Were you all impressed by my German there? *yeah, me neither*. Well to those who have read my previous post I am currently in Berlin. It's quite surreal to me that I've been studying German for five years and I'm here. My tip for anyone who's planning to come to Berlin bring comfortable shoes. I've probably walked ten million meters today as the great tourist I am, I love to get lost. I'm currently staying in Charlottenburg and I'm surrounded by supermarkets and restaurants *because food is important to me*. There isn't a great barrier between English and German here but do beware some people do like to answer your English questions in German. Luckily my limited German vocabulary has been helpful on this trip *Danke shön meine Leherin*. What I've gathered on my first day here is that Berlin consists of antique shops, perfume shops, bakeries and art shops. Another tip I'd like to share is that the U-Bahnstation will be your best friend, for tourists always stop off at the Berlin Zoo as the sightseeing buses always stop there. Before I continuously ramble on in conversation with my blog post I might as well tell you how my first day was.
Schloss Charlottenburg
We came across this castle by complete accident as my family and I were struggling to find the bus stop for the city tour. By the time we were here, it was very early in the morning so we couldn't go in but my God. The architecture of this building is magnificent. This building is said to be the largest existing palace in Berlin. I wish I knew more of the history behind it but I have a week here in Berlin
*so you never know*. Berlin in the morning is very peaceful, as we walked along the streets we found a cute store. They had my most favourite snack in the world
freshly cut fruit. After finding that tiny store I knew my day would be good.
Once we found our way to the Berlin Zoo ( we took the M45 bus). We hopped on a City Tour bus and that's when the real adventure began. Firstly we passed by some really well known churches, I forgot the name of it but our guide had said that it is still quite damaged from the Second World War. The most amazing part of the tour took me by complete surprise. The Berlin Wall (right). For me personally, it did not feel real that I was standing in front of that piece of history. You see these stories being told on the television and we see it in the movies like "Goodbye Lenin" and it's just in front of you.
When you get off the bus there's a display alongside the wall. Here you can see the different times and years of Germany under Hitler's power. *basically all the things you learn in history class but much more cooler*. You can see pictures of the book burnings in Germany and the prosecuted homosexuals under Hitler's Nuremberg Laws. Also the different propaganda posters that would've been displayed during Hitler's time. I'm a history freak, for me being there and learning more about Germany's history is equivalent to a small child being released in Smyths *hyperventilating all day, everyday*. There's also a museum here which focused mainly on the Second World War and Hitler's treatment of the Jews, homosexuals, people in his political party, the elderly etc. You can see primary footage of the time and to be honest they're quite hard to watch. One video was Hitler's firing squad shooting the Jews. When seeing actual footage and pictures, the amount of people who became victims under Hitler's rule is baffling.
So as you all can see these pictures are pretty
intense. If you would like to know the story behind these pictures don't hesitate to ask in the comments *
can't do it all in this blog post because it'll take me about twenty years, ain't nobody got time for that!*. So after our history trip we stopped off at
Checkpoint Charlie which gives you more information about the Berlin Wall and the Western Side of the Wall are displayed here. So after our history trip we stopped off at the
Alexanderplatz. There lies the Fernsehtrum, *
it's like the spinning restaurant in Futurama but not in space, sorry I'm a terrible describer* However I wasn't interested in that but more so the fountain that was there, *
can you tell I like my old buildings than my modern ones?*. The fountain is of Neptune and surrounding him are four figures symbolising Germany's four major rivers.
So after Alexanderplatz, we stayed on the City Tour bus for the rest of the tour because by this time our feet were just about to fall off at this point. From the pictures below you can see all the places that Berlin is most known for, The Reichstag, The Brandenburg Gate, The Victory Column and some more well known churches. We were planning to go inside the Reichstag but it was booked out for the whole week. What I've gathered from my day trip in Berlin is that Germans appreciate the art world. For this week there's a Dali and Van Gogh exhibition in the city centre. Germany is definitely the place for someone who loves history, art and architecture.
To end the day we tried one of Germany's most talked about food, the Bratwurst and the Currywurst. In the main city centre you can find a Currywurst stand in every corner. We got ours near the U-Bahnstation near Berlin Zoo. The person who served me *war sehr shön, oh mein Got!*. After having one of these my day was complete. I got to see amazing sights and learn more about Germany's history. Well I have to finish up this blog post, it's already 1:08 am! I'm here for 6 more days so stay tuned for the rest of my blog posts!
Guten Nacht
<3
0 comments:
Post a Comment