In Niedersachsen- my state- school is let out for two weeks in the last days of Oktober.
For the first week, we went to Berlin. We took the Metronome from Lüneburg to Hamburg, and from Hamburg the ICE Berlin- the fastest direct train to Berlin. The ICE takes about an hour and a half instead of the 3 hours a normal train would take. It is also a more ‘comfortable’ train: it has a snack trolley and compartments instead of the usual rows of seats.
Before I start talking about Berlin, I am going to quickly summarize the train system.
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It is SO nice living near a capitol city, particularly the 2nd largest one in Germany. Anything I could ever need is 30 minutes away. A ticket to Hamburg is 7€, and is bought at the train station about 5 minutes before the train leaves. There is train departing every hour (or half hour) to Hamburg, and the ride is about 25 to 40 minutes depending on the day.
Whenever I have a whole day to myself, I will sometimes go to Hamburg and go shopping. My train ticket I purchased is good for the U-bahn and S-bahn which are connected to the Hamburg Main station (or Hamburg Hauptbahnhof). Typically I don’t need to use the Hamburg Public transportation unless I need to go somewhere specific, as the Main shopping district (including a 5 story H&M, a GIANT NewYorker, and a Kardstadts) is right across the street to from the Hauptbahnhof.
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is also one of the largest stations in Germany. That means that is has trains of varying speeds to almost ANYWHERE you could think of in the country, departing at every hour (and ON TIME- this is DeutschBahn we are talking about, they like being punctual), along with a full size mall and a food court.
It makes getting places VERY easy, and a bit cheaper too, considering the next largest city from Lüneburg is Hannover-which isn’t that big at about 500,000 people, and it is about 2 hours and 2 changeovers away on the cheapest ticket (21€).
But usually all I need (read: H&M, Ditsch Pizza, McDonalds, NewYorker) is in the Lüneburg Stadt Shopping district, and that is about a 10 minute bike ride from my house.
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Back to my Holidays in Berlin
After our arrival in Berlin, we went started exploring immediately. Berlin is the largest city in Germany, and it can hardly be seen in one week!
We went to Friedrichstraße and The Museum Island.
Friedrichstraße is like the ‘5th Avenue’ of Berlin. It has EVERYTHING. There is no possible way to see all of it in one day (We came back SEVERAL times later in the week). It has every shop you could imagine, plus World War II Historical sights, and Museums. We went to Dussman, the largest book store in Berlin, to pick up some things before heading out to the Museum Island.
The Museum Island is a long stretch of several museums situated in the center of a river. They range in subjects from Greek Art to Ancient Europe. I can’t really tell more considering I didn’t go into them. The tickets have to be reserved a week or more in advance, are extremely expensive, and are good for a quick tour. You enter into the museum in a group for a one hour time-block- this is due to the amount of people that want entrance.
Second Day, we went to go see Potsdam.
Potsdam is Germany’s equivalent of England’s Cambridge. The amount of ancient architecture is amazing. We took many pictures. Instead of trying to explain Potsdam, I will just post some of the pictures from the excursion.
Later that night, we decided to attend the Festival of Lights that was happening in Berlin. The Festival of lights is a week-long celebration where all the cities major tourist attractions/buildings/embassies are lit up during the night in many different colors.
We saw the Brandenburger Tor:
The Berlin Skyline:
Alexanderstraße:
The next day, we went to KaDeWe, which is basically a giant department store, complete with a high end super market, drugstore, and restaurant/café. Next we hit all the tourist traps on Alexanderstraße and Freidrichstraße. I got myself some bags, postcards (YOU might just be receiving one soon), and some other Berlin-y merchandise. I also sent a package home that day (Let’s see what my family makes of THAT one, I’m not telling what’s in it).
In the afternoon, we took a trip to the holocaust memorial. It was bustling with people and shops, but held a very appropriate solitude once you got deeper into the foundation. We took the underground over to Potsdamer Platz next to see a bit of what was left of the Berlin wall, and do some shopping.
On our fourth day in Berlin, we did some more exploring on Freidrichstraße. We went to an auto museum, wandered by some of the ancient architecture, and went to Checkpoint Charlie.
Checkpoint Charlie was the allied checkpoint run by the American sector during World War II when the U.S.S.R. had control over East Berlin. We visited some museums (and gift shops) having to do with the famous landmark.
