Study Abroad Fall 2013: What a Weekend!

This Saturday I took my first trip out of Prague as well as my first trip to Germany! One more country to check off on the list of places to go. During the week I made the most magical discovery. The bus company Eurolines is sponsoring a 2 for 1 sale to lots of cities around Europe from Prague. So this means I can go places for half the price as long as I have a friend to come with me. Fortunately, I have friends who were not going to Oktorberfest in Munich this past weekend. So I invited Lindsey and we decided to be super ambitious because it was so last minute and do Berlin in one day!

On Friday we went to the Prague City Museum with UPCES and it was really nice. There were tons of artifacts dating all the way back to the beginning of people living in the area all the way until today. One really cool part was the model of the city in the 19th century. Equally wonderful, it was right by the bus station Lindsey and I needed for the morning. So now we fortunately knew where it was! After the museum we wandered around Prague 2, but inevitably ended up back in Prague 1 for some dinner. Along the way we stumbled upon the dancing house, a commonly known piece of architecture in Prague. Then we had an amazing dinner of pork stuffed with bacon and mine also had garlic while Lindsey's had green beans. Immediately after we headed back to the apartment for some much needed sleep before waking up at 5:30 am the next day.

So we thought we would be waking up that early. My alarm did not go off and Lindsey hit snooze on hers. We overslept!!! It was now 6 am and our bus was pulling out of the station at 7 am. We had an hour to get ourselves together and ride the tram to the station. The rest of the morning flew as we sprinted around catching trams which unfortunately where running late. However, we did manage to make it to our bus with several minutes to spare! One could even say we were early and thank goodness because as soon as the clock turned to 7 am the door was shut and we were pulling out.

Along the way we got to see the beautiful Czech country side and then the German country side. I'm a bit biased as to which is more beautiful so I shall try to abstain from further comment on it. We also enjoyed some chocolate muffins and baguette that we had brought along with us to snack on during the journey. Then we arrived in Berlin. Our first task was to locate the metro station to get us into the center of the city. We had signed up for a free tour through Sandeman's tours and although it was only around 11:30 am our morning experience told us to make sure we were there early so it could be stress free. Once we sorted out how to buy tickets in English on the machine life was much easier!

On the metro in we ended up in a car with tons of runners and realized we were in the city on the weekend of the Berlin marathon! They were all so excited to be there and a group of middle aged Germans were sitting in our car laughing and occasionally using words such as Facebook and twitter after taking silly photos of each other. Once we got into the center we wandered around a little bit and found a Dunkin Donuts! What a nice piece of home right in Germany. Of course we had to stop for some coffee there. We got it to go and met up with our tour group. The Sandeman tour is really cool because it is a free tour and the guides work exclusively on tips. This means that they have to be really good at their jobs and entertain you so that they can make their living. Our guide lived up to that expectation and even went beyond. Besides the fact that he was attractive, and had an English accent, he was extremely passionate about the city of Berlin and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the area. Although the tour online was advertised as being 2.5 hours, we were with him for nearly 3.5 walking around the main points of the city. Along the way we saw the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gates, Holocaust Memorial to the Jews, stood over the Bunker where Hitler committed suicide and was married, the Berlin wall, the French Hugenot and German cathedrals, more Cathedrals of all religions due to tolerance under Prussian rule, and walked past the university where Marx and Engels studied as well as many other philosophers and scientists. It was a packed schedule, but it was incredible. The city was so vibrant and full of life. This may also be due to the fact that we arrived during the Berlin marathon and roller skating races.

After our tour we grabbed a quick dinner of sandwiches in a Cafe built where Goebbels used to have a villa that was later used as an SS headquarter, Cafe Einstein. It was delicious and I also had some great wine there! Then it was time to head home. This would seem like a simple task, if not for the roller skating race that had not been occurring when we entered the restaurant. Long story short we had to run around where the street was blocked off. Once again causing us to almost miss our bus. If we learned nothing today it is to leave for the bus even earlier than you think you have to because otherwise you end up running up to it about five minutes before it is supposed to pull out! After stressing and running around a city where I know even less of the language than Prague it was wonderful to see the skyline of my city again. Overall it was a wonderful weekend and I am using this Sunday to catch up with some cleaning of the apartment, grocery shopping, and of course readings for my course work. I am looking forward to another eventful week in Prague.

Me in front of Dancing house