Better shot of me and Arno

Since I failed to put an up-close shot of me and Arno before, here it is now...also from Berlin, in front of the largest section of the wall which is still standing.

Jared Allen Ruggles

I know I have already sent photos of my baby brother to nearly everyone I know, but I wanted to post a few here as well :o)

Berlin! 05-07 May 2006

Arno and I began our drive to Berlin Friday morning. Ironically, 05 may is Liberation Day in the Netherlands.

After a long drive, we arrived at our hostel in East Berlin near the Karl Marx street and Communist-styled buildings. The East side is still very delapidated and strikingly different from the West. The city overall, particularly in the East, is alternative and hippy. Among other things, Berlin is reknown for its numerous art museums and diverse architecture.

We spent most of our time walking around, visiting the largest section of the Berlin Wall (pictured above), the Berlin Jewish museum, the outdoor Holocaust memorial, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the oldest beer garden, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The infamous sign at Checkpoint Charlie












~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Me and Arno at the Brandenburg Gate - at one point, it was also part of the Berlin Wall














~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of the Berlin Jewish museum








The Holocaust memorial - the cement blocks are of different heights and the walkways in between are not level. Intended to give you a disoriented, uneasy feeling (among others).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Reichstag






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A cool club we went to--you can see us sitting there on the couch in the distance

Queen's Day

So, Queen's Day has come and gone--it was fun with dancing in the streets and fighting with the crowds to walk along the street, but walking around Amsterdam for the entire day was just too tiring..especially after a long night of dancing the night before. I went with some friends to see Armin van Buuren. I only have photos from that evening.

Arno and I are driving to Berlin this upcoming weekend (5-7 May) so stay tuned for some great photos ;o)

With Jack and Joost (Jack's brother)












Below: Joost with Kanako (she will be in Sarajevo interning for part of the summer as well!)