Ich liebe dich, Berlin

This weekend has been one of the most fun and yet oddly relaxing weekends of my semester abroad so far! After a long week where I actually did a lot of schoolwork, I was so excited to finish my German test on Friday morning and head to the Vienna airport with Elise, Orli, and Emily. We were flying to Berlin, the capital city of Germany, situated in the east part of the country! I've never been to Berlin before, or even Germany, and had heard amazing things from my friend, Liz, who worked in Berlin all summer, so I was beyond excited to experience the city she adored so much. In addition, this would be our first trip (unless you count Bratislava) alone during the semester. We chose the hostel, the itinerary, the restaurants, and everything. I was feeling quite accomplished when I printed off the weekend plans I had drawn up, and made sure to brief everybody as we took the OBB train from the city center to the airport. 

The Austrian Airlines flight was only an hour long, and had I barely shut my eyes to take a nap before they had announced our descent into Berlin. It's so convenient being in Vienna, because it's so centrally located in Europe! Once we had disembarked, we figured out how to take the bus into the city and catch a train from Hauptbahnhof to our hostel, PLUS Berlin, in the Kreuzberg area of the city. After taking a look at the U-Bahn and S-Bahn network map, I can honestly say I am thrilled that I chose to study abroad in Vienna. The German transport network was so convoluted and huge, and it took us several minutes to figure out which train to take to Warschauer Platz where our hostel was, and then another few minutes to figure out the right platform. Thank goodness we had all packed so lightly, because we were wandering around, completely lost, for a little while!

                    

 

The two transportation maps above: Berlin on the left and Vienna on the right. See which one is more complicated?!

We made it to Warschauer Platz and got off the S-Bahn. I was shocked at where we were. The area was completely graffitied and there was a lot of trash. Hipsters and goths were wandering around, moving from the platform where we were standing to the bridge near the U-Bahn station, tram stop, and road. Where on earth was this hostel I'd chosen? We cautiously made our way across the bridge and through a pedestrian tunnel where a few grungy men were begging for money "for weed and beer," according to their tasteful cardboard signs, while singing to their guitars. Once on the other side of the tunnel, we quickly located our hostel and were extremely pleased to see how nice it was. In fact, this was all of our first times staying in a hostel, and this hostel was incredible. PLUS Berlin was clean, the staff were friendly, and the place was modern and cool. Luckily, despite Emily and Orli booking their spaces separately from Elise and I, we managed to get into the same room, right above where the restaurant, bar, sauna, pool, and "beach" area where. Prime location. And we didn't have to share with random guys, because Elise and I had booked a mixed 4-bed dorm room!

PLUS Berlin Hostel! I can't recommend it enough. If you go to Berlin, STAY HERE!

After settling in quickly, we left the hostel and walked about 5 minutes to the East Side Gallery, the most well-preserved part of the Berlin Wall. I have been desperate to see the remaining parts of the Wall ever since 8th grade, when I wrote my research paper on "The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall." I remember learning so much from writing that paper, and surprised myself in knowing random facts and pieces of information that I could tell Orli, Elise, and Emily about the Wall. The Wall was such an amazing thing to see after remembering all the facts from my paper.

Me in front of the Berlin Wall! Seven years after writing my paper, I made it!

View along the Berlin Wall

The wall was covered in graffiti and murals, and there was even a photo exhibit on the not-as-graffitied Eastern side, depicting walls around the world that separate people. The images were quite powerful. The Western side had lots of graffiti, but also a lot of beautifully painted murals. It was so colorful!

Emily, Elise, Orli, and I in front of graffiti on the Berlin Wall

Yes, I signed my name on the Berlin Wall

Musician playing in front of an amazing mural on the Wall

After we all signed the Berlin Wall with our names, we walked the entire length of it, admiring the murals, until we made it to the next S-Bahn station to go to the center of Berlin. At Freidrichstraße, we got off the train and started walking towards the Reichstag building. The city center looked more similar to downtown Pittsburgh, just so much more massive. After being in Vienna for so long, this city seems enormous! It took us over 45 minutes to cross the main part of the city! 45 minutes on public transportation in Vienna gets us from school back to the Villa! The center of Berlin wasn't as graffitied as the area where we were staying, but it was still a bit dirty-looking, though not disgustingly so like our S-Bahn stop. The grey clouds overhead might have added to the look. 

