Berlin Part III!

Day three gave us some free time in the morning, so a couple of us decided to go to the Pergamon museum!  This museum was absolutely insane! My favourite part was at the start where we got to see 360 degree panorama room which was really lifelike and we stood and saw the city turn into night time and then back to the day. Other favourite parts were Zeus’s altar from 160-180BC which takes up an entire room on its own! I also really liked the Babylon exhibition with the Ishtar Gate which dates from 580 BC and the throne hall of King Nebuchadnezzar II.

We then had some German meat patties which were delicious before heading with the rest of the class to the Berlin Dom. The Berlin Dom is a beautiful cathedral and was rebuilt as the Protestant Church. Julius and Otto Raschdorff built this church in a Neo-Renaissance style. The church was really big and based on St. Paul’s in London and St. Peter’s Basilica. We then climbed up the stairs to the top of the dome in order to see panoramic views of Berlin! It was great to be able to point out all the places we had visited previously on the bike tour!

We then walked to the Government Quartier due to the fact that people were protesting for the Blockupy Frankfurt campaign. We got a tour through the Bundestag, Chancellors office, library and parliamentarian offices which was great! So much information and really interesting. We then went up to the Cupola which was gorgeous and walked around before starting our class stimulation game!

That night we decided to hit up the alternative pub crawl in order to experience the Berlin night life! The first pub we went to was the meeting place and it was a small hippie club which had an upside down roof similar to our hostel. We then went to a Gothic club which was crazy. The girls would swing their hair round and round haha and so we decided that we’d imitate their dance moves. We were then told ‘There will be a dance’, to which we were super confused about as we thought we were going to do a group dance with the entire pub crawl, but instead a lady came out and danced on top of the table. We then headed to a club which had lots of stage smoke coming out everywhere so everything was very foggy inside. Jenni and I then split from our group and headed to Dr. Pong which was a ping pong bar where you grab a ping pong racquet and in a big group you walk around a ping pong table and you have to hit the ball. If you don’t manage to hit the ball on your turn, you’re automatically out. Then we moved onto this underground club which was actually insane! We went down in a giant container box into this underground place which just had sooooo many rooms! We saw some stand up comedy, two guys playing their live original music, two other rooms which had different styles of music and then one room which had a mask making table and people painting faces and doing hair up in braids! Was so crazy!

The next morning, we did our class Berlin trip product before saying farewell to the rest of our class and moving onto Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg. We got taken by a tour guide around the camp which was really intense and she told us about how it was primarily used for political prisoners. If you’re ever in Berlin, I’d definitely recommend the visit. Although the six hours was very long, it was interesting to be able to be told all the information and also go and visit where everything happened.

The next day, the three of us girls went on a shopping trip before heading back on our 9 hour train back to Konstanz! Definitely an incredible weekend and one i’ll never forget!

Off to Portugal in less than 24 hours so better get cracking on those assignments! Hope you are all well back home!!

Love Ky xo

Berlin Part II!

The next day we woke up for a full day of biking for our Berlin Wall bike tour! Julie got told off for ringing the bike bell which was hilarious. Then later we were testing out our bikes on the cobbled stone and Julie got cut off by one of the guys and ended up with her bike on top of her.

We then made our way to the Berlin Wall museum to an awesome tour guide who told us that over the next 60 minutes he was going to tell us about the history of the wall and over the next 59 minutes if we had any questions to ask him and over the next 58 minutes he would try and tell us this information in English. He was fantastic! We learnt all about the death strip and about people who died at the wall trying to cross over from East Berlin to West Berlin. We also learnt about why people wanted to cross over to West Berlin which was super interesting. We then hopped back on our bikes and followed the wall line and passed the Charity Hospital, Tacheles, Orainenbuerger Str, the Hauptbahnhof and Friedrichstradplatz.

Then we had lunch and Jenni and I decided to have a delicious doner with beef from a place that sold lots of that stuff that Dee has in her Kebabs. We then adventured past a synagogue through to the shops which were super cool! We then joined with the rest of the group and made our way to the Holocaust memorial site. At first I was super surprised that people were sitting all over the memorial, people were sitting drinking beer on it, and people were jumping around everywhere. I was later informed by the tour guide that this was what the designer wanted with the memorial and for people to experience it in their own way. To me it looked like a lot of boxes and almost like coffins, however for other people they thought it looked like lego blocks and others just thought it was like the concentration camps. We then went into a museum which had personal stories about the concentration camp victims. It was really intense however a really good experience.

