Berlin was a whirlwind of excitement, and I am so happy I made it there.
Thursday Nov. 24
I traveled there Thursday morning with Nathaniel and Andrew, then met up with Chantal, who I met in Poland last weekend, so the 4 of us had a jam packed 48 hours together. Nathaniel stayed an extra day, so Andrew and I flew back together Saturday morning at 9:30 am. Needless to say there are tons of things to do and see in Berlin (this city is MASSIVE), and I think I slept a total of 7 hours between the two days. Here is our whirlwind 48 hours:
We woke up bright and early after having a Roman thanksgiving in my room the night before (which was amazing)- the shuttle picked us up at 4:45am. The flight left at 7:30 and we were in Berlin by 9:30am. I had hoped to meet with Chantal right away, and with only facebook messages to communicate we picked a walking tour outside the Bradenburg Gate at 11am to meet. Well, Andrew showed he was a pro at navigating from the start, since we went right from the airport to the gate with just a map from the airport to help, switching into 2 trains and 2 underground lines- it was amazing that we got there right at 11am without getting lost. I was so excited to make it in time and see her again.
Our walking tour lasted about 3 hours and was very informative. Berlin is bursting with history, so I was happy to start our trip with someone who knew so much about the city, because there is just so much to learn. During the tour we saw quite a bit- the Bradenburg Gate, the Reichstag Dome- the debating chamber of the Bunedstag, the German parliament, can be seen below, as well as the Holocaust Memorial- which was by far the most incredible memorial I have ever been to.
Here is a summary found online to describe it: It consists of a 19,000 square metres (4.7 acres) site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or "stelae", arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The stelae are 2.38 m (7 ft 10 in) long, 0.95 m (3 ft 1 in) wide and vary in height from 0.2 to 4.8 m (8 in to 15 ft 9 in). According to Eisenman's project text, the stelae are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.
The guide allowed us to walk through, then asked us what symbolism we saw in the concrete slabs, as many people say varying things, such as a bar chart representing the number of Jews killed each year, others say train carts all lined up, waiting to leave for the concentration camps (this struck me the most), and so on. This was an incredible place because it is a unique experience to walk among these concrete towers, varying in height on a sloping plane, and it becomes a maze once you find yourself in the middle, the towers twice your height, and having the feeling that you may crash into someone at any given moment since you cannot see around you only in front of you, with people weaving in and out, feeling disoriented as to where you are or where you are going, only seeing the towers take over all around you- which is an obvious connection to the Holocaust itself and how the Jews must have felt. On top of this it was totally beautiful to photograph, with the light coming through the slivers of light produced by the space between columns, and the repetition of shape but varying height creating a wave effect. I could have stayed there and photographed all day. But, for the sake of the group, we continued, and next we saw the Stasi apartments. This was the point when I was glad to have a guide, since these stark buildings did not have any label or way of pointing out their importance, but even more interesting was when we stopped in a car lot covered with leaves for no apparent reason. Although it seemed strange at first, our guide informed us that directly below our feet (again, no signs to label this) was where Hitler’s bunker had been located. We literally stood above this famous place, a place where Hitler spent his reign during the war planning and commanding, and where he spent his last days before killing himself in defeat. It was a totally eerie feeling. Keep in mind this is only feet from the Holocaust memorial. So between Berlin and Auschwitz, I had quite an amazing glimpse into the past of World War II.
We continued on and saw some incredible architecture, starting with the last building still standing from the war- as you can see from the many bullet holes, canon holes, and scratched out lettering.
Again, no label, so the guide was very helpful. From here we saw how the old and new are integrated in Berlin, a place that confronts its past, and respects its place, but also continues to build innovative structures that make you think. For example, another simple but poignant memorial we saw was in the square where the famous book burning took place in Bebelplatz on May 10, 1933. It was a simple glass square that you look down into and see empty book shelves. The space is big enough to fit all 20,000 books that were lost that day.
