East Side Gallery, Berlin

I promise this will be my last post on the Berlin trip! I took so many photos of the East Side Gallery that I wanted to give it a post of its own, rather than just including it in the main Berlin post.

The East Side Gallery is a 1.3 km section of the Berlin Wall located near the centre of Berlin. It consists of various paintings by artists from around the world, painted in 1990 and is an international monument to freedom. Unfortunately, a lot of the paintings have been ruined by graffiti – I really do not care if “Becky woz ere” in 2010! Go away and stop damaging symbols of peace!

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took of the East Side Gallery.

Some of the artwork had deeper messages:

“There are many walls to tear down”

Have you ever visited the East Side Gallery? Which painting did you like best?

Holiday season

It’s the school holidays now in England, or so I’ve been told. Here in Baden-Württemberg school doesn’t finish until 24th July, but I’m sure in some of the other German Bundesländer the kids are already on holiday. The universities, too, are coming to the end of their summer semesters. Pretty soon my building will start to empty. People will be off on their travels… going home to see family and friends, or heading to Spain or Italy to lie on beaches and look at old buildings. I remember those days well. The long, long days with no responsibilities stretching out ahead of me. No more lectures, no more essays… just friends, summer, freedom.

This year I’m not having a summer holiday. My current internship ends on Thursday, 31st July, the next one, should I choose to take it will begin on Monday, 4th August. (I have inofficially accepted, but as yet nothing has been signed). My only trip away will be a day and a half in Hamburg the weekend after next. I guess that means I’m now officially part of the employees club. Better get used to it, eh?