This past weekend, Nargis and I ventured outside of England to Germany's capital, Berlin. We had booked our trip without knowing what we would find there, so I didn't have a lot of expectations going into the trip. But I found that it was much more challenging than I had anticipated.
Friday
We left London after some 2 hours of sleep at 2am to catch our train out of London. Then we took a shuttle from the train station to the airport. We flew with Easyjet, a bizarre cheap airline that isn't so easy. They don't post the gate until a few minutes before boarding, so when that gate number goes up, everyone rushes to the gate. Then, there's no assigned seats so it is a zoo to try to sit with your group. Luckily, Nargis and I got to the front of the queue and sat together.
After a train, an underground, and 2 buses (we initially got on the wrong way), we finally reached our hotel. When I went to grab my camera to take a pic of our room, I soon realized it was nowhere to be found. I'm super bummed about it, I absolutely loved that camera. But I got a new one on Monday, not nearly as good but it will suffice. So we used Nargis' camera all weekend and still ended up with great memories.
The first 2 things about Berlin to adjust to were the language and the HEAT. It was so incredibly hot this weekend - without a doubt, the hottest temperatures I've been in since India. And it felt like India. We made our way around language barriers for the most part all weekend, but the toughest part was decoding menus.
We spent our Friday afternoon on a sightseeing bus tour of Berlin. It was great to get to see the city and hear about its history a bit. Of course, I almost lost my bus ticket so we were just about to be kicked off when a girl found it on the floor - it was a miracle. I was just a total mess on Friday.
The city of Berlin itself is fascinating. Its history is evident everywhere, and it's shocking to realize how recent the city's history really is, especially when considering that the Berlin Wall was built 41 years ago and was taken down only 20 years ago. There's quite a bit of construction, but the construction has a lot of significance because it's an indication that the city is still rebuilding after everything it has been through.
An old church that was bombed during the war. It was never repaired - rather, it now stands as a memorial.
The East Side Gallery - the only remaining part of the Berlin Wall, which has now become one of the world's longest art galleries. The works of art calls for peace.
In front of the Brandenburg Gate, which once stood as a symbol of the city as divided. Now it stands for Berlin's reunification.
The Brandenburg Tor [Gate]
The Berlin Dom [Cathedral]
Reichstag, the German parliament building. We climbed to the top of that glass dome!
Berlin Fashion Week 2010!
The Holocaust Memorial
We got around mainly by the underground, which was easy to navigate as long as we could read the stops (pronouncing them wasn't a reality for us). On Friday night we just crashed at the hotel, since we had been up and moving since 2am.
Our hotel was nice but a little far out of the city. Definitely manageable though, and it was SO nice to get a nice, clean bed after a month of Nido beds. Our first day in Germany left us nervous about the rest of the trip, but our outlook definitely improved as the weekend went on.
Saturday
On our second day in Berlin, Nargis and I decided to visit Sachsenhausen, the first concentration camp. Sashsenhausen was designed for concentrating mass numbers of human beings together and putting them to slave labor, and an unfathomable number of atrocities against humanity took place here. It was definitely a hard historical reality to face, but we both felt that it was an important thing to experience.
The camp is located outside of the city, so we had to take a train to get there. We went through a tour company that took us from Berlin to the camp and back, which was really helpful. We learned so, so much on our 4-hour tour in the blistering summer heat. It is definitely difficult information to digest, so I will not share much about it here. Sachsenhausen was built to hold 10,000 prisoners, but it held up to 58,000 at any one point from 1936 to 1950 - but numbers changed every day, given the conditions that people were forced to try to live in. Our tour guide took us through the multiple phases the camp went through; it has been used at different times by different groups, but none of its purposes were at all good.
"Work Sets You Free" - the ironic mantra of the slave labor camp.
The road walked first by hundreds of thousands
Taking a peek into solitary confinement cells
We definitely needed to unwind after such a draining experience. So after our train back to the city, we went on a hunt for Prater Beirgarten, which was recommended to us by our Sachsenhausen tour guide. It was a little bit of a hike, but well worth it!! Prater was an outdoor area with a bunch of picnic tables. They have live music often during the summer, but we didn't stay long enough for that. It was a fun, chill environment.
So much better now!
Pretzel and Beer - How yummy does that look?!?
Afterward, we headed to Alexanderplatz, a central plaza in the city, for a drink and some people watching. Then it was back to the hotel to crash again - but we heard the city come alive when Germany won the football game. We could even see fireworks from our hotel window!
Hanging out in Alexanderplatz - one of the central plazas in Berlin
Nargis and me in front of the iconic TV tower
Sunday
Our last day in Berlin. We checked out in the morning and headed out to a day of museum visiting. We started at the Pergamon museum, which is filled with historical artifacts from civilizations past. It was really cool! My favorite things were a city arch from ancient Babylon and a wooden ceiling from the Alhambra, even though I didn't understand why it wasn't in the Alhambra.
At the Pergamon Museum
At the Pergamon
We were starving by the time we left the museum, and a menu promoting salads (a rarity in Europe) caught our eye. I had a chicken caesar salad as a bit of comfort food; it was really good! After the Pergamon, Nargis and I decided to walk around and explore (despite the heat), staying in as much shade as possible. We came across a few churches, the Berlin Fashion Week tent, and the most amazing chocolate store of all time!! The German chocolate company Ritter Sport has a very fun, colorful, and air-conditioned store in Berlin. The multi-level establishment even has it's own chocolate museum, where visitors can learn about how they make chocolate. We hung out here for about an hour enjoying a drink and the air conditioning. It was pure heaven.
Nargis learning about how chocolate is made
Giant tower of Chocolate!
We had one last sightseeing stop in the city before we left - Checkpoint Charlie. This is a small post that acted as the American checkpoint from when the city was divided 4 ways - East Berlin was under control of the Soviets, and West Berlin was divided into American, British, and French-run territories.
I had an unfortunate run-in at Checkpoint Charlie however, which wasn't a happy way to end the trip. Nargis was looking through some nearby souvenir tables. She decided not to buy anything, and when we turned to leave the old man running the table spit on my arm! It was absolutely disgusting. I turned around and he was just scowling at me. I don't know what he expected to accomplish by spitting on me, but I washed my arm 5000000 times and quickly moved on since there was really nothing I could do about it. It was gross. Not fun.
Checkpoint Charlie
But then we went back to the train station and went on our way back to the crowded airport. Our flight was delayed about a half hour, so we didn't get home till about 2am. It was a long and exhausting weekend, but we learned a lot. It was incredibly hot the whole time. Being away for the weekend actually made me appreciate the ease of London much more. I think navigating through an unfamiliar region is an important experience to have. We were challenged a lot, we had some fun, and we got back safely. I'd say it was a success.
Kurt-Schumacher-Platz, our underground station
Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin
