#the milwaukee art museum is not really especially bad

[haberdashing]

things all y'all missed out on by not being in one particular discord server with me: me judging the hell out of the milwaukee art museum

[write-orflight]

Like Real People Do Chapter 7

*Gif not mine*

Masterlist

Rating: M

Words: 2.2k

Warnings: Kinda NSFW not smut tho

Request: OPEN/CLOSED

A.N: Kinda short chapter but we only have 2 Chapters and an Epilogue left. Thanks for reading. Message to be on taglist, much love Cia

Chapter 7: I will not ask you where you came from, I will not ask you, neither should you 

“You’ve gotta hold it like a pencil.” You laugh, trying to explain chopsticks to Spencer as you sit at your kitchen table eating the Thai food you mentioned beforehand. Spencer just seemed to grip the chopstick tighter, you laugh.“Spencer, you write all the time. Is that how you hold a pencil? Here.” You say, placing your hand over his, maneuvering his hand to hold the chopsticks properly. He looks up at you and smiles before leaning in to kiss you again. You don’t think you could ever grow tired of that. “What was that for?”

“Nothing.” He shrugs. “It’s just nice to kiss you whenever I think about it now.” You watch him struggle again before taking pity on him and handing him a fork. He looks at you with gratitude. 

“When?” You ask. “Did you think about it,  I mean.”

He blows a breath, thinking. “Every time? Or the first time?” 

Knowing Spencer probably could name every single time he’s thought about kissing you, you laugh. “Let’s start with the first time.” 

“The first case we worked together. The bus driver.” He says. “You looked so excited when you figured it out, you were practically flailing your arms. I wanted to kiss you so bad, but of course I had just met you days prior, so it wouldn’t have been appropriate.” He laughs. “What about you?”

“The first time I wanted to kiss you?” You ask, he nods. “Probably the Milwaukee case last winter. When you talked down that gunman with no weapon, no vest. I also wanted to punch the lights out of you.” You both laugh. “But you really had me worried and guess when I saw you were safe it was all I could think about doing.” 

“Why didn’t you?” 

“Well, why didn’t you?” You shoot back. 

“I told you, I didn’t know you then.” 

“Well, I also didn’t know you well back then.” You sigh. “Plus, I always thought you were extremely out of my league, you still are.” 

Spencer snorts, you slap his arm. “I’m being serious, you were extremely smart and attractive and I’m not so I never thought anything would come of this.” You shrug. Spencer grips your hand tightly. 

“Hey, look at me.” He says, you meet his eyes and you’re suddenly hit with a look that could only be described as complete admiration. “You are the single most beautiful, talented and intelligent girl I know. If anyone’s out of anyone’s league, it’s the other way around, trust me.” 

You hum, thinking. “Yea, I don’t think so.” 

“I’ll have to prove it to you then.” He says, smiling, looking at you like you personally put every star in the sky.   

“I’ll hold you to that.” 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Spencer spends everyday for the next 4 months proving you wrong. 

Your second “official” date was at the planetarium after you told Spencer offhandedly one day that you didn’t know much about stars other than your astrological sign. He then surprises you early one Saturday morning rushing you to get dressed so you don’t have to deal with the crowds. You end up in an empty theater as he whispers his own facts to you about the constellations completely ignoring the tour guide. 

He takes you on several dates like that. To museums, art galleries, the two of you even watch that 5 hour movie he loves so much though you end up falling asleep hour 2, you couldn’t help it. 

You decide to keep it secret from the team for the first couple of months, just to see it was something you both still wanted. Since the two of you spent so much time together before you were dating, it was like nothing’s changed. Garcia still ends up finding out around month three, during your monthly Doctor Who rewatches. You had sent Spencer to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine when he calls out to you. 

“Babe, where’s your corkscrew?” 

Without thinking, you automatically answer back “In the drawer below the coffee maker.” You go to start the next episode when you look up to see Garcia staring at you like you grew a second skull. 

