October 13-16 I went to Berlin!! I went with my host mom and sister, Marie. It was 3 packed full days because there is so much to do and see there. I could have easily spent a whole week there, but I guess that just means I'll have to go back again! But we got to see all the major sights. The first day was supposed to be the nicest of the 3 days, so we walked abound the city and saw a lot from the outside, such as the government building, the brand new main train station that's made 90% of glass, and the Bradenburg Gate. It was actually very cold though, but the next few days of weather were worse so it's a good thing we went to see those sites when we did. We also saw many parts of the Berlin wall (not just today but throughout our trip in the city).
The next day was all about history. We went to the Holocaust memorial and museum and Checkpoint Charlie. It was quite the experience, going through both museums. I actually learned quite a bit and it's something I wish I could have seen after taking extensive history classes. But this was better- reading all the facts and personal stories from those times. We also went to a chocolate museum. It was small, but we did get to make our own chocolate! It was so yummy. We put gingerbread and honey crisps in ours. It sounds like it wouldn't make a good combination, but it was perfect. Me and Marie were quite proud of ourselves. :)
The following day, our last day in Berlin, it was rainy, windy, and COLD! So we went shopping, haha. Well, not really. We just went to a mall and walked around, so we didn't necessarily shop because we didn't buy anything. We spent most of our time in one store, I can't remember the name of it, but it is huge!! A bigger department store than what I've seen in the U.S. and I couldn't believe it. It had 6 levels and just about anything you could ever want. I think its kinda like our Macy's. After that we went to another mall, not quite so big, and saw this really neat clock that operates by water. I know, that sounds weird and probably doesn't make much sense but if you saw it, you'd know what I meant.
So that was my time in Berlin!
Last week I worked on my project and spent a day at the University and did a lot of research for my traveling time after I leave Italy. I leave Frankfurt in 2 weeks! I can't believe how fast this is going. I'm over half way through my trip! I plan to be in Italy for about 2 weeks and then I have some time after that for more traveling, so I'm trying to decide what I should do- there are so many options and places I'd like to see, it's hard to know what's best to do!
Yesterday I took a day trip to Köln! It's only an hour and a half train ride to get there, so I took an early train there and evening train home. I saw the famous Dom, walked along the Rhine river, and went to another chocolate museum! I'm really getting a lot of chocolate in this trip, and I have no problems with that! Good thing I walk around cities all day, though. And, I made the hike up 500 steps to the top of one of the towers in the Dom for a beautiful view of the Rhine and city. I don't have the pictures from yesterday up on my computer yet so once those are up, I'll post them in another blog :)
Well that's in for now... a very very brief update of my travels, but the highlights.
"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are." -Samuel Johnson
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