Berlin, Germany

Leaving Copenhagen and arriving into Berlin was like leaving a quaint colourful city full of tall, blonde (and quite good-looking) people, and arriving into a massive city of concrete and many cultures.  Berlin is rich with history and there are some extremely beautiful buildings, however we discovered that being here for just one weekend was hardly enough time to feel like we could familiarize ourselves with the city.  We enjoyed our stay at the Amstel House Hostel, though the location was not (ideally) centrally located.  We graduated from cycling around Copenhagen to Metro-ing our way around Berlin; and we most definitely missed having Didde's bikes to explore the city with.  Taking underground transit always seems to disorient me (I can't visualize how to get one place to the next, like I can on a bicycle).  So I was definitely grateful to have Zack there with me!  Exploring this city solo would probably not be something I would try to do on my own.  

Here are some pictures of the hostel we stayed at:

The exterior of the hostel, The Amstel House.

The lower level of the hostel.  

The hostel kitchen.  SO nice, especially for a hostel!  I'd like to note the all the drawers were installed with soft close hinges!  And the appliances were way nicer than any appliances we've had.  I am already loving European design.

We learned very quickly that Berlin seems to be THE place to come if you want to party.  The fist night we were there, we stayed in at our hostel to do some planning for the next part of our trip and got to bed at a decent hour in order to feel our best for our weekend in Berlin.  We were the only ones in our room of 12 people by midnight... half of our room mates finally rolled in when we were getting up to start our day.  We felt strangely grown up compared to most the other guests here, haha.  We did however check out the most happening strip in Berlin on Saturday night in Friedrichshain and had a great time enjoying some good (and cheap!) German beer.

As we leave Berlin, there are two main highlights that stand out in my mind: the history and the World Cup final.  Here are some of the details:

1) The History

The first thing we decided to do when we planned out our stay here was to take part in a walking tour through the most historical areas of the city.  I think this is something that is an absolute must in this city!  We visited the Holocaust Memorial, stood in the location where Hitler (supposedly) committed suicide, walked past the old Nazi Headquarters (which is now a government building), and stood alongside the last portion of the Berlin Wall.  We then walked past Checkpoint Charlie (the most popular checkpoint for crossing over the border of West and East Berlin) and visited Humboldt University, where there was an outrageous burning of books in 1933 to rid of any literature that was not "politically correct" according to the Nazi's.   There went a whopping 20,000 books up in flames.  This was also the very school where Albert Einstein studied (very cool!).  Our tour guide was very informative and captivating in the way he described the tragic stories of the German history.  It was quite moving to hear what had occurred right where we were standing.  And that is just to touch on the surface of the history in this city.  If you are at all into history (and even if you are not!), to visit the historical sites in Berlin is a moving experience.

The former Nazi Headquarters.  

The East side of the Berlin Wall.  Crazy that not too long ago, you could not just walk freely from one side to the other.

Topography of Terror open air museum.  This took you through the history in detail.  Probably a few hours worth of reading material right here.

Around 20,000 books were burnt to the ground in front of this building in 1933.  All because they were not "politically correct" according to the Nazi's.

The Book Burning Memorial at Bebelplatz.  You can look down through the frosted glass to see only empty bookshelves.

Albert Einstein attended this University.

The Holocaust Memorial

2)  The World Cup:  Go Deutschland Go!!

You might think we planned to be in Germany for the World Cup?  Guess again!  We had planned to be in Berlin this weekend from the start of our planning, and I guess you could say we just got lucky!  And oooh man, did this make for an epic Berlin experience.  From the moment we stepped out of the train station, we saw red, yellow and black everywhere we turned.  I sometimes thought to myself how absolutely crazy it is that people can go so nuts over a sports game.  But then I just reminded myself to take it all in, and and enjoy it... we are in Berlin for the World championship!!  So, Sunday night we headed out into the crowd, got our faces painted red, yellow and black, and (attempted) to join in to the German chanting that was going on all around us. 

And some more photos of the city (including some cool city markets):