Eilis and I headed to Germany with no idea what we were in for! I had no desire to go to Germany a year ago, but I had friends that kept saying, Germany go to Germany, and they were right! It was an adventure with food, beer, people, history, and life from the minute we got there!
We got of the train early in the morning only to see road blocks for the Berlin Marathon! It hadn't started yet, so we made it to our hostel, put down our bags and headed to a coffee shop (a normal one, were not in Amsterdam anymore!) nearby to have breakfast. We crossed the path of the marathon and I thought it would be cool to watch people run by while eating in a warm cafe (it was very chilly and rainy). There was also a very cute band playing for the runners. We sit down and get bagels! I am always happy to find a bagel. Then the first runners come by. Sure enough, 45 minutes later, the street is still full of runners with no breaks in sight. We sat at that coffee shop for well over an hour only to learn that over 80,000 people ran, and it is one of the top 5 marathons (up there with boston and nyc... Who knew?) It was very cool and hilarious that we couldnt get back to the hostel. The rest of the day was spent resting and working on plans for Oktoberfest, which we had decided to go to and meet up with Ginny (a friend from college, Going Deutsch) and our time apart when I head to prague.
The next day, Monday, we did the free walking tour and it was so great. We really enjoyed all the history. We heard about Berlin being seperated, what happened to the city in WWII and all the hardships Berlin saw for so long. We saw the memorial for murdered jews of the holocaust and it was my favorite memorial I think I have ever seen. It was very simple but beautiful. It was over 2,000 concrete slates of all different hights but all about the length and width (to me what a coffin would look like), spread out along an entire city block right in the heart of the city. Our guide said it was to be a constant reminder of all those who lost there lives and that power can corrupt. We also got to see the wall and Check point charlie. During our break we snuck off from the tour to go to the Currywaurst museum to have our first of many currywursts. It was basically a hotdog-brawt with tons of ketchup and spices, but I loved it! We finished the tour with an amazing story of the fall of the Berlin wall and it was so cool to see something you had only read about in class!
Our tour guide told us about a guided tour that they did to Sachsenhausen, a workers concentration camp outside of Berlin. We decided we really wanted to do it because we didnt think we would make it to Poland for Auschwitz. So the next morning we woke up and went on the tour. It was about 5 hours total and it was very moving. I feel like in the states, it is easy to never think about the past, especially when you are as bad as I am about paying attention in history, but this really hit home. In Sachsen house an estimated 56,000 people died. It was first used for political enemies, gehovinus witnesses who refused to hail Hitler, handicap and others unfit for the perfect race but only men. After Hitler found the excuse to arrest jews an entire wing was added on and Jews were brought in, and later sent on to Auschwitz or other camps to be murdered. The camp was later taken over by the soviets (being in eastern Berlin) and used for another ten (I believe) years to arrest and torture political enemies. The camp had a dark history and was hard to take in, but it was interesting, in a I need to see this sort of way.
After our tour we grabbed a bus (it was more difficult than that but we wont go into that) and headed out of the city to an area we were told had great seconhand clothing stores. We were freezing so we had to buy jackets (mine pictured below with a delicous currywurst). That night we went out with Greg, a guy we met at the hostel to Zapattas, a bar/club we heard about from two different locals and decided we had to see it. No one was there, so as we left we ran into three Israeli guys I had met at the hostel the night before. We went to a bar with them and then on to zappatas later for some great dancing! It is always fun making new friends.
We got of the train early in the morning only to see road blocks for the Berlin Marathon! It hadn't started yet, so we made it to our hostel, put down our bags and headed to a coffee shop (a normal one, were not in Amsterdam anymore!) nearby to have breakfast. We crossed the path of the marathon and I thought it would be cool to watch people run by while eating in a warm cafe (it was very chilly and rainy). There was also a very cute band playing for the runners. We sit down and get bagels! I am always happy to find a bagel. Then the first runners come by. Sure enough, 45 minutes later, the street is still full of runners with no breaks in sight. We sat at that coffee shop for well over an hour only to learn that over 80,000 people ran, and it is one of the top 5 marathons (up there with boston and nyc... Who knew?) It was very cool and hilarious that we couldnt get back to the hostel. The rest of the day was spent resting and working on plans for Oktoberfest, which we had decided to go to and meet up with Ginny (a friend from college, Going Deutsch) and our time apart when I head to prague.
The next day, Monday, we did the free walking tour and it was so great. We really enjoyed all the history. We heard about Berlin being seperated, what happened to the city in WWII and all the hardships Berlin saw for so long. We saw the memorial for murdered jews of the holocaust and it was my favorite memorial I think I have ever seen. It was very simple but beautiful. It was over 2,000 concrete slates of all different hights but all about the length and width (to me what a coffin would look like), spread out along an entire city block right in the heart of the city. Our guide said it was to be a constant reminder of all those who lost there lives and that power can corrupt. We also got to see the wall and Check point charlie. During our break we snuck off from the tour to go to the Currywaurst museum to have our first of many currywursts. It was basically a hotdog-brawt with tons of ketchup and spices, but I loved it! We finished the tour with an amazing story of the fall of the Berlin wall and it was so cool to see something you had only read about in class!
Our tour guide told us about a guided tour that they did to Sachsenhausen, a workers concentration camp outside of Berlin. We decided we really wanted to do it because we didnt think we would make it to Poland for Auschwitz. So the next morning we woke up and went on the tour. It was about 5 hours total and it was very moving. I feel like in the states, it is easy to never think about the past, especially when you are as bad as I am about paying attention in history, but this really hit home. In Sachsen house an estimated 56,000 people died. It was first used for political enemies, gehovinus witnesses who refused to hail Hitler, handicap and others unfit for the perfect race but only men. After Hitler found the excuse to arrest jews an entire wing was added on and Jews were brought in, and later sent on to Auschwitz or other camps to be murdered. The camp was later taken over by the soviets (being in eastern Berlin) and used for another ten (I believe) years to arrest and torture political enemies. The camp had a dark history and was hard to take in, but it was interesting, in a I need to see this sort of way.
After our tour we grabbed a bus (it was more difficult than that but we wont go into that) and headed out of the city to an area we were told had great seconhand clothing stores. We were freezing so we had to buy jackets (mine pictured below with a delicous currywurst). That night we went out with Greg, a guy we met at the hostel to Zapattas, a bar/club we heard about from two different locals and decided we had to see it. No one was there, so as we left we ran into three Israeli guys I had met at the hostel the night before. We went to a bar with them and then on to zappatas later for some great dancing! It is always fun making new friends.
Our last day was spent wandering around, going to the Pergamon musuem and seeing the Gates of Babalon! Very cool. Eating currywurst and delicious kebabs and wandering around the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is just a stretch of wall covered in graffiti and it was soo beautiful! Overall I fell in love with Berlin and it is a top rated city so far!
Finally! So happy to see your blog entry-love reading abt.& seeing the pictures of all you are doing! Miss you, mom&dad
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