“What’s wrong?” You ask, genuinely confused. 

“Babe???” She says, incredulously. Spencer is out of the kitchen, watching the two of you in the doorway. “Babe?!?” She asked again, Spencer realized his mistake, looking at you awkwardly, a clear I fucked up, you have to fix it face. You sigh, putting your forehead in your hand. Despite him technically being a genius, you were dating an idiot. 

“Garcia—“ you start.  

“How long?” She says, stumbling slightly. 

“How long what?” You ask, hoping playing dumb will get you out of it. It doesn’t as she just levels you with a stern look. Or as stern as Penelope Garcia can get. “3  months.” You sigh. 

“3 Months?!” Suddenly Garcia is pulling you into a hug, waving her arm frantically behind your back for Spencer to join you, which of course he does. “Oh my sweet sweet summer children, Why didn’t you tell me?!”She pulls from you, hitting you both in the arm instantly. 

You rub your arm. “We just wanted to keep it under wraps for a while, to see if it was something we both wanted.” 

“And is it?” She asks. 

You look at Spencer only to see him looking directly back into your eyes, smiling. “Yea it is.” You say. “Garcia, I know you don’t like keeping secrets but can you not tell anyone. We wanted to wait to tell everyone.” 

Garcia blows a breath. “For you, my dove, I will try. Now I was promised wine and Doctor Who and I still haven't gotten either.” 

With that you fill her glass and the three of you spend the night watching Doctor Who and eating pizza. At some point of the night, Spencer’s arm ends up around you. You scout closer to him so you can lay your head on his chest. Suddenly, you see a camera flash. 

“Garcia!” You yell. 

“Relax, I won’t show anyone. This’ll be for me, you guys are just so cute!”   

You roll your eyes, laying back on Spencer. You can’t help but smile at the feel of his light chuckle. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sex doesn’t come up despite your best wishes. You can tell Spencer’s holding back, trying to respect you and you appreciated that, you really do. 

But God, you want him. 

There’s been times where you think you’re going to get there. Like last month, he had come over to watch a movie which ended up just being an excuse to just make out. You didn’t think you could ever get tired of kissing Spencer. Most of the time, his kisses were sweet, filled with admiration. But sometimes they were heated with passion and want behind them. You liked both, loved both even, but if you had to pick a favorite it’d be the lather. You’ve never felt as desired as you do when you’re with Spencer. 

His tongue swiped along your bottom lip, you opened your mouth giving him permission. You’re rewarded with a small moan as he tries to move as close to you as your small couch will allow. You’re suddenly hit with a bright idea and push him back so you could crawl on top of him, straddling his waist. You pull back slightly to look at him, making sure this was ok. He looks at you shocked for a moment, you guys have never done anything this far. That shock breaks though the second you lean back into him, his hands going instantly to your waist. You move in closer, running your hands through his hair as his tongue rejoins your mouth. You moan, tugging slightly at the roots earning you a groan, his hands sliding under your shirt gripping your waist tighter. As lean forward to kiss along his jaw you can’t help but become hyper aware of a certain predicament he was having. Deciding to test the waters, you start grinding your hips on him slightly. 

“Fuck.” he moans quietly, his grip on your bare waist suddenly becoming tighter. Spencer hardly ever cursed, not even when he was mad. Very much unlike you who cursed like a sailor at any minor inconvenience. So hearing the expletive, especially in a situation like this, was enough to turn you into a faucet. The two of you went on like this a bit, your hands on his jaw, not even being shy about your grinding now. You needed him to know just how bad you wanted this, how bad you wanted him. Eventually, his hands slide out your shirt settling on your lower waist to stop you. You pull back to look at him confused. 

“We’ve got to stop.” He says, sitting you up a little bit so you weren’t completely seated completely on top of him. 

“Why?” You all but whine. You didn’t mean to sound like a child but you were genuinely curious. He chuckles lightly at you before kissing your cheek and moving you so you were seated next to him, still cuddled under his arm. His attention turned fully back towards the movie, neither of you had been paying attention to prior. 

