Love at Second Sight

Berlin is not one of those romantic cities you instantly fall in love with. Upon arriving I was not immediately swept off my feet in the same way that I was by Rome last summer. But when it was time to leave last night, I wasn't ready to go. Four days flew by way too quickly.

When I arrived to the Tegel airport on Friday, Necco (who will be interning at earthfaves later this summer) was kind enough to skip his language class and meet me there. I'm so glad he did, because trying to maneuver through Berlin's public transportation system can be confusing to a first-time visitor. We ate lunch at the Mensa and then checked into our hotel near Potsdamer Platz. I met the rest of the orientation group and then we took a boat tour of Berlin on the Spree. The tour was nice, but it was so cold and windy! I'm glad they had blankets.

die Spree

nearly every surface of the city is covered in graffiti

Reichstag

Berliner Dom und Fernsehturm

After the tour, I went to a coffee shop with Stephanie (my roommate at the hotel) and Youlia (who will also be joining the earthfaves team next month). We met their friend Palmer and ate a leisurely dinner at this posh pizza place. We ended the evening with drinks and dancing at a club called Magnet. When I climbed into bed at 4 a.m. the sun was already starting to come up.

Three hours later...

It was Saturday morning and the official start of our orientation. We ate frühstück at the hotel and then transferred to the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the venue for our cultural seminar. Unfortunately, most of the information we got from the orientation would have been much more helpful to me two weeks ago when I was still in Texas. Afterwards I went to a Biergarten with my new pals from the College of Charleston. 

Palmer, Chelsea, Stephanie, & Me

the Berliner Weiße (rot) became my standard drink of the weekend

In the afternoon I met up with Moritz, a friend that I met at the Model UN conference in New York last month. He was so incredibly nice and offered me a place to stay in his flat for the weekend. An excellent tour guide, he showed me around the city, highlighting the major historical sights. We then met up with another MUNer from the Freie Universität, Simon, and ate döner kebabs under the Fernsehturm. It's always a surreal feeling when two worlds collide and you see people you know from one part of life in a completely different place. We discussed politics and our love for Moleskine notebooks. They humored my feeble attempts to speak German and we told lots of How I Met Your Mother jokes. It was legend--wait for it---dary!

Brandenburger Tor

Moritz's cool, artsy flat

On Sunday afternoon, I met Palmer, Chelsea, and Stephanie at the Flohmarkt am Mauerpark. This huge flea market is held every Sunday and has the most random stuff to buy. We shopped around, stopped for snacks, and watched karaoke in the park. This was definitely a highlight of my trip-- I think if I lived in Berlin I would be here every other weekend.

Flohmarkt

there were so many beautiful leather shoes & handbags

a cute, old ice cream truck & pink bicycle

a jewelry maker's paradise

one man's junk is another man's treasure

the energetic crowd at karaoke

I bought the coral woodland road scarf at the market

I had never seen so many hipsters in one place

Monday morning I ate breakfast with Moritz and his girlfriend and then we said our goodbyes as they headed off to class. I met up with the CofC gang and we spent the afternoon enjoying the sunny weather at the Wannsee. Since we both didn't bring swimsuits, Palmer and I just strolled along the man-made beach. Suddenly he said, "Hey look that little kid isn't wearing any clothes." When I looked up, I realized we were the only ones wearing clothes! Somehow we had accidentally crossed over to the nudist beach. We quickly turned around, feeling rather awkward. Sometimes Europe can feel like a different planet to me.

Strandbad Wannsee

that's me on the far right

I think Strandkörbe are so funny

My flight back to Saarbrücken departed at 9:05 pm. Saying goodbye to friends is always a difficult thing to do, even if you have known them for only a short time. My heart sunk a tiny bit when I watched the sun go down on my last day in Berlin from the window on the plane.

Berlin is unlike any other city I've ever seen before. It's been through so much and it always seems to be changing. It has its own distinctive style and yet I think anyone could fit in there, even more so than New York. I had a wonderful time in Germany's capital and I hope to go back some day--if not this summer than sometime in the future. 

Moderat--a group Moritz introduced to me. Great song.

"The bulk of the Berlin of today has about it no suggestion of a former period. The site it stands on has traditions and a history, but the city itself has no traditions and no history. It is a new city; the newest I have ever seen." -Mark Twain

(Photos 15 & 18 courtesy of Chelsea M.)