Berlin Spring Break 2012 Pt.1

SpRiNg BrEaK 2012 has begun!!!!! This will be the first time my spring break can be compared to others with epic proportions. More than excited for that! I will have roadtripped across Europe to 5 different cities by the time the week is over, with 2 nights in every city. This includes Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and Barcelona.


First stop: Berlin.

So the end of midterms week meant...thank you baby Jesus....the start to something wondafulll!! My friend Janine and I have had this trip planned since December so it has been very highly anticipated by the 2 of us. So leaving thursday night (the 15th) 2 hours after our last midterms was PERFECT. The only bad aspect was the part where we actually would be stuck on a bus the whole time. It was a 13 hour overnight journey from Florence to Berlin. Kinda brutal...to say the least.

But. By around 10:30 am arrival time we were so excited. And immediately after we were escorted on a 3 or so hour walking tour of the city which was really nice because then we were able to see some parts of Berlins history, particularly WWII. We didn't realize how big it actually was going to be though! Berlin was massive. Unlike any city I've tried to venture off on my own in.

Asaf, our tour guide!

The "Washing Machine" aka the Parliamentary building. Haha

Hauptbahnhopf, the International Train Station in Berlin

"The People Of Germany's Building" <-- Direct Translation

Those dots are bullet markings from WW11

Haha

The Holocaust Memorial

Asaf said each person has a different perspective on it once you have walked through, so he waited to tell us what the general consensus was.

It was an overwhelming and shocking feeling, because at a certain point you just didn't know which way you were supposed to get out.  Intriguing, really.

Once Hitler's bunker now apartment complex. Hmm....

Ironic how exactly where that park is located is where they burned Hitlers body.....again, hmmmmm....

Berlin Wall

Thinner and shorter than I had expected

Not the dashed line, but the cobblestone behind it was where the Berlin War used to run.  This continues throughout the entire city as another sort of reminder., because, interesting fact: It is illegal to deny the happenings of the Holocaust in Germany.  

Checkpoint Charlie

After our tour about half of us spotted a Starbucks and it was all over. I ordered a Java Chip with a triple Chico cookie. You all have no idea how epic that was for me haha. 

Then we wandered around a little more until around dinner time an we made our way back to our hostel.

:) YUM.

Haha :)

Pretty ironic, since we were in Germany.

HAHAHA bar on wheels!

My travel buddy :)

CUTEST building ever.

For dinner we had bratwurst and curry sauce which was pretty good, but so fattening haha. Still good though. Then our entire group went on a bar crawl for 12 euro, and we met up with some of Janine's friends who were stationed for the us army about an hour outside of Berlin. Super fun! Ended up to about 5 different bars ad then a club, with free entry and free drinks throughout. I have to say though...German beer is pretty epic!

Fast food the German way

Name of the first bar

Some of Janine's friends that we met up with! Really nice, and SUPER funny

Next morning we were up bright and early, went down for our free breakfast which..btw was epic. The Germans know how to eat! Then Janine and I were off to a German historical museum with Janine's friends. Good thing... They had a CAR! Blasting music that we know driving around windows down throughout the streets of Berlin was just great. Sooo perfect. Then we went shopping at a department store that had a market and tons of chocolatiers within the 7 story store...aka our wonderland.

Heading back to the hostel, it took us a while because we both know little to no German. So finding the right tram stops was pretty hellish, but 25 min later we did finally get it so that's good haha.

He asked the taxi in front of us to lead us to the museum, at a stoplight. Don't know why this was so funny!! 

Inside Germany's largest Historical Museum! (Before WWII) 

There were some swag monsters back in the day...

Released in 1928!

Piano

It just doesn't make sense or look comfortable!

:)

Singin' reggae

Department store by day....

Market by night

...AND CHOCOLATE

Raspberry and hazelnut truffles

We decide for dinner that night that we were gonna go authentic. So we did a little research and found a restaurant a couple tram stops away called Deponie. (link) Wonderful food, great atmosphere, and authentic German cuisine. We even got apple strudel!!!! SO GOOD.

On the way back we found a fro-up shop and knew we had go.  http://www.wonderpots.de/  such a nice treat, and a fantastic way to end our time in Berlin.

Deponie for dinner!

Our food

APPLE STRUDEL 

And then we found frozen yogurt.  What a successful night!