------------------------------------------------

And if working with him was hard before, it’s proven itself to be unbearable these past months. Now that you knew what it was like to be with Spencer, thoughts about it seemed to cloud your brain on a daily basis. And it seemed like he was mocking you with it lately. With the rolled up sleeves of his button up and the skinny ties it seemed like he was intentionally trying to break you. 

Right now, you were in a small town off the coast of Oregan, listening to Reid explain the geographical profile he’d come up with for the Unsub. You try to listen, you really do but your focus keeps going to his forearms and hands. You knew you like his hands before but now that you knew what they felt like it was hard to focus on anything else. That combined with the rapid words coming out of his mouth and the hair he’d recently been growing out (something you didn’t know you were into but could definitely now confirm you were) were sending you spiraling. 

“Y/N.” You suddenly heard Hotch call. You looked around to see everyone looking at you, expecting an answer to a question you did not hear. 

You clear your throat awkwardly. “What was your question again?” 

“I asked why you think the Unsub is a flight risk.” JJ says. “Are you ok? You seem off.” 

Everyone’s eyes is on you again, this time Spencer included. He’s narrowing his eyes at you now. You can tell he’s reading you like a book, trying to hide the smirk on his face. He knows. You think to yourself. 

“I’m fine.” You clear your throat. “Based one the geographical profile, I think the Unsub is from this town and is very familiar with the water. Possibly from a fishing family, which is why I think he has a boat and will try to make a run for it tonight. Especially since the news announced we’re here.” You point out. “I actually don’t believe we have much time.” 

“Alright, Reid, Prentiss and Rossi check his house. Y/L/N, Morgan and I will head down to the Marina. Dismissed.” 

You go to grab everything you need before leaving (vest, gun, etc.) when Spencer approaches you. 

“And you thought I wouldn’t be able to focus on work when we got together?” He says, smirking. 

“Shut up.” You mumble. Before you can turn away from him, he grabs your wrist pulling you into a tight, passionate kiss. 

“Please be careful.” He says looking into your eye. 

“I always am, Spen.” You smile. 

-------------------------------------------------------

You, Hotch and Morgan Are silent driving to the Marina but that wasn’t unusual that was how it usually is with you three, especially with stakes like this. Hotch assigns the both of you quadrants to search and you split apart. You’re walking your quadrant when you hear a snapping sound. You turn and see the unsub untying a boat. 

“FBI! Don’t move.” You scream after him. He sees you turns to his boat that’s started to drift further and further away in the high tide before he starts booking it down the dock. You run after to him. 

“Unsub is on the southeastern dock! Requesting Backup.” You scream in your radio before focusing your full attention on running full speed after the man you’d been searching for for days. He’s looking behind himself every so often to see you gaining on him but you’re still not fast enough to get him before you jumps off the end of the dock, swimming fast towards his boat. 

“Shit!” You yell. You hear hotch and Morgan’s steps running behind you before you make the split decision. 

You throw off your vest, radio and gun on the dock next to you before careening off the dock into the icy cold oregonian waters.          

Taglist: @haylaansmi​     @yoruebeautiful​ @kianagilder-blog​ @l0ve-0f-my-life​ @bihoeofmanyfandoms @dreamer7black​ @baby-banana​ @drreidshands​ @blameitonthenight21​ @slyskyeey​ @liaabsurd​ @di-essere-amato​ @oliviamaerose​ @nightlygiggless​

[secretradiobrooklyn]

That Gingerbread Feeling | 12.19 & 12.25.20

Secret Radio | 12.19 & 12.25.20 | Hear it here.

That Gingerbread Feeling edition

1. Irving Berlin - “Snow” 

I really enjoy picturing Rosemary Clooney beelining for a snowbank with a bottle of shampoo in one hand, blissfully mashing clumps of snow into her hair.

2. Christie Laume - “La musique et la danse”

The payoff holler in this song is like hearing an unknown animal call from the palm trees over there. 

