Hello,
The weeks are passing faster as my comfort zone takes on new lengths. The weekdays consisted of school (of course), a class dinner, some shopping, and museums. During the weekend, I took a trip to Prague, Czech Republic, in which I will discuss in a separate blog.
The dinner I attended took place at Tiergartenquelle, a beer garden. It was an outdoor setting in a shady area surrounded by trees. Conveniently located in central Berlin across from an S-bahn station. The food was satisfactory and so was the atmosphere. A violinist and accordionist played a set in the beer garden, soliciting with their art. I had no objections to this form of soliciting in this context, it really added to the ambience! A picture of my outfit for this is gathering above. It’s typical of me to over dress for any planned activity. The necklace, tube top, and belt are from the Boxhagener Platz flea market from week 2; The red cardigan is from Housing Works Thrift Shop in New York; The pants are the only new item I wore, bought at Adore Clothing in Kahala Mall, Honolulu.
During my free weekday, Wednesday, I went to explore second-hand stores and vintage shops. The most common of this type is Humana Second Hand, totaling to 12 locations in Berlin. I went to 2 locations, Alexanderplatz and Oranienburger which are within walking distance to each other. These two had differing assortments. Alexanderplatz is the larger, having an assortment similar to what you may find at a typical Goodwill in America: a load of contemporary pieces, out-of-season clothes, and the occasional vintage item at reasonable prices. Oranienburger had exactly that, however, the majority were vintage pieces. This location was in a highly commercialized area with price points much higher than Alexanderplatz. I personally enjoyed the Alexanderplatz location because of its lower prices, larger selection, and friendlier atmosphere. I also visited a vintage shop called Pick’nWeight on Alte Schonhauser (very close to Oranienburger’s Second Hand Humana). The merchandise is priced by the weight of your garment (excluding shoes and accessories). It was a colorful store with very unique vintage items. I did not buy anything due to the purchase-inhibiting nature of merchandising of the store itself. It was very cramped with overly stocked clothing racks and one-person isles, which wasn’t comfortable to shop in. If you can deal with this setting, I’d recommend this store for it’s unique assortment and pricing strategy.
Aside from the usual indoor lectures, I had two excursions this week. My European Art History class and 20th Century German Fashion class paid a visit to Gemaldegalerie and the Jewish Museum, respectively. The Gelmadegalerie is known for paintings, segmented by origin and century, and is located near Potsdamer Platz. It’s always a great experience to observe works of art that are being studied in class. The Jewish Museum was very impressive, from it’s architecture, exhibitions, to information. It was by far, the most exhausting volume of information to take in that I could no longer maintain my attentiveness by the last 1/4. It was very informative and did such a job at humanizing the victims of the Holocaust that visitors were brought to tears. I’d highly recommend the Jewish Museum for the education and its beautiful architecture.
Places visited:
Tiergartenquelle – beer garden
Bandy Brooks – ice cream
Jewish Museum
Gemaldegalerie
Humana Second-hand @ Alexanderplatz and Oranienburger
Pick’nWeight
s t y l e l e a f 