Berlin
Berlin, Germany
September 18th-21st
Taylor and I arrived in Berlin pretty late at around 10:00 pm. Sam and her husband Marco were so sweet to pick us up from the airport! For those of you who don’t know, Samantha has been a life long friend of ours. We have known her since we were little and spent many summers hanging out in Ohio. Since it was so late we took some time to catch up and then headed to bed.
The next morning, Sam had to work but was going to be odd relatively early. She gave us directions to the city center (hand drawn I might add) and wished us luck! Taylor and I figured out their public transportation and made it to see her a little later than planned. We made it, at least. Once meeting up with Sam, she played tour guide and did a great job at it. We saw Charlie Checkpoint, remains of the Berlin wall, Berlin Cathedral Church, and the Spire! She also took us to eat some of her favorite local food!
Checkpoint Charlie
There are bricks on the ground showing you where the Berlin wall once stood.
A portion of the wall that was left standing.
Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.
It was built on a slope so some of the structures were over 10ft tall.
From the outside, they all appear to be relatively the same size.
The hotel Michael Jackson dangled his baby from.
Sam accidentally swatted this guy into my beer! She promptly removed it moments later. :)
After seeing much of Berlin, Sam took us to an electronic store in hopes for us to find me a computer. We originally brought an iPad to update the blog. Once we made it to Europe, we quickly found out the iPad wasn't going to work. Then, our parents brought Taylor's MacBook. We immediately found out it was going to be too heavy to lug around. Thus, I bought a computer in Germany. It has a German keyboard and an operating system in German but it is working! Marco helped get most of it switched to English and I couldn't be more grateful!
We hopped onto a bus and headed back to her apartment! Once we arrived, Sam informed us she would be making us a nice home cooked meal. Taylor and I couldn't have been more excited. For the record, IT WAS DELICIOUS! Shortly after we finished dinner, us girls curled up on the couch to watch the movie Colonia. It was a very intense movie but it was so good.
The next morning, Taylor and I had a scheduled tour of the Reichstag Building around 11am. We figured out our way there and were on the move. The tour was informative and self guided. The dome was beautifully constructed and very cool to see. We had a great time.
We had our minds set on enjoying a boat tour through Berlin. Tay and I set off on our comparison journey. We walked up and down the canal looking for the tours that were longer than an hour, decently priced, served drinks, and finished in time for us to meet up at Sam's restaurant when she got off. After about an hour, we found the tour. We had about an hour to kill before we needed to be on the boat so naturally, we found a place to eat. Tay and I learned our lesson early in our travels to go where the people are. We did just that here. The Vietnamese restaurant we chose was nothing short of amazing. We definitely enjoyed ourselves.
This picture does not do justice on just how close our heads are to this bridge.
Another portion of the Berlin wall covered in graffiti.
Yes, this happened.
The tour finished and we headed to meet Sam at her restaurant. Our timing was almost perfect. We left her restaurant and went on a walk through the city. We saw the beautiful sunset while walking to a place to eat dinner. Again, the food was really good! We walked to a bar that was in an old pharmacy for a night cap and had a nice time catching up.
Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to head back home and prepare for our early travels the next morning. It is very cool for all of us to have gotten the opportunity to hang out in Germany after all this time. It seemed like no time had passed. Not to mention, Sam and Marco were great hosts! We had a good nights rest and were ready to begin our journey to Munich!
Peace & Love,
Savannah