The Berlin trip was okay. It would have been better with fewer tours and less bus time. The bus ride one-way was at least 7 hours, and I felt that the trip was rather poorly run. It was somewhat well-organized, but there were so many tours every day. I really would have rather just run around the city with a few friends and taken pictures of everything. Maybe a couple tours would have been fine, but not so many every day.
On the first full day we were there (Tuesday, June 5th), we had a bus tour of the city. We got out to see Checkpoint Charlie, and then we headed to the Reichstag. However, we didn't have a tour of the building for whatever reason. Instead, we just stood outside and listened to someone talk about it and answer questions that some people had. Afterwards, we had a little bit of free time in the area to eat and explore (and see the Brandeburg Gate) before heading to Hohenschönhausen, an old Stasi prison. The tour of the prison was good, because I didn't know much about that kind of thing. After that, we went back to the hostel for dinner and whatever evening plans we wanted to do.
On Wednesday, we had a lot of free time. The only planned tour we had was at the Topographie des Terrors museum-thing. After that, I explored the city with a group of friends. A couple of them went back to the hostel to nap before dinner, while I went to the Tiergarten with a pair of Michiganders and hung out and talked for a couple hours. We also saw the most adorable puppy there. It looked like a teddy bear! Then, on Wednesday night, dinner was a cookout-esque thing on the grill out behind the hostel. That night, I just hung out with people outside until about 11 pm.
Thursday we went to a memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, and then we headed to the Museumsinsel for some museum time. I chose the Neues Museum, which had an exhibit of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. They even had the bust of Queen Nefertiti, which was AMAZING! We weren't allowed to take pictures of it, though. Several of the people who I went with to the museum didn't really care for it, but I thought it was cool. After dinner at the hostel, I tagged along on a trip to the Tempelhof Airport, along with four others, because it's always more fun to visit things in groups.
Friday, our last full day in Berlin, was spent in Potsdam. First, we had a tour around the grounds of the Schloss Sanssouci, which was gorgeous. The weather this day was sunny and warm, and that made for some beautiful photos (in my opinion). Then we went into the actual city of Potsdam and had free time for the whole day. I ran around with my Michigan friends and we ate delicious ice cream and bought souvenirs. After returning to Berlin and eating our last hostel dinner, I went out for a drink and a movie with some of the same people I'd spent the day with. We saw "Snow White and the Huntsman", which was okay. I wasn't blown away by it.
Saturday was mostly spent on a bus driving home to Bonn. We arrived back in town early enough to go grocery shopping and, for those who wanted to, catch Germany's first game of the Euro Cup. I chose to go to bed instead of a public viewing with thousands of drunk German soccer fans. However, I have since adopted soccer as my sport viewing of choice here. Since I missed so much Mizzou basketball this season, I haven't had much of an outlet for my sports cheering. So on Pitcher Mittwoch (Wednesday) earlier this week, I decided to embrace the Euro Cup. Germany's second game happened to fall on Wednesday, so I bought a shirt for 15 Euro to support them. It was an excellent game, and Germany's next game is tomorrow against Denmark. As long as they at least tie, Germany will be the winners of Group B's first round, and thus move on to the quarter finals. I still don't really get the appeal of soccer, but I will use the smallest excuse possible to watch/get really excited about sports.
Piece of the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
More pieces of the Berlin Wall
East Side Gallery
Building in former East Berlin
Reichstag
Brandenburger Tor
What a cell in Hohenschönhausen would have looked like in the 80s
Stasi interrogation room
Lego Giraffe outside the Sony Center
Tiergarten
Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe
Tempelhof Airport
Berlin Airlift Monument
On the grounds of Schloss Sanssouci
Baby Brandenburger Tor in Potsdam
I actually took way more pictures than this. I think I took over 300 photos in Berlin, so a decent number. However, there were so many other things I would have loved to take photos of, but we spent too much time in the bus.
I have less than five weeks left here, and classes end in less than a month. I'm not ready to go back to America! It's been so cool here these last few months, and I don't really want to leave. However, I do miss free public bathrooms and free water in restaurants. And my family and old friends, of course. But I finally got to Skype with my mom today! It was really nice to see her and talk to her face-to-face again.
Nothing else to say here. Hopefully there will be something exciting to talk about next post.
Maddie
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