Berlin Trip 2014- Day 4

Monday- Day 4

Another early start.....well for us anyway. Another morning of a frantic dash for everyone to use the bathroom and have breakfast in time for us meeting outside the front of our hostel. This morning we headed to the East of Berlin to visit the East Side Gallery. The East side gallery is where artwork has been painted on to the Berlin wall to commemorate the wall coming down and to celebrate the overcoming of the Iron Curtain in Europe. It is the longest outdoor gallery in the world with more than 3 million visitors a year. We were able to walk along the wall at our own pace which was great as I loved looking at the work. Lots of it was very symbolic and showed clearly what it was trying to portray where as some were more abstract and harder to work out. I will insert some of my favourite pieces bellow. Half way through the gallery, there is a break in the wall where you can see a beautiful river. There was a cafe there where we stopped for a drink and supposedly to have lunch but it was still quite early so no one really ate much! We sat outside as again it was a wonderful day . Looking out on the river was magical and really made me appreciate everything we had done on the trip! We stuck our legs out in the sun in the hope of getting a slight tan (although we were pretty unsuccessful). Once everyone was done, we got up and continued along the wall looking at more artwork. The wall came to an end and we all regrouped and headed to the train station which was only a 2 min walk away. We went to a museum which was close to where we had been the previous day. It was an odd museum but very interactive and based on (I think) a typical Berliners life. Aspects of it were interesting but I must admit I was getting slightly bored. Luckily we were aloud to leave when ever we liked and aloud to explore the local area. I bought a massive pretzel of a pretzel man in the street as now I was starting to get quite hungry. Our group all met back up together in the green area again outside the Berlin Cathedral where luckily there were no people trying to soak us! After regrouping we took a walk to the traditional East Berlin shop. This shop supposedly sold all stuff traditionally sold in East Berlin. It was not a tourist shop but sold some good things. I bought a couple of presents for my parents and brother in there and some amazing boiled sweets for myself which were amazing! After leaving there we went to the university that my German teacher studied at. It was a beautiful building with a book sale out the front. My teacher was adorable and was getting really excited about being there. Only a couple of us and the teachers had a quick look inside and my German teacher excitedly grabbed the other teachers to get a group photo. It was lovely to see her so happy to be in the place she had grown up! It was very hot now and people were getting tired and quite irritable. Never the less we trekked on next visiting a small memorial to commemorate all the books that were burnt by the Nazi regime. There was a glass panel on the floor with inside a load of empty shelves with enough space to hold all the books that were burnt. Although it is seemingly quite a simple concept, I really liked it and thought it was very effective! Our next stop (yes we were still going) was to Gendarmenmarkt. A big market square which did not have a market (?) but did  have two identical churches parallel to each other. Don't ask me for the story I have no clue, all I know was that the architecture was pretty impressive! And on we trekked further to checkpoint Charlie. The name given by the western allies to the best known wall crossing point between East and West Berlin. We did not stay long but it was just interesting to see. There were two American soldiers there posing for pictures but you had to pay 2 euros for such a prestigious picture (not). Finally we were on the Home Stretch and heading back towards Potsdammer Platz (where we went the second evening). That evening that we went we did not get to explore much of the area but there is actually a big shopping centre there. We were given some shopping time which was great but my friends and I needed to sit down and relax for a while first as we were exhausted! We went to a super market and bought some water and snacks. I bought a bag of carrots which may sound strange but they were a life saver! I just sat in the shopping centre eating carrots while getting some strange looks. We looked around some of the shops and then got an ice cream. Again this ice cream was very cheap but amazing! It tasted so good. We still had a bit of time left over before we had to meet so we sat on a grassy area outside near the tube station. We were still exhausted so it was nice having a break! We all met again and got on the train back to the hostel. When we got to the hostel we had about half an hour to get ready for dinner, which we were having at the hostel. That evening we were going out swimming so we put on our bikinis and then some clothes over the top. As girls we were all worrying about our appearance and whether we looked fat but after some powerful inspiring speeches we decided not to care (which was defiantly for the best)! The dinner was the same in which we had had the first night but it was still good. Then once we were done, we grabbed our bags from upstairs and headed to the train station. The place was not to far away but once we arrived it was a good 10-15min walk. When we arrived we were all shocked at how amazing the pool was! It was an outdoor pool placed slightly above the river. It was stunning as it was nearly dusk and the sun was a bright red! We chucked our stuff down and headed to get straight in. I was very nervous and self conscious but once I eventually got in it was fine. Although the temperature of the pool was pretty cold you just had to keep moving. It was great swimming around and laughing with friends. It was definitely a great way to spend the last evening. We only spent about half an hour in there as any longer time longer than that would probably freeze our toes of. We all got out in dribs and drabs. I headed to the toilets to get changed where now I was freezing. Getting into dry clothes was a lovely feeling. There was a little stand which was selling chicken wraps and quite a lot of people were getting them (as we were all quite hungry now). I waited in line and when I finally got there they told me there was no more chicken left! I could have cried (I nearly did). As I went back to the others with tears in my eyes we began to pack our stuff up and get ready to leave. We left and headed back to the train station and got on a train back to the hostel. AGAIN, it was past 11:00 when we go back so AGAIN straight to our rooms! We were allowed to buy some snacks from the Vending Machine for the journey tomorrow though. In our rooms we had a bit of a jamming session to my music (which everyone else hated) so I just partied on my ones! We stayed up the latest that night! About 4:30 in the morning! We had so much energy after that swim! We spent that time packing our bags and chatting. I really enjoyed that evening. It was upsetting knowing that we would be going home the next day! 

