Berlin

I was reluctant to go there. I really just wanted to spend my weekend at home to write some lesson plans and maybe take in the flea market in Frankfurt. But I had already said I would go and I didn't want to back out. After an eight hour train trip, which began at 4am, I was decidedly unimpressed with my first glimpses of Berlin. The bahnhoff (train station) smelled funny and the surrounding buildings looked like any average American city. I was a little worried that the city didn't offer enough to keep us busy for two days.

After spending three hours in Berlin, during which we checked in at our hostel and ate lunch, I had already started to fall a little in love. The people, though badly dressed, as all Germans seem to be, were fascinating to watch. Mullets and mohawks, in all their glorious forms, are alive and prospering in Berlin. We were stared at as well, so something about us must scream "American!"
Saturday night we went on an organized pub crawl. We visited five bars/clubs in the course of the night. Some girls in the group did a bit more drinking than others. I thought it was surreal when I was dancing in an underground club in Berlin at 3am. Clubs are very big here in Germany, so going dancing is part of the German experience.

The next day we went on a walking tour of East Berlin. We went by all of the big sights and I learned a lot about the city and its fascinating history. My favorite sight is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Holocaust Memorial). It's meant to be abstract and up to each person to interpret their own meaning(s). I thought they looked like tombstones.

We also saw the Berlin Wall, or what's left of it. There is a very small portion of the Wall still standing out in its original position. Most of the Wall was torn down by the peopleof Berlin and other portions were removed and placed in museums and such. The part that is still out on the street is fenced in so that it's not chipped away and taken as souvenirs. I think it's pretty funny that there is a fence protecting the Berlin Wall. There is also a cobblestone line set in the ground that marks where the Wall used to stand.

So much has happened in Berlin. Kings and queens paraded through the Brandenburg Gate, Napoleon conquered it, Hitler used it as his headquarters, and then it was divided by Communism. I highly suggest Berlin to anyone who is going to be heading to Germany.

While I still think Berlin smells funny, and by funny I mean bad, I guess I can excuse that. The city is several hundred years old, after all. It's bound to pick up some funny smells along the way.