Blog 4 - favorite thing in Berlin

Blog 4


In the United States, palaces are hard to come by. I loved Charlottenburg, it felt like something out of a story to me. The gardens, the water, and beautiful rooms took my breath away. A few times I was a little taken back; some of the design concepts were beyond me. Especially the room with thousands of dishes, too much gold, and a deer!

Charlottenburg, the largest palace in all of Berlin, is vast. The formal gardens alone are so large that one could easily get lost in them. The property follows along a picturesque river side, where locals and tourists alike can enjoy a picnic or sit and read.

Charlottenburg is a palace built for Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Friedrich III. The expert at the palace explained that Sophie sought refuge in this palace from her husband, whom was only invited rarely for company because she did not like him so much. Only for procreation purposes was he invited. But, today from our Bike tour guide in Potsdam, another very different story was told. According to his sources, Friedrich was thought to have been a homosexual and therefore did not want to spend time with her. Which ever is true, it makes for an interesting story.

From her drawing rooms filled with books and the gardens which could inspire deep thoughts, Sophie is thought to have been very bright. She was a disciple of Gottfried Leibniz, a man who was considered at that time to be well educated and who invented calculus independently of Newton. I wish I was in the position to have great deep conversations with exceptionally intelligent people, just like she had.

I often think about how hard it might be to do excursions if a bilingual person was not with us. But then again, I don’t think that language (at least for those speaking English) is an insurmountable obstacle. I, with relative easy, can use the public transportation confidently and understand where I am and how to get to a destination.

When I traveled to Charlottenburg I went with a small group of 5 or so students, none really speaking much German. When we got out of the station onto the road, I asked a police man “Hullo, sprechen Englisch?” He said “nine”. I just asked “Bitte, Charlottenburg palace?” and he smiled and made hand gestures that I understood and after a “Danke” we found the palace easily. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, he and most others are more than willing to help.

I don’t feel that speaking German is crucial to getting along in this city. No doubt, knowing the language would expand my horizons and help me to understand things more fully. I would come again in a heat beat, even without knowing German. Just by being polite, saying please and thank you, you can far.