Berlin Phil and Swan Lake!

On the 15th, I got to sit about 5 feet away from the timpani of the Berlin Philharmonic and about 10 feet away (behind) from the brass section on stage.  We knew we would be sitting behind the orchestra, but were completely unaware of how close to them we would be sitting.  It was open seating in this area and I just happened to get there at the right time to get a front row seat in front of the conductor's podium.  It was an entirely amazing experience. My only regret is that this concert was on a travel day and I was thoroughly exhausted by the time of the concert, despite coffee's glorious effort.  I thought I would fall asleep at one point and it was definitely not because I was bored. I was fascinated by the conductor's movement and his acknowledgement of the musicians during pieces, but every time I blinked, my brain wanted to nod me off to sleep.  I fought through it and I'm both thankful and surprised that I did.

Last night, we went to see Swan Lake, and this was my first-ever ballet.  I was surprised by the audience's behavior.  When the orchestra first began playing, the audience continued talking.  It wasn't until the dancers appeared that the chatter stopped.  The same happened after intermission, along with people coming in late to their seats because they had taken too long of a smoking break.  The dancing was unbelievable and absolutely mind-boggling.  The fluidity of their movements, along with their stamina and musculature was something I have never seen before.  There were also some very nice lighting effects, and at one point there were fog machines.  My first thoughts to the fog (as awesome as it was), was that it was rolling right off the stage and into the orchestra pit, which I know can be pretty suffocating, as we had a similar experience the night that we saw the Three Penny Opera in Leipzig.  But, we walked out of the ballet to find that it had started snowing in Berlin! And it hasn't really stopped.  I love snow. We have about an inch of accumulation now.  It's cold and we walk a lot and I kind of wish I had brought my bigger coat with me, but I'm holding up alright.  My boots are the best.

I had some amazing beer last night and this afternoon.  There's a restaurant right next to our hostel that brews their own and it is the best I have had on this trip so far.  It also has a higher alcohol content, go figure! I had a tasty brunch there today along with their Winterbok brew.  It was above 9% and is so far my favorite, although I have said that about nearly every beer I have had.  Each one is better than the last.  Dünkels and pilsners, YAY!  The restaurant food is of much greater quality that in the U.S.  There is more care and effort put into the meals. They have great flavor and are aesthetically pleasing.  My brunch had a cute little side salad that had beet sprouts and fennel in it.  It was both adorable and tasty.  I like that restaurants here do not put sad looking vegetables on your plate like places back home do.  Everything is very fresh and it's making me happy!