Well I was right about not being able to get much sleep :( Because I slept for
tops of two hours last night...

We left the hostel around 5:45am and headed to the underground to take us to the
main train station. I couldn't believe how many people were out at 5:45am!
Seriously, it looked the same way it does around noon. And the funny thing is,
a lot of the people were still out from the night before! I guess that is how
they party in Europe...

We got to the train station around 6:10am and made our way to our platform. We
first stopped at a grocery store and spent the rest of our Czech money. Which I
had about $5... I bought two coffee drinks and some sour gummies, real healthy I
know.

The train was set up like the Hogwarts express. Where they are divided into
rooms of like 6 seats. Meredith and I sat down in the first empty cabinet and
threw out stuff all over so no one else would sit down :) Then there was a
group of boys that got on, and they looked as though they would come in and sit
with us so we drew the curtains closed. Haha, we really didn't want to talk to
anyone that early.

We both put up the arm rests on the seats and turned them into little beds.
Meredith crashed within the first 10 minutes, but I wanted to get caught up on
my blogs, and then start my book for class. I definitely got the blogs
updated.. but I started reading my book and fell right asleep ... thats typical
of my Madison books though. If I'm ever having a hard time falling asleep, I
should just start reading my school books... hmm.. maybe I should have tried
that last night with the snorer.

Anyways, we got woken up twice to see our train passes and passports. And then
fell right back to sleep. It was the fastest 5 hour train ride of my life.

We got into Berlin around 11:15am and then headed towards our hostel... Although
Meredith and I like walking as much as we can, whenever we have our luggage we
ALWAYS use public transportation. The Hauptbahnhof, is the main train station
in Berlin, and it is impressive! It is about 15 platforms and four stories of
complete steel and glass! It was by far the nicest train station we have been
in.

We took the M41 bus to our hostel. Where we were able to check in right away!
We also got free coffee with our check-in :)

The hostel is beautiful with a lot of character. All of our past hostels have
tried to be really modern with crazy colors and furniture but this hostel was
more of a Victorian style. It was a white townhouse with vaulted ceilings and
painted in a plum purple, brown and white. And our room was equally as
beautiful. The walls are painted a mustard yellow on the bottom and cream on
the top. There are four beds with crisp white linens and brown cube night
tables. And then in the center there is this HUGE patterned light. It is
really pretty.

Upon checking in we also grabbed the brochure for NewEurope's free walking tour.
We were expecting the times to be the same as Prague which were 11am and 2pm,
but in Berlin they actually offered four different times. It was 12pm now, and
there was a tour available at 1pm, but we decided that was too soon and opted
for the 4pm tour.

After dropping off our luggage we decided to head out to explore a little. We
had about 3 hours before our tour started. So we figured we would just walk in
that direction, thinking it would take us over an hour to walk there. That is
the problem with maps, they don't give you a clear idea about how big the city
is, and what is in walking distance and what isn't.

On our way there we came across the Berlin Wall and the ruins of the Gestapo
headquarters. The Berlin Wall was the main reason Meredith and I made a point
to get to Berlin, and although it isn't huge by any means it was still great to
see for ourselves.

We then continued towards the tour meeting point and ran into a sign for a
Vegetarian Restaurant :D We were both hungry and decided to try it out. It was
mainly a mixture of Thai, Japanese and Chinese food, but it was good. It was
crazy to look at the menu and have every option! It was actually quite
difficult to decide. Usually I have tops of 2 entrees to decide from, and there
were attest 50. I ended up getting this bowl of wheat noodles, with onions,
mushrooms these little deep fried raviolis in a broth. It then had bread crumbs
on the top, which totally looked like bacon! But they definitely were not :)

The restaurant was a little expensive, but we have been doing really good at not
going out to eat. We didn't eat out once in Prague, so we justified our splurge
on lunch.

We headed to the tour meeting point, which is right next to the Brandenburg
Gate. Meredith and I both had brochures but we only looked at the times on
mine. Meredith's said "Spring 2010" tour times 10am and 2pm.... Meaning that we
missed the tour. However mine just said "English 2010" and had a 4pm tour
offered. We had no idea which one to go off of. We didn't know if mine was the
summer brochure, so they offered more tours. But technically it isn't summer
yet! It was about 3:45pm and no one had shown up at the meeting point.

