Ich bin ein Berliner

2/04/19

The weekend absolutely flew by. Classes ended Thursday with a trip to a museum dedicated to the history of anesthesiology. It was interesting to see what we had learned about in class in the museum, and the trip helped solidify what we had talked about. Thursday night, a small group of us departed by an overnight bus to Berlin. Nine and a half hours later, Sebastian, Vivian, Youngjun, Yoong, and I found ourselves in the capital on Friday morning. Our trip started shaky when we got off the bus too early, but we quickly figured out how to navigate the city train system and made our way to the hostel. After checking in, we departed on a walking tour of the city. Our guide Polly, a German studies graduate from Bristol, England, showed us the major historical sites of the city such as the Brandenburg gate, the Memorial to the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust, the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie. It was strange seeing so much history in the middle of so many modern 20^th and 21^st century buildings. Interestingly, we saw that the majority of the 21^st century architecture is in East Berlin, because none of it was worth keeping so most of the new construction occurs there. For lunch, we had the world famous Berlin currywurst, which was admittedly better than any currywurst I have had yet. After, we visited the Topography of Terror museum, devoted to the Nazi Secret police forces. It is so strange to see how the Germans deal with this major dark mark on their history, and both the museum and the memorial were very somber places. We ended our first day by going to a district called Kreuzberg. I tried pho for the first time and loved it, and afterwards we explored some of the famous Berlin nightlife.

Saturday, we trekked to the East Side Gallery, a large stretch of the still-standing Berlin wall that has been turned into a public art exhibition. Painters and artists from around the world have decorated segments of the wall with a variety of exhibits. Lunch is again worth mentioning, because the food in Berlin was so good. We enjoyed a small Korean restaurant, where Youngjun was happy to help us navigate the unfamiliar menu items. After lunch, we visited Museum Island, where we spent a few hours in the Pergamon Museum and the Neus Museum. There was an abundance of Middle Eastern, Greek, and Roman exhibits, which is one of my favorite things to learn about, so I very much enjoyed the museum. We spent another evening out, tried Doner (a Turkish dish), and then slept in Sunday before having to catch our bus back to Bonn.

Berlin was a fantastic experience. The city is large, sprawling, and somewhat run-down and dirty. But it is also a very busy city with a lot to offer. The history was very interesting to see and learn about, and the food and nightlife was very enjoyable. While I may not ever want to live in Berlin, I am glad to have visited.