him. 

The temple had several interesting carvings including the name of Cleopatra, scenes depicting the surgical instruments and other medical practices of ancient Egypt, and a full calendar.  We also saw the crocodile trap (it looks like a giant well with a staircase for the priests to go down- talk about drawing the short straw) and some of the over 300 crocodile mummies found at the site. 

That night after dinner, we had our costume party.  The girls dressed as belly-dancers (though I didn’t really go all out for this) and the guys dressed in their shirt dresses.  We danced and then went up to the top deck where SY tried to teach me how to spin the Poi balls (light-up balls on strings that are like safe practice for fire twirlers).  Mostly I hit myself in the head but he insists I was a natural. 

I am a late night light weight, so I went down and went to sleep while several others stayed up really, really late.  I also further confirmed that someone could easily come into my house and rob me blind or kill me unawares.  K’s and my room was closest to the pool deck so people were apparently coming down to use our bathroom all night.  I heard no one.  At all.  This is also why I should probably get a weather radio that sounds a really loud alarm when tornado warnings occur because I’m obviously not going to hear the sirens outside. 

Part 67: We’re on a Boat! April 1, 2013

After leaving the train station we were transported to our living quarters for the rest of the trip:  a boat.  A really nice boat (I wasn’t expecting it to be so swanky) on the Nile. 

Having grown up on the Mississippi River, I am usually disappointed by most rivers.  Most of them are tiny little things that I would usually classify as a stream.  The Nile, however, held its own.  It is also surprisingly clear, but more on that later. 

After showering, napping, and eating (the food on this boat was amazing!), we went for a ride in a felucca, the traditional type of sailing ship used on the Nile.  It was hot that day, but in the shade it was bearable.   We floated past several ruins (they are just sort of everywhere) while SA explained what they were and answered my questions about hippos and crocodiles (apparently, they don’t live in that section, sigh).  We were then given the option of swimming.  The water was soooo cold, but clean enough that you can see your toes with ease.  Some of us even jumped off a giant rock. 

On our way back in we got a tow, since the wind was not cooperating.  We also had a Nubian villager come aboard to sell us jewelry made by the villagers.  I bought a blue necklace made of shells. 

Once we were back on land, we were taken to visit a perfume maker’s shop.  We saw how they extracted the oils out of flowers and papyrus and all sorts of other things.  We were then given a lesson in smelling these and how they mix them to create different perfumes.  I ended up buying small bottle of papyrus extract.

Our last stop of the day was the local bazaar.  Most of us bought some sort of costume for our dress-up night.  I only bought a scarf with jingles on it because I really didn’t want to buy a whole belly-dancer costume that I would have to pack home to Bulgaria and then home to the US.  The bazaar was, as usual, filled with aggressive salesmen that I tried very hard to avoid.  I didn’t buy anything but I enjoyed looking around.  

That night on the boat, they had a belly dancer who naturally pulled some of us onto the floor to give us “lessons.”  I went up with SS from my tour group.  We tried to shimmy and shake, but I don’t think we were all that successful.  After the belly dancer left we got to watch a whirling dervish which was pretty impressive, but gets boring after a while since you’re literally just watching a man spin in circles.

That night we went to bed early since we had to leave at 6 am for our trip to Abu Simbel. 

Part 66: Even Toed Ungulates Galore March 30-31, 2013

On March 30 I was again off to the Sofia Airport and about 8 hours later with a stop in Vienna I got off the plane in Cairo!    I had arrived to start my Contiki tour of Egypt and the Nile.  I chose an organized tour because I wanted to not die and Contiki organizes tours for people aged 18-35, so I wouldn’t end up on a bus full of retirees calling me “sweetie.”

I was picked up at the airport by someone from the tour company.  I bought my visa from the exchange bank (which was a little odd) and stood in passport line that didn’t seem to move.  Once I got through, I picked up my bags and met R from Australia, a fellow traveler.  We were driven through Cairo traffic to the Victoria Hotel.  Cairo is very brown due to the fact that it is in the desert and subjected to dust storms.  Also, there is old stuff everywhere.     

