Berlin to Krakow

Scenes from the Erotika Museum:







a real skin flute





From there we wandered around and rode a couple of buses and trains in seach of a bar called the Kit Kat Klub, only to find it was closed and at a further location than we had thought. We milled around the city, sightseeing and what not. We stopped at a grocery store and ate tomatoes and cream-filled cookies. When it came time to get back to the main train station though, we were shocked to find a lot of the rails were down and we had to rely on a few people's help to take the right way back. The roundabout way back took us so long that we nearly missed our train to Poland! We ran through the station at top speed, up and down stairs with our heavy packs only to make it on the platform with two minutes to spare.






The night ride started out hopeful because we had a 2nd class cabin to ourselves and were able to stretch out on either side. But after a few stops people started pouring onto the train. Two polish middle-aged women came into our cabin and we got up to make room. We had been sleeping but when they sat down they starting chatting their asses of very noisely! After a few minutes one lady decided she'd rather have her luggage on a seat than on the floor, so she sat up and lifted her suitcase onto the seat she was sitting on, then stepped over and sat right on my feet! I had them resting on the seat across from me the whole time! The act was clearly purposeful. It hurt actually, and I uttered an "oh!" to which she responded by yelling at me in Polish. Rude, rude, rude. Seriously. Because I couldn't understand her, I stuttered an "I'm sorry...?" and moved my legs onto Jack. Later on while my eyes were shut (they probably assumed I was sleeping) the other one mimicked me and started in Polish and snickering. It was clear they were talking about me. I was awfully exhausted from being up all night and I didn't have the energy to call them out, so kept on trying to sleep. In the wee hours of the morning the one who sat on my foot wouldn't move over to give Jack more leg room. I swore that if they pulled any more rude shit I would yell at them and tell them they were mean, old bobchas...

no sin in berlin

In Berlin we scoped out the Erotika Museum, which was surprisingly high-brow. It is a three-story building that exhibits sexual artifacts - paintings, sculptures, etc - from many cultures over many time periods. It also had many interactive displays and presentations about general sexual knowledge, differences in male & female anatomy, etc. It was very interesting and fun.





MY FIRST TWO-TIER BUS!!

Vienna Again-a

We left the mask exhibit to stroll throughout Vienna. The city is very historic and majestic! Sculptures, statues, fountains, courtyards, squares, city buildings, museums, and palaces were all a sight to behold! The weather was beautiful - sunny with blue skies - and we plodded along the cobblestone and brick streets to the sound of horses pulling carriages and crowds of people. We sat on the edge of a large marble fountain with an extraordinary sculpture above it, and ate the sandwiches we had packed from the hostel.


























Cheese Sandwich




MICHAEL!!!


After the mask exhibit and lunch in Vienna, we looked for the music museum called Haus der Musik. I had been greatly anticiating checking out this museum because we read it was very interactive - visitors could compose their own musc using interactive stations and create "brain ochestras" and so forth. It sounded very elaborate, creative, and high -tech. Unfortunately, it turned out to be none of the above, save for the "high - tech." We were both highly disappointed at the museum's simplicity and lack of information. It was very over-the-top in its presentation but honestly there was no substance. It looked like the museum cost millions to put together - it was very flashy - but it was seriously meant for five yr. olds...There were a lot of interactive presentations about sound, but they didn't explain very much...just often mentioned how your brain is "tricked" into picking up sounds without exactly explaining what that "trick" is. The "composition" game was comprised of squishy dice that you roll and depending where it lands a device reads the dice and assigns a particular phrase in a certain key so that you and the other player can essentially write a duet. Although the concept isn't such a bad idea, the phrases were very limited and the players before us "composed" practically the same song that Jack and I did due to this. I guess I was hoping for a) a bit more creativity and b) the opportunity to use my brain and musical skills a bit...

We spent a significant amount of time in the museum as it was very large and there was indeed a lot to see. For how huge it was, however, I only learned a few things, but they are interesting:
1) white noise is actually the sound of every sine wave at once
2) the human auditory region relies on electro-chemical activity in order for us to hear (i didn't realize there was a chemical involved as well). But of course the museum didn't bother to further explain this..
3) The human ear can only hear the range of 2,000-18,000 Htz.
4) In the noisy room we were in at the time, my hearing could only pick up as high as 14,250 htz.