We also saw Checkpoint Charlie, the security point constructed to prevent escape across the city border between East and West Berlin. It has become a symbol of the Cold War, where Soviets and Americans literally faced each other during the Berlin Crisis of 1961. It is now a tourist attraction, and guards continue to stand there, however, there was also a huge Christmas tree in front of them, which I don’t think is an original from the war.
Ok, so that was just the walking tour. Yes, we made sure to see as much as possible in our short time.
Next we went to a local pub with the tour guide, talked to him a bit, and celebrated Thanksgiving with our first meal in Berlin- pumpkin soup!!! And guess what, the TV at the pub had AMERICAN FOOTBALL ON!!!!! I seriously felt like I was at home for a second, and it truly felt like Thanksgiving (well, not really, since it made me miss being in New York with my family even more).
Anyway, we got some beer and soup and hit the road again, the four of us enjoying our first night in Berlin. And what did we do?? WE WENT TUBING!!!!!!! IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY! In the middle of one of the many Christmas fairs that were up, there was a huge slope covered in fake snow and for a cheap 1 euro we dropped our bags (still hadn’t checked into the hostel), took some pictures of our overwhelming excitement, and linked together and took a tube ride down a hill! In the middle of Berlin! Can you imagine?!! Well we were all smiles after that and it truly felt like the holidays, so Chantal and I celebrated with a gingerbread cookie to share afterward.
It made us very happy.
Currywurst!
By far, however, the best euro I spent all day was the one I used to buy 40 minutes of internet at my hostel, where I was able to call me family in New York and hear their voices on Thanksgiving. I must admit I got a bit choked up, especially hearing Grandma Altmann say, “My only granddaughter”- I miss everyone immensely and I really cannot wait for Christmas and finally spend the holidays surrounded by my family. I love every one of you with all my heart. Thank you for being so supportive of me and everything I do, it means the world to me.
Friday Nov. 25
After a decent nights rest between midnight at 7:30am, we got up and hit the town running again. We started off at a local caffe, owned by a young couple from New Zealand (where Chantal is from!), so their English and friendliness were very comforting. I got an incredible breakfast of fresh squeezed orange juice (I think the best I have ever had) with bread, thinly sliced meat, and brie cheese. Yum. We waited there for the bike rental next door to open up, so we were his first customers bright and early, ready to rent our bikes for the day. Yes, I dislike biking, and yes, the only other time I have done it in recent years was with Colin on Favignana Island, were there were no cars and no people to hit, so yes, I was nervous about city biking to say the least. But the crew was prepared as I kept telling them how bad I was at biking at breakfast, so they were patient with me, but as usual, when push comes to shove and you have no choice you find the confidence and realize you made a bigger deal out of something than it was. Short story: We biked for 12 hours. I did not hit any people or cars. Andrew was an amazing navigator and we would not have been as successful without his photographic memory. O, and I loved every second of seeing the city this way.
Long story: We biked for at least an hour and a half straight through just to get to our first site. Again, this city is MASSIVE. Along the way the architecture was stunning and the beautiful sun against the towering Ferris wheels and monuments like the bell tower were gorgeous, paired with the leaves falling along the paths, I literally felt like I was biking through a postcard. We finally got off our bikes almost two hours after leaving the shop just to check out the Bauhaus Archivs from the outside, use the bathroom, and leave again, finally stopping about 30 minutes later at the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall. The largest section of the Berlin Wall (1.3 km) covered in expressive art in the form of 106 paintings, this is a symbol of freedom for the people of Berlin and for the world. We walked along side of it and took tons of photos, just taking in the massive scale as well as viewing the people’s voice in the form of art. It was awesome.
