Another weekend of traveling has come to an end!
Packing our bags Thursday night, we were ready to go right after work ended on Friday. Randy saved us a taxi ride and dropped us off at Pressath, and with five minutes to spare, we caught the train and were on our way to Berlin! Only having to make one connection on our journey, we arrived in Berlin around midnight. Catching the tram from the train station to Kottbusser Tor, we quickly found our hostel, checked in, and passed out for the night.
Saturday morning we woke up around 7:00, got dressed, ate the bagels we had packed the night before, and were on our way to the tram station to make our way into town for a free walking tour that we were previously recommended. Getting lost a few times along the way, we eventually made it to the pick up sight for the tour itself. Realizing we had arrived almost an hour early, we decided to kill time by walking around the area. We soon noticed we were literally right next to the zoo, so we decided to just go check out the prices and see if we could see any animals from the gate.
Walking up to the entrance of the zoo, three or four elephants greeted us and with that, we were in line buying our tickets. The Berlin Zoo itself is actually the oldest zoo in Germany, having opened in 1841. Allowing ourselves two hours to walk through the zoo, we were able to see a lot of the animals, and I was truly impressed in how active they all were. I guess I am used to the Oregon Zoo in which the animals just lay there and don’t move much at all. I think my favorites were the cats- they had lions, jaguars, leopards, a tiger, and several other bobcat looking things. The penguins were a lot of fun to play with, and the hippos put on quite a show for us too, which was pretty awesome! Another great thing about the zoo was that the cages, for lack of a better word, were almost non-existent for a lot of the animals. Although there was fencing, it was so small and provided such a large space, that the animals didn’t appear to look trapped. Furthermore, we were able to watch the butchers… caterers… chefs…?, prepare each of the animal’s meals from fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats. Pretty fancy if you ask me!
Leaving the zoo, we made our way back to the pick up sight to catch the 12:30 tour. A small group of people had already gathered, and after waiting a few minutes, we were back on the tram on our way to the actual starting point of the tour. Getting off the tram, we took a quick walk, turned a corner, and were completed surrounded by hundreds of people taking pictures, participating in tours, selling things, and people just passing through. We ended up having to stand in line for a few minutes to collect a number, which designated which tour guide we would be following.
The tour itself lasted a little less than four hours. Although it was long, our tour guide Leen was AMAZING! She was the most passionate tour guide we have had while being in Europe, and was also a History major, so she was able to give us an extensive amount of information that surrounded Berlin’s history. A lot of the background information given was regarding World War II, the Nazi regime, and the repercussions of Hitler’s dictatorship- all the things I love most about history. It truly made me rediscover my passion for history itself and made me want to start taking some history classes again… but we’ll see about that.
Making a quick bite to eat, Top Ramen of course, we changed into our outfits, put on some make up, and tried to navigate our way to the starting bar. Sydney ended up going as a zebra, Juliet went as a mouse, and I was a black cat. Easy, yet still pretty cute! Finding the seven other Camp A’s, we had the best time catching up, getting our faces painted, and just enjoying Halloween together.
The pub-crawl took us to five different bars before it ended at one of the bigger clubs. The bars themselves were pretty fun, although we only stayed at each one for forty-five minutes or so. Getting to the club, we were left in a large room that was playing old school music: I Love Rock n Roll, 7 Nation Army, Walking on Sunshine, etc. We ended up dancing the night away until we were too tired to continue. We, thankfully, made our way back to our hostel without getting lost, and we all passed out before we even changed out of our clothes.
Sunday morning we hopped up, took one of the earlier trains, and spent the rest of the day at our apartment in Graf. I was SO thankful to get back home earlier in the day, which allowed me to unpack, shower, do my laundry, watch some movies, and get into bed at a decent time. It was lovely.
Overall, Berlin was a BLAST! I had SUCH a great time meeting up with our friends from Vilseck, and am in love with the history that the city encompasses. Unfortunately, Berlin marked the last trip on my Eurail, which means that I can no longer travel distances. It’s quite bittersweet, but I will be thankful to not have to spend thirty-seven years on a train each weekend.
To my delight, we have nothing planned this weekend. It is going to be a wonderful break from the constant traveling that we have been doing since we got here. I definitely plan on sleeping in Saturday morning, which will the first time doing so since I have been here. You can imagine my excitement in that alone!
The following weekend, the weekend of Veteran’s day, I plan on going to Auschwitz- the most prominent concentration camp in Europe. Although it is not going to be the happiest weekend, it is the number one thing on my life bucket list, and I cannot wait to see it. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures so you can share in my experience there if you so choose.
