Walk till you drop

Whew! I'm tired! Today was another 7-8 mile walking day! My boots are really starting to hate me.
Today I slept the latest I've slept in Berlin, 10 a.m.  I actually woke up at 7, but made myself go back to sleep, because I was tired.  At about 10:30, I was ready to walk out the door and start my adventures for the day.  Today's goal: trace my grandmother's steps from her house to her school.  Since I knew a lot of walking would be involved, and the sight would only be interesting to me, I decided not to drag Colby along.

The building on the left is what was the Jewish Orphanage

Once at Oma's street, I started my timer.  According to google earth it would take about 33 minutes to get to her school.  The only bad part is that I don't know which route exactly she would have taken.  The only thing I know for sure it that she took Schoenhauser Allee long enough to see the clock on the church and the orphanage.  Until today, I had not identified the place where the Jewish orphanage she described was located.  Today, I did!

This is her school  from the outside

The  walk took me about 35 minutes (excluding a few wrong turns it would have been 30). The school that she attended was called the jüdische Mädchenschule and was located on Auguststrasse 11/13. the building was used after the war as a hospital and then used as a school again.  Oma described her school as very modern, which makes sense, because it was one of the most modern schools in the area.  There is a lot of really interesting history there and it now houses arts and food, two things that truly represent who my grandmother was.  I thought it was perfect!  If you want to read a little bit about the school, click here!

The outside of the school 

It was really incredible to finally find a building that was still standing and think... Oma walked these halls as a little girl... I have pictures of her class here, and now I can't wait to look at them again.  After walking through the school, I headed to find Ritter Sport, where I would later be meeting Chelsea.  Chelsea is a year younger than me and we went to High School together.  She was also in the group of us that went to Scotland with our theater program in 2009.  I love her and she has been studying in Berlin since last semester.  Since it was early I walked around the area. 

Across the street, I found the Berlin Koncerthaus (just what it looks like... the concert house).  Here I stopped in to take some pamphlet so I can get my parent's opinion and go see something that I will like! After walking for about 45 minutes around these wonderful buildings, I settled in for some lunch at a quiet little restaurant. I had the pleasure of sitting by two very talkative Spanish students who were talked the entire time.  One of them had met this U.S. marine 4 years ago, and they have been sending letters to each other every day since.  Yes... this is real life.  They have met up every break he has... They met randomly in Germany, because she works for or with his dad... No... this is not a movie, this is actually someone's life. Anyway, after listening to the interesting story of her life, I left and continued exploring until 2:30, when I met Chelsea. 

Concert House

The Ritter Sport house was beautifully set and full of chocolate, as expected!  The chocolate has a pretty interesting story.  Frau (Ms.) Ritter created it so that men could fit in in their pocket and take it to football games (soccer).  She made it square (the first square bar of chocolate) and harder, so it would fit in their pockets and not break.  Very interesting! I was sooo glad to see Chelsea and to find out that she LOVES it here! It was really interesting to hear all of her stories and her experiences.  She also got to go to the red carpet at the premier of Les Mis in Germany, which made me incredibly jealous! She met and took a picture of Eddie Redmayne!!! Anyway, she also informed me about the location of the theater on Schiffbauerdamm, where the Berliner Ensemble is.  My grandmother watched a play there in 1961 when she visited Berlin for the first time.  I will definitely be attending something before I leave!!! After our lovely hot chocolate, I headed to see the theater and then continued my long walk home. I could have taken the tram, but I love to walk and getting to know the streets! 

Schiffbauerdamm

Now I am back in my room, worn out and ready to rest up for tomorrow! My class in Potsdam starts tomorrow, and I have to leave home by 7, the latest! UGH! Oh well, it will be fun! Bis Morger oder spaeter! (till tomorrow or later!)