Germany: the land of the Kuehns. My roommate Kelly and I flew to Berlin early Saturday morning, so early that we only slept for like an hour. We left the room at about 3:30am to catch the bus to the train station that would take us to the airport (sounds fun, right?). We got to Berlin and made our way to the hostel, while stopping on our way to get pastries and coffee (Kelly was suuuperrr excited that they had Dunkin Donuts). The pastries were so so so so good, they were our main food group for the weekend. After we dropped our stuff off at the hostel, we started sightseeing. The Christmas markets were our main concerns, so we went to the biggest Christmas market first, in Alexanderplatz. On our way, we encountered a group of Santas caroling in German on the train, which was unnatural sounding to us, the songs not being in English. One of the Santas came up to us to ask us if we knew who saved humanity and was born about 2,000 years ago, and of course we answered that it was Jesus. She wished us a Merry Christmas and gave us chocolate coins (which look the same in Germany as they do in America).
Alexanderplatz is a big area in Berlin with a tall TV tower, a beautiful church, and some open spaces where the Christmas market was set up. The Christmas market was huge, and it had three sections. There was a section with a bunch of booths where people were selling a variety of things and foods, another section by a beautiful church with a ferris wheel and more booths, and a third section resembling a mini state fair.We stopped and got sausages at one of the booths and took a bunch of pictures before frolicking in a park-y area. Next to the frolic park was the Berlin Cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful. We took some pictures before moving on to a different part of the market. I bought some silly finger puppets and we marveled at the German-ness of the market.
Next we went to the East Side Gallery, which is a preserved section of the Berlin Wall covered in beautiful murals. The murals were of course themed in subjects having to do with communism, the Wall, and their effects on the population of Berlin. Most are grim, or abstract representations of the emotions people must have felt during the time, but some are hopeful or even triumphant. Some didn't even seem to have much to do with the Berlin Wall at all, though I don't really know enough history to make that judgement.
Next we made our way back to Alexanderplatz and explored the carnival part of the market. It looked great lit up in the dark. We went in and got some hot wine, which I didn't like much, before walking around a bit more. We then headed to another Christmas market in Potsdamer Platz. The market was a lot like the other ones, so we looked around for a bit, got some pastries, and then went into a mall to get warm and rest our feet before we headed back to the hostel early.
The next day, we got up and decided to take a long walk to Charlottenburg Palace. On the walk, we got hungry and decided to stop for some breakfast. We got some "pommes frites"- french fries and continued our walk. The palace stood out beautifully in the snow and against the grey sky and there was another little market there too. We got a few gifts at the market and then took a stroll around the palace. The back of the palace had a big garden, but as there was snow everywhere, we didn't see what it looks like in all its glory.
Next we went to the Brandenburg Gate, which is at the edge of Tiergarten, a big park in Berlin that also holds German Parliament. We made our way down Unter den Linden, a main road in Berlin, to Friedrichstraße, a main shopping street. We looked around Friedrichstraße and made our way to another market in Gendarmenmarkt. This market cost one Euro, which was annoying, but had a stage with some entertainment. There were little performances going on, and we saw some child ballerinas performing a cute little ballet play. The market was in a little square surrounded by one German and one French cathedral. The square was awesome, and once we were done exploring we went to another mall to defrost and get something to eat. We wanted to see one more market and when we walked outside it was snowing! We did some more frolicking in the snow, and made our way to a market on Unter den Linden. One of my favorite things about Europe is walking around and unexpectedly finding these beautiful buildings. This aspect of Europe did not let me down in Berlin, and on the way to the last market, we stumbled across a beautiful museum and a pretty, little church.
The last market, like the others, was awesome. We browsed some booths and took some pictures, and were then in for a surprise. We were walking, and saw a stage with two men getting ready to perform. They started singing and we were immediately surprised to hear that they were singing in English. They were singing classic American songs, and they were pretty good, so we stuck around. In between songs, they started speaking, and they were American. They spoke both German and English, but Kelly and I thought it was funny that we stumbled upon some American performers, who we learned were called the "Soul Protectors," while we were in Germany.
We headed back to the hostel to get some rest before our early flight the next day. On the way to the airport, we of course stopped for some pastries and hot chocolate, which I then spilled while struggling on the train.
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