When I got home from class, my friends had created their own Thanksgiving dessert by decorating gingerbread cookies and a chocolate cake with bright pink frosting. They wrote the names of everyone in the Spoletorp family, as well as American things like "Obama" and our flag. Alana even artistically drew an Indian and a turkey :)
Obama!
Pumpkin Pie and the American Flag
Turkey!
"What is rectangle shaped and related to the US?"
The beautiful cake decorated by Linde :)
After everyone had finished decorating the cookies, we all said things that we were thankful for. Some of them were really sweet! It was definitely different from how I'm used to celebrating, but it was wonderful :)
Friday morning, Alice and I headed out for our romantic getaway to Berlin. Our flight was incredibly short, so we got into the city by about 11am. The first thing we did was stop by our hostel, then head out for lunch.
I don't think the waitress liked us very much, since we didn't speak any German, but the food was wonderful!
We set out after lunch to walk around. I was surprised at how modern some of the buildings were, probably because a lot of the city had been rebuilt after being bombed.
The Reichstag!
Memorial to the Sinti and Roma people after the Holocaust
Incredibly peaceful in the center of the city
A timeline of the genocide
Brandenburg Gate! Monumental entry to Unter den Linden. It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a symbol of peace in 1788.
A large Menorah in front of the Brandenburg Gate
United States Embassy!
British Embassy!
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
2711 concrete slabs arranged on sloping ground - some say it was designed to create a feeling of unease and confusion as you walk along the blocks. It was designed by architect Peter Eisenman and the memorial was inaugurated in 2005.
We walked a lot along the touristy spots where we could see different memorials and the Brandenburg Gate. While looking for the Topography of Terror, we stumbled upon Potsdamer Platz and the huge Christmas Market there! I can't even describe the feeling of happiness there - everything smelled good and was warm and cozy and there was Christmas music playing everywhere.
Along the way we stopped to get some Glühwein, or warm mulled wine. The man selling it asked if we were over sixteen - and was hopefully joking. We sat at a little table with blankets on our laps and warm mugs in our hands. At one point Wake Me Up (the anthem of our study abroad experience/the Spoletorp Family) started playing and it was just an absolutely perfect moment.
Tubing in the middle of the city!
After the cheerful Christmas market, we finally found the Topography of Terror, a much less happy setting. The museum site was the former location of the SS, Gestapo, SD and RSHA main offices. It was amazing to think how much evil had been planned on that very spot.
One of the only remaining portions of the Berlin Wall
The only picture I took inside the museum - there was so much to read and learn about. These were documents involving the trial concessing the Reich Security Main Office.
The events of the Holocaust were difficult to read about but definitely valuable. It was interesting having learned about the Holocaust in school for years to actually be in the location where many of the horrors took place.
After the museum we ventured out into the rain to get dinner. We stopped at Vapiano's for delicious pizza.
The Brandenburg Gate at night on the way back to our hostel.
A major culture and shopping street in Berlin - also where our hostel happened to be located. Just below this sign, the street was closed for a little temporary building and a site for curling (as in the winter sport)!
We were exhausted at that point, so we went back to the hostel and had some very cheap beers.
The next morning we headed out to go on a walking tour in the center.
One of the most posh hotels in Berlin - also where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from a blanket off the balcony.
Ten minutes of blue skies on our tour - and the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral)
A chocolate Reichstag!
A very poor picture - but the recreation of Checkpoint Charlie or the best known Berlin Wall crossing point.
The American Sector
This was the spot where Hitler's bunker was located and where he committed suicide. I thought it was really interesting (and smart) that there is no kind of memorial for him here, it's just a playground and an apartment building.
After the tour, we walked towards the TV Tower, the highest building in the EU.
Beautiful cathedral along the way
The TV Tower was a bit expensive and the lines were incredibly long, so we headed to another Christmas market instead. I tried Currywurst for the first time!
Delicious :)
Naturally, we had some glühwein to warm up again
Germany really knows how to do Christmas
The TV Tower
This little man is on all of the crosswalk lights in an area of Berlin. Alice thought he was hilarious.
The Cathedral on the way back :)
Back at the hostel, we decided to try some Raspberry Weissbier before heading out for dinner. After attempting to find a restaurant on a map and failing, we ended up eating at a cute little candlelit restaurant. The food was delicious as usual.
After dinner, we took the metro over to the neighborhood Kruezberg to meet my friend from home at a bar called Hannibal. The metro was super easy to use and there wasn't much room in the bar, so we sat on the end of a table with some German people. We were pretty sure they were talking about us in German, probably even more so when our pitcher of cocktail showed up, haha. My friend from home, Mike, met us there and it was so wonderful to see him! We caught up on all of our experiences since leaving Denver and I got to see how ridiculously long his hair has gotten (you can't tell in the picture).
Selfie in the Subway
One of the few pictures Alice and I have together on the trip :)
The next day, at Mike's suggestion, we walked over to the Reichstag building (which housed the parliament of the German empire) to go up into the dome on top. We found out you needed an appointment and all of the early times were full, so we waited in line to make one for 4pm. We were the next people in line when an employee came up and asked if we wanted to go up now. A big group had canceled, so we gotten really lucky!
View of the dome from far away
Waiting to go up to the top!
We went up spiral stairs all the way up to the top - we had audio guides and along the way they would stop us and describe buildings to look at off in the distance, then tell us their significance.
It's pretty gray, so it's hard to see in the pictures, but the view was really nice!
You can see us in the middle - very tiny
I took a picture of my brother's little car (from Heathrow Airport at the beginning) in front of the building :)
After the Reichstag, we saw the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism. This was a concrete structure with a small window on the front where you could look in and see a film of same sex couples kissing.
We also walked through Tiergarten, a beautiful park in the middle of the city. There were trees everywhere and it still looked a bit like fall.
Brick all through the city where the wall used to stand
We intended to go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, but we ended up getting caught up at a ballet in (yes another) Christmas market :)
This one was located between the German and French Cathedrals and in front of the Konzerthaus Berlin. Pictures really don't do it justice.
Blurry, but this is the Konzerhaus Berlin - all lit up for Christmas
A very short video of our surroundings (and some weird jugglers)
After the Christmas market, we got dinner at an AMAZING asian restaurant (spicy beef with sweet potato) and hung out in the hostel for awhile with some people from Australia.
The next morning we had a VERY early flight (involved leaving the hostel at 4am), but we had croissants with nutella in the airport at 6am which made everything a bit better. Overall, it was a really wonderful weekend trip. Berlin is filled with so much history; I feel like there were a million more things I could have seen. I will be back there soon! :)
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