After getting Currywurst for dinner the night before, we were all addicted, and as soon as I saw a Currywurst stand on our bike ride, we immediately stopped and got it for lunch. What is Currywurst you may ask? I would answer- the only food I ate in Berlin (dinner the first night, lunch the second day, and breakfast at 7am on the way out on Saturday. Believe it). But it is a fast food disk in Germany consisting of cut up pork sausage seasoned with curry ketchup, topped with curry powder and served with a bun. Let me just say in my defense of consuming something that could not be good for me so many times, each time I ate it, I was taking part in German culture. I found out that the currywurst is an icon of German popular culture. By tradition, every candidate for Bürgermeister (mayor) of Berlin is photographed by a currywurst stand! So there you have it.
We then continued biking through the Tiergarden, which was gorgeous (again, leaves falling, picture perfect). They even had a zoo in there and I saw LAMAS! (“A lama?! He’s supposed to be dead! Yeah, weird.- my favorite movie of all time Emperor’s New Groove- seeing the lamas made me miss my Anas!!) After this we got to climb to the top of the Berlin Victory Tower. Yes, after 5 hours of biking we climbed UP 285 steps to get the best view of Berlin I could have imagined, so as tired as I was, it was worth it. This is where we saw the full extent of how MASSIVE (the only word I can use to describe the size of this city) Berlin really is. And beautiful.
We ended our site seeing at Charlottenburg Palace. Chantal and I biked around the gardens at sunset while the boys went inside, and I was just elated to spend my last sunset enjoying such a beautiful view. I couldn’t stop taking pictures, but at some point I knew that sunsets like this are meant to live in our memories rather than in print, as the photograph only brings that memory back to the surface. As I biked around I couldn’t help but cherish the moment, knowing that every second that I live will disappear and a new second with a new memory will take its place, and the cycle continues until you realize that living in the moment is the only way to cherish and remember everything. It all becomes a memory even as it is being lived.
Night 2: Christmas again. Hot apple cider. Chimney Cakes (dough cooked on a wooden rod over an open flame, covered in cinnamon and sugar and served hot). Chocolate. Happiness.
Night biking was cool until you throw some cars into the mix. It started raining a bit as well, so we left the main road and looked for a famous underground art house- which we found after about an hour of searching- which was a unique experience that was an interesting glimpse into art in Berlin today. It was one of those places where you stand and say, “this is Berlin.”
Dinner consisted of Bratwurst and a fruit jam filled, vanilla dumpling. Amazing, and hard to describe.
I don’t have any photos of the remaining 9 hours of my trip. There is also very little to say other than this: we did not sleep. Berlin is a city that is open 24 hours. You can get any food or drink you want at any time of the night, and the metro runs 24 hours on weekends, so since the city never sleeps, we didn’t either. We pretty much met some people at a bar located in the hostel (I got cider-beer, which I prefer to regular beer- again, Christmas theme here), we went out and walked around the city at night, stopping at one bar and one dance club with some of the people we had met (one from Canada, once from Finland, and one from Mexico), then went back, parted, and Andrew and I began our long journey home. We had to wait for and transfer onto two trains, both of which we fell asleep on, before making it to the airport around 8:45am. Waited to board, struggled to stay awake, then passed out on the plane when we finally made it on. I don’t even remember the plan taking off, I just buckled in and slept. We finally made it back to the Residence at 1:30 pm, where I showered and passed out again for 3 more hours. Yay sleep.
So that ended my Berlin-in-48-hours-adventure. It was the best 2 day trip we could have done, and I am so happy that I traveled with Chantal, Nathaniel, and Andrew. I hope to see Chantal again at some point in my life, we had a great time in Poland and Berlin and it was great to make a new friend in such extraordinary circumstances. This is my last big trip and I two weeks from today I will be sleeping in my own bed on 9 Clyston Circle. I have been riding a rollercoaster of emotion, and I know it will only get worse from here, trying to cherish every day while dying to see everyone from home again. I plan to see as much of Rome as possible while juggling finals in these last 14 days. Now that this experience is coming to an end I know I would never trade my chance to study abroad for anything, and I am so glad I found the courage to do it.
Again, thank you to everyone reading these blogs. I always love knowing that I have so many people from home who care so much and are always interested in my trips. I am so lucky to have each and every one of you in my life. I love you.
