Berlin

Berlin. The meeting spot and beginning of our journey. Due to its tragic history, I had expected a dark and dreary city full of dark and dreary people. Wrong. We chose to start here because it made geographic sense, it was cheap to fly into to, and the history teacher in me wouldn't let me pass up an opportunity to pass by such earth-shattering history but I certainly didn't expect to have so much fun here.

Our first experience with public transportation was a semi-success. We got where we were heading but it took much deliberation and we didn't realize we had to pay BEFORE we went aboard. Oops. Free ride on Germany. If I had known we were scamming the subway system, I would have been terrified. Ignorance is bliss. After arriving in the vicinity of our hostel, we stepped out into the open air, looked around, had no idea how to read the map I had printed out and laughed. This was the beginning of our adventure. On this trip just getting to our destination became a challenge and adventure. We walked with the crowd for a bit and then paused to try to get our bearings. Our first encounter with a Berliner was a very friendly young gal who saw Trent's furrowed brow and offered her assistance- luckily in English. Thank Jesus I have an attractive brother who looks really confused when he's lost.

In hindsite, the hostel in Berlin was probably the worst of all the ones we stayed at. Our cozy basement was shared by no less than 50 other loud, drunk American back packers. I sadly can see why we have a reputation for being obnoxious. There is just something rather odd about waking up and seeing a bunch of strange men sleeping in their boxers in the bunk beds surrounding you. Luckily, our schedules didn't coincide with most backpackers. We were usually the first in bed (trying desperately to fall into a deep sleep before the drunkards would stumble in and wake us up with their incoherent ranting and raving) and were the first up going for a morning run.

The first evening we arrived we had a few hours of sunlight to wander around and find dinner. After strolling through the streets, we ended up at a brat vender who had set up a huge tv to watch soccer. Even though we're not huge soccer fans, watching the Eurocup throughout Europe was incredibly fun; certainly a highlight. With our Dutch roots, we immediately jumped on the Nederlands bandwagon and rooted for them our first night in Berlin while experiencing our first scoops of the heavenly gelato we would sniff out in every country.We turned in fairly early and were up with the sun to enjoy a famous German pretzel for breakfast and a morning run. No destination in mind, we just ran and suddenly were here:

I probably should have known what this was, or at least recognized it, but I didn't. We turned the corner, saw it, looked at each other and said, "Cool. I wonder what that is." Then we ran past some other major, important, historical buildings which were received by us with raised eyebrows and deep, insightful observations like, "neat."

We took a free tour of the city and if I didn't have the pictures, all I would remember for the tour is this: Trent made me tip our "free tour guide" and it was a super awkward exchange of money since I didn't know how much to give and we were ditching out early and I got the hand-exchange all wrong. I am not very smooth. Here are some pictures from our "free" tour:

Holocaust Memorial

Site of Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide. We went for "excited faces" since we were excited that he is dead and excited that this spot was just an ugly dirt lot.

Berlin Wall. A stranger offered to take our picture. Hence the normal smiles.

East Berlin Propaganda Mural. I was very amused and made Trent join the propaganda scene. It was must funnier at the time. To me at least.

Three ladies with ridiculously large hats painting some famous building. Let's be honest, buildings are cool but people are way more interesting and these ladies are awesome.

After the tour, we headed to a famous work camp. Sobering. What I remember is feeling lost as we wondered through a quaint, suburban neighborhood and suddenly were at the gates of the camp. For the next two hours, our brains struggled to wrap around what had happened here. It didn't feel real. Pictures here aren't very fun or entertaining. They're just sad. This one is cool though because although Trent accidentally took it while setting up a timer shot, it captures the mood of the outing- we were quiet and disturbed.

We rode the subway back to downtown with heavy hearts and little conversation. What's odd is I remember being starving and so thankful for the peanut MnM's Trent had purchased. I have a clearer memory of eating that bag of candy than I do of actually touring the camp. I suppose my brain didn't want to hold on to those painful memories. Perhaps this is similar to how Berliners feel.

That night was a stark contrast to our somber afternoon at the camp. Trent is incurably cheap. Thus, we returned to our brat stand for our second dinner in Berlin. This time there was a larger crowd vying for seats by the big screen so Trent stood in line and gave me the task of finding us seats. Big mistake. I searched the tables and they were all occupied. Awkward me searched for the table with the most room and least intimidating looking stranger. I sat by two young guys at a large table with plenty of room and made small talk. Comical in itself but then it got awkward. Because then three of their friends joined us and the table was suddenly quite full. There I was, sitting at a now crowded table with five young guys when Trent appeared with our brats and raised his eye brows at me then squeezed in. It got worse. While we were enjoying our brats, I discovered that they can be especially juicy. I squirted brat juice into the face of a stranger. Now the kicker. Our new friends were quite friendly and then got even more friendly as they rolled joints and offered us some. If you know me, you know how red my face turned. People don't offer me drugs. People know that I am a Christ-following, rule-following "goody goody" who payed very close attention during the D.A.R.E. presentations. After I picked my jaw up off the table, we declined their offer and I avoided eye contact with Trent who was loving this moment.

Our last day in Berlin involved another morning run. I was sick of concrete so we found the Tiergarden and lush greenery. I think my favorite way to see a city is while running. Here are some pictures from our run:

Stretching outside some famous building. Reich something or other. Yes, that is Trent's "perfect push-up" gear. Who brings those to Europe? Only my brother.

Running through the gardens. There's another timer shot of both of us but I have a huge wedgie and butt sweat so I'm not posting it.

I was mean and tricked Trent into smiling. He was pissed.

Honestly, I'm not sure what possessed me to jump into their group shot.

We managed to cram quite a bit into our time in Berlin and were pretty exhausted by the time we got on the train for our four hour ride to Prague. Trent watched my bags as I searched for one last German pretzel in the train station.

We were pretty stoaked on the train ride. Not only was it a beautiful ride along wide, winding rivers and giant, jutting cliffs but our trip was off to a grand start. We had both had pretty low expectations for Berlin so it had greatly surpassed them all and we couldn't wait to see what the Czech Republic had in store.