A weekend in Brrrrrr-lin!

Feb 5

Hello everyone! This past weekend I went to Berlin with two of my very good friends in the SLU occupational therapy program, Hunter and Briana. Although it was rainy everyday and much colder than Madrid, we had an amazing time exploring this German city for 3 days! Berlin is DEFINITELY a “cool city” with a very New York-style grunge vibe minus the hustle/clean edged side of the Big Apple. It was very intimidating at first as we have been spending so much time in such a warm, loving country, but we learned to appreciate the German angst.

Jan 31

Getting in to Berlin after a long three hour flight, we decided our first stop should be the world-famous doner kebab shack, Mustafa’s Germüse Kebap. This little stand is right off an U-bahn stop (my new 3rd favorite public transportation system) we took from the airport, and it really was worth the hype. We all got the doner kebab, and it was DELICIOUS. We knew that standing there less than 2 hours into our trip that we could be peaking eating that kebab. This kebab had EVERYTHING! Sweet spicy chile sauce, creamy yogurt sauce, grilled vegetables, spiced meat, fresh slaw, mint, tomatoes, and it was heavenly.

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After eating our glorious kebab we headed to the East Side Gallery, a preserved part of the Berlin Wall now adorned with murals from various artists. At this point it started raining, and unbeknownst to us, it wouldn’t stop raining until Monday morning.

Feb 1

As the rain continued, we decided the best way to spend our morning was to venture out on a sightseeing boat tour, to see the big sites of Berlin from a dry, heated location. While we missed the memo that we had to buy the English audioguide for €5 before we got on the boat, we still enjoyed the panoramic views of buildings that are probably important to Berlin’s skyline.

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We spent the afternoon wandering in and out of various clothing stores in Berlin, a continuous cycle of getting intimidated by all of the cool edgy-looking workers and then walking into the next store to be intimidated again. Fun! Briana and I decided we are too “J Crew” for Berlin, but Hunter definitely held her own.

The biergarten we visited for the classic German experience (soft pretzels and German bier, of course) was so disappointing and mediocre we didn’t even care to take pictures.

Feb 2

Sunday morning we went to a place called Silo for brunch, recommended by Hunter’s aunt who lives in Prague. It was delicious! Then we decided to tackle Museum Island, a literal island in the city center of Berlin with five of its most prestigious museums. We saw the Pergamon Museum, the Neues Museum, and the Altes Museum. The Pergamon Museum had seemingly removed and rebuilt part of a Babylonian building inside its walls, which I have never seen in a museum before. Insert here some ridiculous photos I took pretending to be a tour guide, as I subconsciously turn into one on our trips. Shoutout to the cute Cath Kidston purse I spontaneously purchased in the Heathrow airport!

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On our way off of museum island, we stopped to get a good look at the Berlin Cathedral, before it continued raining. Umbrellas can be good photo props though!

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Feb 3

Of course on the morning we leave Berlin decides to clear up the clouds for a sunny day, but we crushed Berlin anyways!! After a long flight home (almost with a diversion to Valencia as the Madrid airport shut for 2 hours for “suspicious drone activity”, which is NOT a fun thing to hear while in the air) we made it back to sunny warm Madrid with time to unpack and rest before school started back up again on Tuesday. I’m getting used to this “3 day school week” thing! My advisor already emailed me asking for my class schedule for next semester, how rude of SLU to give me classes on Fridays!!! Guess I’ll have to readjust to normal life soon, but not just yet!!!!

It’s been a month since I said goodbye to my family at O’Hare, how time has flown!! Miss you all- but having an AMAZING time!!! – Grace xx