The beginning of the gallery

The Teachers

The amazing Pool
(and a very attractive guy)

Thank you for reading

Please comment any feedback/suggestion :)

Berlin 2014- Day 1

Berlin 2014- Day 2

Berlin 2014- Day 3

   

Berlin Trip 2014- Day 3

Sunday- Day 3


Again, like the day before we all regretted going to bed so late! We were tired. We all went to breakfast again and all felt pretty ruff. Especially this morning as we had to meet down stairs at 9:00. That morning I had decided to wash my hair and I was rushing like mad to get it dry and try and get out on time! I was a bit late. Again we got on a train and went to a museum called The story of Berlin. I must admit, I was not the most interested. I think my tiredness over came me and all I wanted to do was curl in a ball and sleep. We had a question booklet to fill out in the museum but our teachers were pretty relaxed about whether we filled them out or not which was good. Once we left the museum, we waited outside and got taken by a guide to the Bunker of Berlin. This was fascinating (although I could not stop yawning). The Bunker was deep under ground and can still be used today if there is a nuclear attack! There are many faults with it though. If a nuclear attack took place, it would take 2 weeks to prepare the bunker which would be pretty much useless. Even if the bunker was ready in time, when it was built (around WW2 time) it would only fit less than 1% of Berlins population. You can imagine how small the number would be now. Bearing in mind this place is humongous! I really enjoyed looking in this bunker as although I was already against war, it just enhanced my understanding of how dreadful a nuclear war would be. It was a beautiful day, and extremely hot! We got on a train and headed to a Market next to a beautiful building called the Museum Island. The market had lots of second hand/junk stalls but it did have a beautiful candle stall where the candles were molded into beautiful shapes including flowers. There was also a soap stand run by an American women. It reminded me of the store Lush. It was lovely and they all smelt amazing. Some of us went to go and get an ice cream and they were so nice. I loved lots of things about Berlin but one of them has to be the fact that the ice cream is so cheap there! In touristy places in London or any where else you can pay a fortune for ice cream! Here it was only 1 euro a scoop or about 1.70 at the most. We headed over to the grass area outside the Berlin Cathedral where some people from my school had seemed to get in a water fight with a load of Berliners. To say the least, they got soaked! They even manged to get one of our teachers soaked but luckily she took it well! Once everyone had met up again we took about a 20min walk and ended up at the Ampelmann shop. The Ampelmann have turned into mascots which resemble East Berlin. They are the little men on the traffic lights. They became famous because they are not boring or like the traditional ones. This may sound really dull/boring but these mascots are everywhere around Berlin. You can get them on t-shirts, mugs, hats and there are even sweets of them! I liked where this shop was as it was not very touristy and while walking around the surrounding area, you really got a feel of the real Berlin. After a bit more walking we got given 10 euros and were given 2 hours to go and eat and then meet at Alexandra Platz (a big square with shops and restaurants). To say the least, this was a horrible experience! We walked for an hour and a half and could not seem to find any where that everyone would eat or that was in our price range. It was a nightmare! Eventually we ended up in some pizza place which was part of the station. It was not the best but we were all so fed up of searching for so long that we were prepared to settle for anything! On Alexandra Platz, another protest was going on. I am not sure what for but there were loads of people on roller skates and loads of chalk on the floor where people could write what ever they wanted. Our group all met up again and we got back on the tram back to the hostel. We were going out bowling that evening so we went back to the hostel to get ready and get changed. At around 20:00 we headed out and walked to the bowling alleys. They were not far away, about a 15-20 min walk. When we arrived we put our bowling shoes on and got started! We had a great evening and had lots of fun. We were all buzzing the whole time! When we got out we skipped and sang the whole way home. AGAIN, it was past 11:00 so we had to head to our room. Our room chatted for a long time and we ate biscuits (well mainly me) and just chilled out. We also shouted at people from our window! A late night.....again!    