On day five, I managed to get ahold of Jonah, the other Alaskan who is living in Berlin. Incidentally, that is the same day that I figured out how to navigate the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn by myself.
The S-Bahn is the above ground city Tram that goes in a circle to the major parts of Berlin (ie, Brandenburger Tor, Potsdamer Platz, Alexanderplatz, Hauptbahnhof, Freidrichstraße, Zoologisch Garten and so on) in a timely mater. It is quite confusing, and a map is necessary. You would be confused too if you were encountered with three trains that all say ‘Hauptbahnhof’ that went to three different places.
The U- Bahn- Berlin’s underground, or in the US, subway- is much easier to figure out. The trains on the right of the station are outbound, and the trains on the left are inbound. There are usually two or three sets of trains going every 5 minutes in the busier stations. Once the whole ‘what the hell do I do here’ shock has passed, the system becomes your best friend in the cities.
Jonah and I decided to meet up at the KaDeWe store. After exchanging some hugs and when we stopped freaking out, we switched to the Alaskan dialect of Englisch and enjoyed talking to each other about our exchanges without any ‘umms…’ or ‘was ist die wort für das’ inserted anywhere in the conversation. It is said not to use Englisch as a crutch during exchange, but try stopping us from speaking Englisch to each other after not being able to fully express ourselves for almost 3 months.
We both agreed that people we meet here in Germany can’t grasp the concept that it’s impossible to just bike to the Bakery every morning in Alaska for fresh bread. You Alaskans know what I am talking about when I say getting in the car at NOON in the middle of winter can be the most daunting thing that you ever do in the day.
Jonah showed me his house and his school. We also went walking around Alexanderplatz.
When we were getting off the U-Bahn in Alexanderplatz, we started heading up the stairs that led to the street. On our way up, I spotted a girl wearing a ‘Rotary District 1850’ Hoodie going in the opposite direction. Jonah also noticed this AND some of the other people traveling with her. It turns out that some 5 other Rotary Students from Bremen were in Berlin for the holidays- and in their group with them was Alaskan number 3, Nicole.
All three Alaskans in Germany were united by total coincidence. We took some photos, and agreed to meet up later that night. We were all in awe that we saw each other in a city of almost 4 million people in a busy subway station, without even knowing we were all in the same city!
Jonah and I went into the KaDeWe store to try on some clothing we could never ever afford, and drool over the VERY overpriced ‘American Food’ Section of the KaDeWe supermarket. Jiff Peanut Butter: 17€ Root Beer: 5€ Marshmallows: 7€
The Alaskans decided to meet at the Asia Box in the Alexander Platz U-Bahnhof for some noodles. We talked about exchange for an hour, said goodbye, and then took the U-Bahn to our base camps. It really was a great night.
On the sixth day of our stay in Berlin, Ben and I went to the Brandenburger Tor to see it once more before we left the city on Saturday. We took some artistic photos and went to a Wax Museum.
The first floor of the wax museum was dedicated to some of Germany’s history and political figures. I posed with Angela Merkel and Barak Obama. There WAS a wax figure of Adolf Hitler, but it was in its own case with a notice NOT to take photos. If you would like to see it, you have to come to Berlin yourself. The next few floors consisted of Musicians, Artists, and celebrities from the last 50 years.
Friday, Ben and I went to an Aquarium and to some of the oldest Palaces and Castles in Berlin. Some photos will follow to show the grandeur of living that Prussian Royals had in former times. This specific palace belonged to Sophie Charlotte- who had an obsession with china and porcelain, and had almost 2 rooms devoted to the (in that time) very rare Chinese Porcelain and over 4,000 pieces all over the entire estate.
Sadly, I did not make it to the Bundestag or any of the major Museums in Berlin… an excuse to come back? ;-)
All and all, I had a great week. As I sit here on the ICE, watching the German countryside go by on my way back to Hamburg, I miss Berlin, and the special place in History it holds, but I miss my home in Lüneburg, and can’t wait to be back. I look forward to the coming months of my exchange. They are flying by- just like the train- and I plan to enjoy every minute of it.
Tschüss! Liebe Grüß! Wiedersehen!
Sarah
Checkpoint Charlie WWII? "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
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