Spring Break: Berlin

I already said how we had some mix ups and a rough start to Berlin, but after that I felt like it only kept getting better. When we were forced to not sleep, we decided to grab breakfast. The café in which you could eat at the hostel cost 5 euro for a breakfast buffet and a glass of oj. That was amazing. It seems expensive for breakfast, but it had several delicious items including nutella, which thinking back now, I should have taken some packets for the road. There was also fresh fruit, granola, meats and some delicious cheese.
After the experience in Paris when I almost ostracized myself by becoming a drill sergeant, I decided to tone it down. This day we walked to the wall and then saw checkpoint Charlie, a famous gate in the Berlin wall. There is apparently an amazing museum, but after much confusion we did not go in and I didn’t bother making a fuss, because everyone was tired and on edge. The wall I have to say was quite disappointing. It was thinner than I expected and there was just a street. It’s been 20 years and there is no memorial at the most famous part of the wall, the only part (or one of maybe 3 parts) that is still standing. When we got there there were no tourists and the wall was fenced off for construction. Apparently they are finally getting around to creating a memorial there. After the slight disappointment, we tried to find a good place to eat. We were pretty much unsuccessful and everyone was about to kill me, so I was quite relieved when we found a bar that seemed good. I had the signature Berlin sausage, the currywurst. I’m not a fan of curry, so I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t bad. When we finished we made our way back to the hostel and went to our room. That was a glorious moment. The inside of the hostel wasn’t fantastic, but the space was well used and it looked nice. At that point that wasn’t really important though, because we quickly passed out. Rather than going out to sight see, we went to eat and some of us continued the night (because Berlin is hailed as the best night life in all of Europe). Our meal was fantastic, I had a shwarzbier with a pork dish that had mushrooms picked from a forest and what I think were turnips. The last part was a red vegetable that appeared to be a cabbage sort of plant, but it didn’t taste like what I thought it would taste like. It was sweet and almost a desert. The best part was this fancy restaurant was delicious and also less than 20 € for a meal. After our extravagant dinner, the guys went to the clubs while the girls returned to the hostel. We went to a street called Oranienburger Strasse and ended up starting at a bar and moving to the club next door. Of all the clubs in Berlin, we ended up at Zapata, a Spanish influenced bar. How does that happen? Quick side note: Berlin does not get dressed like Spain. I thought that they would look dressy euro, but slightly different, but they do not. Germany, or Berlin felt like America light. Almost every young person I saw looked like a punk rocker kid that I could see at school. However this dress continues into night. There are a select few clubs that are necessary to dress up to go to, but those are almost impossible to get into. The club I have in mind has had high profile customers like George Clooney. The next morning we got up, checked out at 12 and went to some more historical places. We saw the Brandenburg gate where Napolean took the statue on top and then Berlin reclaimed it about 5 to 15 years later (not sure on the time frame). In the same square sort of area we saw the American embassy and the hotel Adlon where Micheal Jackson held the baby out the window. Next we went to the Reichstag, which was my complete purpose for going to Berlin (well, maybe just one of the main reasons). It was quite impressive and it was very easy to see the ideas behind the architecture. Obviously the architect wanted to retain the history of the country, but show the new direction of the country. The outside has a giant dome of glass and all the windows are large, plain, pane windows. All this glass is there to represent no secrets in government. Along these lines, entrance is free and from the top of the dome it is possible to see directly down into the senate chamber. The line was long, so we decided to return later. Next we went to the Jewish Memorial. It is quite interesting with huge stones standing in a square and it is possible to get lost in the middle and find random people while walking around corners. I also had some amazing photos from there. Honestly it was one of the most fun parts of the trip. I know it sounds horrible, but we were practically playing tag in the stones. However, looking back I feel like that is sort of what the memorial is about. Underground is the musuem and above is a world full of decisions to be made, and find your direction out of the dissarray. Even through the destruction and devastation that is presented in the stones there is an openness to exlpore and there are voices of kids enjoying life. The memorial musuem was not as impressive as the one in DC, but the exit opens up into the middle of the maze of stones which I thought was very appropriate. By this time we were getting tired and weighed down from souvenirs, so we headed back to the hostel. After a few hours of waiting, maybe only one or two, we went back to the Reichstag at night. That was quite impressive, but I was surprised that the dome was open to the air. There are some pics on Picassa (or will be) of the Reichstag. When we left we went to a fabulous dinner under the S-bahn. It was not too expensive and quite an experience. I had a huge meal called the grill platter. It was absolutely phenomenal with almost every type of meat. Well... I think that's it. I feel drained. If I think of more stuff, I'll come back and post some more facts. We returned to the hostel, spent the night in the airport and flew home. It's good to be back.