(no subject)
ok now for my Berlin update!! All of my pics from Berlin are captioned. I took so freakin many!! Well I got to Berlin a little late due to some unforseen circumstances that were a direct result from the wine tasting the night before. (No, not just a hangover.) I eventually made it to Berlin after a 5 hour train ride. I made it to the hotel, walked around in the Pedestrian zone near we were staying, but didn't find anything I wanted bad enoguh to buy. I eventually mosied back over to our hotel, but not before sampling what the Turks in Berlin had to offer in the way of falafal. That night I was so exhausted that I just went to sleep really early to prepare for our 5 hour walking tour the next day.
Friday morning I woke up bright and early with the rest of my group (a little irritated that I had been woken up at 4am that morning by a few people in our group getting home from being out). After a nice breakfast provided by the lovely Berlin City Hotel, we headed to meet up with the tour guide to begin our tour. Over 5 hours, we saw so much of what Berlin had to offer. We saw the Berlin Wall, the spot where Hitler's bunker was, and where he killed himself (it has been since imploded by the German goverment), Checkpoint Charlie (so cool!), the Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenberg Gate, the Reichtags, Pariser Platz, Museum Island, Pergamon Museum, Bebelplatz (where Jewish book burning took place early on in the Nazi regime), Potsdamer Platz, Topography of Terror (site of SS and Gestapo headquarters), a Ghost subway station (which was closed off due to being located in subEast Berlin, but troops would stand in the dimly lit station with guns and the trains from the West had to go sloowwwllyy past), the Russian Embassy, the TV tower, the Berlin Cathedral, the Catholic Cathedral, Humbolt University (where Einstein taught!), and a lot more. Checkpoint Charlie was the American base at the wall where one could access the West side of Berlin. They now have a museum there that is really cool, and has lots of pictures and stories about what people did to get across the wall. It also had cars, planes, and different things that people built to use as transportation or to assist in getting to the West. Oh, side note, there is a hotel right next to the Brandenburg Gate which is the place where Michael Jackson dangled his baby off the balcony. There is also a Starbucks there, which I found amusing, and took a picture while sipping my frappucino inside.
After the tour of Berlin, a few of us went to the Jewish Museum. It was really interesting because it focused on more than just the holocaust, which is what a lot of historical stuff here really focuses on. It was cool to learn all of the history from like way back in the day. There was also an exhibit with belongings and letters and stuff from victims of the Holocaust, as well as a description as to what happened to them and their families. There is this one thing there that is to remember the victims called the Holocaust Tower. You go alone, or in a small group, through this door, which is huge and heavy and is closed behind you. You are in this tiny room with a strange, narrow, and unsymmetrical shape. The walls are probably 100 feet high, and the room is covered by blackness. One side of the roof has a tiny bit of light shining through it, and you are able to hear the cars and noises from outside the museum. It's supposed to represent the isolation and fear of the Nazi extermination camps. The garden of exile was cool too. Check out all the pics! The description of the Garden of Exile shows what it says, so read it. It's pretty interesting.
When we were done at the Jewish Museum, I headed back to the hotel to catch a nap before the evening hours. I got up and a group of us went into the city. I got these amazing chicken fingers! After walking around looking for a club or bar that WASN'T Florida themed or playing crappy music, we went to Haagan Das, and then onto a little Spanish tapas place for overpriced drinks and crappy service. We were bored by that point, so we headed back to the hotel to sleep some more.
The next day we went to San Soucci in Potsdam. It is the palace of Friedrich the Great. It is supposedly the Versailles of Germany. It was huge!! There was just so much to see there. I walked around for 2 hours and still couldn't see it all. It was really beautiful. The scenery ranged from amazing castles (yes, plural), to fountains and statues, to gardens and a church and some other random buildings with just beautiful architecture. It was really nice to sit and write in my journal because it was such a beautiful clear day out, and at such a beautiful place. After we got back from Potsdam, I went shopping in Berlin and then headed back for a nap. That night, a group of us went out to a club called H20. It was really fun!! We had a really great time together and it was just fun to dance and enjoy the company of the other kids from UF.
Sunday we all went to the Pergamon to see this huge Greek alter that was dragged into Germany and completely reassembled. It was really huge and just cool. See pictures! Then we went to this flea market which had a bunch of used books and jewelry and antiques and stuff. Nothing really blew my skirt up so I didn't spend a lot of time there. Then we went souvieneer shopping a little bit, then hurried back to the hotel to grab our luggage to catch our train!! That was our trip to Berlin!
Berlin pictures can be found here, and Potsdam pictures can be found here!
Friday morning I woke up bright and early with the rest of my group (a little irritated that I had been woken up at 4am that morning by a few people in our group getting home from being out). After a nice breakfast provided by the lovely Berlin City Hotel, we headed to meet up with the tour guide to begin our tour. Over 5 hours, we saw so much of what Berlin had to offer. We saw the Berlin Wall, the spot where Hitler's bunker was, and where he killed himself (it has been since imploded by the German goverment), Checkpoint Charlie (so cool!), the Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenberg Gate, the Reichtags, Pariser Platz, Museum Island, Pergamon Museum, Bebelplatz (where Jewish book burning took place early on in the Nazi regime), Potsdamer Platz, Topography of Terror (site of SS and Gestapo headquarters), a Ghost subway station (which was closed off due to being located in subEast Berlin, but troops would stand in the dimly lit station with guns and the trains from the West had to go sloowwwllyy past), the Russian Embassy, the TV tower, the Berlin Cathedral, the Catholic Cathedral, Humbolt University (where Einstein taught!), and a lot more. Checkpoint Charlie was the American base at the wall where one could access the West side of Berlin. They now have a museum there that is really cool, and has lots of pictures and stories about what people did to get across the wall. It also had cars, planes, and different things that people built to use as transportation or to assist in getting to the West. Oh, side note, there is a hotel right next to the Brandenburg Gate which is the place where Michael Jackson dangled his baby off the balcony. There is also a Starbucks there, which I found amusing, and took a picture while sipping my frappucino inside.
After the tour of Berlin, a few of us went to the Jewish Museum. It was really interesting because it focused on more than just the holocaust, which is what a lot of historical stuff here really focuses on. It was cool to learn all of the history from like way back in the day. There was also an exhibit with belongings and letters and stuff from victims of the Holocaust, as well as a description as to what happened to them and their families. There is this one thing there that is to remember the victims called the Holocaust Tower. You go alone, or in a small group, through this door, which is huge and heavy and is closed behind you. You are in this tiny room with a strange, narrow, and unsymmetrical shape. The walls are probably 100 feet high, and the room is covered by blackness. One side of the roof has a tiny bit of light shining through it, and you are able to hear the cars and noises from outside the museum. It's supposed to represent the isolation and fear of the Nazi extermination camps. The garden of exile was cool too. Check out all the pics! The description of the Garden of Exile shows what it says, so read it. It's pretty interesting.
When we were done at the Jewish Museum, I headed back to the hotel to catch a nap before the evening hours. I got up and a group of us went into the city. I got these amazing chicken fingers! After walking around looking for a club or bar that WASN'T Florida themed or playing crappy music, we went to Haagan Das, and then onto a little Spanish tapas place for overpriced drinks and crappy service. We were bored by that point, so we headed back to the hotel to sleep some more.
The next day we went to San Soucci in Potsdam. It is the palace of Friedrich the Great. It is supposedly the Versailles of Germany. It was huge!! There was just so much to see there. I walked around for 2 hours and still couldn't see it all. It was really beautiful. The scenery ranged from amazing castles (yes, plural), to fountains and statues, to gardens and a church and some other random buildings with just beautiful architecture. It was really nice to sit and write in my journal because it was such a beautiful clear day out, and at such a beautiful place. After we got back from Potsdam, I went shopping in Berlin and then headed back for a nap. That night, a group of us went out to a club called H20. It was really fun!! We had a really great time together and it was just fun to dance and enjoy the company of the other kids from UF.
Sunday we all went to the Pergamon to see this huge Greek alter that was dragged into Germany and completely reassembled. It was really huge and just cool. See pictures! Then we went to this flea market which had a bunch of used books and jewelry and antiques and stuff. Nothing really blew my skirt up so I didn't spend a lot of time there. Then we went souvieneer shopping a little bit, then hurried back to the hotel to grab our luggage to catch our train!! That was our trip to Berlin!
Berlin pictures can be found here, and Potsdam pictures can be found here!