From Tuesday to Sunday my family and I took our monthly trip and we decided to go to Berlin, Germany. I wrote different sections of this blog on the days when it happened and then I uploaded this as one blog so that it is easier to read.
We finally made it to Berlin. After two, four hour trains, we arrived in the new train station that was built in 2006 for the World Cup. The station is an engineering marvel. It is made mostly out of glass and has no support beams. It's an arch and it uses its weight against itself to keep the station from falling down. After we arrived we took a subway train to our rented apartment and then we went to find somewhere to eat dinner. We ended up at an Argentinean meat restaurant where we had some really good steaks and potatoes. After the meal, our waiter brought out 6 glasses with Schnapps for the adults and kinder schnapps (apple juice) for the kids. My dad let me have a sip of his and it was not what I expected. I thought it tasted like cough medicine, so we just left the rest of it on the table, paid and left. Tomorrow we will be going to the Berlin Wall and the Brandenburg gate.
I returned to America for a brief moment today as we stepped onto the property of the American embassy, which is considered American soil. Right next to the embassy is the famous Brandenburg Gate, which was almost destroyed in the Second World War, and was an accomplishment to walk through during 1989, when the Berlin Wall finally came down. We actually got to see the longest still standing piece of the wall which is about 1.3 km long. People have since decorated the wall with art on both the East and West sides and it serves as a reminder not to have another thing like the Berlin wall happen again. It was kind of fun jumping over the mark where some of the wall once was and going, East, West, East, West. People 30 years ago living in Berlin probably did not think anyone would be able to do that for a very long time. For dinner we had Bratwurst and Sauerkraut, because Germany is the land of Sauerkraut.
Today we went in the morning to see a church that had been almost destroyed during WWII, and was now left as a reminder of what World War will do. Right outside of the church, they were putting up the city Christmas tree and I videotaped it with my camera and I will upload it. After that we went and shopped from the stores close to the church. I got a German soccer jersey and I will wear it when Germany plays in the world cup. (unless they are playing USA.) After lunch we caught an intercity train and we went to the Olympic stadium from 1936. It was the stadium where Jesse Owens from America beat all of the Germans and made Hitler very mad. Hitler thought the Germans were a race superior to all others, so you can imagine his anger when his Germans lost to an American. Worse than that for Hitler, Jesse Owens was black and they were considered inferior to everyone back then so Hitler must have been furious. In 2006 the Stadium was renovated to hold the World Cup and it was the site of Finals between Italy and France. (I'm still mad that Italy won.) Today the stadium belongs to Hertha BSC, Berlin's club soccer team.
Friday was rainy, so we decided to make it museum day. We first went to the Prussian palace which belonged to the Carlotta family during the 1800s and early 1900s. Today it has been converted into a museum and as we walked through it, I was thinking how awesome it would be to live there. The thing it's famous for isn't so much the palace, as it is the garden out back. It is very beautiful and is similar to the gardens for the French Kings and Queens. After the palace we went on a double-decker bus around the city. We went on the top so that we could see Berlin well. When the bus ride was over, we went into a museum of old statues of the Babylonian and Assyrian era. I took a lot of pictures and I will upload them. Tomorrow is our last full day in Berlin; I hope it's as good as the other days.
Today was a beautiful day weather-wise. It was sunny and warm so we decided to shop-around at some of Berlin's good stores. I got a Berlin hat to add to my collection for only 6 Euros. (Which is very cheap) I also got a new wallet because I left my other one in Kansas. (It was empty so it really didn't matter) We then went a got some very good kebabs for lunch. In the afternoon we went on another tour bus except going the other way, so we pretty much got to see all of Berlin. We went to church this evening because it would be easier not to have to go to church tomorrow because of our train schedule tomorrow. The church is called St. Mathias and now I have been to 3 different language masses. (English, Polish, German) We leave tomorrow at 2 and will arrive in Gdansk at about 10. Hope it goes well.
I am writing this as I'm on the train because I have nothing better to do. What was originally one train from Berlin to Szcenzin, and then Szcenzin to Gdansk turned into 3 trains and a bus. They had to split the trains because of something with the tracks so we thought we had to go on 3 trains. Ok that's fine. When we get off the 1st train there's a bus because of more track problems and that took us to another station where a second train took us to Szcezin. Now we're finally on the train coming home. Only four hours to go. Overall this trip was pretty fun and interesting. The only regret I have right now is that I have to go to School in the morning. And Gardner better watch out because nobody can stop the Saints now.
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