We then went for a bike and saw the American embassy and Checkpoint Charly. We then moved onto Potsdam Place which was like royalty! We then went to the Topographie des Terrors museum. This museum was super interesting and also a real eye opener reading all the information, especially the information about the children affected. Then went to Nazi traces such as the places of the book burnings before returning our bikes!

At night we hit up a club which was near us which had a skateboarding rink, rock climbing walls and turns out we got tickets to a German rap concert which was a ridiculous experience hahaha. 

Berlin Part I: Coloured hair, fanny packs, history filled and of course an insane night life!

Berlin was my first class trip on my entire exchange here in Konstanz! We did so incredibly much in such a short space of time and since my previous blog post on London was super long, I thought I would break this one up into three parts! Here we go! 

Five days in Berlin, 25 exchange students, many tours and a lot of German food and beer consumed made this trip absolutely incredible. The journey started off with a 9 hour train journey from Konstanz which turned into a longer journey due to our train being delayed resulting in us getting ready for a long night ahead in the streets of Hannover. Luckily, our transfer train waited in Hannover for 45 minutes and so we made it to Berlin at a lively 2am.

The next morning we picked up our lunch packs from the hostel super early in the morning and then caught the s-bahn to Alexanderplatz to the TV Tower. At first I thought that the TV Tower was a symbol of the city, sort of like the Auckland sky tower, so I was surprised to find out that it was the TV Tower. We met our tour guides for the day who talked about West and East Berlin and how there are now two of most things in Berlin for example two TV towers! 

We then took a large walk around Berlin starting at the Red Town hall, Museum Island, Lustgarten, the Stadtschloss, Zeughaus, Old Guard, Opera, Hedwig Cathedral and the University which had a boss as law school. We saw so so much in such a short space of time. We then had a lovely picnic of German sausages and bread in the Tiergarten. We also saw the Brandenburg Tor which was awesome, as well as street dancing and people dressed up in Teddy bear costumes and even a Darth Vader.

In the afternoon we got some free time which allowed us to visit a museum, so a couple of us girls ventured to the Judisches Museum which was a museum about Jewish life in Germany and also during the holocaust.  We grabbed an audio guide each and started our journey around the museum. The architecture was really interesting and described during the guide. The museum was built within two buildings to represent the old and the new, however, from the exterior you cannot see that the two buildings are connected and this was because the architecture believed that history does not have a visible bridge. I expected the museum to be a lot about the second world war as I was interested to see what a German museum would write about these times, however, instead I found it was about 2000 years worth of German/Jewish history and it gave me a real glimpse into what it would have been like during those times. What I found most interesting was the prejudice and racism towards the Jews and how frequently they were looked at as the inferior race. In effect it was also interesting to see what this ethnic minority group contributed to the German nation.

My favourite parts of the Museum were the Holocaust Tower which was a closed off, unheated room and is used as a commemorative space for the victims of the holocaust. I also thought the Garden of exile was super interesting. Basically it was 49 blocks at a 12 degree tilt in the ground which made me feel quite nauseous. It was erected to show how the Jews who emigrated would have felt after leaving their home country German and to show their disorientation. 

Later we took the bus and went on a bus tour around the city. We stopped outside the Berlin Zoo and took a couple of quick snaps before our next stop which The Story of Berlin museum which is a museum which shows the history from the city’s first recognition from its trading centre status in the middle ages right to the fall of the Berlin wall. 

After this we made our way out to the Berlin dinner organised by our professor. It was a lovely laid out room with colourful napkins and a big German buffet! The food was delicious. My favourite food items were definitely the filled eggs and the delicious curry wurst!  Then we got to play some German bowling which was awesome! The ball has no holes which was completely different and the bowling lane is not straight either but curved so when you throw the ball you shouldn’t throw it straight down the middle but instead to the side so you get a curved thing going on. In order to rank us all, we had to throw the ball 10 times and then we got split into two teams and the goal was the first team to get to 300 points. The next game was a lot harder and we had to try and get one 9, two 8’s, three 7’s and so on! Except it was near impossible to get 9 one’s!

Day one came to an end! And it was definitely time to hit the sack in order to be in good shape for the bike tour!

London: I’ll be back!