We walked along the river and saw the tip of the Berliner Dom building, which was beautiful, and eventually made it to the Reichstag building. The trees around the building were all turning red and looked gorgeous in the late afternoon sun, which had just come out from behind the clouds. The Reichstag was such a pretty building; I can't believe it was burned down! Angela Merkel and the Bundestag (Parliament) are lucky it's been restored so well after such a long time. What a great place to meet...the view from the Dome shows the whole city of Berlin!

Beautiful red leaves by the Reichstag Building

Side of the Reichstag

Front of the Reichstag

After encountering two Israeli men who spoke to Orli in Hebrew, we shook them off when they invited us for a drink and then clubbing by saying we had no idea where our hostel was when they kept asking, and walked towards what looked and sounded like a large music festival. The music was not good; the singers were all older and singing oldies, but changing the lyrics to German. However, the numerous food stands and amusement park games made it a fun atmosphere! We walked through, towards the giant Ferris Wheel at the opposite end of the musicians' stage, and grabbed some delicious grilled red pepper and döner kebab wraps from a Turkish food stall. I love how prominent kebabs and wraps and falafel are in Germany and Austria!

Emily, Orli, and Elise with the stage and Brandenburg Gate behind them

World War II Memorial

As we ate our wraps, we passed by the World War II Memorial and then turned around to walk back towards the stage as we realized that the famous Brandenburg Gate was behind the singers! We couldn't figure out a way to get to the front of the gate to take a look at the former city gate of Berlin, but instead stumbled across the Memorial of the Murdered Jews around the corner. It was quite an interesting memorial, and if I hadn't known what the Memorial looked like, I would have thought it was a piece of modern artwork in the middle of a square. Grey, rectangular stones protruded from the uneven, wavy ground at varying heights, making it almost like a creepy maze. It was interesting to walk around inside, and also much warmer than out in the wind (it was starting to get really cold), and even more fun to walk on top of the stones to see the entire square and surrounding areas.

Memorial of the Murdered Jews in Europe - interesting conceptual design. It received a lot of criticism about being unnecessary and not really being a memorial

It cost over 25 million Euro to build!

The "Beach"...

Soon, the temperature became too cold for all of us to bear, so we made our way back to the S-Bahn train station and eventually made it to the end of the line, where our hostel was located. We checked out the scene at the hostel bar, which was really nice, and met two Manchester guys who invited us for a cigarette out on the "beach," which was basically sand, beach chairs, and beach umbrellas enclosed against the side of the hostel. We politely declined the smoke and drink, not only because none of us are into that, but also because the men must have been around thirty or so. Not interested. It made it awkward seeing them the next morning at breakfast, where they ordered a beer before 9am...Those Brits.

Falling asleep at 11:30 was beneficial for all of us, and let us get up around 8am the next morning without any problems. Elise and Emily ate breakfast at the hostel buffet (and snagged Orli and I a roll and some tea), and then we made our way through the complex net of public transportation to Schreiber Platz. Now, nothing of genuine interest is at Schreiber Platz, at least not of touristy, historical, or cultural interest, but there happens to be a mall with a Primark there. None of the others had ever been to Primark, it being a British store, and I thought it might be an interesting experience for them because they all wanted to shop for cheap clothes. Three hours later, after losing each other in the huge store and battling the crowds to find each other once again, we all had made a few purchases. I didn't go overboard, seeing as its Primark and I can go in London, but the others got some good hauls. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves, but I was so ready to leave and see the city after sitting outside the store eating pineapple from the supermarket and people-watching for almost two hours while waiting.

We took the metro back to the center of Berlin to see Checkpoint Charlie where another part of the Wall was, the US Army checkpoint that still stands there, and a really cool outdoor exhibit about the checkpoint. The checkpoint was the designated crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. I know that many people attempted to flee Eastern Berlin, which was under Soviet and Communist rule, and learned of one of the most famous deaths, Peter Fletcher's. The 18-year-old tried to escape from East to West Germany and was shot in the pelvis by the wall. He was left lying by the wall for an hour, bleeding to death, before East German border guards moved him away. It was quite a chilling story, and there were so many more escape stories, capture stories, and deaths that occurred at Checkpoint Charlie.

