The best cafe in the world

8/30-8/31

 

I apologize in advanced for how boring this post is without pictures, but I will add them asap!

Yesterday was a very long series of Museums, walking and rain, but was good nonetheless. Those of us who are sick were finally able to find drugs and throat lozenges, which was a HUGE help. :)

After a morning full of class, we headed over to the German Historical Museum, which was extremely impressive. It spanned from 100 BC all the way to post-Cold War Germany, and while we had about 2.5-3 hours to explore, we didn't look at half of it. I focused my time on two areas... the art and memorabilia from the Reformation/Renaissance/APeuro-esque time and then from about WWI on. It included anywhere from Luther texts to WWII war cannons and Hitler's desk. It was interesting to see everything we've been talking about in scattered bits and pieces all put together in one museum :) We also went to the Gemaldegalerie (a fancy art museum) after dinner, but I was so done, I cannot tell you one thing about it. Whoops. 

We had a chance to relax a bit and have a ladies night in our apartment with several girls from the trip, but then we all had to put in our 2 hours of nightly reading :)

Today, we headed out to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp (about 40 minutes away). I don't have the pictures on me, but I'll add them to this post later and you will have a better idea of how horrific, and powerful the camp was. And honestly, the trip deserves it's own post. But, as a taste for what's to come... Gabe spent a lot of his tour explaining the roots of the evil and the process that leads humans to the place where they are finding joy and community in the torturing of others, which was extremely thought provoking, but not the easiest questions to be grappling with. Needless to say, it was a day of prayer. 

After we got back, I spent a little time shopping in Berlin with Corrine. I got a notebook and highlighters for school (wooo! woot!!!) but also got a little toiletries bag that I found the other day and fell in love with. It's so hard to buy things here, knowing how long I'll be lugging them around, so it's a tricky balance, but I justified this one enough to feel good about it ;) Then a few of the ladies grabbed dinner at a "mexican" restaurant nearby. I feel like the quotations say it all. 

And, I'm actually writing this in a two-story cafe in Berlin. We were walking back from dinner, nearing home, and this place was too perfect not to stop. The bottom is a pub area with lots of people getting together for drinks on a Friday night, and the top is filled with students and other cool kids huddled over their laptops and books enjoying the atmosphere. I'm pretty sure its the first time since we've got here that I have been alone, and I'm savoring every second of it... the environment is just a plus! Also: free internet (yay!)

Gabe the God

8/29

Just kidding.

But today after class, we took a walking tour of Berlin (with Gabe), which is his town - aka - he knows everything. It's interesting to see the extent to which both the contemporary european challenges and the nationalism courses fit so perfectly into everything we've heard about the city of Berlin so far, but its incredible to have our classes actually relevant to everything we see going on around us.

On a more honest note: I think the Pointers are trying to kill us. We've been going from class (8/830) till after dinner (8/10) everyday and half of us are sick already. I love them to death, but reading into the wee hours of the night are not exactly my thing when I'm in an awesome city. Rumor has it Gabe and them have talked about toning it down and not trying to kill us over the next few months - so that looks promising! ;) (note: the fact that we are constantly learning things we are genuinely interested in knowing eases this a bit, but we do like sleep)

And back to positivity -

The Royal Church of Berlin from the side. Gabe showed us pictures of multiple Nazi's to whom Hitler served as the best man in their wedding on their wedding day, with him by their side. 

Over in Museum square, there are still bullet holes in some of the buildings. Gabe explained that while it makes the city look nicer, these bullet holes carry the story of the city in them, and that taking them out is in some ways a tragedy. 

The same church as above from the front.

Gabe's card - #winning.

Chocolate shop rivaling Ghirardelli

Bethany ready to destroy her ice cream

Note to family: this was good, but still not the best chocolate that I have ever had (costa rica)

It almost seems sick to have these pictures next to the chocolate ones... but this is the ground above Hitler's bunker.... we stood at the corner in front of this building where his headquarters were, staring at a side of the road where the building he had been in was destroyed in the wake of the loss of the Germans. They don't want to think about it here - they don't want to be reminded of what this area was on a regular basis, which I completely understand. To give a man who took so much even MORE power in memory seems ridiculous, but at the same time, standing here, with only a small plaque addressing what happened within the 100 square meters around us was bizarre. 

According to Gabe, Hitler's office was above the yellow car about 4 stories. 

This was a memorial for the Holocaust victims. Its 2,711 concrete blocks that vary in size. You get lost in them and even with our herd of 40 people, we lost each other fast. It was designed to make you feel alone, unsure, and like hope was just around the corner. It was meant to honor and help people identify with the victims rather than illustrate their numbers. 

