First of all... Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes!!! Now to start my story of my trip to Berlin! My good friend Eliza and I decided a while ago to go to Germany again and I wanted to go for my birthday! Unfortunately... the flights didn't really work in our favor, because they didn't have any flights flying out later on Sunday and earlier on Friday... so it was a short and sweet trip, but well worth it! We left about 10am on Friday morning from Nice, flying with Swiss Air! Normally, we take easy-jet, which gets us there all the same... but Swiss Air was SOOO nice! The seats were nice and big, comfy... we got free food, drinks AND swiss chocolate (sooo yummy)... now I ALWAYS want to fly Swiss Air!!! Our first flight took us to Zurich for a short layover before heading to Berlin! Once again, we were on Swiss Air ... and got the same spacious plane, with yummy FREE food (always a plus for poor college kids)! We then arrived in Berlin around two o'clock in the afternoon! We quickly got our bags (had to pack heavy for the cold weather)... and found the bus that took us to our hostel! Being from a small town... I would never think that they would have really bad traffic... but the traffic at this time was CRAZY!!! We were on the bus for about an hour and 20 minutes (normally a 30 minute bus ride)... luckily seated, not having to stand and move for everyone at each stop. After our long bus ride.. our behinds sore and all... we arrived at our stop for the hostel. It took us a few minutes to find it, but after a little searching, we found it! We walked into a bar/reception full of fun! This was by far the best hostel I have stayed in!!! It was AWESOME!!! We checked in, put our stuff up into our room, got our warm clothes on... and went to discover what Berlin had to offer! We wandered around the streets close to our hostel, finding a few neat shops to look through, and of course, getting beer (for SUPER cheap)! After a little bit of discovering, we found a place to get a snack and beer! We ended up at a restaurant that served Tapas (traditional catalan food... if I'm not mistaken)... the Tapas were pretty yummy, but what wasn't... was this nasty RED beer that the woman served us... oh my, was it yucky! Luckily, we decided to get some traditional German beer after that, to cover up the nasty taste of the red beer! After our "snack," we headed back to the hostel to get ready to go on a pub crawl! We met a woman who took us to five different bars around the area, and gave us free shots all night... it was very fun! We were able to experience all the different types of bars Germany offers, as well as the different drinks that they love (white russians, hot chocolate and baileys... YUMMY)! We had a great deal of fun... even meeting a few other americans, which was refreshing! The next day, we woke up early to go sight-seeing! We first got some warm coffee at Starbucks, before we headed off to walk along the streets towards all the major sights! We saw a cute market, which had tons of local painters, crafts people... etc! This market had some of the coolest hand-made objects I have come across! We rummaged through, finding many things we liked! We then wandered down the street finding lots of historical buildings, including the Berlin Dome, Reichstagsgebaude, and Brendenberg Gate! They were all sooooo beautifully constructed!!! I loved finding all of these on our journey! We then ate some traditional German food for lunch... which was delicious!!! We had currywurst, potato, potato salad and soup. After our filling lunch, we wandered down another street and ran into a cute little festival going on. They had a snowy hill that you could slide down... but most of all SNOW!!! Something I was reallllyyyyyyyyyyy missing for my birthday was that I wouldn't have snow... and then we ran into this little festival, and there, was, SNOW!!! I was SOOOO excited! Eliza and I both went down the hill twice! We also checked out the rest of the festival, which had a little fire, and a few shops, as well as places to get traditional german food, drink, and deserts! It was like Oktoberfest, only instead of beer, they served hot chocolate with baileys, and glug! It was the homeiest feeling I have had so far! We then decided to head back to the hostel after our long day of wandering around, and get ready for dinner! We decided to eat dinner at a restaurant that the hostel suggested that was close to the train station. We got seated right away, which was awesome because it was VERY busy! We order quite a few Tapas (again), only this time, they were REALLY good, whereas the night before, they were okay... we also split this awesome Velenzian dish which had chicken, duck, beef, and rice... it was soooooo soooo good!!! I LOVED it!!! We also got this spectacular sangria... SOOO yummy!!! Lots of fresh fruit... very very tasty! After dinner, we headed to a different part of Berlin where the Berlin Wall still stood... and boy was that neat to see! It was graffitied everywhere, but it was sooo cool to see! We headed to a bar around that area, before venturing to find the club that was around there as well! After the bar, we went to look for the club, but we couldn't find it, so we decided to head back to the hostel area! We got back to hostel and I was able to skype with Mom, Jackie, Nick... and a few friends from home... Derek and Erik! It was VERY fun... they were able to wish me a happy birthday, which was soooo fun! On Sunday morning, we had to take off quite early (around 8:30am) because we weren't sure how long the bus would take us! It took about 40 minutes, which was perfect for us!!! We checked our bags, got some coffee and then headed through security! Security took SOOOO long... they had you go through one person at a time... it was VERY weird! But after we got through, we were able to get on the plane right away. We had a short flight to Munich, for a 2 hour layover. Once in Munich, we got some AWESOME lunch... both of us getting traditional german food once again! It was reallllllllllyyyy impressive for airport food! Our flights were smooth sailing, and easy! We got back home, and a few friends and I went out to dinner for my birthday! My birthday was SO much fun... but even better was when I got to see Nick and Mom!
Nick and Mom were able to come on Monday... but of course, I had class ALLLLLL day! I was in class from 1pm til 10pm... long long day... but I made mom and Nick stay up so that they could see me, and get used to the time change! I got to their hotel around 10:30pm and was SOOO excited to see them!!! Seeing them was the best gift... and I can't wait to see Jackie on Saturday... SOOO very excited!!!
Yesterday (the 15th), I was able to show Mom and Nick around the area I live! We were able to drink wine by the beach and watch the sun set... I took them to a few traditional french food places near where I live, and love it here! This morning, I set them off to Rome, for there few days without me leading them around, speaking French for them... then I fly to Florence on Saturday! Jackie flies from Chicago to Florence... and mom and Nick from Rome to Florence! I can't wait to finally have our whole family all in one place in the world... SOOO excited!!!
I will continue to blog about our family trips, and of course all the wonderful things it will bring!!!
ps... I was able to speak German quite well in Berlin, getting Eliza and I around! I needed it A LOT more than I thought I would, and it was SO much fun!!!
Love to all of my friends and family... Hope everyone is taking care!!!
Thank you again for all the birthday wishes!!! I can't wait to see everyone in a month!!!
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