3. Gedou - live 1975

This is a straight-up holdover from the last broadcast. We were delighted to discover Gedou’s Japanese glam rock glory — especially in the context of the videos, where you can see how extremely unlike their world they are. In this one, a crowd of excited teens watches and claps along, and you can tell that they’re the rockers of their peers — they all sport variations on early rock pompadours. Gedou, however, has blown right past that style and is going full-orchid Spiders from Mars. They appear to be loving the shit out of every second onstage, and it’s completely infectious. This take also has a killer lead-in to a great live “Scent,” the song of theirs we played last week. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdAP9ud-uEQ

4. Mannequin Men - “Private School”

I would like to shout out the rich music life of Chicago’s rock world, specifically from 2002-2008 but extending in both directions on the calendar. I feel truly fortunate to have been in Bound Stems, on Flameshovel Records, for most of those years. James and Jesse worked from an office above the Empty Bottle, sharing the space with a young Riot Act Media, and that label was the center of so much great music. Paige and I both especially loved Mannequin Men’s “Fresh Rot” album — I always think of me and Paige in the Stems band van on Milwaukee Ave, headed gradually northwest toward Midwest Buy and Sell aka the best amp shop in Chicago, with “Private School” cranked, watching the train pass the other way, feeling like the city went on forever.

5. Ed Blaszczyk, Rock Band Himself - “Hully Gully Neurasthenique” from “The Quirky Lost Tapes 1993-1995”

Born Bad Records is the hottest of spots. I don’t know anything about this guy but I am under his control.

- Five minutes of a pink oyster mushroom playing modular synthesizer

A sincere thank you to Kevin Vlack for introducing us to the mesmerizing thoughtwaves of a pink oyster mushroom, as expressed by a wickedly set-up synth. By any objective measure it sounds random and unmusical, but my subjective experience is that it is incredibly smooth and welcoming to hear. It feels almost like an aural massage or something. I feel an autonomic response to it. In any case, we both immediately listened to it a bunch, and it only gets more appealing. 

6. William Onyeabor - “Hypertension”

We still haven’t seen “Who Is William Onyeabor?,” so all I know about him is that his rhythmic approach is always totally absorbing. The cascading phrase that happens throughout the song feels like water being poured out of a jug. I especially dig how they split the vocalist between “hyper” and “tension,” kind of not unlike The Fall. 

7. Renato Carosone - “Tu Vuó Fa’ l’Americano”

You want to be American — in Italian. Fun is being poked. It gets so surprisingly intense in the instrumental middle passage!

“Whiskey soda rock & roll”

8. Star Feminine Band - “Rew Be Me”

Another return performance from last week! Star Feminine Band’s new album is so freakin awesome. “Rew Be Me”’s rhythms are so fascinating on every instrument. Also, they’re made by girls between ages 11 and 17. This song is so many songs in one!

9. Ros Serey Sothea - “Kom Kung Twer Evey (Don’t Be Mad)” - “Cambodian Rocks”

More jaw-dropping ’60s Cambodian rock full of epic melodies and major-league parts from every member of the band — above all Ros Sereysothea, who was pronounced the “Queen with the Golden Voice” by the King of Cambodia. 

Like every musician of her generation in her country, she was killed in the Khmer Rouge genocide. 

10. Lohento Eskill et T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - “Mireille”

11. Mohamed Mazouni - “Ecoutes moi camarade” 

A scenario that we’re just starting to consider is Algiers, which was a French territory in North Africa with as many Europeans as Africans. Before and after the revolution in 1962, Algerians are expanding the definition of French citizenship. An intoxicating version of the two cultures having equal input on the song’s palette and reference points. 

- The pink oyster mushroom 

12. The Fall - “Free Range”

This 7” came from a visit to a record shop in London that had an entire wall of Fall albums and singles and I just goggled at it. Kind of picked this one at random and it hits just so hard. For some reason this song sometimes reminds me of Self-Help Seminar, good friends from Seattle who we played with from early on. Harvey Danger did a version of their song “Heroine with an E.” 

