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Brittany & I in K-Town |
As another long week of camp ended, it was time for yet another trip. This time, Berlin! We began our weekend by going out in K-Town (Kaiserslautern) Friday night just Brittany and I. We explored the town’s nightlife by walking around and catching up with one another. It was nice to have some time just the two of us! We also stopped to get my first Doner kebab! Doner is a type of lamb meat, which they use to make sandwich/wrap things with. You can get all sorts of different toppings and enjoy it however you want. It was delicious! By the time the night was done, I was dead tired, but still had to pack for the next day as we were leaving bright and early!
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My first Donar Kebab |
Needless to say, 7 AM came around WAY too quickly! Luckily another train ride meant more sleep! It was nice to get some napping in (as the train ride was 6 hours long!) but by the time the train stopped, my body was cramped so I was ready to get out and see the town! The first sight we saw was the Berlin train station, obviously. Doesn’t sound too exciting, but the train station was HUGE! It was full of lots of shops and restaurants and was roughly 5 or 6 stories high! It was amazing! We found out on our tour that one wing of the station was supposed to have a longer ceiling, but they built it wrong. Now, when an ICE train pulls in, part of the 1st class car has to walk outside without a ceiling! Interesting!!
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Metropol Hostel |
On our adventure in the train station we found that of the many restaurants was Starbucks! Brittany and I immediately ran to it as we are the coffee lovers of the group and were dying for some caffeine! After getting our dose of coffee, we were ready to find our hostel. For the weekend we stayed at Berlin Metropol Hostel which was right in town, and a nice place to stay. To be honest, I haven’t found a place that I haven’t liked and usually I’m pretty picky about hotels!
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Brandenburger Tor |
After checking out our new living quarters, we picked out a map and got out on the town. Unfortunately the weekend full of rain put a damper on our walking tour idea, so instead we headed for the trusty hop on, hop off bus tour. Our first stop of the tour was the Brandenburger Tor, which is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin. The sight itself was really cool, but I wish our tour guide would have given us more history on the site. This actually ended up being a reoccurring thought for me during this weekend of travel. On our bus we had a live tour guide switching between English and German. Because of this it was kind of hard to understand what he was saying, so I kept missing information. I also feel like they were more like “here is this site” instead of giving the significance behind it. Oh well, I guess that’s what the internet is for!
J
Our next stop was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was hauntingly cool. The museum top is full of concrete slabs, with a museum underground. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t get a lot of history on the site but here is what Brittany found online (thanks Brit!)
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The Memorial |
"The memorial consists of about 2,700 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern covering 19,000 square meters. The slabs are 2.38m long, 0.95m wide and vary in height from 0.2m to 4.8m. The ground slopes unevenly. Visitors are encouraged to walk between the slabs; the memorial can be entered from all sides and offers no prescribed path. It opened to the public on May 12, 2005." -http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/berlin-holocaust-memorial
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Brittany, Joan and I at the movies! |
Once we finished checking out these sights we got some stuff to eat and went shopping. I once again got Bratwurst and Sauerkraut! If I keep going at this rate I will be the fat German lady my dad was teasing me about! After this our night was winding down and we were trying to think of things to do with bad weather. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but soon we were all decided on going to a movie! We saw ‘Bad Teacher’ and although it might be lame to spend time on a movie when you’re abroad, it was a very cool experience (and also part of our Camp A homework!). The best part about the movie was that you are able to get beer at the movie theater. It’s so funny how beer pops up everywhere here and is more normal and affordable than buying pop! haha my mom & dad would’ve loved being able to have beer at the movies!
J
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The whole group! |
After the movie we grabbed a quick drink at a restaurant in the Sony Center, which is the huge complex where the movie theater was located. By the time we were done chatting we were all exhausted and ready to call it a night!
Sunday we woke up early and got ready for another day of sightseeing. Lucky enough for us, breakfast was free at the hostel so we took full advantage! Throughout our hostel experiences it seems the typical breakfast here consists of rolls with meat and chesses, along with cereal and coffee. Enough to get us fueled up and ready for the day!
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The group at Checkpoint Charlie |
As we wanted to go back and make sure we saw everything we wanted to see, we decided to hit up the hop on hop off bus yet again. This time it took us to Checkpoint Charlie and areas of the Berlin Wall. Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. It was so cool to see a site that is such a significant symbol in history. At the checkpoint you can also pay to get all (or some) of the stamps in your passport that you used to need to get across the wall. I paid to get a few, which I’m glad I did as my passport has become my friend these past 10 weeks!
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Remains of the Berlin Wall |
After an exciting and busy weekend I was ready to come home and get ready for another week of camp! I also got to talk to my mom and dad on the phone, which I love!! Our phone calls make it feel like I’m just at school, but they are also getting me more and more excited to see my parents soon! Just 2 1/2 more weeks of camp and then I’m home to Minnesota and then off to ISU! I can’t believe how fast this summer has flown by! More to come later! Thinking of all of you back home! xoxo
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