GERMANY! This weekend, I went to Berlin! We left on Friday morning, and for some reason it took us about 7 hours to rive there...which for me was miserable. Not only was I completely drugged out on Bonine (I mean the alternative was puking), but I think I broke my neck with the way I fell asleep...I am still in pain!
Once we finally got there we went on a tour of the city. But, the problem was that there were demonstrations going on all over the city because of unemployment I guess, so what was supposed to be a lovely walking tour on a sunny day, ended up being a bus tour...another 3 hours on a bus. KILL ME! But, we did get off at the building/site where Hitler's assasination was planed (Think the movie Valkyrie). So, we went inside and got some great/gross visuals of some other deaths.
That night, we went out to a club called White Trash! Basically, it was just like the name. It was very European, and there was this band playing that was like the worst headache music ever. But, we ended our night with a really long walk to this famous falafel place...delicious!!!!!!
The following day, we had to wake up really early (not a pretty sight). We spent the first 4 hours of hte morning on a bike tour of the city, which was amazingggg! One of my professors, Jiri Holub (the most adorable man ever) led the tour. He is probably like 65, and he speaks 7 or 8 languages, and is a genius, and wore a suit on the bike ride...so cute! We rode all around the city and saw a ton of monuments on the go. It was really a great way to see everything because Berlin is a huge city!
This is the brand new train station, it was actually a really neat place, and extremely high tech.
Here is the Presidential Palace (white house). It was literally just surrounded by this little wall and one guard (what a concept), and there were little local children playing on the lawn, so we wanted to go on to take pictures, and we got yelled at...apparently only "little" kids can play on the grass, strange!
During our ride, we rode through this beautiful park with an amazing flower garden!
After the bike ride was over, we went to see Checkpoint charlie. It is really strange, but Berlin still feels a little divided, because they want to keep the historical things in tact, so you can really get a sense of how it once was. I mean I'm sure the guard once upon a time was not a rent-a-guard with a 1 euro photo sign on her waist... 
then, we continued on to a part of the Berlin Wall. Since we just wandered, we didn't realize that we saw the most boring part of it until we were driving out of the city the last day. So, we saw the plain part as opposed to the cool painted part, o well...
That night, we went to the place where Hitler committed suicide. Yes, it is a parking lot today. But, below it is where his bunker was, and it is no longer there because they bombed the entire thing. So, now people just park there...that's weird
After that, we went to the nearby, new, holocaust memorial. It is really interesting. Basically it is a huge plot of land, like a block by a block, that has about 2,000 big cement blocks of all different sizes, that are slightly tilted and on uneven ground. The meaning is up for each person's own symbolism. You could very easily get lost in there, the blocks are double our heights. 
Then we went to the Brandenburg Gate which was a lot bigger than I pictured. And, while we were there, we ran into some new friends!
Our next stop was the Reichstag Parliament building to get a night time view from the dome. On the way there we passed a small section of where the wall once was that is now shown with stones. 
We climbed to the top of the dome for an amazing view of the city!
The following morning, bright and early, we went back to the Reichstag for a guided tour of the inside. It was really neat because it is the first governmental building in Europe that I have actually been able to see pretty much the entire thing. they took us into the main room and we sat down for a while getting a small lecture, and then we went to their other meeting rooms, their lunch room, the church that is inside there, and a room that held "boxes" for everyone who has been in the parliament in the past...and eerily Hitler had a box. 
That afternoon, we took a boat tour (well kind of a nap too) along the river to see the city even more. It was a beautiful day, and so we even got a little bit of a tan too!
Then, on our way home we stopped in Dresden, a city about 2 hours outside Berlin in Germany. It was completely destroyed in the war, but it was actually an absolutely beautiful city. Since we were only there for a short time, we only saw the preserved Old Town, which is why I only think that it was pretty. So, we walked around, ate some sausages (I mean when in Germany...) and then got back on the bus... 
Our ride home was awful. It was supposed to be 2 hours. But, we were on this random, middle of nowhere highway, and we came to a complete stop like 3 cars behind an accident. So, the Americans that we are, were like oh ok, it will be cleared to the side in no time, and the traffic will be directed away. But, no, in the Czech Republic, there are no traffic control people and no sense of blocking off an accident. So, for the next two hours we sat on the road (well we got out of the bus to stretch) and waited for them to do the entire investigation (some guy got hit..don't ask what he was doing on a street in the middle of nowhere), and then once it was alllll cleared, we got to go. Even stranger, they were letting the people get out of their cars and watch the entire thing unfold, like the body and the investigation, and ya, it was nothing we would ever get that close to EVER at home. Sorry for the gore, just had to get out my frustration of our longgggg travels home. So, that is Germany. I hope I can go back sometime, because I definitely needed more time there! This next weekend is Vienna with Dad, wooo hooo! It is also my last and tenth trip...woah this has gone by fast!
Love and miss everyone
xox
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