Part of the Berlin Wall outside the Checkpoint Charlie Museum 

The US Army Checkpoint at Checkpoint Charlie

The outdoor exhibit

Pieces of the Berlin Wall now adorned with murals

After looking through the exhibit and seeing more pieces of the Wall that have been painted with brightly colored murals, we walked past Bethlehemkirchplatz where we saw a very interesting sculpture and a metal framework sculpture of the Bohemian Bethlehem Church. The original church was a gift from King Friedrich Wilhelm I to the Bohemian exiles allowed to settle in Berlin after 1732 when they were forced to leave their homes because of their Protestant faith. It was damaged during World War II and then completely demolished by the East German authorities in 1963, so now, a metal sculpture stands in its place.

Bohemian Bethlehem Kirche

The Walk signal for pedestrians. So cute!

We walked past Potsdamer Platz, one of the busiest traffic intersections in Berlin that was destroyed during World War II and then rebuilt to what it is today, on our way to the front of the Brandenburg Gate. On the way, we saw lots of grey and neutral colored buildings in very simple designs. They were nothing like the amazing architectural buildings in Vienna or Prague. They seemed to be very basic, very Communist-looking. I found that interesting. 

See the metal face outline?

We got to the front of Brandenburg Gate and managed to catch an all-male breakdance troupe perform. They weren't too bad, but they weren't amazing performers. Perhaps they'll keep practicing for the next time I'm in Berlin. 

Elise and I in front of Brandenburg Gate

The breakdancers trying...

Fall in Berlin is gorgeous (Unter den Linden)

We walked back around Brandenburg Gate and picked up some food from the music festival that was still there from the night before, and began to walk all the way down the festival lane, which was called Unter den Linden, named after the gorgeous Linden trees lining the road. Fall has definitely begun, because all the trees were a honey, golden-yellow color and looked absolutely beautiful as we got away from the food stalls and bad music. It became a very peaceful walk towards the Victory Column, commemorating Prussian victory during the Prussian-Danish War after 1864. The way you get to the actual base of the column, because its in the middle of a traffic circle, is an underground passage-way, similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. We walked up to it to take a closer look at the golden woman atop the tower. The weather was cool and the sun wasn't bright, so we just hung out at the bottom of the column before planning our next move. Orli and Elise were confronted by a Spanish family asking where the Primark was (they saw Elise's large bag), and Orli and Elise, both knowing Spanish, attempted to reply in Spanish, before realizing they were mixing in German! I had the same problem earlier when I offered to take a photo of two Spanish ladies in front of the Berlin Wall. I asked them perfectly if they'd like me to take a photo of them, and when they said "Por supesto! Querías uno tambíen?" I replied with, "Ja, bitte. Danke!" before realizing my mistake. In the end, we all switched to English anyway. So that was a fail...

View of Victory Column down Unter den Linden

Victory Column

I led the way to our next destination, the Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the German President. It was on the banks of the Spree River, outside the Großer Tiergarten Park where the column was. I think it's wonderful that the name literally means "beautiful view" because it's situated in such a nice area overlooking the water.

The River Spree

Orli, Emily, and I in front of the Bellevue Palace

Our bus came across the street as we were taking our final photographs in front of the palace and we made a mad dash across the busy road to clamber onto the full bus. We were headed for St. Hedwig's Cathedral (literally only going because the name, at least in my case), the Humbolt Universität, the Staatsoper, and Gendarmenmarkt. 

St. Hedwig's Cathedral!

Universität

In Gendarmenmarkt, we saw the three notable landmarks of Berlin: the French Church (which isn't actually a church...) and the German Church on either side of the rectangular platz, with the beautiful Konzerthaus inbetween. We took a rest on the steps of the French Church and soaked up the beautiful view as the sky began to get darker and we listened some smooth jazz by a street performer nearby. It was very relaxing. The square had a great atmosphere; there were also lots of posh restaurants, cute cafes, and trendy little stores around the area that I would have loved to have had time to explore more fully. But by this time, we were all getting a bit tired and so we started for the hostel.

French Church and German Church in background

Konzerthaus Berlin and German Church in Gendarmenmarkt

Elise, Emily, and I tried the Greek Salad at the hostel restaurant when we got home, and found that it wasn't too bad. The area that we were staying in is one of Berlin's hippest, youngest, and most definitely coolest parts of the city. Berlin in general is a very young city, but this area was super hip. I loved that we were staying here! Orli and I set off to explore a bit more later that evening, around 10pm, while Emily and Elise decided to take an early night. 

