A trip to Berlin, Germany

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 1^st 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.

Hi samantha

November 3rd

Here in Poland they really don't celebrate Halloween. They instead celebrate All Saints Day. It is probably the 3rd most important Holiday here besides Christmas and Easter. People will travel throughout the country to the site where their parents or grandparents are buried. People will buy lanterns that they light and put on the tombstone of their deceased loved ones. Not wanting to miss out on all of the fun, my family bought a lantern at our local supermarket and we went to a cemetery that is about 50 meters from our house. This cemetery is special because it is full of the people died at the defense of the Post office in 1939 when Germany first began attacking Poland. It was 56 post workers against more than 200 German soldiers and the Poles repelled the attack not once but twice and the battle went on for more than 15 hours. After the Germans pumped gasoline into the Post office and 3 workers burned alive the rest of the workers surrendered. When they went outside the German army captured them and shot them against the nearest wall. This battle was one of the first of World War II. I have attached some pictures that i took of the graveyard. Next Tuesday my family is going to Berlin, Germany for the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down so that will be very exciting.

October 22nd

Many new developments in the Gartland Household.

First of all my mom and dad enrolled the kids in a british school every monday all day. We'll take classes like p.e and art and stuff we wouldnt be able to do at home. Everybody there speaks english so ill have someone my age to talk to which is the point of this decision
Also it is official we are going to Berlin, Germany from November 10th to the 15th. We ride in a train all day on the 10th and we leave Berlin in the Afternoon on the 15th. Berlin is the capital of Germany and so many tings happened there especially from WWI And WWII including the Berlin Wall which was torn down in 1989 but there are still some remnants of it. We'll be there for the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down on the 10th.

On Sunday we will be going to the Lechia Gdansk futbol (soccer) game. Lechia is our home team and is actually pretty good. They're playing one of their rivals Lech Poznan. I'm hoping to get a jersey while im there.

School here is Going good. It's so nice to be able to go to school in my pajamas everyday.

I hope everyone is doing good and Go Saints tommorrow against Gardner-Edgerton.

krakow pictures

October16th

Wow I haven't updated my blog in a while, so this is going to be a long one.

On our second day in Krakow we went to Auswitch and Berkeneu the Nazi concentration camps. It was a really moving experience when you think about how many people were killed there. (1.1 million) We got to go into some of the gas chambers in which people thought they were getting a shower but instead were gassed to death. People thought they were just starting over and that the Germans were relocating them somewhere so that they could lead a new life, but they were just leading them to their deaths just because they were Jewish. It's terribly sad.

On our third day i got my first real taste of the Polish winter that is soon approaching. It was sleeting hard and it was windy and cold. We took refuge inside indoor museums and ancient churches that were really spectacular. One of the churches we went to has one of the most famous alter pieces in all of Europe. The people at the church recognized this as a tourist attraction and you had to pay for a five dollar ticket to take pictures, along with the other ticket you had to buy to get into the church in the first place. O well, it was nice to be warm at least.

On our final day we went to a church called Corpus Christi for mass and it was a really neat church. I learned here that you kneel outside your pew when its time for communion and the priest will come down the row and put the Eucharist right into your mouth. Then at 12:00pm we got on an 8 hour train to go back to Gdansk. We had a quarrel with the ticket person on the train because they were saying that the kids did not get the student discount because we were not Polish students, even though the website doesn't say we had to be polish, but we got it all worked out and got back to Gdansk.

Monday was my 15th birthday and it was a bit different than American birthdays. For example I'm not sure they celebrate birthdays here so finding a cake was pretty difficult. we finally found a good chocolate one with cherries in the middle. We went to McDonalds for dinner because that's where i wanted to go. i got what i wanted for presents, new headphones because my old ones broke and i couldn't listen to my iPod. i also got my own digital camera so that i can take my own pictures and upload them onto my blog and Facebook.

Nothing really exciting happened the rest of the week, just schoolwork. I hope my Saints beat Ottawa tonight and remain undefeated. I'm gonna set my alarm for 1 am Sunday morning my time so that i can listen to the Jayhawks football game. with luck the KU-OU game next week will be on ESPN America so that i can watch it.

hope you guys are having fun and keep warm and healthy.

October 8th

Well last night i went on an overnight train which was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
much better than the overnight plane over to poland. we had beds to strecth our legs out and i got a lot of good sleep.

We are now in Krackow which is one of the biggest cities in Poland. I'll probably be updating my blog everyday while im here because we are doing so much stuff.

Today we went to the wawel (pronounced Vavil) which is a castle, a cathedral that is the seat of the Archidiocese of Krakow and it's also where Pope John Paul II was a cardinal. There was also the remains of Saint Stanislaus and St Queen Jadwiga which was very interesting. Most of the old Kings of Poland were buried underneath the Cathedral and we got to take a look at that. There was also a museum about John Paul II.

Tomorrow we will be going to Auswitch the concentration camp and that will be very emotional since more than 1 million people were murdered there.

September 30th

witaj, american friends. i arrived here safely after nearly twelve hours on an airplane. Everything is so different here, i can't understand any signs or any of the people talking on the tv. I got a shock when i went on my facebook and it was all in Polish. apparently it changes your language depending on where you are. Tomorrow my mom will offically start home-schooling us and i have to be up by 7:45. Hope she doesn't give me homework. I miss everybody and i wish you guys were here. it is truly amazing.

September 27th

I can't believe this is finally happening. today i leave the United States for Gdansk,Poland.I have a 5:00 pm flight to Chicago. Then I leave at 10:00 pm from Chicago to Warsaw and will get on a plane there that will take me to Gdansk. It's going to be a long day.

September 13th

Hey guys, yesterday my dad left america until next july for poland. He has to go to orientation in warsaw and had to leave early. Today he arrived in Gdansk and took a look at our house. I've attached a picture of it and it looks very nice. My dad is having a very nice time yet he is still trying to get acclimated to the time change. I leave in fourteen days and i cannot wait. O and if anyone has Skype please contact me and we can get each other's usernames.

The First Post

Hey Friends. Well this will be the official blog while I'm am in Poland and i will update around every third day. I will put plenty of pictures on and let you know how my travels are going. As for all of you who don't know i am leaving on September 27th and returning next July. Check regularly as i will be posting often.