News From Stuttgart

Berlin.
Monday-Wednesday

We all met on Monday evening. Some had arrived the day before and very long trip in the JES van from Stuttgart. This didn't dampen anyone's spirit for the beginning of our new project Berlin 1961. This was large group, Christian, Christian, Alexandra, Sara und Gerd von Stuttgart and Kjell, David, Elizabet, Aude and Tomas from NIE. After a lovely Italian meal (thanks to Conrad) we stumbled upon (and eventually out) of a typische Deutsche Kneipe. This really helped to break the ice.

The next day we met in Wall Memorial Site in Bernauer Strasse where we started our research for the project. Here the city was split in half and made us all think of how unbelievable it is to imagine having one's own city split in half. The wall went straight through the street and divided neighbours from each other. Here we also met with a tunnelmaker who helped people escape the east. As we walked along the street it was funny to think that 7 meters under the ground, he an 48 others spend 6 months building a tunnel that was 85cm high and 85cm wide. He was a very good storyteller. David, Gert and Alex saw the Rock on their way to the history of Berlin Museum that delayed them so much they were not allowed in - serves them right being so superficially excited by celebrity.

The next day we met a man who lived in Bernauer Strasse when the wall was built. He was also great. His account made the history very alive for us. Later that day we met his sister who was 6 when the wall was built. (Kjell has a picture of the meeting with Cakes). Being able to ask question to those who have experienced such events was very inspiring. Thanks to Christian's hard work giving us the opportunity to meet these people.


Stuttgart.

Spring!!! Thank you Stuttgart. It is great. Liz and Kjell leave Norway with a new layer of snow. David had thought nowhere could be greyer than London but Hamburg had managed. Spring had sprung. People where excited and this was a very good starting point for rehearsals. We played games, sang songs and talked about the stories we had heard.

We all hope to be fluent in German by the end of this experience. Können wir das alle machen? Vielleicht - warum nicht?

Stuttgart ist eine sehr schöne Stadt. Hier gibt's ganz viele BMWs und Mercedes. Tolle Autos! Elisabet and David are now sitting in the big city park here in Stuttgart, thanks to the spring and writing this blog because Our superb blogger is going to be stretching her legs in Berlin. That's just a phrase not an operation.

posted by Elisabet and David