This weekend of Berlin put my first two days to shame, it was so much fun! I got to see a different side of Berlin. On Friday I saw the built up, yuppy side of the city. Over the weekend I got to really see the city and the people.
I started off my Saturday by taking the S baun (Berlin public transport is perfection) to Kreuzburg. Its a very diverse part of town that has markets and all kinds of ethnic food. I looked around a bit, bought some ginger candy at the asian market. Then I walked all the way to Mitte Berlin to meet another free tour. The walk took much longer than I thought (I think it was about 3 or so miles) but I caught the tour group as they were walking away from the meeting point. This tour is called the Alternative Tour. It is led by a New Zealander who has dread locks, tattoos, and this super relaxed-friendly attitude. The points of the tour are graffiti (there is an endless supply of amazing graffiti in Berlin), squats, cool bars to hang at, and fun places to be like this one place that was a skatepark, climbing wall, artist hang out. It was also a few hours long. The group I was with was really fun too. Everyone was really friendly and talkative. There were 3 people from Poland, 4 from Israel, a girl from Sweden, a girl from Ireland, the list goes on. It never fails though that I am the only American. And its so funny because people are always asking me questions about the United States... " Is it true that in America _________?" It never fails! One of the guys from Israel said that for how large the U.S. is, he doesnt meet that many travelers and then the rest of the group agreed. I wonder why that is. Maybe because we are so seperated from Europe or that we feel like we have so much of our own country to explore. Who knows. The girl from Swedens name is Maria. Her and I hit it off and were really hungry after the tour so we went and got food together. I really wanted to try a doner kabab. Everyone talks them up. And its funny because doner kababs are Turkish, but its what everyone says to eat when you go to Germany. So we asked our tour guide to tell us the best one in town. He told us to go to this place called Mufasas. This wasnt the first time I heard about Mufasas. Toms friends rant and rave about this kabab stand. So Maria and I went there and had to stand in a 15 minute line in the rain (it rained a lot the first couple days) to get this amaying kabab. It was so worth it! It had a lot of fresh veggies on it along with the other typical ingredients. Then I went home and hung out with the roomies.
I got really, really great rest that night and on Sunday I went to the flee market with Elena. Tom left for the states Sunday morning. This flee market just wasnt any flee market though, it was huge! It was very stylish too! Everyone, being hundreds of people, looked so good. It was the the hipster, scene kids in CoMo multiplied by a thousand. I got a old man cardigan and a pair of jeans that fit perfectly for 11 euro. I ate some really yummy stand food. Afterward I walked down the street from the market and had a coffee and cake. Then I headed back to the market because they have kareoke. This just isnt any kareoke though. The whole market and all is outside and the kareoke stage backs up to a hill. So there are hundred of people sitting on the hill and standing around the stage cheering for the poor fella up on stage singing his heart out! The guy I saw singing was this older man singing his heart out! Everyone loved him. I love the market! I love the parts of Berlin that I have witnessed the last couple days. The culture is fantistic!
On my way home I stopped by the park near the flat to view something I had briefly heard about from one of the flatmates. It is this giant metal sculpture sticking out of the water. Its of 3 men fighting. It is so tall and powerful. Then I went home to check out train or bus tickets to Ludwigsburg so I could go visit my host family. Turns out if you want to travel to southern Germany from Berlin you have to be willing to give up a kidney or your first born child. It is crazy expensive. So I wrote a very, very sorry email to my former host family and booked a ticket to Paris! So it looks like I am going to Paris a couple days earlier than planned. I leave tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:30 am and arrive in Paris at 7:55 am. It was actually cheaper to book a plane ticket than it was a train ticket. So thats where I am at today on this fine, sunny Monday. I will pack, shower, and go check out the airport today.
Thanks for reading my blog by the was :)
