This past “extended weekend” I went to Berlin, Germany with my entire program. We stayed in West Berlin at a super luxurious Hotel Motel One with free breakfast (aka free lunch and snacks for the rest of the day). I also took my first ever shower since I’ve been here. Not sure if I ever mentioned that my flat only has a bath with a very low pressure nozzle and no curtain.
I hate to group together all of Germany solely from my experience in Berlin, but I’m going to be honest, this country was not my cup of tea. It’s a great city don’t get me wrong. But to stick with my analogy, the problem is not that it wasn’t my favorite cup of tea, but that I don’t like tea in the first place. Berlin was very industrial and the sight seeing was pretty bland compared to the colorful cities that I’ve been exploring. It was super spread out and filled with museums and artwork. Although, all their cars were super flashy!
When we first arrived, we had a bus tour around West Berlin followed by a two hour (freezing cold) walking tour around East Berlin.
An underground memorial to represent the 20,000 Jewish books that were burned right here.
When we got home a group of friends and I went out to dinner for some typical German currywurst and spaetzle (thick spaghetti pasta) at a restaurant down the way from our hotel. Although not technically German, we figured some Haagen Dazs was the perfect way to satisfy our sugar craving.
The night life in Berlin wasn’t fantastic either, depending on what you’re into. You dress “grungy” and don’t come with more than two or three people. They pick and choose who to let through and the cover charge just to get in was 14 euro.
The next day the entire program went back to the German Parliament. Our directors booked us passes six months in advance so we could get a tour of the inside, which was definitely a highlight of the trip. We got to go up in the swirling dome and got a great view of the city from the top as well as a headphone tour.
My mom kept talking about the legendary 5-star Aldon Michael Jackson hotel so I was like, ok, I have “to pee” and check it out. There were a bunch of uniformed guards standing shoulder to shoulder and said we couldn’t go because there was a big event going on. But with some charming jokes I was able to get us in although the guard told us weren’t allowed to come back out the same door. The hotel wasn’t as luxurious as I thought it’d be but it was definitely filled with elegant people. We popped out on the other side (the main door) where the brandenburger and main Pariser Platz was. Normally swarming with tourists, it was completely empty except a bunch of policemen with gas masks on, cars, horses and shields. I guess the entire plaza was closed off because there was a huge human rights protest going on. We were lucky enough to see it by ourselves, front row, with no one around behind the safety of the cops. So no babies being dangled out the balcony but the Aldon hotel definitely gave me a memorable experience.
Snapped this last picture for my mom because of all the orchids but I guess taking pictures inside is against the rules. Escorted me to the door after this one.
A group of friends and I went back to the Holocaust memorial and checked out the museum which was extremely interesting. There are 2,700 concrete slabs and costed 25 million euro to construct. The slabs are all different heights and everything is on slopes to represent an uneasy or confusing atmosphere.
Nutella fries!
That night we went to a bar that took us two hours to get into but had a 10-story view over the city and Berlin Zoo (most visited zoo in Europe).
Last day here we went to visit the Berlin Wall before taking off back to Prague. Below is my three favorite from the wall.
I’m not going to even unpack my bag because my flight for my next trip takes of in less than 48 hours- somewhere quite lucky for St. Patrick’s Day!!