Travel Post #2: Berlin, Germany! (July 25th)

Outside of my sister's door, leftover from her American / 4th of July party.

July 25th, 2013

     After a wonderful 10 hours of sleep, the four of us had a "Big French Breakfast" at a restaurant called Rocco. If only all of our European meals were that lovely... Afterwards, this day became dedicated to running errands. I picked up tape at a grocery store for my travel journal (which was originally a horrid composition book, in which I had to literally tape every single page back in at the end of the day), and got two hand towels for 1,50€ each at a giant super department store called (I think?) Galerie. In addition, on this day we met up with my cousin's internet friend, Thilo! He lives in Berlin, and took us to an outdoor Italian restaurant for lunch. I had an interesting fusion of carbonated soda and lemonade known as Lemonsoda.

     In the midst of eating among the trees and aging buildings, I realized that it is okay to take things slowly when it comes to traveling. Though it cost an arm and a leg to get to Europe, and though I naturally wanted to see EVERYTHING that Berlin had to offer, I also had to be honest with myself. I was tired. It was hot outside. I was beyond thirsty, no matter how much water I drank. Most importantly, I had to let myself accept that despite everything, I was on vacation. This trip was not only a means of seeing the world, but an escape from my everyday and the stress that comes with it.  What was the point if I spent the entire trip working myself up over the things I missed? No matter how much there is to experience, there will always be more that you missed out on. So don't stress yourself out. Relax if needed. Make sure you're enjoying whatever it is that you are doing, whether that is seeing a famous landmark or eating a quiet lunch. Especially because most of the family groups on "vacation" that I encountered seemed nothing but time-restrained, stressed, miserable, and argumentative. But more on that when we get to Paris ;) Basically, LIVE YOUR DREAMS. But don't letting living your dreams get in the way of your mental wellness.

      The evening began with a heavenly visit to Schlachtensee, a lake outside of the city's center. It was a godsend in the form of cold water! Especially considering Berlin was experiencing a heat wave. Beyond that, everything about the experience was pure summer fun. People were rowing canoes on the water or balancing on a giant log or drinking wine from the bottle. It was so different from California, for the waterfront didn't even have a beach. There was only a small strip dirt in between the trees and the lake. I swam to the other end of our alcove, and there was only underwater grass and tree roots as the water got more shallow. Here, I met my sister's American friends, all studying abroad from schools in the United States. They were kind enough, immediately welcoming us into their group, and shared their lovely cherry wine with me. I'm thankful they were the talkative types. Now that I'm in training for my new job, I've realized it still takes a great deal of effort for me to meet new people. But Natalie's friends were outspoken, so I didn't have to be! Afterwards, we all walked to a friend's house in a lovely suburban neighborhood for a BBQ. The street was full of old houses and tall trees; it was very reminiscent of the East Coast. I feel like it could have been a setting for one of those ghost/haunting/horror movies. But we all hung out in the backyard, listened to good music, and I got to try both BACON STRIPS ON A STICK and A SLAB OF CHEESE GRILLED ON THE BARBEQUE. Delicious! A+, 10/10, would highly recommend. Especially the bacon on a stick!! BACON ON A STICK.

     At around 11pm, the four of us walked back to the S-Bahn and traveled on home. Despite what I thought, and it's a bit illogical that I used to think this, jet lag doesn't disappear after the first day. I wish we could have been true Berliners, staying up until 5AM with not a care in the world, but we were nowhere near that level. But that's alright- we needed the rest. Tomorrow, we were off to Sachsenhausen!

♥ To be continued... ♥

Travel Post #1: Berlin, Germany! (July 24th)

     Hello and Happy Thursday! :) Today, I am finally forcing myself to buckle down and begin blogging about my travels through Europe this summer. These posts will be going up throughout the next month or so, because unfortunately, breaking them up by day is the only way I can keep these entries from getting too long and unsightly. On top of that, I have just begun training for my new job, which is over eight hours per day. Plus I have 200ish pages of reading to get done before September 19th. Basically, doling these travel logs in small increments makes this process much less of a struggle. I'm sorry if it makes for tedious reading, but I hope you enjoy regardless!

July 24th, 2013

     After three connection flights and around 17 hours of travel, my two cousins, Kyle and Kenna, (You will be seeing a lot of them, so might as well give a proper introduction) and I arrived in the Berlin airport at about noon. Customs was practically nonexistent as we snaked our way to baggage claim, and luckily my sister, Natalie, was there to receive us on the other side. It was the first time I'd seen her in almost a year! As she'd been living in Berlin for 11 months, she showed us how to use the S-Bahn and refused to let us nap for more than an hour because she feared our sleeping schedule would be off for the duration of our trip. Though incredibly considerate of her, it meant we weren't allowed to go to bed until 9pm. Or, in our accustomed time zone, 12pm.

     The time awake was not too dreadful, however, because Natalie took us to East Side Gallery! It is this gorgeous collection of graffiti art on what still remains of the Berlin Wall. It's quite insane to think about the fact that 30 years ago, people could be murdered for attempting to climb over it. But I love that its dark past has been transformed into something beautiful, and something in constant fluctuation. Which I suppose could be extended into a metaphor about Germany itself. My sister claims the reason she loves Berlin so much is because it was weighed down by communism and war, but the city is now coming back alive! That must be fascinating to watch. I also became increasingly interested by the people in Berlin because, at least some of them, were walking pieces of history. Anyone over the age of 40 or so could potentially remember what it was like when the Wall was up. It was just a thought that struck me whenever I saw older folks. This is a bit of a ramble, but it's quite cool to think about. 

     I also really liked something fairly new on the Wall (my sister said she didn't recognize it from the last time she visited), which was a photography display of different walls keeping people fenced in and out throughout the world. There are a lot more than I knew about?! That's a quite frightening thought.... And the exhibition included the wall on the border of Mexico and California, which resonated with me for obvious reasons.

Anyway, here are some photos from the East Side Gallery :)

     For lunch, my cousins and I had Döner for the first time, which is a popular Turkish fast food item. Though I'm sure it is wonderful most of the time, this particular time there was a GIANT, BEIGE, HALF-MYTHICAL MOTH FLY THING desperately trying to escape from the glass compartment where the red onions were kept. It was just staring at me and desperately ramming into the glass after I'd finished ordering. But I had been in Germany for less than 24 hours, and I didn't want to be that entitled tourist, so I didn't say anything. In the end, I'm glad I didn't speak up because Natalie casually mentioned while we were eating outside that Europeans don't care as much about bugs landing in their food. Unfortunately, I'm a spoiled and picky Californian, so I was plagued by mothish-horror-filled thoughts, and could not finish my meal. But my sister loves Döner, so don't steer away from trying it simply because of this story! Haha. I'm just haunted by it... casually... I tried to eat a Döner sandwich in Vienna and literally couldn't get my mind over the matter. That was when I finally confessed a much less disturbing version of this story, in the hopes of explaining my point of view without ruining their lives as well.   

     Afterward, we also went to this airport-turned-public-park called Tempelhof to hang out with one of my sister's Spanish friends and just chill out for a bit. They drank beer. Kyle took a light snooze on the grass. We saw people dancing interpretively. It was nice.

      After a long day of walking and experimenting with new things, I made a bed on my sister's floor out of a single sheet with two puffy, winter coats underneath for padding. Needless to say, it took less than a half hour to fall asleep.

♥ To be continued... ♥