This past weekend I traveled to Berlin. It hadn't been high on my priority list of places to visit coming into the semester, but I heard a lot of great things from people about the city during my travels, and the fact that my grandmother and her friend were going to be there that weekend sealed the deal. I took an overnight train from Paris to Berlin, although this time I (the more experienced traveler from my trip to Switzerland) paid the extra money to get a couchette rather than a regular reclining seat. The difference was that I actually slept a bit this time (emphasis on a bit). The train was an hour late getting in (so much for German efficiency) and after 16+ hours on a train I arrived in Berlin, where my grandmother (Grandmere) was waiting for me.
After dropping off my bags and Grandmere and Judy's hotel, we spent the next several hours exploring the city and various museums. It was a very interesting day, filled with a variety of visits. We saw the memorial to the book burnings that happened at the beginning of the Nazi oppression of the Jews. The memorial is very unique; in the square where the book burnings happened there's a glass square and you can look down into a sort of bunker that's filled with empty bookshelves. We also visited the "Contemporary Fine Arts", which Judy and I both found interesting but was not quite up Grandmere's alley. Finally, we saw a famous bust of Nefertiti in a museum mainly dedicated to Egyptian artifacts. One thing that sticks out about Berlin is the fact that over 80% of the city was destroyed after WWII (our bad, sorry Germany), which means that all the buildings have been reconstructed in the last 70 years, but they've done an amazing job rebuilding the buildings to look like they've always looked.Before dinner I checked into the hostel I was staying at (City hostel Berlin). This hostel is probably my favorite I've been to. Cheaply priced, the hostel was clean and large and had a great atmosphere. The size of a small hotel, it had a game room, a bar, and free breakfast, with lots of people (young and old) intermingling. After moving in and taking a shower I walked over to Grandmere and Judy's hotel (a 5 minute walk) and we went out to dinner at a good Italian place. The main attraction for the night was attending the symphony orchestra at the concert hall across the street from their hotel. This was a really unique experience, something I definitely would not have done on my own. I'd never been to that kind of concert, but I really enjoyed it. The star of the show was Gil Shaham, an Israeli-American Grammy-winning violinist, considered to be one of the best in the world. He was amazing.
The next morning I woke up after not enough sleep for a 9 A.M. Sandeman's New Europe free walking tour, only to find that the earliest one was at 11. After watching people at the Brandenburg Gate for a little while I decided to make the most of my 2 unexpected hours of free time and walk around West Berlin a bit. I spent 2 hours walking along the river and checking out some interesting places, people, and graffiti. When it was actually time for the tour, I headed back to the starting point. I really liked the tour I took with this company in Madrid, and their Berlin tour was just as good. I was only able to stay for two thirds of the tour (because I had to meet Grandmere and Judy for lunch), but I found it extremely interesting. The tour guide gave us a lot of information on the history of the city, and we saw a lot of famous and unique landmarks. We started at the Brandenburg gate and saw the Holocaust memorial, and bunker where Hitler killed himself (now a parking lot), some old Nazi buildings, sections of the Berlin wall, and Checkpoint Charlie.
After meeting up with Grandmere and Judy and getting lunch, we went to the Holocaust memorial and museum. The memorial consists of thousands of large concrete slabs of varying height that you can walk through. It is a very powerful monument, and the museum was very moving. I think it's amazing and brave that the Germans rather than fleeing from the past have erected this memorial criticizing the things that their country did in the past. After leaving the museum we met up with my cousin Judy from Switzerland and her boyfriend Mikael and had a drink with them. It was good to see them, and such a treat seeing Judy twice in a few months! The big plan for the night was dinner at a very classy restaurant (the Gendarmerie), so we went back to our respective housing establishments and got prettied up for dinner. The food was amazing, maybe one of the best dinners that I've ever had. I don't want my readers to get too jealous, so I'll leave it at that.
Sunday was a busy travel day, with multiple transfers and a few close calls involving me running through train stations, but I managed to make all of my trains with no problems. Overall, I really liked Berlin and would love to go back as I feel like I didn't see close to enough. Berlin is really an amazing city, and unlike anywhere else I've been. It's extremely clean, modern, and safe, and everyone I met was extremely nice and spoke fluent English. There's so much to do, and I would love more time to do it all.
This weekend's been much more relaxing. It's my last weekend in France, and I wanted to spend it in Aix. This past week was all papers and projects and presentations, and it's been nice being able to just relax in preparation for finals next week. Yesterday I went to the beach at Cassis with some friends and spent the whole day next to (and in) the Mediterranean. Today I'm going to spend working and in a park with some people from the program. Next week at this time I'll be home! I'm going to miss Aix, but I'm definitely looking forward to getting home and getting into my summer!
