We made it to Germany quite seamlessly. Our flight was at 8 am - so we woke up at 5:30 am, and arrived at our hostel at 10 am. Unfortunately, our check in time was 1 pm, and we soon found out... hostels do NOT do early check-ins. So we hung out in the lobby for a while, wrote some emails, got lunch and finally made it up to our room. After a nap to recharge, we walked 45 minutes to the Jewish Museum. We spent a couple of hours there, learning about Jewish history and its tumultuous relationship with Germany. Afterwards, we got caught in the rain on the way to dinner... which ended up being a major theme throughout our time in Berlin.
We spent the next two days in Berlin walking around and doing some shopping (and trying to stay dry).
We also made it to the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum of Modern Art. The Andy Warhol Exhibit was very cool, but everything else was pretty bizarre.
Example - one exhibit consisted of a room full of long, rectangular slabs of grey cement.
Another exhibit displayed thousands of polaroid pictures that a (disturbed) man took throughout his life, of mundane objects including street corners, walls, and his own poop.
We also entered a screening room and proceeded to watch about twenty minutes of footage from a construction site in the 70s. Who decides these things can be allowed in a museum??? On another note, we ate some delicious meals - why is there so much Italian food in Germany??? - and even had Dinner in the Dark. When I told my Dad about this experience he immediately asked - “Why?” My answer: “Merrin and I are spending 7 weeks together... we’re just trying to keep things interesting.” And interesting it was. You order your meal in the lobby - Merrin chose the beef meal and I chose the vegetarian. They give vague descriptions of each, but no specifics, so you really have to use your sense of taste to figure out what you’re eating. Sandy, our very enthusiastic, blind waitress, led us into the pitch black room where you COULD NOT SEE ANYTHING.
She sat us down, brought us wine and water, and left us in the dark. Merrin and I had to pour ourselves wine, while sticking our finger in the glass so we would know when it was full... Needless to say, not all of the wine ended up in our glasses. Trying to eat with a fork proved even more difficult. As Sandy left us with our salads she said, “Don’t worry, if you eat with your hands, no one will see.” So that we did. I’ve never eaten a salad with my hands before and hope I never have to again. Especially since mine had avocado in it which just kind of squished between my fingers. The soup course was easier. Then our main course arrived... mine was smoked tofu, potato wedges, grilled tomatoes and peppers. Merrin’s was steak, potatoes and snap peas. Not quite the culinary masterpieces we had been hoping for, but good nonetheless. Overall it was a pretty funny experience but probably not something we’ll ever do again.
xo
Kelley
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