Berlin

Had a great time in Berlin! Overall it struck me as a city with a lot of personality. I first got there on Friday night and then headed to the airport Monday afternoon for my flight back.

Friday: I got to my hostel around midnight and just went straight to sleep because I was exhausted. The place is called Heart of Gold Hostel and I'd recommend it to anyone who goes to visit Berlin. Free Wifi in the lobby which is spotty but again free, lockers in the rooms, sunglasses you can also rent out if you forget yours like I always do, all-you-can-eat breakfast 8 to 12 each morning for 4 euros, and best of all really catchy music in the reception area which puts you in the mood to socialize with the huge variety of people who you're going to meet there. I was really nervous about staying in a hostel by myself, especially because I chose to stay in a six person mixed room i.e. males and females. 

When I entered the room, it was empty except one guy sitting with his computer and said hi so of course I immediately assume he's a serial killer. Just kidding, well 99% kidding, 1% you-never-know. He ended up being a Chilean-Spaniard and the others who showed up later were Polish, German, and Italian. The funny thing is that I actually ended up inviting the first guy I met out to a bar with us and we spent most of the weekend together. One of my favorite things about traveling is making friends at the drop of a hat. He was even nice enough to accompany me to the airport on the last day. Aww.

Saturday: A few days before leaving for the trip, I signed up for the "Berlin Food Tour" which is a four hour long tour of the Mitte neighborhood of Berlin which my friend called the Manhattan of Berlin.  Basically, it is where you can find an endless amount of cute shops, restaurants, etc. The tour is really legit and has all kinds of reviews on Trip Advisor and the most amazing part is that it is all a one man show. The same guy- Bastian- does all of the tours himself and has it all down to a science. Anyway, we went around to I think about 15 specialty shops and restaurants and tried all kinds of things, including currywurst and local craft beer. My tour buddies were two American couples. One was living in Germany because the guy had some kind of army job there. The other couple basically up and quit their jobs in September to travel around Europe together for a year. How awesome is that? Here is the professional photo our guide took took of us:

We also saw all kinds of street art and someone I met there told me, "You can't talk about Berlin without talking about street art." Here are a couple examples:

Once I got out of the tour I was able to meet up with my friend who is studying abroad in Berlin right now and we took a walk around to see some of the more touristy sites. That night we went to a wine bar where you pay 2 euros, they give you a glass and you can drink as much as you want. There was some food there too so I ended stuffing my face as well. On your way out you leave a tip based on whatever you think your experience was worth I guess. The suggested amount is 2 euros a glass but people pay whatever they want or can. Saving some money and drinking some wine will always make for a night full of laughs. :p

Sunday: Sunday we tried to go to a flea market but it was closed so we headed off to see a palace in a neighborhood called Charlottenburg. Unfortunately, despite a long train ride and walk in the cold non of us really felt like spending the 8 euro entrance fee so I can't say we really learned much about the castle itself! One happy consequence of this wild goose chase around the city was that my friend and I had a huge appetite for an early dinner at a traditional German restaurant. Not touristy at all. In fact, I had to ask my friends to help me out because I didn't understand the menu at all. It was called Wirsthaus Hasenheide if anyone is interested. That night, I ate schnitzel <3 which for those of you that don't know- I didn't know before this weekend- is according to Wikipedia: "a boneless meat, thinned with a meat tenderizer, coated with flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs, then fried." Looks kind of like this:

That night, I got back to the hostel and wasn't at all ready for bed yet so I went on a mini adventure with my Chilean-Spanish buddy to the East Side Gallery, which is a fairly long part of the Berlin Wall which still stands and is completely covered on the eastern side by murals and works of art that were done in 1990. It represents freedom and artistic expression after such a terrible time in the city's history. After seeing that, we popped by Checkpoint Charlie and then headed back to the hostel.

Monday: On my last day, I spent the few hours I had left in the German History Museum which right near "Museum Island," an island full of museums on the Spree river. I guess it didn't fit. :p Anyway, it goes through the entire history of Germany which you probably guessed from the name, but I really only wanted to see the exhibitions about the World Wars. It turned out that that was plenty to see in three hours. Of course, everything was just jaw-dropping and heart-breaking but fascinating at the same time. After leaving the museum, I met up with my friend and went straight to the airport to head back to Italia. I didn't want to leave and I have to admit all I want to do now is hop on a plane to go somewhere else! I missed the feeling of being completely new to a place.