Friday,
November 28
My
program organized a day trip to Dresden to see the Christmas Markets and the
highly anticipated trip has finally arrived. It was a bit overcast upon
arrival, so our program hired a tour guide to give us a brief but informative
bus tour around the city. I’m not a fan of bus tours because it’s too easy to
just tune out, but after the bus tour, we got off the bus, split into groups
and had a walking tour around the city. Dresden is absolutely gorgeous.
Although each European city that I’ve been to has looked different, Dresden
embodied aesthetic qualities that fit my idea of a stereotypical European town.
Dresden was completely destroyed during an air raid of February 1945, but has
since been completely rebuilt. Efforts were made to replicate old buildings, so
although the Dresden that I saw is fairly new, its original buildings date back
hundreds of years.
Here are some photos of Dresden:
After the walking tour, we had a chance to roam around the
Christmas Markets. Germany is the mecca of all European Christmas markets and
I’m so glad that my first Christmas market experience took place here. Dresden
was filled with Christmas spirit and I loved roaming through the city, drinking
hot wine, and listening to carolers. There were three main markets in the city.
First,
I stopped in the Medieval Market:
Lots of street vendors selling traditional German food
Hot wine! We were allowed to keep the cups
Then,
I wandered through the oldest market in Europe, Dresdner Striezelmarkt.
Candied Almonds. So delish!
Entrance to the market
I was so tempted to buy one of these Santa hats, but I refrained
Such colorful displays of candy
Finally,
I ended at the Augustusmarkt. I liked this one the best because it was linear
(like a farmer’s market at home) and the least crowded and overwhelming:
Dresden at night was just breathtaking
After
a fun day of Christmas shopping, a group of 12 of us continued onto Berlin. We
arrived a little after midnight after getting a bit lost on the subway.
Apparently there was construction on the tracks at our intended stop, so we had
to get off the tram a stop early and then take a bus for the rest of the way.
It wasn’t worrisome or difficult. It’s just an adventure dealing with
navigation in foreign countries. I’ve had moment in Prague where the trams just
change tracks and because, of course, I don’t speak Czech, the changing line
comes as a complete shock. Our hostel was great and we were able to get two
6-person rooms. It’s always nice being in a room where you know everyone. We
went to a bar for our first German beer of the trip but had an early night
because we anticipated a full day of touring the city.
Saturday,
November 29
DJ,
Anna, Maddy, and I all woke up on the early side so that we could get some
sightseeing in before meeting up with the rest of our group for a walking tour
at 12:45. We headed over the East Side Gallery which was so cool; possibly my
favorite sight of the trip. Just to give you a sense of Berlin, it is
completely different than Prague. For starters, it is absolutely massive. A
metro pass is a necessity and even if a walk seems like a short distance on a
map, it most likely is not. Berlin is incredibly modern and feels very Americanized.
It was nice being in a city that felt so western and there was a plethora of
English speakers, which is always pleasant. I’m attaching photos from our visit
to the East Side Gallery 1) so you can see the amazing street art and 2)
because it is one of those sights that’s easier to explain in pictures. The
Gallery is so famous and I’ve been so looking forward to visiting it that when
I was finally there, I couldn’t believe that this was the actual place. We
slowly walked along the entire gallery, admiring the artwork and discussing the
history behind the wall. There is such a huge difference between the east and
west sides, differences that are especially apparent in the architectural
styles.
One foot in East Germany, one foot in West Germany
Various murals from the East Side Gallery
West side of the wall
Anna, myself, Maddy and DJ at the start of the gallery
We had fun in a photobooth my the wall.
My favorite mural
First mural of the gallery
East (top) vs. West (bottom)
Following
the Gallery, we met up with the rest of our friends at the hostel and embarked
on an “Express Tour.” We all thought that the word “Express” in the tour’s
title meant that the tour would cover lots of ground in a short period of time,
but our tour guide quickly told us that the tour would be a daunting 4 hours.
Some of my friends decided to stay on the tour, but DJ, Dani, James and I
decided to depart from the group and lead ourselves on our own walking tour. The
girls who stayed said that the tour was great, but I just couldn’t imagine
being on a walking tour for 4 hours, especially after having walked around for
the entire day already. We managed to make it to all of the major sites. We
walked along the famous street called Unter der Linden. It is beautiful and
lined with trees and beautiful and eclectic architecture. The street leads to
the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), one of Germany’s most famous
monuments.
Museum Island
War memorial on Unter der Linden
Brandenburger Tor
We
then wandered through the massive Holocaust memorial. It is overwhelming and
maze-like. When looking at the memorial from streets level, it looks like a
field of cement blocks (meant to resemble coffins? I’m not sure), but as you
walk into the memorial, you walk further down beneath the street-level and the
cement blocks become incredibly tall. The memorial then becomes a maze of
columns and it feels very claustrophobic and never ending. This is the effect
that it is supposed to have on visitors.
We
then walked to the Ritter Sport Factory, a shop that a friend of our
recommended we visit. Ritter Sport is a famous German chocolate brand and we
heard that you could visit the factory and make a customized chocolate bar.
Although the line to personalize a chocolate bar was too long, we had fun
wandering through the store and trying all different flavors of chocolate. My
favorite was dark chocolate and marzipan.
At
this point in the day, we were all exhausted, so we headed back to the hostel
for a brief siesta. We then headed out to a Singaporean restaurant for dinner.
Sunday,
December 1
Before
I even begin talking about my day, I’d just like to acknowledge that it is
December. How the heck did that even happen?! DJ, Anna, Maddy, and I woke up
early again and headed to a neighborhood of Berlin that we hadn’t yet visited
for brunch. I love doing research before trips and one of my favorite sources
is the New York Times’ “36 Hours In…” series. Without fail, they give
phenomenal recommendations. This is how I found our lunch place. It was a
delicious brunch buffet for only 5 euro!
We walked through some cool streets and parks on our way to brunch
We passed the new Jewish synagogue
Google Maps took us through a cemetary
Another abandoned, graffiti-covered building of Berlin
We left brunch full and happy and
headed to a flea market in East Berlin. It was fun sifting through the market
for unique trinkets. After the market, we headed back towards the city
center/our hostel’s neighborhood (called Mitte—I’d highly recommend staying in
this area if you ever come to Berlin) and got Currywurst. This is a famous
German street food. It is an odd combination of flavors (Bratwurst + Curry and
ketchup) but is absolutely delicious. We all felt like we could leave Berlin
satisfied because we’d finally tried Currywurst.
Enjoying the currywurst
(Photo by: Maddy Rossi)
Some photos of the color and more modern-looking aspects of Berlin:
The
bus ride home was easy. We were all exhausted and either slept or watched
movies the entire way back. I had a blast just walking around (I’ve seriously
never walked so much in my life—my feet hurt) and exploring Germany. This is my
last week in Prague before finals, then off to Amsterdam next weekend!
Czeching
out,
Grace
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