Wow wow. What an AMAZING day it was! And quite exhausting so I must make this. Quick blog since I'm about to pass out and need to get up early so I can embark upkn my journey to Halle class heh...YAY!!!
So Ash and I woke up around 8 after a nice long much needed rest (I swear we were still net lagged a little heh), got ourselves some breakfast compliments of the hostel, got ready for the day and ventured out around 10! We walked EVERWHERE today. We first went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum where it was a landscape of graves/tombstones risen on all different levels as well an underground free museum filled with timeline information and some more tombs- we were in the catacombs. So fascinating and devistatig. Next was Hitler'a Bunker (or a landmark of where it was) - an underground bunker where he, his wife, and other officials hid - huge! His bunker was also just a couple blocks away from the Holocaust Memorial site...hmmm ironic? Hmmm... Following, we walked further into he heart of Mitte, historical west Berlin and saw the Humbolt University, Russian and U.S. Embassies, the Gate of Brodenburger Tor (the "official" entry way of The Wall), and many statutes - they are everywhere! Stunning.
Then it was Ike for a lunch break, which we snuck from breakfast this morning to safe money ;]. We were trying to find some place inside to sit but Ash ended up saying "screw it. Let's just sit here at the bus stop.". So we pulled out our mini baguettes, avacado and salt and voila! We were true young backpackers, sitting in Berlin at a bus stop eating, peeling an avacado with bare hands, and cutting into it with my empty coffee lid hahaa. It was great.
We walked on and found this great little cathedral I cannot REMEBER he name of right now. At first we could tell if the door was cracked open to church goers or to be public, but we sucked it up and entered. Glad we did because it was another free museum and GORGEOUS at that! Next we went to our next mouth gaping, thrown back gasping place: the Berliner Dom. This is probably my favorite monument thus far. This huge protestant church absolutely mind blowing. Zoned started waking towards it because I told Ash we HAD to go inside and then we stumbled upon a street market! We walked in and along that and decided to stop and have curry wurst ( well ash of course not me lol) and a pretzel, right underneath a whirring train track. What more could you ask for eh?
We continued around, crossed the river and made our way to the Dom with it raining on and off. =]. As we for closer we decided we wanted a picture in front of it together and asked his cute older man to take it for us. He took one and as he started to take he second one he accidentally dropped Ashley's camera with the lens breaking!!! So now thmanage j dieting upon replacing it as we meet up with them tomorrow to fix this dilemma.
So we get to the from and oh man as soon as we entered - blown away. We went upstairs all the way to the top and walked outside around the dome with one of the best 360 views of the city below. Incredible. And the sun decided to peek out as it was setting. So picturesque and I was I in heaven since I LOVE skies, especially setting sins. We finished our tour with going all the way down to the crypts! I cannot BELIEVE we were allowed!! The catholics are pretty strict about people visiting their holy dead..but wow it was incredible. I know I keep saying hat Bout everything but everything was heh.
Finally our last big venture was to the Topography of Terror and the last standing remnant of the Berlin Wall, a.k.a. "The Wall of Death.". So we took. Bus part way and as we are walking we accidentally made a wrong turn and ended up walking along the longest block of our lives- a good 5 or 7 minutes hahah! Only to realize it was the wrong direction haha. So we turned around and were so glad we sucked it up and continued because the a path of brick appeared, outlining where The Wall used to stand. The. We reached it. An " oh my god! " from the both of us and then silence. Wires hangin out, graffiti saying "why" and "save our world", holes through it here and there. We stood across the street and you really can't see anything...do sad and errie. Then we entered and saw behind the wall and the trenches...that hit me hard for a minute. As we entered another free museum more timelines history awaited us Nd I was reminded of my grandpa who fought in this war...being here in Berlin and standing on the same grounds as this catastrophic genocide and probably one of our most recasting wars known to man just hit me hard. I have always been fascinated by World War II - how could just one man brainwash motions of people and several countries?!? Essentially running the world?! Or at least the EU. And then all the devastation and cruelty....heart wrenching. On top of all that, once my grandpa flooded into my mind that was the tipping point and I just felt this weight in my chest. So much history and sadness and rejoice in overcoming at a new all in one place.
To make this all the more pacting, throughout the entire day it as cold, rainy, and overcast- truly giving you the feel of what it was like to be in the war. So far I can conduce that Germany is erriely beautiful.
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