Dec 31-Jan 5

Blog 3

            Our second week in Germany involved an adventure to the capital Berlin.  The entire Berlin week was easily the most time I have ever spent in various museums in my lifetime.  We went on several walking tours including a great walking tour of Berlin that walked us along the roots of the Berlin wall.

            The New Years eve party in Berlin was indescribable, a night that will not be forgot by those of us that remember it.  It was easily the densest gathering of people in one setting that I have ever been in.  And as I experienced getting around through the crowd was near to impossible.  After the clock hit mid-night the city of Berlin put on an amazing fire works show, after which less professional firework show which resembled more of a war-zone to me.  It took a solid two days before the city streets were free of debris from the nights festivities. 

            The trip Dresden was a very cold day but the below zero wind chill did not take away from any of the beauty of the city.  There was also a great art collection that had been collected by the Saxon empire over their time ruling in Dresden.  The following day we went to the hygiene museum that is misleading in its name and is not in fact a museum of toothbrushes.  There were several interesting rooms from movement and motor functions to sexuality. 

The following day was by far our longest day in my opinion, it felt like we were on our feet for 14 hours straight and a little bit of an overload mental.  It started with a train trip to far east Berlin to visit a molecular research facility where were got to see their labs as well as hear about their impressive record of publishing in major scientific journals.  We finished the day with a trip to a medical training school for medical students that involved several fun activities including the electric stimulation gloves.

Our last day in Berlin started late and including the first and hopefully last time I ever use a Laundromat that has no English instructions.  After checking out of our hotel we had a lecture with Dr. Wasser and finished the day off with a museum on prosecutes which had some of the best interactive displays as yet.  At the conclusion of our last day we were off to Munich for our free weekend.