Berlin

So I had no idea what to expect for Berlin. I heard it was a huge city (and last time I encountered a huge city it was with a class, and not to mention a little intimidating). I heard it stays up all night. And something about a wall...? haha. Well, I didn't really know what to expect, but maybe that was better, because it completely exceeded my expectations. I absolutely loved it. We got there after a long day of train rides (as always), and the main station is huge. 3 or 4 levels, big glass on the outside. There were 20 of us, and we had only a slight clue how to get to our hostel. And we were always worried about losing someone, so we each had a number haha. We might have looked like a bunch of middle schoolers on a field trip but it was practical. Basically we left it up to a few people to figure it out, and although it finally worked out it was kind of frustrating. It was moments like this that I wondered why on earth I agreed to come on this trip. 

The next day made up for it. We had heard a lot of good things about this free tour that they offer (4 hours long!). So we decided to try it out... best decision EVER! The walking tour showed us everything in Berlin, and we had the most amazing tour guide. The guides are paid entirely on tips, so they really do a good job. Colin was from Edinburgh and clearly should have been a theatre major cause at the end of the tour he told us the story of how the wall fell. We walked over the place where Hitler's bunker was (where he killed himself), and tons of other important places that I didn't even know about. I really felt like I understood the history of Berlin and way more about WWII and what happened afterwards. It was one of those times when it really hits you that you're actually IN the places where history was made. I got tons of pics of the Berlin Wall and the cobblestone lines they've put in the streets where it used to stand, saw Checkpoint Charlie, and tons more. 

The other thing I really liked about the tour was that it made me realize that even though Berlin is huge, it doesn't feel like a big city. The streets aren't super crowded, there are plenty of big squares and things. It wasn't at all like NYC where there are always people pushing you and stuff. It felt very open and free. 

Well after our sweet tour, we walked around a little market that we'd passed, then went back to the hostel for a quick rest. The free tour company also sponsors a pub crawl, where you go to 5 bars for 11 euros and a bunch of free drinks. All of us, except Emily cause she got some sort of flu earlier that day and was miserable :(, went on it with 100 other people. It was great cause we would have had no idea where to go since the city was so big. We got to see a lot of the different kinds of nightlife that Berlin is known for. 

The next day was a very long train ride home, which was not so conducive to studying for my midterm on Monday. But altogether, traveling with 20 people turned out just fine. I wouldn't do it again, and I might have gotten annoyed at certain members of the group but that was to be expected. 

(pics taking too long to upload, dumb internet connection. i'll try later)