13. Les Poppys - “Non non rien n’a changé”

A pretty large chorus of garçons just kind of beautifully swarming around, I don’t really know where to put this song in my head. I love the “Hey Joe” style bassline in the finale passage so much!

14. Mahmood - “Soldi”

This is driving around Cambridgeshire to London, again and again, listening to this music and shouting “Fregherai!” This trip’s soundtrack was exclusively the 2019 candidates for Eurovision’s top prize. This was Italy’s contender. It was considered controversial, I was told, because they’re drawing on a musician who is speaking in Italian and describing the world from a minority’s experience in Italy. That’s pretty bold to use as your country’s champion — I thought that was pretty cool.

15. John Williams - “Home Alone Main Title”

Merry Christmas! We time-traveled in this moment up to and through Christmas. It was a quietly wonderful Christmas, I must say, and included viewing “Home Alone” for the first time in decades. “Feeling that gingerbread feeling” indeed. We’re thankful for so much this year even in the middle of all this giant mess.

16. The Fall - “Jingle Bell Rock”

My preferred Santa voice.

17. Lithics - “Hands”

Sure do like this band more than ever. “Tower of Age” has been nothing but awesome so far. 

18. Samba Negra - “Long Life Africa” - “La Locura de Machuca”

Happy holidays to Ryan, who just got this album! Analog Africa is one of the flat-out most amazing record labels on Earth, and they put out this album this year. The cover art is insane, and the music is — also insane. This is the setup: “One night in 1975, a successful tax lawyer named Rafael Machuca had his mind blown in Barranquilla’s ‘Plaza de los Musicos’. Overnight he went from a high-ranking position in the Columbian revenue authority to visionary production guru of the newly formed record label that bore his name, Discos Machuca, and for the next six years he devoted his life to releasing some of the strangest, most experimental Afro Psychedelia Cumbia and Champeta ever produced.”

I mean, right?!

19. Meridian Brothers - “Salsa Caliente: Versión Aumentada”

This came to us via Francis Bebey, in the big ol’ stream. I definitely see the relationship. That’s what I’ve been really appreciating recently, how musicians from all over the globe seemed to be in musical communication with each other in the ’70s. There was such a wild explosion of music happening worldwide, influencing each other in a way that must have been at least partially psychic.

20. The Little Rabbits - “Yeah”

I got this CD in an armful of albums from Harvey Danger’s French distributor. I put this one on and was just… it was fascinating. This song is a definite high point, but the whole album is a complete jam. It’s clear to me (though I’ve never done a lick of study on this) that the Little Rabbits worked with Beck on “Odelay,” because you can hear whole passages of music that you associate with Beck songs stitched inside this album. I always want to know more about what happened there and I never 

21. Orlando Julius & the Afro Sounders - “Alo Mi Alo (Parts 1 & 2)”

Another example of that international ’70s kismet! This horn passage reminds us strongly of Adriano Celentano’s “Prisencolinensinainciusol,” written in faux-English for a French audience in 1972. This song was written somewhere between 1969-72, in Nigeria! 

I also love how the song has this sort of geologic dynamic going, where instead of bouncing between parts, it changes flavor gradually over the course of many minutes, until it ends far from where it began — not unlike a film.

- Bug Chaser - “Christmas Van”

We miss Bug Chaser, St. Louis lords and legends. We played some magic shows on the City Museum rooftop with them, and danced our faces off at their shows all over town. If you lived in St. Louis in the last ten years, I hope you went to Bug Chaser shows, because they were the realest of deals.

22. Half Japanese - “Swept Away”

I hadn’t revisited Half Japanese in a long time, for no good reason at all. It’s part of what I have loved about Yo La Tengo and Daniel Johnston and Jonathan Richman and what I love about Jad Fair, so giant and so sincere all at once. 

