Berlin for Beginners

Berlin comes with history, baggage, and a reputation. Last weekend, I went with none of those things. It was my first time there, I don't know almost anyone, and I brought only a backpack. In fact, the whole weekend was haphazardly thrown together, but ended up being just the back-door entry into the city that I was looking for after hearing so much ~gossip~ about it.

Cool mediocre picture of the Berlin Cathedral, Talia.

A friend and I took the train, free with a student pass!, into Berlin on Friday evening and spent three nights Couchsurfing in Charlottenberg. Over those corresponding days we mostly...ate. And walked. And walked. And walked. In our desperation to get some sort of grasp on this big (much bigger, geographically, than I expected) metropolis, we inadvertently stumbled upon many popular tourist destinations including the Berliner Dom, the oldest building in the city (a beautiful church), Brandenburg Tor, and Alexander Platz approximately one million times.

We also went clubbing in Kreutzburg, found the best cinnamon buns I have ever experienced, and dug through flea markets until our eyes glazed over. We only visited one museum and, alas, it was a disappointment because I was convinced it was a museum about garlic and it WAS NOT. Rather, it was the preserved 19th century manor of a wealthy silk merchant family whose last name is the German word for garlic. The museum was actually informative, but I had really been hoping for garlic bread samples.

Found: the ultimate in floor to ceiling sweets shops, or, a dream come true

We stayed through the morning of German Unity Day (appropriate) and I left feeling as though I have a better idea of what Berlin is as a whole. Now, I just have to continue exploring all the various neighborhoods in depth to understand it as more than just the sum of its parts. Additionally, in terms of the amazing amount of history and culture it has to offer, I will be returning with several of my classes to learn about history, heritage, and architecture, and if we don't go to Museum Island, I will definitely be going myself. If anyone reading has any recommendations for anything (sites, food, bars, art, something you hid 30 years ago that you want checked on...), let me know using the Contact section of this site!

On a scale on 1 - Berlin...

I'm so stoked to have what promises to be a magical place so easily accessible, but I am also excited for classes to start... which looks even nerdier in type than it sounded in my head. But, oh well, it's true. We had our intro session for the program which is in World Heritage Studies and I don't know how I am going to narrow down my schedule because everything looks so interesting. I may as well introduce myself to my new classmates with, "Guten Tag. Ich heiße Hermione Granger. Wie geht es*?"

Honestly, I'm not even mad about it.

*Officially finished German A1.1- can ya tell?