Berlin!!! (First Draft- pics to come)

A lot has happened since my last post, so I'm going to try and be as concise as possible while updating you with everything. Therefore, I'm considering this my Berlin-as-a-whole post, especially since we're leaving Berlin tomorrow evening for Munich. My last post covered my first day and impressions. The time between then and when Cyrus arrived (finally) was pretty uneventful as I tried to get in as much reading and studying in before he came. He had threatened to throw my computer out of the window if he caught me studying and not enjoying myself. :D In those few days I explored the little space around eastern Berlin, not wanting to do too much before he got here. I checked out the Ring Center (a huge western-style mall) and found a TON of Gluten Free food!!! All the goodies!!! I also went on a three hour walk (I was not expecting it to be three hours when I set out), and found the most amazing and awe-inspiring Soviet Memorial. Standing among all of that symbolism and pain made the past come to life in the stone and the long struggle of the east was palpable. Otherwise, I spent my time continuing to gain my bearings on this new place and learning valuable information like:

Fifth Impression Berlin Fact #5: Even the beggars speak English. When one hassled me for money I responded in German that I did not speak much German (so proud of myself), hoping that that would deter him from bothering me some more. I should also note that it wasn't immediately obvious that he was a beggar and I didn't catch that he was asking for money at first (I thought maybe directions). Anyway, that was no matter and he quickly switched to English asking me for money. Embarrassed and having wasted so much time already I gave him 20 cents and scurried off.

Also,

Berlin Fact #6: Berlin, besides being the city capitol, is also the art capitol. However, as I walked I started to question if certain piles of scrap metal were actually art, or if Berlin (by calling everything art) was trying to cover up how dirty it actually was. Graffiti served as the city's splash of color while piles of twisted metal were passed off as modern art. Sneaky Berlin, I see what you're doing here...

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Cyrus was on his way to Berlin and the real adventure would begin! I traveled to the airport to meet him (which in itself took a lot of guessing, gypsy know-how, and a TON of dumb luck) and managed to arrive just as his plane landed. It was already delayed by an hour, so I expected that it wouldn't take too long for him to unload. Another 40 minutes later though and I was starting to worry that he didn't make his flight or that (for some Russian reason) they didn't let him leave. Just then, he appeared! We hugged/ he lifted me off of the ground, and made our way back to the hostel (another feat of luck and skill).

Our first day together I took him to see the Soviet Memorial, break him out of the Russia mentality slowly. He was impressed, but still not totally convinced he had left Russia. If it wasn't for the fact that the trams worked and people were so happy, I don't think he ever would have believed that he was any further west than Moscow. The next day, being the super humans we are, we went on an 8 mile run through the same park that had the memorial. Being that I was/am still getting over a cold I had to walk once or twice to catch my breath. Otherwise, it was an awesome run that ended up being farther than either of us expected it to be! That night we checked out our first Christmas Market at Potsdamerplatz! We watched this really cool display/live-advert for the Hobit in the Sony Center before heading into the market. We also ate out at this really good Gluten Free place called Maredo's and felt so fancy! Once full and inside the market, we saw that they had a huge toboggan slide of man-made snow. I was so excited to sled down this massive thing, having not seen snow all winter. It was fast and we had a great time! After that we tried roasted Chestnuts for the first time (Cyrus's new Christmas-time favorite) before returning home.

The next day was Christmas Eve! So many plans were made to spend our day in Alexanderplatz and walk around Berlin (the Christmas Mecca of Europe) to get into the Christmas spirit! However, we learned a very important fact:

Berlin Fact #7: Christmas Eve through Boxing Day (what the English call the day after Christmas) Germany shuts down. Entirely! Not a store or restaurant was open after 2pm on Christmas Eve until the 27^th. We were surprised that the public transport was even running. We also later found out, to our great frustration, that this pattern of utter closure also occurs every Sunday.

This made simple tasks, such as finding food, very difficult. We spent most of the day hunting down this local Back Shop (bakery poorly translated from the German, Bäckerei) that sold some sandwich meat and cheese to hold us over until everything opened again. We also went to a local Catholic Christmas Eve service, because (for me) Christmas wouldn't be the same without Midnight Mass. The entire service was in German and in an Indian language we didn't recognize, but the church was beautiful! Both of us had a really good time and experience. Christmas Day I was awoken by an excited Cyrus telling me that he thought Santa had visited and left some gifts! :D We spent the morning opening presents and drinking our Eirlikör. Lucky for us, Christmas Day did have some things open, including Alexanderplatz! We went and spent the day being filled with Christmas joy, eating German Bratwurst without the bun (ordering this from some EXTREMELY confused German guys who could not understand why I would ever refuse bread), some Pommes Frits, drinking Glühwein (Mulled wine), Grog (wine and what I can only assume was tequila), some candied fruits, and riding the awesome Ferris Wheel at Berliner Weinachszeit Market in front of the Berliner Rathaus (Berlin courthouse)! Wonderful evening!!! We even saw Santa “fly” through the market with his sleigh and reindeer on a zipline!!! It was a very Christmas-y Boxing Day!

The next day we worked off our holiday cheer with a four mile run interrupted by a few minutes of playing (aka Cyrus doing 100 (OMG!) pull-ups) at a local playground. We then (wanting to get our tourist fix) visited the Reichstag, Brandenburg Tor, and Check-Point Charlie/the Berlin Wall Memorial. Each location was complete with some reenactors wanting money and a bunch of tourists. Also, since the sun stays up for only (what seems like) a few minutes, viewing everything at dusk was extra beautiful! Everything was open and we were able to go into several stores and tourist shops to look for gift ideas for our families and friends! We even were able to stock up on some foods! The next day was Cyrus's 21^st birthday!!! Which, in the states, would be a big deal. However, here it just means you're old. :D Either way I was determined to give him a good birthday experience! Unfortunately, Germany's weird business hours and customs had a slightly different plan. The first restaurant we went to was shut down for winter (that happens here), as was Cyrus's Cross-fit gym he had been looking forward to attending. We ended up going to another Maredo's (which wasn't bad) and buying ice cream and M&Ms from Edeka, since the ice cream store we were going to try was already closed. We also bought the most disgusting, German-looking alcohol called Kräuter Likör (I know right, be more German please) and ate the ice cream and drank the alcohol outside of the station on some steps (hoping that that wasn't illegal...), and had some Jäger shots in the hostel bar. All-in-all it was a good evening!

Finally, yesterday (Sunday) Berlin was closed again! Even the HUGE mall!!! The thing that was strange was that even though nothing was open, the geldautomat points were still open... and people were taking out money... to buy nothing because everything was closed! Anyway, we went on a good walk and ended up finding a great pizza place. Authentic Italian pizza for Cyrus to make up for the botched birthday dinner. We ended up not doing much and going back to the hostel to watch Game of Thrones and the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Today we are going to the gym (that Cyrus has meticulously looked for) and possibly visiting the Jewish Memorial before having dinner at a local Russian restaurant.

Well, I hope that satisfies you for now. It is so hard keeping up with EVERYTHING! But this at least fills you in on our most recent adventures! Will write again soon!!! Pictures will also be uploaded soon! Time to work out!!!