Emily and Christian... we've discovered it's best to swap pictures with other couples if we want proof we were both on this trip :)

I know how to pick'em...

Emily and I 

Piece of the Berlin wall on the line where it stood. 

Girls at a Thai dinner

Berlin's Best

So far - this city is amazing.

Prague was gorgeous. We basically lived next to Disneyland for 4 days. But at the same time, it was so tourist-y, it was overwhelming and exhausting. Being in a city where people obviously live and work is energizing instead of draining, and we've been soaking up every bit of it!

The apartments have been exactly what we needed. We hit the market on our first walk around town and picked up breakfast supplies for the whole week, and it's SO nice to get to escape our 3 meals out a day norm. I LOVED my roommates in Prague (Brianna, Emily, and Brooke) and its been fun being with Angela and Devin too - but it's been rough for Devin because Angela and I are both pretty sick!

Corrine, me, Hayley, and Jessica at a coffee stop that had both an english-speaking employee and the most incredible cappucinos

Christian and Alex enjoying the appetizers at group dinner. We win DC, we win. 

We ate at the 12 Apostle's downtown, where we were warned before the meal that we weren't getting dessert and it might be a little lighter. This picture is 2 huge appetizer plates, 6 pizzas, and 4 pasta dishes later. 

So my mommy will love me again!

So, despite my best efforts, this is the first time I've had internet in a while, so I'm playing catchup from the last few days.... :)

also: i wrote notes for these as the days went by, but seeing as I'm exhausted and posting these all at once, i apologize in advance for any spelling/grammatical errors!

8/27

Today Brooke, Emily, Christian, and I woke up SUPER early to watch the sunrise in Prague. Emily had read a blog that claimed it was an amazing view, and despite my struggles with the morning, we did it! Fun fact: I actually sat up in bed and debated falling back down into bed and getting another 2 hours of sleep, but I sucked it up (be proud mom!) and it was worth it. It wasn’t the sunrise that was so extrodinary… it was that the city was empty. The city streets and the Charles bridge have been packed every moment we’ve spent there, but it was so quiet and calm in the morning.

Note: it was Brooke’s birthday, and in the process of being good roommates and going to find her coffee, we tried to avoid starbucks and go somewhere legit. But, Starbs was all that was open… ohhh bummer ;)

We also started class today, by having all three (nationalism, contemporary Europe, and the reformation) classes today. I think it was a rude awakening for all of us that this trip isn’t just about exploring cool cities, and based on the size of the readers and our books, there will be a LOT of reading. (NOTE: the Pointers are not the type to cut us slack because were abroad) Luckily, the classes are interesting, so it shouldn’t be too bad!

Kelsey and I took off for the afternoon and grabbed sandwiches and fruit and headed to the park by the river before heading out to the Communist Museum. The Museum was interesting… different stuff was kind of thrown all over the building,  but it was cool to see things through their perspective and to understand how the Czech people have tried to distance themselves as much as possible from communism. One of the videos we watched had a scene of the levels of mercury, lead, and other poisonous materials that the people in the Czech Republich were ingesting each year, which just put a huge pit in my stomach to see. I’m learning already that concrete visuals are what makes all of this stuff real to me… the figures don’t do it. Its similar to the Holocaust Museum in DC where they have all the shoes of the victims and you’re just surrounded – it hits you in a really unique way.

Then, I grabbed dinner with Hayley and Kelsey (GOULASH!) … we’re so authentic!

Brooke, Emily, and I - being champs at 6am

Starbucks = Smiles

Classy picture of Hayley 

Not classy picture of Hayley

Goulash!

Random book store we stumbled upon... they actually have a lot of the same books as us (ie. the help, harry potter, ect.)

Dessert!

Sunday Funday

Authentic dinner: complete with nasty bread. 

Don't worry - dessert was crepes!

Middle of the shopping district at night 

Torrie feeling legit

Shops in the Jewish district

Part of the Jewish Quarter... the museum was spread across the city on different blocks. (We couldn't take pictures inside the churches and rooms) We learned about the Jewish history in eastern europe, including the Holocaust, but mostly in the centuries prior. The graveyards were heartbreaking. Jews were only allowed to be put within the ghetto, so there were 10 people in the ground at any given location, piled on top of one another all across the graveyard. In total, there were 10,000 tombstones, and 150,000 bodies. 

Brianna, Rachel, Haley, Brooke, Emily, and I in the Jewish Quarter 

In front of Charles Bridge

With Brianna

Bryant and his shop from the Bachelorette...

Scott and I after a dinner date in front of the John Lennon wall