Orli got a kebab from the stand near the S-Bahn stop and we walked around the district. There was bar after bar along many of the streets we went to, graffitied walls inbetween, and then a few clubs and cafes here and there. It was similar to Paris' Montmartre area or Bastille area. We even passed a few little shops! I really wish we had more time in Berlin to explore this area, because we just so happened to be in one of the most fascinating parts of the city! 

Just a girl with her kebab

We had tried to go out to go to a bar called Mojito that Liz had told me about, but Orli and I ended up not finding it and having more fun just wandering around in the cool evening air. There were so many things to see and so many people hanging out outside or at the bars or cafes, and the atmosphere was very young and hip. I really liked it, though the hipster-grunge type isn't usually my scene. I really want to bring Zaynee here to explore with me next summer. She may not know it yet, but the Malik sisters are going to take Berlin again in the summer. I need more time here!

Some interesting graffiti

Orli and I did well, waking up at 7:30am like Elise and Emily after getting back at quarter to midnight, and we all quickly packed our things and checked out of the hostel, though we left our luggage in storage. Liz had told me about a waffle place that I absolutely had to try in Prenzlauerberg and so I looked up other interesting things in that area and stumbled across the Mauerpark Flohmarkt (flea market) that happens every Sunday. Basically, I planned our morning to consist of flea market shopping and waffle consumption before we flew back to Vienna. It sounded like a perfect morning to me. And it ended up being the most amazing morning ever!

Buildings along Oderberger Straße

The flea market was incredible! It rivaled Paris' Marché aux Puces de la Porte de Vanves and even the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen that I visited and adored this summer with my friend Brooke. We came back with antique jewelry and vintage designer scarves this summer, and today, I expected to find something equally intriguing. I was not disappointed. The colorful leaves over the flea market also put me in a great mood (I just absolutely love fall weather!) and I hit the ground running, switching between antiques, shoes, jewelry, clay mugs, clothes, trinkets, vinyl records, musical instruments, and more. There was such a strange assortment of items and you could literally find anything here! I had so much fun walking around and conversing with traders in my limited German (I basically said "Hallo", "Wie viel kostet es?", "Danke" and lots of "Ja"s when they continued to speak to me in German) and ended up leaving the market two hours later with a new shirt, scarf, and two vintage photographs...all for 4.50 Euro. Not a bad haul for a morning before 10:45am!

Flohmarkt! I almost bought mom two of those red mugs (but transporting them would have been close to impossible. Sorry Mom :( Let's go back to Berlin and get them!)

Can you see me?

Next stop, Kauf dich Glücklich, the waffle breakfast restaurant Liz had told me about and I had hyped up since leaving for Berlin. It was already getting busy around 11am, so we found a table in the cute, cozy back room quickly and then went up to order our waffles. My powdered sugar and chocolate syrup and fruit salad waffle came out quickly and was the most scrumptious thing I think I've eaten since coming abroad. I literally cannot even describe how happy I was to have made it to Kauf dich Glücklich and have a delectable breakfast. Thank you Liz, for the recommendation! It's become my new favorite brunch cafe and I need to bring Hanaa here to try the crepes and waffles and gelato, too (they have it all!). It was the perfect end to the morning.

My new favorite restaurant!

My powdered sugar-chocolate-fruit salad waffle and hot chocolate breakfast!

Berlin, though seemingly difficult to navigate at first, was an amazing city. I wasn't sure I liked it when I first arrived, but two days in the city seeing the tourist sites as well as those places off the beaten track (such as the Mauerpark Flohmarkt and Kauf dich Glücklich! Can you tell I'm obsessed?) made me fall in love with the city and need to come back again to visit. Two days was just a taste of everything Berlin had to offer. I need to go and soak in the atmosphere and lifestyle for longer. However, our trip was fantastic and I had such a good time. I'm glad I planned it out and got to do almost everything I wanted to do, especially the waffle place and flea market! I can't wait to plan my next trip, now that I'm back home in Vienna (and though it's so cool that I left the country for the weekend, being home in Vienna is so great).

Ich leibe dich, Berlin!