First off a couple of apologies! This post is going to be long so brace yourselves haha. Second of all if parts are grammatically incorrect, it’ll be because I have a train to catch tomorrow and have SO much to do before I leave, but I really want to get all my London memories out on paper so they won’t be forgotten!

Here we go!

Our flight to London left from Memmingen airport, so once again we hopped onto the train which is becoming a weekly ritual for me haha. This time I decided to study for my “surprise” mid-term German test but completely failed as I knocked out as soon as the train started moving. Fast-track to Stansted Airport and we’ve ARRIVED IN LONDON! Our flight was delayed by an hour which led to us missing our airport transfer into the city. Typical. In the meanwhile I decided to pick up my London Pass and Tube ticket in order to be prepared for a full weekend. As soon as we hopped onto our transfer van I was greeted to the sounds of coldplay and english radio which made me smile a ridiculous amount. We then hit up the tube which was a wee bit difficult to orientate at first. When we walked out of the London Bridge station, it was confusion galore. After asking a local to help me orientate and find where I was on the map, I made my way to London dungeon to find Floyd! Was super lovely to see her after so long. We headed out to pizza express for good food, great chats and amazing views out of the Thames to the St.Paul’s side which was absolutely gorgeous.

The next day I woke up super early and hit the award winning Borough market which is the oldest municipal fruit and vegetable market in London! The fresh fruit and vege were incredible! After a quick browse and trying not to allow myself not to buy too much, I made my way to Notting Hill to go to the Portobello Markets which is the world’s largest antique market! Was really quite a sight and unfortunately as I was rushed for time couldn’t browse the entire road. Managed to pick up a few things while madly dashing around. Then I made my way to the Westminster tube station for the first big attraction of the day! As I walked out of the station, I was standing right in front of the Big Ben and Houses of Parliament which was truly astonishing. It’s amazing because i’ve seen all these buildings in photos but to see them in real life is really something. Now going back to Westminster Abbey, this church is HUGE! The audio tour which i’d definitely recommend lasted an hour and i’ll never forget looking up to the roof of the Henry VII Chapel vault. The detail was incredible and as the audio tour said, it was a wonder of the world when it was first built. The tile flooring of the alter was amazing as well! All so amazzzzzzze!! 

I then decided to go have a look at the London Eye from across the Thames and then tried to orientate myself to Buckingham Palace which was an absolute disaster and noone should ever trust me with maps haha. I found myself in Trafalgar Square which was awesome! And then found the gate to the road which leads to Buckingham Palace, silly me. I then made a mad dash to the postshop to send a parcel to my grandparents just in time before they shut for the day! Right by Trafalgar Square was the national gallery which is a super grand building. I hit up some of the Van Gogh pieces and some of the da Vinci pieces as well, so felt rather poncy in the art gallery hahaha so unlike me. Got told off for take a photo of the cool roof (very like me) hahaha. Then it was time to move onwards! I then tried to find Covent Garden, which I couldn’t locate but then later found out that back in the day it was a garden and now it’s markets so I was actually right in the middle of it :P And then I gave myself an hour tops in oxford street. Walking through the theater area was super cool! All the theaters are wonderfully decorated with the show that is  being performed! After picking up a few dresses and tops, I remembered that St. Paul’s Cathedral will be closed on Sunday, so madly dashed to the Cathedral.

I would highly recommend St. Paul’s Cathedral to anyone! It is the most magnificent cathedral that I have ever seen in my life. If you make your way to the Whispering Gallery which is 30m above the church, you can look down at the entire cathedral. One of the most incredible views i’ve seen ever. And i’ll never forget it. If you manage to make way up the 530 steps to the top of the Cathedral, you’re definitely in for treat! The 360 degree view of London is brilliant. I then ran all the way to the Tower of London just in time to get on the 4.30pm tour with one of Yeoman Wardens more commonly known as the Beefeaters. They told us lots of bloody tales with lots of heads rolling and then lots of history about the Tower itself. Definitely one of the best tours that i’ve ever been on! Thoroughly enjoyed it. I then wandered through and had a look at the rest of the tour and of course the crown jewels! Mega security everywhere haha. SO MUCH BLING! I then crossed the road to see the Tower Bridge going up! I’ve got to admit, before I came to London, I thought that the London Bridge was the tower bridge so was TOTALLY confused but the London Bridge is just a boring concrete bridge and Tower Bridge is super cool! I then did the Tower Bridge Experience tour and got taken on a tour around the top of the bridge and got to see inside the gear room as well. At this point in time my legs were begging me for a break, so I went and sat by the Thames and had a quick bite to eat. 

