Berlin, Germany

After two semester's and 6 credit hours of Finance, Corporate and International, we got our first extended break of the trip. We were officially kicked out of the Villa for 10 days and I was ready to travel with a group of friends to Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Salzburg (Austria), and Daccau/Munich (Germany). The train to Berlin is 12 hours long so we made a deal with our finance teacher to let us take our final exam at 7am to make a 9:15 train. My favorite part of the long train was that it was to the north and we were able to completely avoid Italy. For some reason, I have had a lot of bad experiences with Italian trains so far. This train ride was uneventful with a lot of naps mixed with celebrating the end of finance while enjoying the views of Swiss mountains and German hillsides. At the end of our long train from Zurich to Berlin we met a German guy who was going back to Berlin to visit his family. It's always good to talk to a local before you go somewhere and Lars was no exception. He gave us advice on all the good spots to see, where to eat, and what touristy spots to avoid. He even helped show us how to get to the metro to our hostel.

New Synagogue

We arrived at the famous Circus Hostel at around 9:30. I could really get used to this routine of getting to new cities on Friday's at night. It's been so cool to walk into the all the busy streets and tall buildings when they are lit up with people all around. After we settled into the rooms, a couple of people and I went down to the hostel bar to hang out for a while. They offered a 2 liter boot shaped mug that I split with my friend Cody. In the spirit of Oktoberfest later in the week we had to try it. There was a guy next to us who I got to talking to that is originally from Canada but now lives in Australia. One of my goals on this trip is to talk to as many people from different countries as possible about their different political systems. I asked him straight up if he would explain the types of healthcare systems in his home countries. After we both agreed to 'not argue' we ended up talking for almost 2 hours. This was a great experience to hear what someone who has lived in those place had to say, especially with the election coming up. While we disagreed on a lot, he opened my eyes to some new ideas and I am proud to say he called me the most open-minded American he had ever met.

Some of the graffiti we walked through

The next morning we woke up bright and early to do a walking tour of Berlin. It was a perfect day for walking around the city. With a city like Berlin that is so rich in significant history, we decided that a guided tour was the best way to go. Our tour guide was another Australian (easily the most popular home country of people I've met so far) named Theo who has lived in Berlin the last few years. He took us all around Berlin and was very informative about not only all the buildings and sites, but interesting, in-depth stories. We started off at the New Synagogue which is a gigantic building that sits right on a normal street in between regular shops and buildings. It is significant because it was badly damaged during World War II bombings and was almost completely destroyed. Most of the framework of the building has been renovated over the years because of this. This was just the beginning of a strong Jewish culture in Berlin that I was unaware of. As we walked to our next location, we went through an artistic hub of Berlin. It was a series of allies and walls that get painted on by graffiti artists from all over the world. It was amazing to see how different artists choose to express themselves. After that we went to a courtyard where Theo drew a map of how Berlin was divided after the fall of Germany in World War II. This was a great foundation of knowledge for the rest of the trip as he showed us parts of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the site of the Berlin book burning, and other significant buildings that recall memories of World War II and the Cold War.

Checkpoint Charlie with a unique, authentic
German restaurant in the background

Theo called Checkpoint Charlie 'The Disney World of Berlin' and I can see why. There were no less than 10 tourist groups just like us lined up along the Wall there along with hundreds of other people there to see it. There was all kinds of typical touristy things complete with some guys dressed as American soldiers who couldn't speak a word of english except for "2 euros for a picture". This was one part of the tour that I didn't particularly enjoy. What made the tour so great was the things 'off the beaten path' that we saw, or little things that Theo added. One such thing was a local market that was going on in the city. We walked around trying local foods, looking at all kinds of art and street performers, and listening to good music. Coming into this trip through Europe I hated shopping more than anything in the world. So naturally, I thought markets would be one of my least favorite parts of Europe. It turns out they are one of my favorite. This one was no exception. It is always a great chance to walk around and see parts of the culture the best way possible -- interacting with people. We finished up with two very powerful locations in Berlin that were not crowded like Checkpoint Charlie, but had a much greater feeling to them.

The first of the spots was a parking lot. Not just any parking lot though, it was a parking lot on top of the bunker where Hitler killed himself as the War was coming to an end. Theo told us about how they made it into a parking lot for a reason. No one wanted to have any building over a place that represented so much negativity, so they just covered it up once and for all. The only thing left to mark its place is a map of the bunker to show what it was like. After that we walked over to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. It is designed with a big open area that slopes down toward the middle with solid stone pillars that line up to give the feeling of a maze. As I was walking through I got the uncomfortable feeling of being lost or alone. By the time I made it out to the other side I was confused and not really sure how this structure could represent anything related to the Holocaust. Theo explained the architects intentions and it started to make perfect sense. The stone pillars are shaped so that they have the look and feel of a casket and to represent the many deaths. As for the downward slope and maze feel, the idea is that the farther you go into the monument, the more alone you feel. This is to portray the feelings of all the jews that were taken from their homes and away from their feelings. It was an excellent expression of so much sorrow and looking back on it after thinking about that was amazing.

Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe

After leaving the 7 hour tour much more educated and cultured than we started, we decided to check out some German night life for the first time. We went to dinner at a brewery called Brauhaus Lemke where I got a sampler of 4 different german beers. After that we went to a underground jazz bar called Zosch. Theo recommended this on our tour earlier because it used to be a homemade bomb shelter during World War II that was eventually changed into a bar. It was cool to be able think about how much could have happened in history at that place while we were just there to hangout with people.

I had no idea how much history the city of Berlin had and it was definitely the experience of a life time to be able to walk the streets and learn as much as I did.