Well, I’m BACK in the United States after spending two weeks in Germany, as you all know. I actually returned on the 31st of May, so it has been a couple of weeks since I left the capital. I had originally hoped to update my blog every day that I was in Berlin, but unfortunately it was just impossible to do so. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the internet connection was horrible at the hotel. The room I happened to live in was the only ‘cursed room’ on our floor with no wifi. If I wanted to connect to the internet I either had to sit on the floor in the hallway or travel downstairs to the main lobby. Either way, there was no guarantee that I would get online for 20 minutes. In addition, there was never a quiet moment in the lobby. In the end, I managed to post five blogs which was the maximum for the course and what my professor required.
I haven’t abandoned this blog completely though. I actually have the time now to sit and share all of my thoughts about Deutchland without feeling rushed to meet a deadline.
I miss many things about Berlin…
1) THE GRAFFITI AND STREET ART
I posted many pictures about the graffiti in Berlin, and as you can see…it’s EVERYWHERE. On restaurants, in the bathrooms, on the side of apartment buildings, on the Berlin wall, everywhere. It’s just…Berlin! And I don’t think it’s going anywhere, as it shouldn’t. It’s beautiful and wonderful to look at. There’s such as tremendous use of bright colors and different styles. It’s a city for artists, and for tourists to take lots of pictures!
2) TAKING THE TRAM AND S-BAHN
As I much as I was terrified of taking the tram and subway in the beginning of my trip, I will miss hopping on both and riding to whatever destination I wanted. I thought it was difficult at first…and scary, but once you get used to the area, it’s actually very easy to navigate around the city. And if I ever got lost, I knew to look for the TV tower in Alexanderplatz.
The tower meant I was close to the hotel, which was an easy three stops away on the tram. By the way, I also ate dinner at the top of the tower. The ball is an observation deck that gives a panoramic view of the city, and above it is the revolving restaurant. To get to both you have to ride in a cramped elevator. Fun fact: it’s the tallest structure in Germany, and you’re ears will pop on your way up.
3) THE FOOD
I really should have mentioned this as number one. I tried food from all over the world in Berlin. There were small, adorable cafes and tea shops on every corner. My favorite meal BY FAR was at this authentic German restaurant outside of the city not populated with very many tourists.
This was our last meal of the trip and it was paid. I wanted to eat something special so I decided to order duck. I must have been so excited to try something new that my eyes completely skipped over ‘1/2 duck.’ Low and behold, half a duck is placed in front of me.
Everyone laughed, I included. I’m a tiny girl and there was no way I was going to finish this thing, but I tried, because it was delicious and the best thing I had ever eaten in my life. The duck was amazing and so was the red cabbage and potato balls (forgive me, I have no idea what they are called!) that came with it. I would go back to Germany just to find this restaurant and eat there again. It was that good.
4) MEN’S FASHION
I noticed that men dress a lot better in Berlin than men in the U.S., or at least where I’m from. They dress from head-to-toe, starting with the hair. They’re not afraid to be stylish, or even take risks. Maybe I just have a thing for leather jackets. Another thing I noticed was German men seemed more confident.. Not in a cocky way, but in a quiet, confident, sophisticated way. Like they had nothing to prove, and they were just…cool.
5) DR. PONGS
Dr. Pongs was a small hangout place with one ping pong table, and instead of only two players, there was up to 10 or more. Basically, every person had one chance to hit the ball to the other side and then would move so that the next player could hit the ball until there were only two players battling it out. The last players were the best and played as if they were in the table tennis Olympics. It’s safe to say I didn’t make it to the last round, but I wasn’t the first to go out either. My tennis background helped me stay in until things got a little too crazy. Paddles were 5 euro to rent, but you could return it and get your money back when you felt like leaving. All in all, it was competitive fun and the U.S. needs to get a Dr. Pongs!
In my next post, I’ll talk about some things I WON’T MISS about Berlin!
2 Weeks in Berlin, Germany 
Reblogged this on nerd on the bridge and commented:
Another look at my City of Residence through the eyes of another satisfied customer. She only mentions one place y name(doc pongs) which is unfortunate but nonetheless, Berin is a great city. One thing; I can’t figure why she was was terrified to take the he tram and subway at first but I can imagine that in the States only a certain type of person uses public transport, while in Berlin everyone does, regardless of how many cars we have at home – a European thing. Check it out. Cheers.
Thank you for commenting! Berlin is such a beautiful city and you’re lucky to live there! There was nothing really scary about the trams themselves, but I think I was more afraid of getting lost and separated from my group in a city I was unfamiliar with. It was my first time out of the country and traveling without my family so I guess I just had a whole bunch of different, possibly pointless worries. But I miss riding on the trams very much. They’re quite fun!
As for the subways, there are none where I live and I was afraid of how fast they move! I was also scared of falling down into the tracks and being unable to get out. Like I said, I was just a worrywart! Lol. Bus transportation is pretty common in the U.S. but in big cities like New York very many people travel by subway, bike, taxi, or foot. I’ve never been to New York though!
I’ve never been to Berlin but I would love to go. So much history. At least through you I get a good sense of what its like
It’s a very cool city! Definitely worth traveling to once in your lifetime. I went to many places but I feel like there’s still SO much more to see. Seeing and touching the Berlin wall was awesome. I’ll probably add that to the list because it really was a memorable moment of the trip. I’m glad that you can see a little bit of Berlin through my blog! 🙂 Of course I recommend seeing it for yourself one day!