What a weekend! It was my first time in Berlin, Germany and I
must say it was pretty unforgettable. Me, along with 7 other girls from the Verona program, hopped on a train to Milan, Italy to then catch a flight into Berlin.
It was quite the travel schedule. After leaving form class at 4pm, we arrived
at our hostel at 1:30am, given we had to get from Verona to Milan, Milan train
station to the Milan airport, then the Germany airport to the S and the S
to the city center and then walk to our hostel. Crazy right? But we made the
best of our time left in Germany for the weekend.
My first time in a hostel... was very interesting. But it was
definitely the way to go since we were walking about the city for the majority
of our stay. It was in the perfect
location, Alexanderplatz in Mitte, so we were in the center of the city.
![]() |
Entrance to our hostel's dorms |
We got up early Saturday morning to catch our bus tour. On
our way, we stopped at the Fernsehturm, or the TV tower, the tallest
building in Germany and fourth in Europe. Although we did not get a chance to go up and look at the
city birds-eye view, it was a fun landmark to start at.
After hopping on the bus, we were taken to the
Berlin Cathedral: the Dom.
Then we headed to the Brandenburg Gate, which was at the
border of East and West Berlin. (If you look close enough, Lisa and I are posing)
And of course, I had to snap a pic of Hotel Alden where
Michael Jackson stayed in 2002 when he was seen holding Blanket out the window.
We headed over the Memorial to the Murdered Jews
of Europe. This was a very cool memorial. At first glace is seems as if these
stones are slightly elevated, but as you walk through the memorial, the ground
declines and you are standing in the center with these stones towering you … they were over 7 feet tall. It
was a bit erie thinking about the WWII history and the amount of innocent people
murdered due to their religion, culture, or race, but it was also very moving to know
how far our world has come since that time.
We also got to see where all the Embassies are located in
Berlin. It was cool to think we were nearly walking in ‘America’ while in
Germany! We then walked to see part of the Berlin wall and then went into the
Topographie des terrors (or Topography of Terror) museum. It is a famous museum
that takes you through the planning of Nazi crimes and the euthanasia of Jews,
which were all created at this very location.
Our next stop was at Checkpoint Charlie, where one American solider and usually one Russian solider stand to represent the allies and soviets that were apart of West and East Berlin at this crossing. It was a cool spot
to walk around. At this point we grabbed a brat from a stand across the street. It was
delicious! I’m not a huge bratwurst fan, but I did enjoy this one mostly
because I was in Germany… how could you not?
We then saw another section of the Berlin wall while waiting
for our bus to come to take us back to Alexanderplatz. Even though it was
pretty cold out, with a brat in hand and seeing a huge part of our world’s
history, I was satisfied and somehow perfectly awake given we only slept a few
hours the night before. We were really taking advantage of our short weekend in
Berlin and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
We jumped off the bus to check out the Hofbrauhaus Munchen
restaurant. It was decorated as you would expect of German restaurant to look
like. The waitress’s were dressed up and we immediately order a liter beer and
some German style pretzels. It turned from a long morning of touring the city, to a
relaxing, beer-filled afternoon. I got the Munchner Weisse, which was a sweeter
beer, and I thouroughly enjoyed the entire liter. I owe that to my German
ancestors.
Accompanying us was a live band playing the accordion, guitar and percussion instruments.
Accompanying us was a live band playing the accordion, guitar and percussion instruments.
Before it got dark we roamed the city for souvenir shopping
and just to take it all in. We passed through an outdoor market and had fun
chatting with locals. Then we headed to an authentic German restaurant. It was
a bit of a walk but we leisurely stopped in and out of shops along the
way. It was a fun evening stroll. We ate dinner at Schwarzwaldstuben. Don’t ask me how to pronounce that one... and
kids: don’t try to at home.
Jokes aside, I give this one two thumbs up! It was a nice
intimate setting (us 8, loud, American girls were crashing some dates, I’m sure),
the food was incredible and there was good beer and even better live music.
We walked back to the hostel and decided to go to bed at a decent hour since we wanted to wake up early Sunday morning to see the East Berlin Wall before our flight. That next morning around 7am, we made the hike to the East Berlin Wall and it was awesome! The murals were very moving and exciting to look at. These are a few of my favorites.
I even spotted my name on the wall! It was right by the
American flag too… how coincidental! (they even spelled it like I do J )
Our trip back went very smoothly (I had to get some German
chocolate before I left of course!) We had a nice clear view out the plane window flying
over Germany too.
I soon fell asleep after seeing this view… but to be far it had
been quite the weekend! I’m so excited to share all these adventures with my
blog readers, and there are plenty more European adventures to come. It was
also lucky to have a safe and smooth trip, I’m so blessed!
No comments:
Post a Comment