Berlin-so alt

Our travel day from Amsterdam to Berlin started off a little shaky.  We took the train to the airport and somehow, only Olivia and I managed to get off before the train doors closed.  Luckily, Emily and Jessie made it on the plane despite their minor detour into rural Amsterdam.  We went through the obnoxious Easy Jet mob boarding style, took my seat, and woke up in Berlin.

Berlin is simply a cool place to be.  Often referred to as "alt" (alternative) and the punk capital of the world, it is a grungy but beautiful modern city that has clearly been influenced by its rough history.  But before I continue, let me take a moment to talk about this so-called hostel we were staying in.  I call Plus Berlin a "so-called" hostel because the "s" has no place in that word.  It was a hotel at a hostel price.  Huge lobby, huge room, super helpful receptionists, a restaurant with a delicious breakfast (that had more than toast!) our own bathroom, a game room, a yard...  Unreal.  Toto, I don't think we're in hostel Kansas anymore.  This was the Oz hostel.  So stay there when you go to Berlin. 

Ok enough of that.  After putting down our bags and forcing ourselves to leave our beautiful room, we ate lunch at a burger stand.  Now, I'm not a huge red meat fan, but this burger (bunless for me, with bun for the normal people) was absolutely delicious.  Then we walked along the East Side Gallery which is a part of the wall that is covered in art work.  Just when I thought I found my favorite one, there was another mural to wow me even more.  It was a great expression of post Cold War peace and love.  Then, we headed to the much more modern and much more commercial KaDiWee (sp?), a huge Harrods-esque department store in town.  Not quite as impressive as Harrods, but a good place to feel fancy and wander.  After dinner in our neighborhood, we decided to spend the night in with Harry Potter 6.  You can't ever go wrong with HP. 

The next day was full of touristy Berlin.  Tour of the Reichstag (parliament building), a very tasteful and powerful Holocaust memorial and museum, Brandenburg Gate, consumption of currywurst, and the New Synagogue.  I particularly enjoyed learning about the Jewish community (did I surprise you?).  Berlin had several synagogues, a Jewish school, a Jewish old age home, and a very strong Reform Jewish community.  Learning about the rich past was inspiring and I believe that a strong Jewish community could return to what is now a very accepting and open city.  It was a long day, but we felt very accomplished at the end.
As if our day wasn't full enough, we followed it up with an alternative pub crawl, which took us to 5 different pubs of different varieties-punk, pool table, absinth...  We met a lot of fun people from all over the world and were guided by a German young woman who seemed to fit right in to every place we went.  It was definitely a fun night, and definitely something I glad I was being guided to.

The next day, we continued our super alt Berlin lifestyle and took a free alternative tour, which I highly recommentd.  Our tour guide took a trip to Berlin a couple of years ago and just decided to stay.  Can you imagine being that spontaneous and carefree?  She has dabbled in the art scene and is now in two band-one which she described as pop and one as punk and screaming.  The tour, which was the four of us plus one other couple, felt like we were just following her around a normal day.  We saw a ton of graffittie and learned to recognize some of the prominent artists.  We stopped at an African beach bar and ate delicious African food (don't ask me what it is).  We learned about a yearly food fight that takes place between two rival neighborhoods.  Something particularly interesting to me was the strong Anti-Fascist movement in Germany.  I didn't realize that spirit was still alive today.  Apparently, on May 1, aka May Day, there are huge parties/riots.  The neo-Nazis who come out to protest have to be protected by the police from the tons of Anti-Fa people who would allegedly attack them and overwhelmingly outnumber them.  We ended the tour at a department store turned artist squatter site where artists have studios and rehearsal spaces and sell some of their work.  Unfortunately, the bank that now owns it is trying to kick them out, but some artists have remained.  (cue the Rent song lyrics)  I felt like I got to see a totally modern and real part of the city and so appreciated it.  I could see myself living there in a lot of ways.  Probably wouldn't be part of the artist squatter community, but still, it just seems like a great place to live with culture on every corner.  After our grungy tour, we went back into history mode at Checkpoint Charlie and the Topography of Terror museum.  The museum provided a pretty thorough history of the build up and events of World War II in Germany.  Lots of words, but lots of good information.  It's free to the public and another example of Germany's clear attempt to recognize their country's past actions and do something about it.  It was a very well put together exhibit and worth the reading.  Finally, we headed back to our hostel and ate some sushi.  Olivia and Emily headed out while Jessie and I encored our glorious movie night (because we're really cool).

