Berlin twice, Greece once

Heeelllooo internet

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you.

First weekend in Berlin: went with Nick & Ed for a day in Berlin to see Hertha Berlin play. They are in the first division of German soccer, the Bundesliga, and it was an incredible experience. There were over 71,000 people there - at a soccer game! I knew it was big in Europe, but I had no idea. Ed says it's just like going to a Browns game, and I believe him. They won 2-0, and that was pretty awesome. Before the game, we decided to wander, and we came upon the Reichstag (German government building, like our Congress) and all kinds of other cool stuff. Berlin has such personality.. I can't quite get my head around it.

Second weekend in Berlin: this was the official weekend designated for all of us on the trip. We left early Saturday morning, and arrived around 10:30 am. We went to the Sony Center at Postdamer Platz, which was really neat. I got some awesome pictures of the former Berlin Wall, but my Internet isn't letting me upload anything, and neither is Facebook (which makes sense, considering that Facebook is on the Internet, but, I digress). Postdamer Platz was completely destroyed in WWII, and today it is the hip, young part of town. I had a pretty good hot dog there, so I thought it was quite lovely.

We then went to a Holocaust and terror remembrance from WWII. It was outdoors, and wonderful. It's incredible, to read hundreds of stories of millions of lives altered because they did not lend themselves to one person's concept of racial purity. I read one letter, sent from one SS officer to another, about the sending of French Jewish children from a ghetto to a concentration camp for extermination - the sender encouraged sending random adults to make the children feel safe. Needless to say, I felt sick, but also glad that this kind of display is literally out in the open, for discussion and to make the world aware that this really happened, and that it is our job to make sure that it never does again. On Sunday, we went to another Holocaust memorial, and it was incredible. The museum underneath the memorial (which will make more sense if I can get pictures to work) was interesting, displaying entire families in different regions and countries completely eliminated during the war. I can't imagine a family completely dying out, in a matter of months. I can't imagine running from my family, leaving them all behind, knowing it was my only chance at survival. I hope I never have to do something like that, and I hope I never am witness to anything like this occuring anywhere ever again.

We also took a tour of the Reichstag, which was AWESOME for nerdy Liz. They sometimes vote by walking out of 'ja' or 'nein' doors. Hilarious. Their system of government is interesting - according to our guide, if their "spectator seating" is not mostly full, the governmental body doesn't like to work, because then they feel like no one cares. The press lobby was so cool, and oh, I just love government.

The Brandenburg gate is completely awesome. End of story.

Greece.

Wow. The most incredible four days of my life. We got there on Thursday about 5 PM, checked into our hostel around 6, and then met up with Meg's friend who studies there and ate a fabulous dinner. We then walked to the acropolis and sat on a huge pile of marble rocks (I know, it sounds lame, but it was so neat) from which you can see all of Athens. I got it by night and day, don't worry. We went to bed at a decent hour. We got up on Friday and went back to Placa, where we had dinner and where you get to the Acropolis from. We went back to the rock and we got our day time pictures. Then, we walked down and saw the Roman and Greek Agora ruins. Then, we went to the coolest market ever. I got a dress, don't worry. We met up with Meg's friend again, and took the bus to the edge of Athens, where we beatched it for a few. Later, we caught dinner, and went to bed.

Saturday, we took a ferry to Aegina, which is an island in the Aegean Sea. It was awesome. We laid in the sun all day, I read a book, and we swam and explored and ate. Downside: Greeks prepare shrimp with the heads and legs still on. Never eating shrimp again - couldn't eat them when they were staring at me with such sad little eyes. Not much elseto say about it, except that the island was GORGEOUS, and I want to go back with my mom =].

Sunday, we did the touristy stuff, and saw the Parthenon, Zeus' temple, Hadrian's Arch, an Olympic Stadium from the 1800s, and the National Gardens. The thing about Athens is that there are random ruins everywhere. We were walking and came upon some below the flea market. And, a roman bath in the middle of the side of the road. Intense. Incredible. I took almost 300 pictures, for your enjoyment at a later date.=]

Anyway, this trip has been a wonderful experience, and I'm so glad I came. I am ready to come home, though. I'm exhausted, and I miss my family and friends. I can't wait to see you all.

Totals for trip:

Money left: 881 dollars
Time left: 12 days
Books read: 10
Scarves purchased: 7 for me, 6 for others
Souveniers purchased for others: 19 and counting
Pictures taken: about 1,000
Hours slept on average: 5.5 hours
Enjoyment: infinite

Miss you!

Prague and School

Hey guys! No pictures this time - sorry, but I know you all have facebook, so you can check them out there. For clarification, Pussy Food refers to a drink on a menu at the orange & black restaurant in one of my albums. I thought it was a hilarious name for a non-alcoholic drink, and that's why it's part of the album title =]

Prague. Was. Incredible. We were only there for three days, but I feel like I could stay for three months and still barely know the city. It was packed, of course, because we went for May Day Weekend, which is a holiday weekend in the EU. We went to see the Castle, but mostly walked all the way up the hill for the birds eye view of the main city, as it was 2.5 hour wait for almost every exhibition, and so not worth it on such a beautiful day. We did, however, get to seriously explore the main city square, the Jewish Quarter, the hills leading up to der Prager Schloss, and we explored the gardens surrounding the Czech Parliament (beautiful, check out my pictures with garden scenery in them for more details).

I loved every minute of it - I finally got my gift for my dear mother =] which means I've purchased for: Mom, Dad, Daniel, Steven, Dylan, Sean, Lily, Aunt Laura, Killian, Katie, Rachel, and Erica. I still need to buy for Uncle Dave, Uncle Chris, Aunt Heather, something else for Steven, Courtney, and Taylor. I just hope I don't run out of Euros in the process =]. Don't spazz, mother-like-figures, I'm not running out of money just yet and I'm not spending huge amounts of cash on gifts. So don't yell at me for spending my money on you, okay? Deal.

I don't even know how to start talking about it - just look at my pictures. We met some British girls & another American, who actually study @ Uni Leipzig mit uns, so that's pretty cool because we can hang out with them now (which we did, for cinco de mayo - which, by the way, is sadly NOT celebrated here).

School is school; my German class is killing me. The tests are really short, so each point off is horrible. And the projects are really challenging - I'm nervous this will be my first B. But, I guess, it had to happen, and I'm so happy to be having so much fun here =]

I need to go; German test tomorrow (even though the lower level has no class tomorrow!) and then Berlin on Saturday for a soccer game. Ed's birthday present - I'm so nice. =]

Miss you all!