Our Weekend in Berlin...

Hey all!  I hope you had a great weekend!  Brian and I definitely had a fun time in Berlin this weekend! :)

Brian and I standing with the "Welcome to Berlin" bear... The polar bear is the symbol of the city...

We left on Friday afternoon, and we were under the assumption that it would take around 7 - 8 hours to get there... We were proven very wrong!  We ended up getting stuck in a traffic jam on the Autobahn, which lasted almost two hours... ugh!  After being on the road for almost ten hours, we finally arrived in Berlin at midnight.  However, being that all of us had been able to sleep at some point during the drive, we were all wired up once we arrived... So, Brian, Matt, Cornelius, and I decided to wander around Berlin to see what it had to offer.  Being that Cornelius is originally from East Germany, he knows the city quite well.  So he took us to an area that consisted of quite a few bars and clubs, and we wandered through there for a while.  We finally called it a night around 3 a.m. and decided to head back to the hotel.  That's where things got even more exciting... When we arrived at our hotel, the doors were locked, and the sign by the door said that we should buzz the buzzer and someone would let us in.  So we buzzed and waited... and waited... and waited.  We continued to buzz (and we continued to wait) for the next 10 minutes.  At this point, we were a little concerned that we were locked out of our hotel!  Cornelius decided to take matters into his own hands at that point, and he proceeded to pry the doors open.  After they opened up, we walked into the hotel and we were immediately stopped by the desk clerk, who was not very happy with us AT ALL!  He stood in front of the elevators (which prevented us from going into them) and proceeded to scold us in German... Meaning that Brian, Matt, and I had no idea what was going on, so we let Cornelius do all of the talking for us.   After a few minutes, the desk clerk walked back to the desk and we were able to get onto the elevator... Cornelius then informed us that the clerk was very angry and had wanted to call the police on us, but Cornelius had managed to apologize for the misunderstanding and they worked the situation out... Whew!  I could only imagine what would have happened if the cops would have shown up!  Brian, Matt, and I would have had no way of communciating... And, at the rate Brian and I are learning German, all we would have been able to do is introduce ourselves to them!  Great! :)  Needless to say, we started our trip to Berlin off with a bang! :)  

We started our day early on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, Saturday turned out to be cold and rainy... but, that didn't stop us.  (I found a Starbucks as soon as we arrived downtown, so I was a very happy person after that! :)) I have to say that one of the most memorable parts of the trip happened on Saturday morning.  We stopped at a bakery for breakfast.  There were quite a few people in there so Matt and Cornelius went up to order, while Brian and I found a table.  When they asked what we wanted, I gave them my order... But, Brian wasn't able to make up his mind about what he wanted, so he told Cornelius to just order him the same thing he was ordering... If Brian only knew what was in store for him, I'm sure he would have changed his mind! :)  Cornelius came back with quite an interesting plate full of goodies... Cornelius and Brian each had two baguettes, with raw meat and onions on top... Doesn't that just sound yummy?? :) If you could only have seen the look on Brian's face when he saw what his "breakfast" was... It was priceless!! :)  Apparently, this is a common meal in Germany... I can't imagine why, but I guess they really like it here... eew!  I do have to give Brian credit though... He did attempt to taste it, and he did manage to take about two bites.  But, after that, he wasn't much in the mood to eat anything else! :) 

Brian's delicious breakfast... raw meat and onions on a baguette... Mmm, Mmm! :)

Can you tell he's enjoying it?! :)  That will teach him to never again say, "I'll have what he's having!"  :)

After our breakfast shenanigans, we started our sightseeing... It was great to have Cornelius with us because he knew so much about the city!  He took us to a variety of places throughout the city and he was able to explain all of the history to us... He was our own personal tour guide! :)  We saw the Brandenberg Gate, the German Parliament Building, the Sony Center, the Berlin TV Tower, Museum Island,  the shopping district (yay!), Checkpoint Charlie, and the Berlin Wall.  I have to say, that the most remarkable part of the day was when we saw the Berlin Wall and when we went to Checkpoint Charlie! There was a monument at Checkpoint Charlie that described the history of the city and of the Wall.  I was so young when the Wall came down, that I didn't really understand all of the history behind it... But, to be there and to see the impact the Wall had on the city, and to see the role that the U.S. played throughout that period of time, and to hear Cornelius talk about what it was like to grow up in East Germany under Communist rule... it was quite an amazing experience! :)    

The Brandenberg Gate...  pretty remarkable!  It used to seperate East and West Berlin...

This is a memorial for the people who died while trying to escape from East Germany into West Berlin... Most of them were shot or drowned during their escape attempt...

Brian and I standing in front of the German Parliament Building...

Our Berlin Crew... Matt, Cornelius, Brian, and I...

This was the first section of the Wall to be removed when it came down!

This was the type of Russian architecture commonly found in East Germany... These picture was taken in the former East Berlin...

This sign stood at Checkpoint Charlie...

Standing at Checkpoint Charlie... It's such a small building, but it holds so much history!

Brian in front of the Berlin Wall...

And to think that if I would have gotten that close to the Wall almost 20 years ago, I probably would have been shot... Pretty amazing history!

After the Wall "came down", the city has invited artists to come in and paint murals on what remains of the Wall...

This is the view from the front doors of the castle... Can you imagine waking up every morning to that?! :)

Standing in front of the castle in Potsdam... 

On Sunday, we visited a city called Potsdam, about an hour outside of Berlin.  A French King once lived in the city and he built a castle within the city limits.  The city has since turned the castle grounds into a park and the castle is still fully intact.  The castle was built in the 1600's, and it is absolutely gorgeous!  So, we spent Sunday afternoon wandering through the castle its grounds... I actually would like to go back again during the spring or summer, to see what it looks like when the flowers and plants are in full bloom... Let's just say, there weren't too many flowers in bloom in mid-November! :)  After we left the castle, we hopped back in the car and headed back to Friedrichshafen.  Luckily, we didn't get stuck in a traffic jam on the Autobahn again, so we were able to make it back to Friedrichshafen in almost 7 hours... during which most of that time, I spent sleeping! :)  Overall, we had a great time in Berlin!  I definitely plan on going back again at some point during our stay over here! :)

Well, on that note, I've got to head to the gym... I hope you're having a wonderful Monday!  Miss you much!