23. Thomas Roebers & Floris Leeuwenberg - excerpt, “FOLI (There is no movement without rhythm)”

Speaking of sincerity, this is an excerpt from a 10-minute movie called “FOLI.” I don’t know how it came to be made, but this section in the middle immediately grabbed me and feels super African and somehow refracted through a Western lens as well

24. Ayalew Mesfin - “Zebeder (Mesmerizing)”

The thing about Mesfin is that his band seems to set up the song in a Western tempo and pattern, and then Mesfin lays an Ethiopian melodic count across the top of the phrases they play, creating a third pattern from the intertwining. It creates a sense of the exotic and the familiar at the same time, which sparks into a dreamlike feeling, where you remember something you know you never experienced. I feel like that opens up some capacity to appreciate his melody’s deeply human quality. 

- “Tuneup #1” from “Rent” / Glenn Miller - “Moonlight Serenade” 

25. Ella Fitzgerald - “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”

Consider this an invitation! Send us a message however we normally talk and we’ll send a link. Or not! In any case: here’s to making it through 2020 (chin chin), and here’s to a productive, restorative 2021 (chin chin)

[adventuresinaustria]

Remainder of March Update feat. Trip to Berlin

April 11- Happy spring! I am so happy to be done with the brutal cold and snow of winter. It’s been a wonderful two weeks with this warm, sunny, spring weather. Clearly I have failed to keep up with my blog as regularly as I had intended but as I’ve said many times before, time is just slipping away from me! It has been an eventful few weeks that I will fill you in on here.

Quick note: We have 16 days left in Salzburg until our semester is officially completed! My heart aches every single time I think about leaving my home here in Salzburg. It’s amazing how accustomed to life here I have become and how quickly I’ve formed friendships with my classmates. My roommate Des and I have gotten in the habit of having weekly conversations about how devastating it’s going to feel to leave and say goodbye to everything and everyone here for the last time. The tears are already flowing! However, I have also been in contact with some of my close friends from home who cannot WAIT for my return to the States! They definitely make it a lot easier to leave Europe but again that reverse culture shock will for sure take some getting used to. I personally have grown and changed tremendously during my time here in Austria and the thought of returning to Milwaukee where all of my closest friends have been this whole time will be difficult. I have seen, learned, and experienced SO many things that my closest loved ones at home will never be able to fully understand. I can only hope that I stay in contact with my friends here in Salzburg so I can lean on them as we all return to our lives at home and figure out how to reestablish ourselves in the US culture. It will be so strange and heartbreaking to not have all 12 of my new friends here in Salzburg by my side everyday anymore. We have been through so much together, good and bad, and are really a family. Also, Des and I have talked about how much our advisors warned us about the initial culture shock we would experience when entering Europe but how they didn’t put too much emphasis on the reverse culture shock afterward. It’s something I really never thought about either until living here and pondering the thought of returning home at this point. Of course I have lived in the States my whole life and will eventually be able to learn the way of life again but I think in general the challenge of that is underestimated. I’m really going to enjoy the next 16 days here in Salzburg and hope for the best when I get home! 

On a happier note, here’s a little look at what I’ve been up to the past month... 

Week of March 18-24: 

This week began with a fun concert at our school’s coffee shop on Tuesday night. All around Salzburg there were five or so coffee shops that had live music so we naturally went to our school’s shop to listen to the band. There were people from the Austrian TV stations filming and the shop was just about packed! Salzburg College actually just opened their coffee shop this semester so we are incredibly lucky to be able to enjoy it. It is right next door to the college and is primarily for us students to eat lunch in, drink coffee/tea (free of cost), and do whatever else we please. It’s a super cute shop that I spend almost all of my time in when I’m not in class. 

The concert was a great way to publicize the shop since it is so new. There are quite a few Austrians who are strolling in and out everyday for a bakery treat or coffee which makes me believe that the shop is doing fairly well! 

