Advertisement
Published: March 12th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Charlottenberg Schloss
Us at the Charlottenberg Schloss! Ever since I got back from S. Germany and began going back to classes, I have been swamped with visiting friends and this next coming week is no exception!
A couple weeks ago, my German teacher, Dr. Gaddy, and her son came to visit. I was coming down the stairs after class and all of a sudden she was right in front of me! What a shock! I was so surprised and later some of us went down to the Mensa (cafeteria) and had lunch with my teacher. We made plans to meet later at an interesting tea place that Dirk showed us on the first week in Berlin.
However, when Sal and I arrived and met up with the Gaddy's (her daughter is in the program so there was the 3 Gaddy's! Outnumbered!) it opened too late fore Dr. Gaddy and her son were going to go to an opera that evening. We decided to go to the cafe in the Deutsches Museum. She insisted on buying us coffee and cake and it was a great time.
This past week we had a blizzard and one could not see 3 feet in front of them. Since the
Snow Day!!!
Us around our school house with Dirk welcoming at the front door! BVG is on strike (Ubahn, buses, and Strssenbahn), a large group of us apt. kids gathered around and made the treacherous to Brentannostr. Grete and I were the leaders of the pack but when we turned around the others were not in sight and later we found out they decided to make base camp at a cafe and then they headed for the summit after some R&R and coffee.
When we arrived to our little school house, everyone was in a frolic and good times were had making snow angels before class. However, this snow would not last the day as the sun soon came out the melted all the snow away.
Pierce came into town one day. An old friend from high school who I have not spoken with for quite some time. We met up at Alexanderplatz and I showed him around. I took him down Unter den Linden, showed him the holocaust memorial, we went up the Reichstag (my frist time as well so I was excited), East Side Gallery (the largest outdoor art gallery in the world mind you, which is artwork painted on the Wall built by the Soviets in 1961). We of
Inside the Reichstag
This is inside the dome of the Reichstag, which helps funnel light into the parliamentary chamber below. course had doeners to eat and I pointed out interesting facts about the city and showed him the touristy sights up and down Unter den Linden.
The girls would come a day later. Kristin came in on Thursday so I ran back to my apt and then to the airport to make sure I could pick her up in time. I was very nervous because I knew I had to make a good impression onto Kristin and the others to make sure they really liked my city of Berlin. Kristin had been out all night previous so we decided to get some sleep once we got back to the apartment. The next day we woke up and picked up the other Kristin and Laura from the trainstation. I did the same tour, showing them the memorial and we again went up the Reichstag. I also showed them Neue Wache, Museen Insel, memorial for the book burning that took place during the rule of the Nazis, the interactive map in the Deutsches Museum, St. Hedwig church, and we even poked our heads into the Berliner Dom as we didnt want to spend money going in so we gazed through the
St. Hedwig
Inside St. Hedwig, a very different Catholic church. open door.
By this time we decided to head to the apartment so they could drop off their stuff and later meet up with friends. Beforehand, I took them to the Getraenkmarkt so they can pick out some good German beer. We all went to the Matrix and had a good time.
The next day I took them to the East Side Gallery and the Charlottenberg Schloss, which is a gorgeous castle with beautiful gardens and lakes where children feed the ducks and swans. We later met up with Laura's sisters boyfriend at a cafe down the Ku'damm (a famous street known for its shopping). He was very nice and paid for our drinks. We walked down Ku'damm and saw the Gedächtniskirche (church bult by Kaiser Wilhelm II in honor of his grandfather, Kaiser Wihelm I).
We were then to meet friend at a bar for "meter" beers but they ran late and we ended up only able to get one drink each. We then had to meet them at a differnt bar near Friedrichstr. We then took a long hike across the city to get a club. We ended up turning around in circles 3 times
Metro Madness!
With the BVG on strike, the S-bahn has been packed during rush hour, as seen here. Although it may be hard to tell, there are policeofficers with arms linked together directing the flow of traffic to and from the platform. Everyone was saying how crazy this was and someone mentioned how I even got out my camera. and walking a couple miles to get to the club (because some people decided to not really look at directions and pick a club in the middle of no where (bitter about the whole thing)). However, we tried not letting this damper their last evening in Berlin so we rocked out to some great tunes and getting doners before going home.
Kristin left shortly after we got back to the apartments and I helped Laura and Kristin get their necessary train tickets back to Poland. It was great showing my friends my city of Berlin. I played tour guide and translator for their journey. They were able to see all the historical sites and well as some funfacts that one normally wouldnt know and they also got to try some traditional Berlin/German food ie doners and schnitzel, sadly, no apfelstrudel was consumed...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.127s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 13; qc: 59; dbt: 0.0491s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb