Today I realized that traveling makes the world more personal. It takes events, people, and places that we read and heard about in history, and moves it into our own world.
With only a day and a half left, there was a lot I wanted to see and do here. I've heard about free walking tours in each city, but never really took advantage of them. However, I'd heard that Berlin's is one of the best in Europe, so didn't want to miss it. With limited time, I set out early to get some exploring in before the 11:00 tour. I walked the boardwalk while heading towards the TV tower and museum island. I basically scurried around all the museums taking pictures from the outside, took a selfie with the TV tower and took the train towards the square where the tours all began.
After being lost and unable to find the tours, I finally found a group about to head out. The 3 hours tour was definitely well worth the time and walk. The guide was extremely friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. We learned about history from Hitler to the Berlin Wall to present day buildings. If you go to Berlin, I strongly recommend this tour.
Afterwards, I decided to go back to a few places we had passed on the tour. Places such as Reischstage and Brandenburg Gate. However, this just also happened to be the location of Berlin hosting the 2015 European Futboll club championships. Who knew?! Not me. But that's okay because it was the perfect spot to get some lunch, sit, and watch some Futboll. The actual game was on Saturday, so I believe this was just causal events and games going on. For lunch I had currywurst which is basically sausage with curry sauce over it. Not too bad. A little hot out for such a spicy dish, but good German food to try.
After getting some lunch, I also wanted to see the musuem at the Memorial to The Murdered Jews. However, with a security clearance, and a pocket knife in my purse, I decided to wait. And no, I don't feel that I need it, Europe has been very safe so far. I use it to cut cheese and bread when I picnic.
From here, I decided to venture further away from the city to trivoli gardens. This park is absolutely huge. Definitely much larger than central park. It completely removes you from feeling like you're in a city which is a nice change of pace considering most of my trip has been to cities. I wondered around for most of it, enjoying the scenery. At the center is a large statue of an angel on a tower that can be climbed for views of the city. That was a great place to see the surrounding area.
Then, I headed even farther out of the city. Although on the way, I also think I saw a group of naked men sun tanning in the park... I didn't want to stare, but I definitely saw tan lines. Apparently Europeans are very open about this. Anyways, past the end of the park, there was A church that was bombed during the war. However, unlike most destroyed buildings, it wasn't repaired. After seeing the dome in Hiroshima, I thought this would also be similar to see. The windows were blow out, and chunks missing. The two sights are very similar, and across the world from each child other.
After seeing the church, I headed back to my hostel. I grabbed some groceries and dinner, talked to a few people in the common room, then headed to bed.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment