A Little Bit Of Everything : 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!