Later this week, Friday morning, Des and I headed to Berlin for the weekend! Earlier this week we both decided we wanted to travel somewhere for the weekend and just booked a spontaneous last minute trip! Des has only seen Munich, Germany and really wanted to see more of the country so we figured Berlin would be a great destination. 

Berlin was absolutely amazing! As Des said, it would be as if San Francisco, New York, and Vienna had a baby haha. It is very trendy and modern like San Fran, hustle bustle and huge like New York, and historic with old buildings like Vienna. Berlin definitely gave us a feel of America with all of the fast food restaurants we know and love (Mc Donalds, KFC, subway, etc) and just how modern it is. It also has incredibly wide boulevards that make you feel like you're in Vegas or New York.

^This is the park Des and I took a nap in before our flight left on Sunday! 

At the same time though Berlin has so much history that reminds us we are in Europe. For instance, there is the Berlin Wall, Charlie Checkpoint, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Berliner Dom. The Berlin Wall is a site I have always wanted to visit in real life for as long as I can remember studying it in my many years of education. There are actually parts of it dispersed throughout the city that just constantly reminds you of how involved in the Cold War and WWII Berlin was. 

For the most part Des and I wandered aimlessly through the big city and stumbled across the main sites as we walked along. One of those sites was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe which we happened to find on our way to another site. It was essentially a huge square filled with hundreds of large metal blocks that were taller than we were. 

This was yet another reminder of how involved Berlin was during the war. Following the memorial we came across the Brandenburg Gate which is a monument established in the 18th century. This is one of the most well known and historical landmarks in Berlin that stands where the former city gate was and as such is a symbol of European unity and peace. 

The last major site we saw today is called Checkpoint Charlie. This is the most famous crossing point between East and West Germany during the Cold War. It was here that dozens of people attempted to cross the the Berlin wall to escape the communist East Berlin and enter the democratic West Germany. Unfortunately, all but a few were unsuccessful and shot by the border police as a result.

As you can see this is a popular tourist spot where many people go as far as dressing up as soldiers and taking photos.

Side note: The Mc Donalds building behind it is a good representation of the modern buildings seen all around Berlin.

This area you see above includes a museum that we did not go inside of, a piece of the wall shown in the back right corner, and a historical timeline of events through the cold war all along the walls.

Above is a description of the Berlin Wall and below is a visual image of the divided country of Germany during the Cold War.

After our day of site-seeing, we set out to the Berliner Dom that evening. This is the singlehandedly most breathtaking building I have ever stood inside of. It was finished in 1905 and is the location of many operas, performances, and of course weekly services. The first night we arrived in Berlin, Des and I walked in, looked up at the ceiling, and both of our jaws dropped. You can get a look here and what we saw but pictures will never do it justice. 

It was a rush of emotion honestly. The organ is just beautiful in addition to the intricate architecture and painting of the cathedral's interior structure. Our first visit to the cathedral was on Friday night when an orchestra happened to be rehearsing for an upcoming show and much to our surprise they had a performance the next evening! Des and I both looked at each other and decided it was a must. This was easily the best 24 Euro I have ever spent. 

The performance included a full choral orchestra with a few vocal soloists. It’s safe to say Des and I were the only two attendants without white hair lol but nonetheless, we closed our eyes and really soaked in the glorious sound that filled the dom. I had never attended an opera or music performance at all so this was a magical experience for myself especially. 

Solo pic of me by the river before heading into the opera :) 

Our flight on Sunday was in the evening so we made sure to visit the East Side Gallery which is a mile of the Berlin wall still intact that is now covered from end to end with beautiful paintings. Each segment of the wall has a different work of art on it that ranges anywhere from abstract paintings to meaningful art creations with images/messages about politics, equality, saving the earth, and so on. Here are just a few of the segments that we saw: 

Another thing I wanted to share about Berlin is the delicious German food we ate! (Images below) In the middle of March, cities all around Europe begin to open their Easter markets, which are equivalent to the popular Christmas markets in winter. Therefore, Des and i had the opportunity to browse around Berlin’s market and get some authentic German street food. Germany and Austria are both known for their bratwurst and potatoes, which is exactly what we ate! Kebaps are also a famous dish in Europe. These are pretty much sandwiches that resemble a Greek gyro as Americans know it. 

