Ich bin ein Berliner!

After restless attempts at sleep in the Dublin Airport Wednesday night through early Thursday morning, I flew to Berlin, Germany on RyanAirs. I thought I was going to need to waste more time at the Berlin airport, but it worked out great that Kirsten and Birgit were very close when I landed. I got in the car and struggled to keep conversation the whole drive to Birgit’s cousin’s house. I was just so exhausted from not really sleeping. Fortunately, they were tired too because Birgit and Kirsten had to get up early to drive to Berlin. When we got to Angelica’s house, the three of us took a nap. This nap felt very very good. I woke up and continued to relax with a glass of wine and a box of chocolates. J

Friday was a much more event filled day compared to Thursday. We started with some very delicious brotchen for breakfast. Then Birgit, Kirsten, and I went to the SanSouci Park to see the castles. These castles are very different from the Ireland Castles I saw. The San Souci is more like a gigantic mansion. It was built for Frederick the Great. I took a tour of both of his castles; it’s hard to believe that people actually lived in such luxurious houses. I am going to begin saving up. Kirsten and I also visited the tea house in the park where Alexander or his wife would go away to have secret meetings with secret visitors. It rained a little during our time in the park, but I had my awesome green rain jacket on, so I was covered.

After the park, we went into the city of Berlin. First Kirsten and I were on a quest to find the juggling catacombs. It was a mission that Michael, my brother, sent me on. The catacombs were very cool. You can see my videos below. The jugglers who were practicing knew my brother which was pretty cool. It’s weird having a “famous” person in the family even if it just within the juggling world. Go on Michael…Brush your shoulder off.

After the catacombs, Kirsten and I went to catch the 100 bus which takes you around Berlin to a lot of the sites. The bus was really late; we waited for about 30 minutes, but that was ok because the bus also took the two of us where we were going to meet Birgit and her cousin for dinner. We ate a Brewery that had very good beer. I had a hearty dinner of ½ a duck, dumplings, and red cabbage. Wonderful! You can imagine by the time we got home around 11 pm I was so tired! I went straight to bed.

Saturday
More brotchen for breakfast! I missed them while in Ireland. Kirsten and I caught a train into Berlin, and then caught the 100 bus again to the Dom. We decided not to go into the big cathedral because it cost 3 euros and we both had seen so many cathedrals. Then we went see a exhibit of the antica era. There were lots of pots and sculptures. It was cool. We ate our packed lunches on the stairs of the museum. After the museum, Kirsten and I went to the Postbahnhof to see the bodyworlds exhibit. I had seen a very similar exhibit in Pittsburgh at the science center a year ago, but this was before I took anatomy for dance conditioning. It was interesting to see the muscles and bones again now that I knew the names. Kirsten really enjoyed the exhibit too.

We finished the exhibit around 5 pm and really wanted some coffee. We were planning on going to a specific café Kirsten knew about, but we couldn’t find the bus stop, so we decided to stay where we were. We went to starbucks at a nearby mall. Then of course we had to do a little shopping. I bought a pair of shorts at H&M for 9 euros. Not bad at all! After shopping, we came back to Angelica’s house for some dinner that Birgit cooked for us.

Berlin has been a lot of fun. I head by to Duisburg tomorrow and then back to Ireland on Monday. My farming program begins on Tuesday. I am getting very excited to start this program, but I hope it turns out to be a very positive experience. My month of backpacking has been so memorable, and I want good memories to continue during the next 2 months. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!