Days after Berlin

I finally made it back to the United States late Thursday. Probably one of the most hectic days of my life. First, a small group of us on the Continental flight had to wake up at 5:30 a.m., which in the states is 11:30 p.m. so that we could secure a taxi and make it to the airport for our 9:35 a.m. flight. The flight went very smooth and the best part of it was I got a whole row of seats to myself since two people decided not to show up : ). As we arrived to Newark, the captain told us we were in a waiting period and we had to keep making circles around different areas. I could see the circles we were making by my personal TV that showed us the flight path. Abigail and I were getting frustrated because the longer we were up in the air, the shorter amount of time we had to make it to our next flights. We finally landed at at 12:45 p.m. (still Thursday) By the time I finally got my luggage for customs it was 1:30 p.m. and my flight started boarding at 2 p.m. I grabbed my luggage ran through customs, which I don't understand why we had to get our luggage back... they didn't even look through them, and then re-checked my luggage. Then I had to make my way to a completely different terminal so I had to jump on the Airbus, and go through Terminal C's security lines (which took forever) and run all the way to gate 80 (sounds like I knew what I was doing, not really- just hoping I was going the right way). As I was running I noticed a different gate said Ft. Myers and I know few planes fly there so luckily I saw the new gate because it did turn out to be mine and it was 45 minutes delayed. I wish I had known that. Could have saved me from running like a mad person through the airport. : ) So in the end I did make it, everything went fine, luggage made it and my mom was waiting for me with a BIG hug!

(All pictures are from our last night in Berlin at a biergarten)

Last day in Berlin

Sachsenhausen Concentration and Memorial

View of the whole grounds

The triangle area is where we were touring

Gate at Station A looking into the prisoner housing
(This is were the guards watched everything that was going on)

A memorial built representing the housing of prisoners that used to be in place


Toilets the prisoners used

Flower in front of one of the prisoner buildings

Where prisoners were hung and shown to the whole camp

Prisoner outfit

Roses in the museum

Footsteps after the rain

A nun in front of the memorial

Special housing

People sitting in from of the special prisoner housing
(special=prisoners guards didn't want mingling with the others)

Station Z-original base of the floor

Station Z

Station Z- There was a saying prisoners would only leave through here.
(pictured: furnaces)

Autopsy room

Yesterday a smaller part of our group got up early and took the train to take a tour of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and Memorial, which is outside of Berlin. I thought the tour was really good and I learned a lot about what took place at the camp. It did rain on us through most of the tour though. Luckily I had my umbrella. I think the rain and darkness made the pictures look better. After, we hopped back on the train and ran to the hotel to get ready for the TV Tower dinner. The TV Tower in Berlin is really tall and as you are eating the whole restaurant spins very slowly so you get the whole view of Berlin and not just one! Thankfully, my dinner stayed down : ) Today I woke up early and finished my project! Tonight we are going to a beer garden to celebrate being finished and we will have one last chance to hang out with everyone. Then it is back to the hotel to pack for an early flight in the morning to go home!

Picture perfect view

Dessert in the TV Tower

Do as the germans do

Go gators!

Today I spent pretty much all day working on my final project, which is coming along and should be done Wednesday. I also needed to do laundry so I took some of my dirty clothes down to the laundry mat about a block away. Ok, laundry is hard enough and then add German instructions. Kind of freaked out a little. Thankfully there was a picture instruction manual on the wall of what to do because there were tons of different buttons and confusing things you had to do that I was praying my clothes were going to come out all right. Thankfully they did : ) Afterward, the group headed to Dolores restaurant (kinda of like Moe's) for dinner. The burritos were HUGE but very good! So far this trip I have had Thai, Indian, German, Italian, American and now Mexican food. yum yum. After that the group went to Dr. Pong where you play ping pong in a circle till you get hit out. Really fun! Germans LOVE ping pong. Tomorrow I am heading to a concentration camp and ending the night with dinner in the TV Tower!

This was for you mom! Happy?! : ) I even posted a picture

Market day

TV Tower in Alexanderplatz

Today I went to two of the markets in Berlin to buy souvenirs. The places were filled with tents of all sorts of different things. It was a colder day today, and of course the only day I forget a sweater.

This is a little girl with a little stroller and a baby doll

Looking at the fountain near the TV Tower

Part of a statue from a fountain and the TV Tower

Watching the fountain

A dog walking across the square

Building near the TV Tower

Owls everywere (Mom I would have bought them all for you!)

Little boy peeking over the bench

Crepes!

Man at the market

das es gut

A woman sitting in a chair by a river in Berlin

A boy becoming frustrated

The M4 train that I love

Tours of the future

These are random shots taken throughout the trip so far. Today I went shopping with Amanda and Jessie in the area around Alexanderplatz. Afterward I headed back to the hotel to work on my project for a couple of hours. For dinner, a group of us went to a German restaurant where I had broccoli bake (noodles and broccoli and cheese). I think that was my first serving of vegetables this whole trip. I am slowly learning German. I think... : )

Don't wear shorts in Berlin

Ok. So when I say don't wear shorts, I'm not kidding. Today Jenny and I wore shorts around the city and everyone stared us down like we were crazy. Everywhere we went and everybody we passed stared until we were out of their sight. It was not cold out or anything. It got to the point where we could not stop laughing because everyone was staring. We were probably the only people wearing shorts in the whole city. We started the day at the chocolate store again, where I got another AMAZING hot chocolate. Then Amanda, Jenny, Jessie and I attempted to shop around Berlin but it started to rain. We had umbrellas but the real problem was that many of the stores were closed because it is Father's Day in Berlin today. If a guy is not a father then today is Guys Day. Guys Day basically consists of getting drunk and doing crazy things. For example, as we were making our way through Alexanderplatz some guys were hollering and then mooned the crowded area. We went back to the hotel where I worked on my project for a couple hours and then got changed for dinner. We were going to dinner at a German food restaurant but it was too packed, so we had dinner at an American food restaurant. The theme was the 60s so it had the red booths, swinging music and milkshakes! Best food yet! : ) I love America! Sorry no pictures today....

It was fate

A chocolate fountain

So today I ventured around Berlin by MYSELF!! I had no problems at all. I really needed to find a subject for my project and many of my ideas had been falling through, so I was becoming frustrated and was determined to find someone. I decided to check out the Fassbender and Rausch, a famous chocolate store in Berlin that my mom found online for me. Since I have no idea where any of the streets are, I took the M4 and switched to the U2 to Stadtmitte and started walking to where I hoped the store was. Luckily I walked right into it. I walked in and was blown away by the creations made entirely by chocolate. I figured there was no way I was going to be able to talk to someone because it seemed so massive. So i just started taking pictures for the fun of it. A man noticed I was taking pictures and he came up to me asking me why I was taking so many pictures. Turns out he is the managing director of the store. Score! So I got to talk to him and turns out he was a reallt nice guy who even felt bad I had to wait for him to talk to him while he was in a meeting, so he bought the BEST hot chocolate I have ever had. It had the taste of very rich dark chocolate. mmmm sooo goooooood! I also happened to be lucky to talk to him because he is traveling around the world most of the time working for the store, doing different things with the chocolate. Like I said, it was fate : )

A chocolate version of the Brandenburg Gate

Another chocolate version of a building in Berlin

Chocolate creation

Chocolate creation in the store