The Story of Berlin museum

Inside the museum 

Inside the bunker

A beautiful day near museum Island

Museum Island

(and where water fight took place)

Ampelmann shop

Alexandra Platz

Thank you for reading

Please comment any feedback/suggestions

Day 4 coming soon :)

Berlin 2014-Day 1

Berlin 2014-Day 2

  

Berlin Trip 2014- Day 2

Saturday- Day 2

That morning, we woke up at 8:00 am. After going to bed quite late the night before, we were all exhausted! We got dressed and my friend and I, headed to the communal bathroom on our floor as the queue for the bathroom in our room was getting desperate! After a quick face cleanse and a tiny bit of makeup, we grabbed the others and headed down stairs for some breakfast! The breakfast was pretty bog standard but for €2.50 it sufficed! It had bread roles, some cereals and yogurt! After breakfast was over, we all went upstairs to brush our teeth and pack our bags for the day ahead! We meet outside the Generator at 9:40. we took the 2 min walk to the Tram and headed for the Berlin wall memorial! A must for any person visiting Berlin. We first went into an exhibition which at first I was confused to the purpose of us being there as there was not much in there! But then we got directed into a room with a massive projection being played! We watched two videos which I found fascinating! Although I study history, and would conciser my self to be a person with quite a lot of knowledge from that time era (ww1-ww2), at school you study what went on (mainly) in Britain! Here being able to look at what went on in Berlin towards the lead up to ww2 was brilliant! The videos were predominantly about the Berlin wall. The immense amount of security the wall had, and the number of people that died trying to cross it was astounding! I was very touched after leaving the exhibition but being able to see the real thing was simply mind blowing! The scale of it was scary and the amount of no mans land in the middle was also a shock. At this point we were given a bit of free time to look around and explore! In this particular stretch of the wall, much of it remained so we were able to look at the graffiti and markings made! For me personally, this was an amazing experience! We proceeded on, and crossed the road to climb up a big viewing tower! We were able to see the whole memorial (which is much larger than the bit we had just seen)! Suddenly, while up there we heard the roar of loads of motorbike engines! Across the street which was separating us from the memorial a protest was going on about bikers against violence! As we headed down the tower it was still going on. After 20min (no exaggeration) of us waiting to cross the road, it was still going on! The colossal amount of bikers was amazing! Eventually as the last biker passed we headed to the second part of the memorial which I believe was representing the amount of no mans land! In the videos we had watched, it had said that they put down this special soil, which kept footprints in it! This soil was still there and seemed to be very effective for its original intent! We then went to the 3rd part of the memorial! The video had also explained that there was a church, which ran in the no mans land area so it was destroyed! There was a memorial church here to commemorate it surrounded by wild flowers and gardens! We jumped on to the train and arrived at Brandenburger Tor station. As we departed the station ahead of us we could see the Brandenburg gate. another must see if you are going to Berlin. It was massive and surrounded by hundreds of people! It was buzzing! I really wish we could have spent longer at the gate as I really felt like we came and then left! We were in a rush to eat lunch and arrive at our next appointment on time! We were let free with €10.00 to get lunch. My friends and I went to a cute little cafe which was reasonably cheap and sold pizza, burgers sandwiches etc. The service was brilliant but it was generally the worst pizza I have ever had! The cafe, looked out on the Holocaust memorial which again was something I really wanted to explore but did not get a chance to which at the time I found very disappointing but after talking to my teacher (a Berliner herself), she told me that there is not much to see anyway!  After that rather tasteless lunch, we headed to the Reichstag, This is the Berlin equivalent to Britain's Parliament i.e Government building. Although the exterior of the building is old and traditional, due to a fire, the inside was stripped out and is now extremely modern. To say the least it is beautiful! we had a tour guide bring us round who told very dry jokes but was still very informative! The building and its history was fascinating. After the tour, we were aloud upstairs on to the roof of the building where the view was amazing! The building is famous for its big glass dome which you are able to walk up! It was already a baking hot day but this glass dome was a sun trap! After exploring for a while we headed to the lifts and out of the building. 

We chilled out for a while on the green space out in front of the Reichstag, lapping up the sun as we did. For dinner that evening, we were going to Potsdamer Platz. A cool shopping/eating area in a cool sort of indoor and outdoor building surrounded by flats. The reason for us being there was because after we were going to the European cinema which showed films in English, lucky enough for us. That evening I binged out on a lot of food. We went to McDonald's which I know is not very cultural but it was just what we all wanted that evening! After waiting a very long time for our food in there, I then also went to Starbucks and got my favourite Chocolate Cream drink and a cookie! I was very hungry that day! My friends and I then just chilled out in this place! There was a fountain in the middle of it all and we sat round there! It was evening now so it was the perfect temperature where you can wear shorts and a top but still not feel cold! We all met back up again outside the cinema and went in. The cinema was massive but I was now so full that I did not buy any popcorn or drinks. We went to see Bad Neighbours which I was expecting to be dreadful (due to the reviews) but it was actually quite good. It was funny and Zac Effron was looking fine! Once the film was over, we all began to feel very tired, myself included. We got on the train and headed back to the Hostel. Again when we got back it was past 11:00 so we all had to go to our rooms! Unfortunately, you always seem to want to sleep when you don't have the chance to, but when you do, you are suddenly full of life and energy! That happened when we got back to the hostel so again we did not go to sleep till the early hours of the next morning! We never seemed to learn!

The Berlin Wall

(Memorial)

  These special cobbles run through out Berlin to show where the wall used to be

The Protest on Bikers against Violence

The sand used in no mans land

The Memorial Church

Brandenburg Gate

On top of the Reichstag 

Thank you for reading

Please comment any suggestions/feedback

Day 3 coming soon :)

Berlin 2014- Day 1