Happily Hannah: Europe Day Two- Berlin

Berlin, Day Two: 6/11/13

What I love about this trip is that we're so busy, and all we do in one day feels like what we do over a period of several days. Thinking back to all we did, it seems like we've been here forever. Today we got up at 6:50, only managing to sleep about 4 hours. Mack went to sleep before Jess and I, but that's not a shock. We were so tired but then we started talking about boys, and you know how that goes. For breakfast, I had fruit, Nutella, and a croissant. We took a guided tour of Berlin on the bus. We saw some amazing things- Berlin is a beautiful city! More industrial then how I pictured, but still captivating. We first stopped at the Holocaust Memorial. Wow was that neat. I love how the artist made it so it's up to you on how to interpret it. I bought a delicious chocolate cookie as a morning snack because I thought I was going to die of hunger. We then walked down the street to the Brandenburg Gate. I love the architecture of all the old things! My favorite thing/place had to be the Reichstag. It's grand and elegant, but also modern and official looking. After the guided tour, we went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. I really enjoyed that. I loved the breakdown of Picasso's Guernica, one of my favorite paintings. It was also really cool that I already knew about some of the things, like Solidarity. Afterwards, we broke off into small groups for lunch and free time. I went with the Sticks, Mack, Maddison, Jess, Alex, Maddie, Maya, Karina, Kori, Peter, Jimmy, Matt, Brenden, and Jack. We got lunch first, and I had currywurst. Oh my gosh it's soooo good! And it's something I could even make at home! We went to the 1936 Olympic Stadium. Hitler was in power when it was constructed and it was so obvious by the architecture. We were all pretty jealous when we learned that the pool was now open to the public. We then traveled on the U to the Topography of Terror, a museum about the Nazis and SS. All very cool. I don't know why I'm so fascinated by the Holocaust, but I am. Right outside the museum was part of the Wall, so we went out to explore that too. Afterwards, we got gelato and did some souvenier shopping. I got postcards and a magnet. Brenden read us some of his hilarious High Notes. It was such a picturesque, Hollywood moment- a group of teenagers outside a European cafe, eating gelato, laughing in the afternoon. Ugh I love it. We then went to dinner, which was quite the adventure. At one point on the U, the Sticks got on before us and the doors shut with them in the car and us outside. Mind you we were lost, in a foreign city. The look on everyone's face was PRICELESS!! They made it off though, thank goodness. We eventually got to dinner, late, but there. We had authentic German schnitzel and it wasn't too shabby. We planned on going on a riverboat, but all the boats were closed so we found a little bar by the river to sit and relax at. We went back to the hotel and Jess, Mackenzie, and I didn't go to bed until 3:30 because I told the most amazing story. I mean seriously, it was perfect. We finally all crashed though. I wonder if the rest of the trip will be like this- really late nights and early mornings. Oh well, we brought Mio.
#myfeetaregoingtofalloffbytheendofthistrip