Day 8- back to class, Prinzessingarten, and beer education

Today was another excruciatingly hot day stuck in a classroom, but after class there was another cultural excursion to an “urban mobile garden” called the Prinzessingarten, or princess garden. It was very hip and trendy, but also a really neat use of the space that used to be an apartment building block that was destroying in WW2. What I found particularly amusing was how organized and tightly packed everything was, because the park has a very limited amount of space, with tall buildings on every side.

 I went to a similar sustainable fresh veggie garden-type thing in Montana a while ago (I think that was a trend in 2015ish?), and it was massive, sprawling, and not very organized. It’s always fun to see how cleverly people can use spaces, particularly when they don’t have much of it! Fun fact: the plants are all in crates because the ground is just rock and the ruins of the old apartment complex, so very little can actually grow in the dirt there.

After the garden I met a friend for a beer, and we walked around the Kreuzberg area, which is apparently known for it’s nightlife and being a fun place for young people. They also educated me about different Swiss beers, which was pretty fun. I learned I definitely do not enjoy wheat beer, and I definitely do enjoy this:

Day 7- the laziest day

Today I slept a LOT. It was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday. I went to the coffeeshop right by our hostel and did some homework, because our room is so hot during the day it’s unpleasant to sit in...

But I literally just napped, talked to some friends, got coffee, and then finally ventured out at around 7pm to go find some food with my roommate. Everything is closed on Sundays in Europe, which I have mixed feelings about, but it meant we had to walk to Potsdam Platz to find the restaurants near the large train station there that were open. We settled on a place called Pasta Maria, and both got really really excellent pasta, and will definitely go back again!

Day 6- Potsdam, Pride, and Beer

Today there was a cultural excursion to Potsdam, a city about 30 minutes west of Berlin by train. It was on the border between the Soviet and American occupied zones during the time Germany was split up after WW2, so there was quite a rich history there. This bridge was where the Bridge of Spies was filmed, even though only 4 spies were ever exchanged at the bridge between the American and Soviets.

The land by the river that the bridge crosses belonged to the German royal family, where they built almost literally anything they wanted to, in any architectural style. There was an Egyptian pyramid, a Scandinavian boat house, and an English palace, to name a few.

Potsdam has a gorgeous park, Sanssouci Park, that also used to belong to the royal family, with 3 or 4 palaces and tons and tons of landscaping and statues. We spent quite a while walking around and finding sprinklers to cool us off, and then headed back to Berlin. 

We then caught the tail end of the pride celebration happening by the Brandenburg Gate, and met up with some other students for a drink.

 I’m pretty sure I ended up walking home at 3am with some friends, and by that time my feet were incredibly tired, because we walked 13(!!) miles that day. I’m ready for a lazy Sunday!

Day 5- sunsets & a beach

Today I had some delicious leftover pizza for breakfast on my way to class, which was a lovely way to start the day.

After class, I met my partner to work on our first assignment at a coffeeshop, and I found this gorgeous building on the way there. (Look at the color of the sky reflected in the top windows!)

After finishing our homework, my roommate, myself, and a bunch of other students went to a beach/river/pool/bar thing called Badeschiff!

There was a gorgeous sunset on the way there...

 It was super fun, there was a beautiful pool in the river and lots and lots of folding chairs to hang out and chat in. 

Day 4- a kilo store, dinner, and my future house

Today after class my roommate and I went to a kilo store! I’d never heard of this kind of store, but it’s just that you literally pay for your clothes by the kilo! It was insanely massive and super duper hipstery/vintage. I didn’t end up buying anything because it was so expensive, but we spent a solid 2 hours just looking around and seeing what there was to see...

Then we went to dinner, where we splurged and got pizza & spaghetti! It was so so so good, I missed true Italian thin crust pizza.

On the way home after eating the fantastic dinner, we found a beautiful facade of one of the houses on the same street as our hostel that was #goals. It was absolutely covered in ivy, and it had grown so tall we couldn’t fit it in the picture!

Day 3- a boat tour

Today I had class in the morning and a boat tour in the afternoon. The boat tour was super fun, I remember doing the exact same one when I came here with my family 6ish? years ago! There was way too much sun, and it was way too hot. The humidity here is ~50%, which, when combined with 90°+ Fahrenheit temperatures, is not exactly my idea of a good time. But there was some beautiful architecture on the tour, and it helped me get my bearings a bit, seeing where what things were in Berlin. I honestly can’t remember which building this is, but it’s beautiful!

After the boat tour, a bunch of other students and I went to get ice cream and walk around near our hostels. 

On the way home, my roommate and I got a little bit lost and found this beautiful church! It’s really neat that I can go down the wrong street and discover something that I wouldn’t have even known existed otherwise!

Day 2- a rough landing with yummy food

Today I had 5 hours of lecture, and I’m pretty sure at least half of my class didn’t understand a single word. I have a really cool foreign teacher who is quite approachable and interesting, but I think he expects us all to know way more about computers than we do... I think I learned more trying to find my way around this massive campus.

There are 10+ cafeteria/cafe places, but they almost all serve really heavy food, that I cannot stomach in this heat. It’s supposed to be around 90-95° Fahrenheit every day this week, and it’s even uncomfortably warm at 8am. After classes, my roommate and I went back to the hostel and passed out for about 3 hours, now I know why people in hot climates do siestas! Then we went to a cute Thai place for a late dinner, which was on a really cute street full of cheap restaurants and stores, close to our hostel!

Day 1 - Sunshine, coffee, beer

Today was the introduction/orientation day for the class I’m taking at the Technische Universität Berlin. It was an adventure to find the right train stop with my roommate at 9am, we walked through some interesting parks that I decided I wouldn’t like to go through late at night. Tomorrow we are going to try and find a different stop to go to, a little less out of the way...

When we arrived at the school, we had to walk 10 minutes more just to get to the actual building we were supposed to be in... where we were greeted by cold drinks, a bag full of information, and our train tickets! Now I have a student ID card for 2 colleges! There was an introductory information session, then we were led to our classrooms where we had a 2-hour intro lecture. My class is going to be a bit tricky, but I’m excited to learn some new stuff and be a little ahead when I go back to Bozeman. 

After the intro lesson, we got a campus tour and then had coffee and cake. My roommate and I went back to the hostel, where she took a nap (jetlaggggg) and I put away my stuff and went out to grab coffee with a friend! We chatted and walked around, then got a beer at a cute hipster brewery. 

Came back to the hostel a bit late and called my family to catch them up on what was happening, then I went to bed :) I checked my step count and I walked 8.8 miles today. That makes me excited for this next month, I can’t wait to explore more of Berlin! Wish my feet good luck...

Day 0- Australian friend and museums

Today I woke up and had no idea what to do with myself. Sundays in Berlin (or anywhere in Europe for that matter) are pretty boring, because almost nothing is open! Luckily I met a really nice and really gay Australian during breakfast at the hostel, who was also traveling alone and interested in just wandering around the city on foot.

We spent the day doing just that, and we found two museums to go to as well, the Jewish museum and the Currywurst museum!

The Jewish museum was actually not at all what we were expecting, there were the usual facts and horrific stories about the persecution of the Jewish people during and before the war, but the majority of the museum was large-scale, simple art, designed to make you think about the space left behind by the Jewish people killed. It was absolutely amazing, and really made me think. This was my favorite exhibit, it was a giant chamber with a dark corner, and the floor was covered in 10,000 metal faces. It was encouraged that we walk on the art, which made loud, eerie clanging noises even when you tried to walk super quietly. 

After that, we both were pretty done with the depressing history museum vibe, so we headed to check out checkpoint Charlie, which was much too touristy and honestly rather bland. 

However, a block away was a Currywurst museum, with a sample included in the price of the ticket. So now I know more about Currywurst than I ever will need to, and I can say with confidence that if you want to eat a Currywurst you might as well save your money and put ketchup & curry powder on a hot dog. 

After this, we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was another very large-scale but simple art piece. It took up an entire city block, and consisted of 2,711 blocks of concrete of varying sizes. From the outside, it looks pretty cool, but once you actually walk into it, the ground slopes down and you can’t see out of the blocks. It was very thought-provoking. 

Overall, it was a great first day in Berlin, and I’m excited for the first day of class tomorrow!

Back in Europe!

Hello to anyone who still looks at this blog! I recently arrived in Europe and I’m staying for a month in Berlin on another exchange program! Figured I’d use this space to document what’s happening again...

So I spent 5 days in Zurich with my grandparents to get over jetlag, which was super nice. I never realize how much I miss being in Switzerland until I’m there again, immersed in the busy city life and the fun culture. I accidentally adjusted my internal clock to sleep from about 3am to 9am, which is just super fun. 

I spent most of those 5 days eating and catching up with Lara and my other family! We went to the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world, the Hiltl, which was incredibly tasty and incredibly expensive... :o

Lara and her friends also took me clubbing, which was very fun and very tiring.

 I had a morning flight to Berlin the next day, so I was exhausted by the time I woke up, let alone after traveling and getting lost on the way to my hostel. But I made it in one piece, and I’m excited for the coming month!