Our last morning in Berlin was coincidentally fantastic.  After a couple more travel mishaps, Jessie and I planned to go to a brunch restaurant we found online.  While walking through our neighborhood, which we both agreed reminded us of Brooklyn, we happened upon a farmers/flea market.  Joy doesn't even begin to describe it.  We sampled passion fruit marshmallows, admired crafty jewelery, gazed at endless strawberries, and somehow managed to eat a delicious meal.  It was the perfect ending to our trip and another reason why I could see myself spending more time in Berlin.  Apparently on Sundays there's a flea market that includes karaoke.  Huge bummer I missed that.  I guess I'll have to go back...

Now I know this post is long, but I just have to reflect on one more thing.  As much as I could see myself loving Berlin long term, the overwhelming WWII presence would also make it hard.  My grandfather was German and I really wish I could talk to him today and share my experience with him, as well as hear the story of his life in Germany and then escape from Germany in person.  Modern Germany seemed nothing like the past, but the knowledge of it still lingers.  And as the Holocaust survivors are passing away, so is the German WWII generation.  So when is a city so-called "redeemed?"  Can Jews truly thrive in Germany and Eastern Europe again?  Ready, discuss.

Between the history, the fun, the alternative fun, and the reflection time, my trip to Berlin has made it to my favorites list.   

Steep staircases, coffee shops, and a sea of orange

Finally!  My finals were complete, I said "hasta pronto" to Carlos III, packed up my life in Spain, hugged my senora goodbye, and embarked on what we have been calling Maycation. 

First stop-Amsterdam.

After yet another way too early plane flight, Emily, Olivia, Jessie, and I  landed in Amsterdam and found the apartment that we had rented right in the middle of the city.  This place was so cool.  The apartment belongs to a 20 something guy from Atlanta who lives in the building and rents the other place out.  After a slightly treacherous stair case, we found ourselves in a fully stocked place with a couch, beds, a tv, a playstation (ok, I don't know how to play but the idea was cool), left over snacks from the last visitors, and everything else that we could possibly need for our Amsterdam vaction.  A few blocks away, there was a carnival set up in honor of Queen's Day.  A few blocks the other way was the Red Light District.  Every store was selling orange, the color of Queen's Day.  We seemed to have arrived just in time to enjoy the festivities.  We wandered into the Palace, which was pretty different from the Spanish and French ones, but not overwhelmingly awesome.  Right outside of the palace doors was the carnival with some very tempting looking cotton candy.  But, before we started celebrating the former queen's birthay (not sure why, just go with it), we made a more solemn stop at Anne Frank's house where she and her family hid during the Holocaust.  If you've ever been to a Holocaust museum with me or tried to assign me a Holocaust book to read or kept me home from school on Yom Ha'Shoah, you know that I'm not the best at handling the horror of Europe's past.  The Anne Frank house, however, was very well done with a balance of history, her own quotes, and videos of her childhood classmates.  I found out that she always planned on writing a book about her time in hiding after the war, and I think it is incredible that her dream came to fruition, although tragic that she didn't get to see it.  Her father, the family's only survivor, found her diary and published it soon after.  It might be time for me to start reading.
After the museum, we meandered back to our apartment to prepare for erev Queen's Day.  Another group of friends from Berkeley/Madrid joined us and the 8 of us took to the streets.  We went on a very high up, very frightening, and VERY fun carnival ride, danced in a bar/club situation, and roamed the crowded city center.  It was merely a preview of the day ahead.  On Monday, the festivities were in full swing.  People dancing in the streets, vendors everywhere, and an overwhelming amount of orange.  Elle Woods would've been horrified, considering orange is not the new pink.  The day was intercepted by a nap, followed by dinner and some more wandering and fun.  Overall, Queen's Day was quite a success.

Then, we entered a more normal day in Amsterdam.  After much needed sleeping in, we made our way over to the famous Van Gogh museum.  Surprisingly, the streets were fairly clean considering the trashed nature of the previous day.  Something to be said for socialism...?  (Get me back to American democracy Europe is brainwashing me)  Anyway, the museum.  It's amazing how much art one man produced.  It's also super unfortunate that Van Gogh had such a depressing life.  Hopefully he knows how celebrated he is these days.  The museum was a very manageable size and was definitely worth a visit.  After fully taking in the post-impressionist glory, Jessie and I trecked across the street to a cocktail museum about this really old liquor company based in Amsterdam.  Pretty random but super fun.  And yes, you get to sample some very colorful and very pretty drinks.  Finally, we participated in the obligatory "take pictures with the huge Amsterdam sign."  Touristy and necessary.  That night we ate some delicious thai food, hung out a graffitti covered cafe, and chilled.  Another early trip awaited us the next morning.  I was sad to leave the fun and adorable city that is Amsterdam, but excited to continue on my 5 country adventure.  Sometimes I can't believe this is real life.