Erasmus is a program financed by the European Union that allows students… any student….to travel to a different country in the EU for up to a year, while paying them a stipend every month and waiving their tuition fees. Pretty much all the international students I hang out with are here in Germany for their “Erasmus”, and all of the events and trips I go on are actually for the Erasmus students. The Americans just get to come along because well, I don’t know why… because we’re international students too I suppose?
Anyway, Erasmus sponsored a 4 day trip to Berlin for all of us, where we only paid a small fee and they covered the rest. There were optional “free” museum tours, etc. to go on, but we were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted for these 4 days (of course… we’re adults). We left Wednesday morning, after waiting over an hour at the train station for the bus, then stayed on the bus for about TEN hours (it should have only taken about 6 or 7) and finally got to Berlin after 6:00pm. It was kind of funny because we saw the sunrise AND sunset while on the bus (daylight is a mere 8 hours here now). 
So we get to Berlin and immediately notice the Currywurst stand and Döner stand (apparently this place was one of the best in Berlin... lots of awards and a long line all day long) right outside our hostel (two foods that Berlin is “known” for). After getting some dinner, Erasmus planned for us to go to a bar nearby, which turned out to be really cool. They had an entire top floor just for us (there are about 45 of us total) with a ton of instruments that people messed around with, cool red lighting, and served drinks with glow sticks in them. They also had special drink prices just for us, and paid for the first round themselves. Thanks Erasmus! It was really funny to find out that the creepy guy walking around looking at everyone all night was actually the owner of the bar who lived on the second floor where we were! We were all hanging out in his living room! Craziness. 
Thursday we woke up and some of us went to the Museum for Photography, which showcased the late Helmut Newton’s personal belongings and best photographs (he’s from Berlin), along with an exhibit on his wife, Alice Spring’s photographs. I did a report on Helmut Newton back in high school, but couldn’t remember anything about him hahah… way to go Chrissy. But it was still really interesting to see the impact he made on so many people, professionally and personally. (You should read the faxes he wrote to the infamous Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue who “The Devil Wears Prada” was based on. He is hilarious).
We then met up with the others to go on a city tour of Berlin. However, it started snowing like crazy and I was FREEEEEZING so I decided to go back to the hostel since I had already had a city tour of Berlin on my last trip anyway. I then met up with the group again for an underground view of Berlin, where we toured an old World War II bunker underneath a subway station. It was pretty eerie. Thursday night we went to one of the coolest bar/clubs I have ever been to. It was called SAGE, and it had multiple rooms with all different kinds of music. A heavy rock band played live, and there was a pool outside that apparently people swim in during the summer. We also met some Americans there who are living in Germany as Au Pairs… hmm… interesting thought for next year maybe?
 |
| Driving a Trabbi |
Friday a couple of us went on our own to the DDR Museum (the former German Democratic Republic of East Germany). I was completely fascinated reading about and seeing what life was like for East Germans after the war. It’s one of the most interactive museums in the world, which made it even better. I sat down in a Trabbi (the out of date cars that East Germans had to wait around 14-16 years to even buy) and saw all the old products and clothes they were used to. I also finally learned how the fall of the wall came about (all because the spokesman on TV was not briefed correctly before a press conference! He said traveling to the West for East Germans was effective immediately, instead of saying they would have to apply for a travel voucher, etc…. News stations went crazy and by the end of the night, thousands of people were waiting at the wall to cross. Border guards didn’t know what to do about the huge crowds of people, and so they decided to let people cross to try to break down the size of the group). Incredible.
 |
| Reichstag Dome |
We then met back up with the group to get a tour of the Reichstag (the building that houses the German Parliament). I had already been on my last trip, but this time around we got a full tour of the building (in English this time), and I learned a lot about the history. I also went up to the Dome this time around, which provides a panoramic view of Berlin. It’s never closed, so It was freeeezing up there, but beautiful.
Afterwards we went to Tacheles, an art gallery in an abandoned warehouse that allows artists from all over the world to come and work on/display their projects in the various exhibition rooms they have. The place was covered head to toe in graffiti. We left with some official Berlin art in our hands. Sweeeet.
Friday night we decided to go on a city pub crawl (there are various ones throughout the city… where you just pay a one-time fee and get free entrance into around 5 bars/clubs along with some free drinks). We got 10 people together and met up with the “leader” of the pub crawl. Well, let’s just say, the places sucked. Not cool at all. But the 10 people we had together made the night still really fun. I don’t think we’ll be doing many pub crawls again though.
Saturday we got up early to go to the Stasi Museum, the official state security office of East Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi). We toured the old prison where thousands and thousands of people were interrogated constantly and tortured, most of whom were completely innocent. We learned about the techniques they used to force confession, and saw the old interrogation rooms. I just still can’t believe that this stuff was going on up until 1990…. Not long ago at all, and that those people, prisoners, guards, officials, are still around.
 |
| Steph's first taste of a burrito |
Afterwards I got a couple people together to go to the “#1 Mexican restaurant in Berlin” I had heard about, called Dolores California Burritos. You usually can’t eat Mexican food in Germany; it just is never the same ingredients and usually tastes pretty gross. I figured if we were going to get even close to authentic Mexican food, it was going to be this place. Well, I was right. It was just like a Chipotle where you order a burrito up front and tell them what you want in it. It tasted just like Chipotle, and I was even adventurous and tried some not so Chrissy-like ingredients (lime rice, black beans and salsa verde sauce anyone?). My Texas friend, George and I, felt at home with the Tex-Mex like food, and for our Finnish and British friends, it was their first time to experience a burrito, which they loved as well.
 |
| 10,000 faces |
After lunch, we checked out the Jewish Museum, one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever been in. We walked in the room with 10,000 metal faces, representing all the Jewish people who lost their lives in concentration camps. You're supposed to walk over the metal faces, which makes a very disorienting noise. So crazy.
We met back up with the group for a nice dinner together at a small German restaurant (they closed it down just for us!), where we enjoyed vegetable soup, salad, Goulash and spätzle. Delicious once again. We went out later in the night and walked around Hackescher Markt, a “young” area in Berlin. We stopped in a random Indian restaurant for some cocktails, then decided to call it a night since we were all exhausted.
Sunday, we had to check out of the hostel at 8:30 (!!) and then make 5 (yes, FIVE) total train changes from 10:00am until 8:30pm. We had to do this because we took the regional trains, which are much slower and with many more train changes, but also a lot cheaper. It was all definitely worth it, though. This trip really made me fall in love with Berlin, and I can’t wait to go back for New Year’s Eve and see even more of the city. Oh yeah, I also managed to learn Korean while on the trip. I can successfully say "Hello, my name is Chrissy. I'm hungry. I like chicken. Goodbye." You never know when that could come in handy.
I’m glad to finally be home, and excited to see Margaret (my old college roommate) who comes in on Wednesday! This is definitely going to be a looong, but good month.
Check out Picassa pictures here!
No comments:
Post a Comment