Berlin, Deutschland

This weekend I went on a Berlin trip organized by the summer university program. Our bus left Copenhagen at 6:45am and we arrived at the East Side Gallery at 2:30pm. The East Side Gallery is 1.3 km long and is the longest surviving piece of the Berlin Wall. 118 artists from around the world were invited to paint on the eastern side of the wall after it was dismantled in 1990. Not all of the murals on display are originals-- in 2009, a $3 million restoration project allowed the original artists to reproduce their work-- many of which were badly damaged by graffiti and vandalism. 

Some Heads - Thierry Noir (France)

My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love - Dmitri Vrubel (Russia)

Following our visit to the East Side Gallery, we checked into Hostel Meininger in the central Mitte district of Berlin. I shared a three bunkbed room with five other girls from my program. After dropping off our bags, we walked to Hofbräuhaus - the largest beer hall in Europe. Hofbräu is a chain of beer halls, the original is in Munich and there are franchises all around the world. We enjoyed traditional German food and of course, beer!

Prost!

Schnitzel - (actually originates from Austria)

1 litre

Met up with my friend Leo from high school-- he's studying in Berlin for the summer!

On Saturday morning, we took a walking tour around Berlin. The weekend weather was very hot (mid 80's) this weekend so it made for a sweaty walking tour. We started off at the Brandenburg Gate and then made our way to the Holocaust Memorial, Check-point Charlie, Reichstag Building, and ended the tour at the Berlin Cathedral on Museum Island.

Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial

Berliner Dome

After our walking tour, we were given a one-day metro pass to explore the city. Lea, Lizzy (both from U of Wisconsin), and I went to Alexanderplatz station and took the U-bahn to Stadmitte station to check out some shops. After picking up some souvenirs, we took the metro to Kreuzberg, an artsy neighborhood of Berlin (Leo said it was equivalent to San Francisco's Mission district). For the readers from SLO, I wanted to check out the neighborhood behind Kreuzberg café's namesake. Kreuzberg was not as busy as Mission Street but it had a similar hipster vibe.

Alexanderplatz metro station 

Me, Lizzy, and Lea on the metro 

Coledampf's & Companies - hip Kreuzberg café and houseware store

At around 4pm, Lea and Lizzy retired to our hostel to take a nap. As usual, I had a pretty good amount of energy so I took to exploring the city on the metro by myself. I wanted to check out the Victory Column that stood out on my map. A 15 minute walk from Tiergarten metro station brought me to the base of the column. Similar, to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the column stands at the center of a roundabout traffic circle and is accessible by underground passageways. For 2.5 euros, I climbed 285 steps to the top platform where I had a panoramic view of the city.

The Victory Column -  inspired by the 1864 Prussian victory over Denmark in the Danish-Prussian War

Fun light installation in the underground passage that mimics your movement

Glass mosaic at the base

View down Straße des 17 Juni

On Saturday night, I celebrated my 20th birthday at Matrix. The club is located in ten basement vaults of the Warschauer Straße railway station and houses nine bars and five dance floors. Being in my 20's is exciting.. I look forward to what adventures are in store!

TWENTY

On Sunday morning, we went to Sachsenhausen Memorial, a former Nazi concentration camp. Sachsenhausen was an all male camp, primarily used for housing political prisoners. Amongst the many terrible work details was the boot-testing track. Mostly pink triangle (homosexual) prisoners had to strap on heavy sacks and test the durability of boot soles over various surfaces. The average life span of a prisoner put on this detail was six days. Puma was one of the German companies that used Sachsenhausen's brutal labor services. Sachsenhausen provides a worthwhile learning experience and serves as a reminder about one of human history's worst atrocities.

Sachsenhausen was the last stop on our tour of Berlin before heading back to Copenhagen. One thing I had to try before I left Berlin was currywurst-- a German fast food dish consisting of fried pork sausage and curry ketchup. Cheap currywurst (< 3 euros) can be found all over Berlin but I didn't get around to trying it until a café near the memorial. The currywurst was underwhelming but still satisfying... sausage is always good and I am glad I got to try it.

Currywurst

Our bus made it back to Copenhagen around 9pm. I wish I had more time in Berlin and definitely want to go back. Although my first impression of Berlin did not blow me out of the water, once I explored a little bit more and went out at night ;) I grew to like the city more and more.

Ferry ride

Final exams are next week so I am in the library studying. I can't believe I only have two more weeks in Copenhagen-- time passes too quickly!

CBS library