history, deutch style...

we went to the german history museum today. first we walked by a spider crane:

ryan was a little scared of it. 

this bear wants money for you to take his photo. but i have a tall husband, so i can sneak over his shoulder...

this is a mosaic floor. FROM 250 A.D. no big deal. 

the foundations of a roman house in trier, germany. 

ryan took a lot of photos of the armor. 

these are saddles made from horn. there's a note on the caption that says they are not meant for long journeys. i can't imagine that a horn saddle makes riding a horse at all better...

this one is fancy and painful. 

a pocket calendar from 1397. 

that's a gutenberg bible. there's only 25 in the world. i saw one. no biggie. 

these are not harvest tools! i was also tricked! they USED to be harvest tools. they were turned into weapons during the peasants' war in 1525. the sides of the scythes are sharpened. i don't think the pitchfork was altered, really. it's still for poking stuff. 

this is a noble woman from heidelburg in the 1600's. they look different now. on the other hand, i only saw regular women in heidelburg, no noble women. 

this was the most advanced globe of it's time. 

you'll notice that north america and south america are missing. also australia, but you can't see that. 

that's not a gas mask. it's a mask for doctor's to wear to treat plague victims. and actually, it might have worked: plague was spread from person to person through droplet spray. if you cover all your mucus membranes, you can't get contaminated. 

these tables are made with 25 types of marble or semi-precious stone. 

this is EXACTLY how i feel when my mother reads me a sermon.... haha

the french revolution influenced fashion in germany too. yes, that dress in the back ground is see-through in the skirt. but don't worry. women would spray the skirt with water to make SURE it was see-through. classy is what i call it. 

i want this doll now. she holds an entire miniature kitchen in her skirt. she's from 1800-something. 

that's some tie-on hair. for when you're super busy in the morning, and can't make your own ringlets. just tie these on!

this bustier, purse and blanket are made from paper. dry clean only, i presume. 

these stamps show the astronomical rise in inflation from 1920-1923. in 1920, a stamp was 5 pfennings. in 1923, it was 200 million. NO JOKE. 

those carts are filled with the weekly wages for a company. there are 5 carts for the weekly pay for 20 people. 

that's a first edition. whoa. 

haha, bathing suits. so immodest. 

i think tisch means table. i speak german now. 

hitler youth posters. 

hitler youth identity card

this is a hitler youth dollhouse. no, really. that's a framed portrait of hitler on the wall. you can also tell from the wallpaper:

see?

that's hitler's desk. think about that. 

ah yes, more "scientific" proof about the master race. 

hair samples. these were used so as to be able to determine your race. there are pictures of nurses comparing gypsies hair to these samples. 

guidebook to paris for german soldier stationed there. it was apparently a popular place for soldiers to be sent.

that's a gas mask for a toddler on top, and for an infant on the bottom. 

soviet soldiers on the reichstag. 

this was a propaganda poster for the volkssturm. this was the final militia of the SS, made up of  men between 16-60 who were not already fighting on the front. primarily it was made up of men over 50, and boys under 18. most of the older men knew it was a lost cause, and sent the teenage boys home, so they would survive. 

allied propaganda poster. 

museums, freak parties and moroccan food...

let me start by saying that we are safely home in reno, and the remainder of the blog will be catch up. i'm still going to use present tense though, so if you're confused and think we're still in europe-- we're not. and i don't want to talk about it. 

anyway. i went to the holocaust memorial information center first, but i don't have many pictures. i do have one cool video though. there is one room in the exhibit that has only benches in it, and they project the name and dates of a holocaust victim on the walls. then, first in german, then in english, they read as much as is known about each victim. this is happening all the time. they haven't read all the histories of the people they have, and they are constantly adding names and information as they receive it. it's really amazing, and truly helps you understand the scope of the holocaust. 

after that, i went to the jewish history museum. there were a lot of signs saying you couldn't take pictures, but there were a lot of people taking pictures. so i took some sneaky ones, but i don't have many. 

this was an exhibit on jewish peddlers in the middle ages and renaissance. but each of the bowls was filled with a spice that you could touch and smell, which was pretty cool. 

this is a wish tree. you write a wish on a pomegranate, and hang it on the tree. i did one, but i'm not telling what the wish was for. 

some pretty cool yamakas. 

that's the "friends" cast on a yamaka. 

and that's the one superman wears. 

after i got home, ryan and i decided to take the subway deep into east berlin for dinner. but when we got on the elevator, there were 3 guys in neon wigs and goofy outfits. and then another girl got on the elevator, and they asked her if she thought they were freaky enough....

turns out that the bic convention which was staying here all week (and i think it was primarily the russian and eastern european branches of the corporation), closed their conference with a freaker's ball. and how!

ryan's in a ghost station. this one's in oranlenburger strasse. these are stations that were in east berlin, and so during the soviet occupation of that part of the city, the stations were heavily guarded and the trains only slowed down, never stopping. the stations have not been updated in their interiors since before WWII. 

we took that subway train to kasbah for dinner. one thing ryan has discovered on this trip is that he likes BOTH moroccan AND thai food. the thai food part is sofreakingexciting to me!!

oh, that up there is pastilla, sometimes called bisteeya. funny story-- this dish is the first time i read a complicated recipe for something my mom had never made before and decided i would make it. i made ruth reichl's recipe from her memoir "tender at the bone" (you should read it) for some friends my senior year of high school. i've made it twice since then. i've never tasted ANY OTHER VERSION than my own. 

kasbah's was better, BUT i think i like a bit more lemon juice. 

anyway, i digress. look at ryan's appetizer. it's roasted peppers with moroccan spices. guess what else it is? the only vegetarian starter ryan ordered on the entire trip. oh, and they wash your hands in rosewater here before you eat. so  posh!

ryan's tagine meatballs. they were so awesome; i should have ordered this. 

my couscous with roasted lamb, lamb sausage and chicken. ryan ate most of the meat; i traded for some more meatballs. 

and some mint tea to finish, mmmmm...

ryan's favorite restaurant in berlin. actually, mine too. OUR favorite restaurant in berlin. 

getting ready for easter in the mall. the mall has a subway stop in the bottom, so you can walk through the mall and sleep on it's benches all night (i assume; i saw some people sleeping on the benches and it was night...), you just can't shop. 

more eggs. then my camera died. one more day in berlin, then prague!