I Could Be Dreaming

Originally posted 7/2/07.

Berlin was phenomenal!!!!! I am in love with that city.

We caught an overnight bus that got us there early Thursday morning. After some wonderful help from the guy sitting next to Sam, we were able to easily find the hostel. The transportation system is very very well done. We checked in and decided to go on a walking tour. Best decision we made because it led to everything else on the trip.

So, we went with a group of other travelers from the hostel and walked around Berlin for most of the day learning a ton of history that by walking around be ourselves, we would never have realized. It is such a cool city; a grat mix of old and new. Because of all the bombings and political turnovers, it has been rebuilt so many times. They are still continuing to build. It was nice to take a trip without expectations or any plan. We were able to do whatever we felt like, and we never felt like we were rushed. That is how all trips should be I think. If you maybe miss one or two things because you didn't end up with time, so be it.

We saw many great things including the holocaust memorial, checkpoint charlie, and museum island.

After the tour was over, we walked back to see all the things we walked by only briefly before. We also went to a few museums and a beautiful church.

Thursday night, we attempted to find places to go out on our own. Failure. We really aren't very good at that.

The next day, we decided to do some more sight-seeing on our own and do some shopping. We went to an open Turkish market, and it was great. Vendors let you taste the foods, clothing and jewelry are sold quite cheaply, and it is just bustling and noisey. We got some nice olives and pesto spreads and ate lunch by a river. We were visited by some rats, but that didn't really phase us. We went to Parliament and the Sony Center as well.

That night we went on a pub crawl run by the same company that ran the walking tour. I am not sure we could have had a better time. We met so many great people from all over the world. Everyone has a story, and most people who travel are generally free thinkers. The last stop was a club that had many types of music and atmospheres. I think this was my favorite part because everyone just danced the night away.

We hauled ourselves out of bed Saturday for a tour of Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp in a nearby town. As much as I have read about it, it is never the same as actually being there and seeing it for yourself. Most of the camp has been leveled, but there are many reconstructions and museums on site. Even being there though, it was hard to imagine the horror. I just still can't understand how something like this can happen in society.

We had so much fun the night before, that we decided to do the pub crawl again. We met a brother and sister from L.A. that were traveling together earlier that day, so we were excited to see them again that night. We met some of their friends they had met in traveling, and together, we just chatted and laughed all night. We also got to know some of our guides a little better. They are all really cool people, a lot of whom moved to Berlin after seeing it on a visit much like our own.

After seeing the sunrise, I was pretty pumped for another day of wandering. Our original plan was to go to Potsdam, but because of when our bus left, we decided just to stay in the city. We found a random flea market with all kinds of strange things and a lot of war memorabilia. We also just wandered around the city a bit more and found the olympic stadium. It was nice to have a relaxing day.

We are back to cold, rainy, dreary Wageningen for a few more days. I start bright and early tomorrow working with assays in the cell physiology department. They took me back. I was suprised. We have dinner plans with friends tomorrow night and then with Rene and his family Wednesday night. Everything is really coming to a close, and it is going to be a busy couple of weeks.