Bosch Alive

Wednesday was my last day in Berlin.  Most of my colleagues headed to Dessau, but I stayed to continue working in Berlin.  I had seen a sign for Hieronymus Bosch exhibit, so after work I decided to check it out.  I walked over to Alte Münze to see the Bosch Alive exhibit.  It was not like a traditional museum exhibit at all - it seemed more like a rave venue than a museum.  I had to walk around to the back of the building and go through a dark corridor to find the entrance (it was well signed at least).  After paying admission I headed inside.  There were a couple of dark rooms with benches and beanbag chairs in the center.

On all the walls, projections of The Garden of Earthly Delights was shown onto the walls, with the figures from the painting animated and set to music.  It was really cool - I've always loved Bosch and The Garden of Earthly Delights is my favorite work of art.

I watched through the animations and then left.  Afterwards, I headed to Tex-Mex Cantina for dinner and then walked past Museum Island.  It was late so I didn't have a chance to visit the museums, but the buildings were really nice.  The Bode Museum along the river was really scenic.

Heading back towards the hotel, I passed the Berlin Cathedral.

This has to be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen, with a nice fountain in front.

There was a service, so I wasn't able to check out the inside.  Then I started heading back towards the hotel, passing through Gendarmanmarkt one more time.

After a few pictures, I headed back to the hotel to pack up for a long flight home in the morning.

Jetlag in Berlin

I had to go to Berlin for work this week.  I was pretty jetlagged upon arrival on Monday and was struggling through meetings.  When they were finished, I walked to the Hilton and checked in.  After checking in, I went for a short walk around the city.  First, I headed to Checkpoint Charlie that was just a block or two from the hotel.

The former crossing point of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin is now a major tourist site.  Today, it's just a booth in the road, with museums, tour guides, and fast food restaurants.  With bright neon signs for MacDonalds and KFC, it was hard to picture this as the gateway to Communist East Germany.

After a couple pictures, I headed back towards the hotel and took a short walk around the Gendarmenmarkt, a beautiful square directly in front of the hotel.

There were three buildings here - the German Cathedral, or Deutscher Dom, was directly across from the Hilton.  It had been destroyed during WWII, but was rebuilt shortly after re-unification.

Across the square was the French Cathedral or Französischer Dom, which like the German one had been damaged in WWII, but subsequently repaired.

In between the two churches was the Konzerthaus or Concert Hall.

There were some interesting statues leading up to the Konzerthaus.

I milled around the area and got a few pictures and then headed back to the Hilton to try and sleep off the jetlag.