Sarah Cheung

Truthfully, I’ve never heard about Essen before and didn’t research the place prior to arriving by train. It was about 4 hours away from Berlin and the ride was a smooth, comfortable one. The train had ample space for our luggage and even had a cafe on board.

Arriving in Essen, the sights were breathtaking and felt so similar to New Jersey. It was a very comforting feeling compared to being in Berlin, and I think we all immediately felt closer and instantly attached to the place. A pro was that our stay for the two weeks was this amazing place: “Unperfekt Hotel”, which means imperfect hotel. It was founded by a couple about 5 years ago and they even had a book about the building’s history on the kitchen table. Of course, it was in German, so we couldn’t understand most of it.

Essen is a mix of industrial sites turned into parks, and residential areas surrounding them. Although a lot of contaminated sites/sewer water has been cleaned up over the recent years, there were still a few open sewage waters that smelled quite foul when we walked over the bridge. Luckily, the smell subsided as we got further into the park, but the process of cleaning is to be completed in two years.

It’s a little harder to travel around compared to Berlin- the rides are longer and the destinations further in between distance-wise. So far, we’ve been to the Landschaftpark Duisburg Nord, which is a place that all of the Landscape Architecture students have heard about from our faculty. Seeing it in person was such a treat; the park itself was huge and had neat programming throughout. There was a diving tank, a rock climbing wall, and even a farm with animal pens.

We also visited a castle in Dusseldorf, the Schloss Benrath. It was such a fun experience because of the huge slippers we had to wear inside-to prevent damage of the floors. The castle is also known for its unique, pink color and the lions in front of the entrance.

An interesting thing I noticed when I traveled and explored Berlin was that bears were all over the city. Differently painted bears, but most of them were in the same position with paws up and identical sizes. I took pictures of as many as I could, and a lot were inside buildings of the third or fourth floors. The bears were bought by businesses or stores and displayed with the local artists’ work all over.

Going into a souvenir shop, they were also selling miniature sized bears in the same art as the real, life-sized ones. The employee told me that there’s a website documenting the locations of the bears: https://www.buddy-baer.com/classic-buddy-bears/events-in-cities/berlin.html

So why bears? The city of Berlin has the black bear as its mascot, which is pretty cool. These art installations are called “buddy bears” and they stand as symbols for tolerance and “Weltoffenheit” (world openness). They’re made of fiberglass and stand up with arms raised as a sign of positivity and friendliness. It all started from an artistic event where displays of these bears were shown to the public. From then on, private businesses own a lot of their own buddy bears all over the city.

 

 

 

We’ve been walking around Berlin for a couple of days now-about 12 miles average per day. It’s the most I’ve ever walked in a week, let alone each day. My feet are killing me but the sights are really worth it. Berlin seems incredibly huge compared to New York City and the open spaces are plentiful. While not all the parks are well maintained (sometimes intentionally), there are still so many merits to them.

We’ve visited parts of Tiergarten, a mix of naturally overgrown areas combined with well-maintained gardens within. This place is huge! Walking through it reminded me of Central Park, although it’s definitely different. The areas are less manicured, and not nearly as much maintenance going into it as Central Park has. There are also no designated bike lanes within the park, and no regular motor vehicular access.

Everywhere in Berlin, there are so many examples of the community incorporating green design into their everyday lives. The paving in driveways are pervious surfaces, with some even having grass sections. Some homes have their recycling and trash bins underneath a “roof” of succulents-a neat idea!

Exploring this vast city is a lot of fun and convenient with its clean, straightforward public transportation system. Everywhere is connected seemingly, and no site is too far to visit within the day.

We also visited an exhibition forest, Wald. Berlin. Klima. It was interesting to see the different perspectives used within the real life proportions of the space and living nature. I included some pictures below, along with some of the signs that explained the meanings behind the separate exhibitions.

 

This topic deserves its own post…

First, the ice cream is amazing here. Creamy, flavorful, and best of all: each scoop is only an euro at most places. One euro!!! That’s crazy cheap. There’s an ice cream cafe down the street from our apartments and it’s called Oak & Ice. Not only are the aesthetics of the shop on point (with hanging plants, wooden furnishings, and a cozy feeling entrance) but the ice cream is absolutely the best I’ve ever tried. Arguably, it’s better than the Bent Spoon in Princeton and that’s hard to beat. I tried both the pistachio and dark chocolate flavors, and they’re each so creamy and decadent.

In general, groceries and food in Germany are really cheap. From fresh groceries to frozen food, barely anything will be over 4 euros,  unless you’re eating fancy feasts. Cauliflower is 88 cents in euros, a box of champignons mushrooms will cost about 1, 19 euros. Frozen pizza medium size is 1, 99 euros for a pack of three! And they’re really good quality as well.

Back to the pork sandwich.. It’s a local specialty here. Eating raw pork is normal, either as a spread by itself or in a sandwich with onions and crispy bread. People might think it’s gross, but the pork tastes great. It’s a little bit salty, and the onions sweeten it up. Most bakeries have the sandwich, and luckily my local one, Kamps (two minutes away from the hotel) has it so I can get one every morning before class starts. The raw pork reminds me of tuna tartare, only less salty or fishy. I also happen to love pork, so this is perfect for me.