At the hotel I met my roommate K from Canada.  We then had a meeting with SA, our tour guide who explained the trip, safety things (which mostly boiled down to “ladies find a husband for the next week.”), and extra excursions.  We then all walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  It was a busy place that was sort of like fast food Arabic style. 

The next morning we passed Tahir Square (mostly empty at the time) and went to the Egyptian Museum.   It has over 120,000 Egyptian artifacts and has more than outgrown its building.  SA gave us a tour of some of the highlights including a statue of Ramses, painted figures of a husband and wife, and a giant sarcophagus.  SA was great.  He was so knowledgeable about history and what all the symbols carved on the objects meant.   

 

Once we were let loose in the museum, we sent upstairs to look at the treasure from King Tut’s tomb.  The amount of things in that were crammed into that small space is unbelievable.  The highlight, of course, is his golden mask. 

I also paid the extra money to visit the mummy rooms.  I saw a lot of Ramses in that room.  Some had hair and some even had garlic cloves in their eyes. 

From the museum, we started driving out to the edge of town.  We passed the construction site of the new museum.  There is one statue that is so large, it was moved to the site first and the building is being built around it.  However, we were not there to see the new museum.  We were there to see the pyramids.  I, like most people, didn’t realize that the pyramids are like a Cairo suburb.  They are definitely not in the middle of nowhere, despite what the pictures look like. 

The pyramids are impressive.  It’s hard to describe them in words.  Due to a slight lapse in current pyramid security, we were able to climb up one.  We then went on to form our camel caravan.  My camel herder person was about 10 years old.  We began our trek out into the desert to see the pyramids from a different angle.  Once there, our camel people were going to take our pictures.  This is where I was at a disadvantage.  Since mine was 10 and short, you can’t really see the pyramids behind me at all.  Oh well.  C'est la vie!

We took some additional pictures from a wall where you can do such perspective tricks as holding the pyramids in your hand and jumping over them. 

After that, I paid the extra cash (again) to go inside the pyramid.  It’s not that exciting, but it’s the idea of it.  When am I ever going to get to do that again?  The tunnel inside was very short and sloping and leads to one large chamber, though you can see some other tunnels branching off on your way there.  You’re also not supposed to take pictures inside, but no one stopped us when we did. 

Next we drove over to the Sphinx.  To enter, you pass through some sort of workshop that I think was used for mummification, but I don’t really remember at this point since I have been so lazy about updating my blog.  At the sphinx, I tried to take a picture of me kissing it, but it didn’t really work out. 

After the sphinx, we went to dinner at a really nice restaurant not far from there.  The food came on giant trays that everyone could eat off of and it was all really good. 

From there we went on to the train station.  We were taking the overnight train to Aswan.  The train station was bleak and the tarins we saw going through before ours arrived were not encouraging.  However, when ours pulled up, it wasn’t bad.  Also, just so you’re aware, the train station has wifi.  Nowhere has wifi.  We made this discovery rather late which led to all of us standing in the hallway of the train with our wireless devices pressed to the window trying to send off an email before the train left the station.  We found our compartment and were served dinner (which we’d been advised not to eat certain parts of).  We then had a party late into the night in the club car. It was fun and SA wrote my name for me in hieroglyphics. 

The next morning we arrived in Aswan and let’s just say, I’ve looked better.  24 hours in the same clothes that went through the desert on a camel and then slept on a train does not lead to a very pretty picture.  Luckily, everyone else was in that same picture. 

Part 65: Berlin: The weather situation continues to look bleak. Feb 25, 2013

The next morning, free ticket (reservations are required) in hand, I was off to visit the dome of the parliament building.  The parliament building was mostly blown to pieces during WWII and was gradually restored in the years following.  Instead of putting the old-style dome back on top, a very modern glass dome that serves to provide natural light to the parliamentary sessions was constructed.  It is architecturally fascinating and very green.  Based on the excellent audio guide, I suppose it also has great views, but I mostly saw grey mist. 