One impressive looking room of the museum had tentacle-like coils spiraling out of the walls in all directions with showerhead-looking speakers on the ends. It all looked quite impressive, but when we stepped closer we noticed that out of one speaker emitted a farting noise and out of another the sound of someone clearing his throat. These noises were labeled, as though they needed explaining. Every speaker emitted a sound and it created quite a cacophony, but there really wasn't anything much to gain from the scene. That kind of sums up the Haus der Musik for ya. I'm sure they were attempting to explain the relationship of your position amongst sound waves but since there was no explanation, the room was meaningless.

That evening we stocked up at a grocery store and ate bolgna, salami, and cheese sandwiches on the stoop of a closed store. We were in a very classy neighborhood and I think we may have stuck out like sore ones but we didn't feel uncomfortable in the least. We killed some time by wandering aruond the streets before we caught our train. We found a jazz club called Porgy N' Bess but the show cost money and we wouldn't have been able to stay through its entirety.








Oh I forgot to mention that earlier, between lunch and finding the Haus Der Musik, we wandered around these streets and shops. Jack was very interestd in an antique shop and ended up buying out the shopkeeper's entire coin collection! It was an added 10 lbs of metal to his backpack but he was EXTREMELY excited about it! He bought an old Austrian newspaper from March of 1945 that he was also mad about. Over dinner sandwiches he decided to give the paper to Chris Lison for this birthday when we see him in Muhlhaussen. He says Chris is a history buff, is excited about the topic of WWII, and loves puting his hands on old relics.

That night we travelled to Berlin. It turns out that all the sleeper cars only have 2nd class in them and it is an extra 50 euro for us to get a bed. So we slept in coach and pulled out all the chairs to form 3 small beds. Unfortunately two other people joined our cabin so Jack and I had to sleep mostly on top of each other. Although uncomfrotable, it was nice to lie flat (unlike on the way to Budapest) and we did get a fair amouhnt of sleep. We were refreshed for a long day of trekking around Berlin. The two other Germans in our car were Zara, who was very sociable and smiled and laughed a great deal, and Markus who was quiet and more reserved, but very polite.

Vienna MASKS

The rest of our time in Vienna was amazing. The mask exhibit was phenomenal! It displayed masks from many different cultures and provided info about the different interpretations of masks in different cultures over time. The first room contained many things and of them was a display of sculptured heads, faces, and necks cast from people just after their deaths. In Roman times up until the 20th century people created these casts of the dead in order to commemorate their deaths. It was considered the most important way to remember the deceased. We were extremely impressed with how intricately detailed the casts were. The hair, eyes, wrinkles, lump in the throat, etc. were defined so perfectly! It really did seem like we were looking at an actual person.

In other cultures (I forget which) the skulls of the deceased would be kept in close proximity to the family as a way of ensuring the dead person would live on and also to protect from evil spirits. Some of these skulls were on display.

The masks from African cultures were creatively exhuberant! Sometimes animal teeth or hair was woven into the mask, sometimes human hair - a few masks had big, natty dreads and /or afros weaved within and without them! These were by far the most fun, creative, and intricate masks.

However, most all the masks were creative in their own ways. The war-time armor masks were threatening and frightening-looking. Many of the expressions on all kinds of masks were so interesting! These were expressions a human face couldn't even make - some were warped and menacing (as in the case of the war-time masks), others twisted and goofy, others hollow and foreign.

I read there was a time in 18th century Rome(?) where masks were banned from the stage, at which point spectators began wearing masks to the shows. Take that, mask-banners! Masks became a part of everyday life and this is depicted in many paintings.

At one point it was noted that there was a time where masks shifted from having a celebratory function to playing a role in disguising and having
an association with lies (again I forget the society in which this took place). I recall reading an essay back in high school about "the mask that lies..." I forget who wrote it or what it was called but I wrote a short essay a year later using the concept. (Anyone remember this?)

Overall the exhibit was fascinating! Our pictures will show that. We both thought it was really great. I'd see it agian today if we were still there. Only downside: we didn't see Montezuma's mask because that part of the exhibit was closed. Still though - an amazing display of masks. Since then I've noticed masks in display windows of stores or in posters, etc. and I've felt compelled to point them out to Jack because I feel this certain excitement now when I see a mask!