Above is the food we had to choose from to put into a big tortilla shell/bowl. Mine shown below has bratwurst and potatoes in it while my roommate got some veggies, chicken, and potatoes in hers. So yummy! 

Our other authentic meal were kebaps for lunch. These usually consist of meat, sauce, and whatever veggies you wish to have on it. Here mine has onion, tomato, and cucumbers. If you would’ve asked me to eat this back in the States three months ago I would only do it for pay haha. It’s incredible how much my food pallet has expanded since being abroad! 

That concludes week 9! 

Week 10 (March 25-31) 

Here we are already at the end of March! This week we had an excursion to the Salzburg Museum for my Art of Propaganda class which was very interesting. We’ve learned so much about Austria’s history and especially their role in the war but in this class we focus on the propaganda the Nazi’s used during WWII and even propaganda in our society today. Going to the museum was a great way to learn about the city of Salzburg’s role during WWII. The way the museum is decorated was really special because all along the walls they had the years written (1939-1945 aka the years of WWII) and what happened to Salzburg, Germany/Austria, and the globe as a whole during each year. You can see here how they really broke it down. 

In addition, something our tour guide told us that stuck with me was how the Nazi party used the roadways as a means of propaganda too. I was confused about how this could be but it turns out the Nazi’s used the construction of highways as a way to give the people hope. After the first world war Austria was in economic despair and suffering from massive unemployment but the construction of highways opens tremendous opportunity for jobs. If people were opposed to Hitler or the Nazi Party this very well could have changed their mind and resulted in them supporting the Nazi’s just because of this little bit of good they are bringing to Austria. Below is an actual piece of the highway they conserved for the museum. It used to have a swastika in the middle of it but that was removed once the war ended.

They also had crates that they used during the war to store precious items including alcohol underground.

One other piece of propaganda displayed in the museum is the Austrian flag with the Swastika on it. The Swastika as we all know is a powerful Nazi symbol so placing it on the flag was a huge form of propaganda. Furthermore, the original flag that had this symbol on it was preserved and taken to the museum. 

Once the Nazi’s seized Austria during the war they had complete control of not only the government but also of museums too. In doing so, they were able to decide what objects are put in the museum and what needs to be removed. They took advantage of the museum by only allowing pro-Nazi documents, items, etc in there to further gain support of their party. Eventually Salzburg Museum needed to be evacuated because during 1944 and 1945 the city of Salzburg was bombed a total of 15 times. Unfortunately in the process of three air raids in 1944 the museum took a great hit and its content suffered great damage. Because Salzburg was in ruins after the war, it wasn't until the 60′s  that they began reconstruction of the museum that we can still visit today. 

That same afternoon we had a walking tour around Salzburg in which our guide showed us some of the historic sites that were prominent to WWII. The first site we saw was the plaza that the famous book burning happened in. The book burning was another way of Nazi’s exerting their power in which they ordered any cultural Jewish books to be burned in flames. They only wanted people to read about the Aryan race and how to support the Nazi party. This was one of the many anti-semitic acts on behalf of the Nazi’s. 

Below is an image of the plaza, Residenzplatz, where the book burning took place in Salzburg.

Around the corner from this site is the building that was once the Nazi Headquarters during WWII: 

One other thing our guide showed us were the little plaques in the ground that are actually all over Salzburg. Each little square plaque has the name of a victim of Nazi brutality during the war and now that he pointed it out, I have noticed them more and more around the city ever since. It’s amazing to think how much history happened here in the streets we walk on everyday to school, etc, less than 100 years ago. 

It was quite a history heavy week in terms of all the tours but a very educational one to say the least! 

Check out my next post for an April update... auf wiedersehen!