 

From there, I hopped on the train to go see the 1936 Olympic Stadium.  There was an interesting exhibit outside the stadium about the Olympics, Hitler’s plans for Aryan dominance, and Jesse Owens’ destruction of said plans. 

Lastly I went to the Neues Museum.  This museum has some really old stuff including the prehistoric and Egyptian Collection.  The museum building itself and several of its artifacts were damaged during WWII, but the building has been restored and the artifacts were pieced back together as best as they could be.  There is still a little room for “unknown” pieces. 

The crowning glory of the Egyptian collection is the famous bust of Nefertiti.  The sculpture is 3,300 years old and it looks good.  It was discovered in 1912 in sculptor Thutmose’s workshop’s ruins.  Nefertiti is thought to be one of the most beautiful women to have ever lived and while artists have been known to “pretty-up” their subjects, the bust of Nefertiti is thought to be a very realistic representation.  She even has some crinkles around her eyes. 

The other major artifact in the museum is the gold hat.  It is made out of about 500 g of very thin gold and dates from 800-1000BC.  Apparently it is the best preserved of the 4 known gold hats known to exist from the Bronze Age.  The hat may also be a calendar, but the description is really complicated, so click the link if you really want to know.

 After the museum, I went back to my hostel, picked up my bags, and headed back to the airport to go fly back to Sofia.   Overall, I probably learned more on this trip than any trip prior to it, especially relating to the physical, political, and social implications of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War.  It was a great trip, despite the constant snow.  

Brandenburger Tor

Part 64: Berlin: Snow, Snow, Snow. Feb 24, 2013

The next morning, I hopped on the tram through East Berlin to visit the Berlin Wall Memorial.  East Berlin is nice, but it’s still bleak.  I can spot a Soviet block apartment building from a mile away, and there were plenty of them here, albeit painted in bright colors.  The memorial is not exactly where you would expect it to be.  It isn’t near anything else, but it’s free, highly informative, and even has multimedia.  It was snowing profusely, but I still listened to the recordings of people telling their stories, saw the pictures of the 136 people who died trying to cross the wall.

Security at the wall was intense and included a “dead zone” between the two sides complete with razor wire, dogs, and machine guns.  In the nearest subway station, there was a fascinating exhibit on how the wall extended underground as well.  A couple of the suburban train lines passed under wall and back so the stations in East Berlin became ghost stations where trains never stopped.  Unfortunately this also meant that the rails in these areas were not maintained and sometimes trains derailed.  There were also armed guard stations on the platforms and tunnels were bricked up to keep people from using the underground to escape to the West.

I took a quick side trip to see the Berlin Synagogue, which wasn’t that exciting since you can’t go inside.  From there, I passed back through Brandenburger Tor to visit the Memorial to the Sinta and Roma killed in the Holocaust. 

I then visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  It is a huge memorial that consists of 2,711 concrete blocks of various heights in a sloping area.  It would be a scary place at night.  Underneath the memorial is an information center.  It gives a history of the Holocaust and documents victims’ names and stories. 

Next up for the day was Checkpoint Charlie.  There is a recreation of the checkpoint complete with the sign “You are now leaving the American sector.”  Unlike my dad, I crossed the line without having to bribe a communist official in order to stay out of jail.  I also visited the Black Box Museum on the Cold War. 

Lastly, I went to the Topography of Terror Museum.  It is located on top of the ruins of the Gestapo headquarters and has an outdoor exhibit that shows the ruins of prison cells.  Inside there is a detailed exhibition on the history of the Nazi regime.  It is a little heavy on reading, but it’s very good and free.  :) 

I wandered through Potsdamer Platz to see the Sony Center.  After WWII, the buildings in the area were mostly destroyed and then it became part of the Berlin Wall dead zone.  After the wall fell, it was developed into an entertainment and shopping district.  The Grande Hotel Espianade Breakfast Room remains can also be seen behind glass and lit up in bright colors.

Lastly, I went to take a picture of the parliament building at night.  It was lovely, but more importantly someone was having a bit of fun and had stamped huge footprints in the snow.   It was nice to have a little bit of whimsy after a day of hard core, rather unhappy history.