We were really upset because we were both convinced there would not be a tour.
And we were leaving Berlin in the morning, so we would not really be able to see
any of the city. Then at 3:55pm I saw the red NewEurope shirt :) and thank God
cause the tour was excellent!

We were put in Leen's group, and she was from England, living in Berlin and
pursing an art career. Berlin is a very up and coming city for art and music.
And she was an excellent tour guide!

We started at the Brandenburg Gate, where we learned a little of Berlin's
history. Also in the square was the Hotel Adlon. Which is the most prestigious
hotel in Berlin, and made especially famous when Michael Jackson hung Blanket
out of his window.

We then headed to the Reichstag, which is Berlin's Parliament building. This is
also the building that Hitler told Berlin's old and apparently stupid president
the "communists" burnt down. The president then signed his military power over
to Hitler, then just chancellor which allowed Hitler to pursue his dictatorship.
The building has a big dome on it that you are able to walk up (for free) and
see a good view of the city. This is something I would definitely want to do if
we had the time, but unfortunately we don't.

We then headed to the Holocaust Memorial, which is just surreal. It is right in
the heart of Berlin and is very abstract and just huge! It consists of hundreds
of stone boxes in the shape of rectangles (like coffins) ... On the edges of the
memorial, the columns come to about your knees. However as you walk into the
memorial the ground sinks and the columns get taller. Where they are about 15
feet tall. Being abstract, you are able to interpret the memorial for yourself.
Leen pointed out that some people see children and adults (with the different
sizes of blocks) while other people say it resembles the Jewish cemetery in
Prague. Which because of size constraints has as many as 12 coffins stacked on
each other.

The part that bothered me about the memorial was that some people were standing
on the boxes to get pictures, and others were almost playing tag and hide and
seek in the deeper parts. It was just really disrespectful. People were doing
the same with the Berlin wall... they were smiling and posing like they were
climbing it. Maybe I am being crude, but that really bothered me.

There were four Israelis on our tour. The man was telling me how his whole
family had been imprisoned in Auschwitz. They were now doing a memorial tour
and visiting all the Jewish history sites. I can only imagine the magnitude of
emotion they are feeling.

After the memorial we walked to an old parking lots. It was nothing special at
all, just a road. Leen then explained that directly below us laid Hitler's
bunker where he spent his last months and committed suicide. She went on to
talk about his death and how many of the Nazi's committed suicide before they
were captured. It was interesting (and great) that Berlin did nothing to
signify Hitler's bunker. All it is now, is a junky car lot. And you would
never know the significance of the space, if someone didn't point it out to you.
She talked about Hitler's suicide and how he had his soldiers burn his body
after he committed suicide, so his body could not be paraded around the streets.
However, since his bones have been burnt to nothing and dumped into a river. So
that there is nothing at all left of him. It was extremely interesting.

Leen was really educated and talked a lot about the different political
situations at the time. Which was perfect! Because that is what my book I am
reading for Brussels is about! I really do think I will have a better
understanding of the history due to this trip, and seeing these monumental
places for myself. I was not a big history buff, but this has definitely
triggered my interest. I am taking a Jewish and Anti-Semitism James Madison
class next semester, and I am SO excited now.

As much as Berlin was a significant place for World War II it was also just as
significant in the Cold War. The tour also focused on those aspects of Berlin
with Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall. It was just fascinating. Leen
told us about the Berlin Wall and the death strip, which really is just
unimaginable. After knowing more of the history and then seeing the Berlin
Wall, I viewed it completely differently. Because it is more of a symbol versus
an actually obstacle. The real obstacle of getting over the wall would be the
death strip filled with barbed wire, dogs, guards and machine guns. It was
interesting to hear about the wall being painted white on the East side because
then people would stand out against it.

Some other things the tour included were:
The Nazi Book Burning Memorial
Potsdamer Platz
Museum Island
TV tower Gendarmenmarkt

I think I could write another 100 paragraphs about all the information Leen told
us, but basically it was EXCELLENT! I am so happy that we were able to do the
tour after all, because without it I would have not known any of the
information.

I am also really happy that we were able to make it to Berlin. It is such a
crucial place in history, and it is great to see the city coming alive after
such a dark history.

The tour was about 3 and 1/2 hours and after we decided to walk back to our
hostel. We are heading out early again in the morning to catch the train to
Munich.

The weather forecast has called for rain the next couple days in Munich, but
hopefully that will change! Because we have a lot of day trips planned!
-brooke.