That night was THE LION KING NIGHT!! I made my way over to Lyceum theater early and took my seat and had a look around at the beautiful architecture of the theater! A couple of ladies were sitting in the box seats on the side which would have been soooooo expensive!! When the show started, the lady who played the Baboon at the start of the movie, sung The Circle of Life and within about 20 seconds I was in tears because she was so so amazing and her voice was absolutely beautiful. If you manage to go to the Lion King which you totally should, I would definitely get an aisle seat! *Spoiler alert. I then felt something brushing against my seat and I looked up to see people in a giant elephant costume as well as many other animal costumes heading up towards the stage which was so cool! Later on when the Hyenas came out, I got the fright of my life when one of them roared in my face hahaha. Was such amazing theater and i’m so so glad that I went.

The next morning, I thought i’d take it easy and sleep in until 8.30am :P I then went on a Bike Tour around Central London which was super cool! The bike tour took about three hours in total and they took us to all the key spots in London as well as some really quiet serene spots which was lovely. We got to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace from faaaaaaaaar away because it was so busy! I then was craving a pie (due to the lack of pies in Germany) and paid far too much but it was totally worth every pound. 

The next pit stop for me was Harrods! I’ve heard that the food court is insane but I had to see it to believe it! They were right indeed! There was an italian restaurant where the guy sung amazingly while flicking his dough in the air, there were macrons, chocolate, lollies, sushi, fish, basically anything you could think of, Harrods had it! I then had a quick browse of the womens clothes section which was full of ridiculously priced beautiful dresses! And then made my way out to the British Museum! As time wasn’t playing to my advantage, I made a mad dash into the museum to hit up the Egyptian exhibition which was incredible!

I then went on the tube to go and pop into the Tate Modern and also Shakespeare’s Globe! Unfortunately I only had time to do one and wanted to make the Globe’s last tour but they were already shut when I arrived for tours as there was a show on that night, so I just had a look around the exhibition and then headed out to the London Bridge experience. So there is a story behind the London Bridge experience. I knew that it was a scary attraction like London’s version of Spookers, and those of you who know me well know that I hate scary things. So I texted my friend Jenni who said that it was more creepy than scary and found myself in the line with a family with two four year olds, so thought it would be absolutely fine. When I went inside, the staff told me I was brave to go alone and put me in a group with two girls from Norway. They then took us to a dark room and told us to put our hands on the railing and walk along. Before I knew it there was a train and a scary ghost coming towards me, I jumped on top of this girl from Norway and managed to scare the living daylight out of her as well as she thought I was one of the workers at the London experience coming out to scare her. From that point onwards I was completely on edge and knew that I couldn’t go into the tombs because that was meant to be the scary part hahaha.

I then went onwards to the Camden markets which I really wanted to see but wasn’t sure if I would get time and they were HUUUUUUUGE! Honestly, definitely go to the Camden markets if you’re in London! Definitely my fave markets ever! I managed to pick up a few gifts as well as satisfy my cravings with some delicious asian food (after every food store gave me free chicken to try) hahaha. Then it was time for………… THE LONDON EYE!

I decided that I would go to the London eye at 7.30pm because I thought I would catch the sun setting over the city at that time. Turns out I was a little bit too early but managed to catch it after which was GORGEOUS! As you can see from the photos hehe. I loved the views from the London eye and also loved the 4D show they put on beforehand which also had me in tears because of how beautiful the London eye looked snowcovered. Funny story, I asked a girl to take a photo of me inside the eye, she ended up taking 10 photos of me at different angles even though I told her that it was really okay for her to stop at one haha. At that point I had a walk around the city, went back to the Big Ben, went to go and find Leicester Square which is the London equivalent to the Times Square in New York, I then ventured through Piccadilly Circus, may have spent a lot of money on loads of British lollies and found myself in China town. I then sat in Covent Square by one of the amazing street performers who was playing love songs hehe and wrote some postcards back home. I then wanted to see the London eye one last time at night, so ventured back there and then went to get some shut eye :)

That concludes my incredible London trip. Definitely not enough time, but enough time to make me fall in love with the city. Like, I said, I’ll be back soon enough :)