I was very excited for Berlin, and the city sure exceeded my expectations. The first day we went on a very intensive walking tour. I saw original parts of the wall, murals and Jewish monuments, famous buildings such as the Reichstag and the Bradenburg gate, and ended the day with some amazing Mediterranean food! The second day we visited Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp just outside of Berlin. And then we went to the Pergamonmuseum. Thursday was the most action packed day, we went to three museums all back-to-back. We visited the Body Worlds exhibition, the Jewish Museum, and The Berlin Musical Instrument Museum. My last day I was completely on my own, and I had a blast. I went and walked through the Charité, one of Europes largest university hospitals. I then went to the Topography of Terror, the location of the old Gestapo headquarters, and the site with the remains from the first original wall that was put up. After that I went to the east side gallery, a long stretch of the Berlin Wall with murals and artwork.
Right away I was so amazed at the size and beauty of the city. It had the big city feel yet It was still clean and not too packed. The long history of the city was so apparent, stretch’s of the wall were sprinkled over the town, murals were on every corner, and there were massive government buildings always in sight. It was very interesting to learn about the wall and how the city is still healing. The diversity and mix of ethnicity was very enjoyable to observe. The West and East sides were so clearly distinct, and each so beautiful in their own way. Sachsenhausen was very hard to visit, even after all this time you could still sense the agony and horror that occurred there. That along with the Jewish museum and murals were big perspective builders, and I’m very grateful that I got to witness them. All of the museums were very different and all interesting to say the least. The Pergamon was by far my favorite. It consisted of some Middle-East history, Roman and Greek exhibits, and a whole floor dedicated to Islamic art. I know there’s still so much to see in Berlin and I’m already excited to go back.
As awe-struck as I was about Berlin, I think Hamburg is the coolest city I’ve ever seen. I only spent two days in the city, but It felt like I was there for a week! I was able to stay with my host dads sister and nephew, and I spent the majority of the weekend with the nephew. This was so cool to me as I got a very authentic view of the city and people. Saturday I spent a majority of the day on my own, and walked all throughout the city. I really enjoyed being on my own and just following whatever caught my eye. Sunday I woke up early and visited the famous fish market, had some delicious Turkish Seafood for lunch, and strolled through some of the city that I hadn’t seen the day before.
The architecture and organization of the Hamburg was amazing, and every block was completely different. There were long stretches of parks and gardens that reminded me of Central Park. Then there were older more classic areas that had a big British feel to It. There were high-end strips, and one block over there would be very old industrial buildings. The best part was the rivers and canals that were intertwined and all throughout the city. And with all of this amazing sight-seeing, I was able to have amazing seafood for every meal of the day!😋
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