Part Three: Berlin, Update Two!

Greetings everyone! Commence Berlin update number two:

So, I've been in Berlin now for about five days and it has been really fun. It has been really nice to have so much time to explore and wander and see all the different parts of the city, all of which seem to sort of have their own personalities. Let me start by saying today was super exciting... the snorer moved out! I am so thankful. He had woken me up multiple times every night. He was part of this group of people whose schedule seemed to consist of the following: wake up at around 3 in the afternoon, head down to the hostel bar around 4, start drinking, go out, return back at 5 a.m, snore, snore, and snore some more! Ugh. So glad they are gone.

Since I last updated, I have done a bunch of different things. On Saturday, I set out for a walk that turned out to be far longer than I could have ever anticipated. The start of it looked promising and I found a little market with some cool stuff in it. I had my first taste of Currywurst, which is basically sausage covered with ketchup and curry powder. It was pretty good, though I'm not sure how it became such a big thing here.

I continued my walk in what I thought was the right direction but, somehow, at one of the confusing Berlin intersections, I got a bit turned around and walked pretty much in the wrong direction for a good amount of time before I realized it. It was a little frustrating as the part of the city I ended up in was more of a ritzy shopping district (gucci and prada and other fancy stores) and that sort of thing is less than exciting for me. But I finally figured it out and turned myself around.

Eventually, I ended up at the Jewish Museum which was really interesting and of course, intense at parts. The architectural elements of the building were really fascinating and it was cool to see how the design matched up with the different themes of the museum. I spent a lot of time there. I've really been soaking up the history here. I hadn't realized how little I know of the long and tumultuous history of Germany, in particular Berlin.

After my museum excursion I came back to the hostel, relaxed a bit, and then met up with some people to head out. We went to this really cool wine bar sort of place. It was very unassuming, not even a sign with a name on it. The inside sort of felt like someone's house party and the basement area was decorated with all sorts of stuff that must have come from the flea markets. The atmosphere was really cool. My favorite part was how it worked: You pay one euro for a glass and they have open bottles of wine on a bar sort of thing (monitored by a guy whose only job is to open the bottles) and you just go up and pour a glass, as many glasses as you want. Whenever you have decided you've had your fill, you simply return your glass, pay what you think you should, and be on your way. I really love that idea! We had some good glasses of wine and some good conversation and then returned back to the hostel.

Sunday is flea market day in Berlin and there was no way I was going to miss it. Charlie and I decided to head out in the morning. The first place we went was Mauerpark. The place is huge. It was filled with everything from jewelry to clothing, to war memorbilia, to bottles, kitchenware. Everything, including the kitchen sink. It is really interesting to see just what people will sell at the stands. There were a couple that were filled with loads of junk, none of which had prices on it. Most of them were patrolled by grumpy old men who, while I don't know German, seemed unwilling to sell for any price less than they had had in their heads for about the past 40 years. I couldn't help but think of how much I would surely get ripped off if I tried to buy something because I would pay the first price given to me out of fear that the old man might hit me or yell some more. But it as a cool place! I'd have to say the highlight was this guy who was dressed in a full on rubber suit that must have come from some sort of military supply store. The suit went over his head and he had some thick glasses with big silver frames and a rubber strap to keep them on. He was just wandering around with a beer in one rubber hand and a cigarette in the other. Which reminds me, there is no policy on having open bottles in public here. It makes for very funny sightings of people just wandering down the streets, beer in hand.

We hit another market and then headed home. That night (last night) I met up with a girl named Heddy who lived in D.C. for a little while with Gwen. She just moved back to Berlin a few days ago so it was really exciting that the time I am here overlapped with her return. It was really fun to see her and see the city a little from the perspective of someone who has lived in it before. Not to mention the fact that she speaks German was very helpful. We got some dinner, where she was infuriated because the waitress ripped us off a bit. Heddy seemed to think it was because she heard us speaking English and thought she could do it. Oh well. It was actually sort of strange; the two places we went, our servers spoke in German, Heddy responded in German, but once they figured out that I spoke English they tried to speak to us in English the whole time even though Heddy is fluent in german and the waitstaff's English was not very good. Oh well, it was really fun anyway and good to see her. We plan to meet up again tomorrow and see the German history museum.

Today was a museum day for me. Berlin has this really cool place known as the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) that has a bunch of different museums on it. I bought a day pass and managed to go to three: the Altes (classical antiquities and Egyptian antiquities and heirglyphics), the Pergamon (more antiquities, reconstructions, Islamic Art), and the Bode Museum (scupltures, Byzantine Art). They were all really impressive and cool to see. Sort of mindblowing to see the reconstructions and to read the age of the different works.

So that has been the past few days! I'll be here two more days and then I set off to Paris! Woo! I'll end with this: Apparently today is Australia day? I know nothing about it but the Hostel is going wild for it. There are people all over with cowboy has and australian flags draped around them. It seems sort of funny for people to come to Germany and celebrate Australia Day. Oh well, should be interesting to watch.

Goodbye for now! More soon. Hope all is well.