Berlin, Day 2

Berlin has definitely been amazing! Yesterday we woke up and had breakfast at our hostel, and even as someone who rarely does breakfast, I can say it was pretty good. We then took a tour of several sites across Berlin. The architecture of sone of these buildings were amazing; you could see gigantic concert halls and churches all near each other! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, and my phone died shortly after the tour began, so I didn't get many pictures. After the tour we had an amazing dinner at a German restaurant. The food there was beyond compare, definitely the best I've had on the trip yet.

We then hung around the area looking through shops until the Benewitz String Quartet concert. I wasn't expecting very much, since I haven't really connected with much string music before, but I was completely blown away. The pieces got progressively more intense and exciting, and it easily held my attention the entire concert. The level of connectivity between the players was incredibly tight. The final piece of the set was actually a world premiere, which we hadn't expected, and it was the most interesting piece of music I've heard in a while. The performers employed a huge assortment of techniques and sounds, many of which I had no idea you could get from string instruments, which perfectly blended the audio recording they had for an incredibly surreal experience. It was an amazing start to our formal concert set.

Today we're planning on seeing the Berlin Wall, which we opted out of seeing on the tour to see some other sights. Afterwards, its the Magic Flute, and I am very excited for both!