Guten Tag

Guten tag! We arrived in Berlin last night after our 5 hour train ride from Prague. With two classes under our belt for the term (we took a final (!)exam yesterday afternoon), we were a little tired so we took an easy night. Except for LJ, he mustered up the energy to go out and meet up with some of his "bros" on the Berlin LSA.

We are staying in the Berlin Hotel for Youth- although there are a lot of (young?) families staying here. I made a new friend here- Julia, Heather, Anny, and Rachel have a room and LJ, Ana, and I are rooming with a rando (I miss our Dartmouth lingo) named Song. She is from South Korea and just learned English while studying in London. I felt like I should have invited her to hang out with us today, but its ok- she is doing her own thing traveling around Europe.We are always impressed by people traveling alone, because we are used to traveling with such a group! Its ok, we like each other.

The hotel provided a great breakfast and we all enjoyed our mixed hot chocolate and coffee drink, while planning what we wanted to do today. We also smuggled a lot of food out in napkins for snacks throughout the day...After we had a little bit of a game plan/still no idea how to navigate the huge city, we headed out to the U2 to take the underground towards the middle of the city.

After wandering out of the metro at Alexanderplatz, we realized that we had no exact direction that we wanted to go in. That is when we spotted all of the city tour buses. Done. Not much was needed to convince us to be the ultimate Berlin tourists. So the six of us girls (LJ was still sleeping after his late night) paid our 10 euros and hopped aboard the double decker bus. The bus took us around to about 15 or so locations around the city and if you wanted to get off the bus at a particular stop, you could, and then just wait for the next bus 15 mins later. We ended up being on about 4 buses throughout the tour and had hilarious and cute tour guides on each one.

Our big stop was the Reichstag, where the current Bundestag (the Parliament) is located. The outside facade of the building contains the words "Dem Deutschen Volke" ("To the German People"). Although we got a little antsy waiting in line for two hours (we spent our time eating pretzels from street vendors and watching a street mime show), it was worth the free admission to be able to climb up the glass dome in the middle. The Reichstag is rich with German history, and the glass dome is a modern addition that was completed in 1995. It has become a world-famous tourist attraction and it prides itself of giving visitors the opportunity to gain a direct insight into parliamentary proceedings with its transparent view of the heart of the German democracy. Climbing up the ramp in the dome, you get a 360 degree view of the Berlin skyline and can also see directly down into the room containing the seats of the Parliament. The middle of the dome contains a construction of mirrors that provide solar energy for the lighting in the building. Well worth the visit.

Near the Reichstag building is the Brandenburg Gate, the famous former city gate. It became obsolete during the communist area because the Berlin Wall was constructed right in front of it so people could no longer pass through, but when the wall came down, the gate became a symbol for freedom and a desire to unify Berlin.

Now, all that remains of the Berlin wall in most places is a cobblestone trace in the road. So it was awesome to see the line zig-zag through the streets. Later on in our bus tour, we were able to see actual sections of the remaining wall. We also got off the bus to stop at Checkpoint Charlie- what used to be an American checkpoint to pass back and forth between East and West Berlin.



After our EXHAUSTING bus tour, the other girls took advantage of the shopping scene to look for white outfits for Sensation, and I came back to the hotel with Julia to nap. I woke up starving, and went next door to grab a cheap kebab to-go for dinner. Our current food budget are at minimums after spending so much on food in Istanbul. Unfortunately, our trip to Berlin will go without visiting the top restaurant. Our Mikla experience in Istanbul (thanks to Mr. Sconzo's connection with the head chef), despite it being the best meal of my life, was sadly a one time thing.

I'm now sitting in our hotel lobby catching up with some friends online. Ana, Rachel, and I are waiting for all the other sleepy heads to wake up so we can go out and check out the Berlin nightlife- exciting. We miss you all at home! Happy early Mother's Day Mom, Mrs. Reiley, and all other moms reading our blog!