The last day! 5/26

     

Today was The last day of our trip, it feels like we have been here for so much longer! It feels like ages ago that I was sitting in the lobby of the Zurich hotel , talking about how much time we had; we had so much to look forward to.  We woke up early, it was time for the Bauhaus part two. I enjoyed our walk to the bus station, it was nice getting fresh air so early in the morning. 

Once we got to the Bauhaus, things started to get weird. Everybody seemed cranky, including the staff members. I was in a great mood, but I think that all of the students were just worn out, exhausted, and ready to go home. I did enjoy the time we spent at the Bauhaus, I found everything so interesting. I thought the tour was going to be a lot longer, but I'm glad we got to experience the practical workshop. It was a cool concept that the staff wanted us to experience a similar thinking process as some of the designers from the early Bauhaus years; it was a minimalistic and economical approach. It was supposed to be functional, cheap, and long lasting. I think mine pretty much fit all the criteria. I nailed it.  I had so much fun making the teapot and the teacup, it took me a little bit to get some ideas of how I was going to approach it, but once I had it, I was in the zone!

  After some allergic reaction issues with one of the students, a large portion of the group started getting even more cranky and impatient. That changed once we continued with the tour to the chocolate shop. I still can't believe we experienced one of the most famous chocolate shops in Germany. Yohannes Eaton did a fantastic job at designing it and I feel honored to have stepped foot in it! 

 After the chocolate shop, we went back to the hotel and I napped for an hour before dinner. I really needed it. Although I am excited for Italy, I am looking forward to going back to the US, where I will sleep for a consecutive 24 hours. It will be amazing- just as amazing as this journey that I have been on these last few weeks. I have learned so much about myself and the world, this trip has done amazing things for me. It has sparked my wanderlust.

  I will be returning to Europe very soon!

Berlin, day 3. 5/25

Sleeping in never felt so wonderful. Last night, I set my alarm for 9:15 AM to go bike riding, when my alarm went off, I immediately shut it off and went back to sleep. Carolina and Erica still went. God bless them. I deffinately needed this day to sleep in, I woke up a 11. My body needed that rest! I did not feel bad about sleeping in because the previous two days have been so eventful!! I have pretty much seen all the major spots that I wanted to see, so today, a few of us just explored the rest of Berlin. We started off the day with a sightseeing tourbus, it wasn't that interesting. The " tour part of it pretty much sucked, but it was nice to have had guaranteed transportation this whole day. We got on and off the bus as we pleased, and stopped at a bunch of old, historical government buildings and churches. It was absolutely beautiful! 

On Our last stop of the sightseeing your, we decided to go back to the east side galley to absorb all of the unseen graffiti that we didn't get a chance to see yesterday. I'm so glad we came back! We spent about an hour and a half back at the east side gallery; we took endless pictures in front of the bright colored murals,  sat by the river, and watched the various types of people wondering about the park. On the way back to the train station, we made sure we took our time walking back so that we would not miss any eye opening piece of art, because who knows when the next time we would be able to see it?

Dinner was amazing! We went to the Hopfbrahaus, I was amazed by how big the place was, and by how big the beers were! I'm so glad I got to experience it! I ordered the grilled turkey, and finally it to experience the Apfel Struddel. It was to die for! We were there for about two hours just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere there! The next time I come back I Berlin, this will deffinately be one d the first places I will come back to. This resturaunt, and the kebap I had yesterday were probably my favorite food experiences that I've had while in Europe. I can't believe we are leaving In a little over a day! It's sad that this trip is almost coming to an end, but I am ready for Italy! I must come back to Berlin as so as possible. 

Second day in Berlin. 5/24

Today  was probably my favorite day by far. I have really enjoyed all the walking tours so far, so I was so excited to see the streets of Berlin in its' true light! What made the tour even better was the tour guide! At first, when our group first approached the meeting place,I thought Fran's boyfriend was the tour guide. Then a typical California man shook Fran's hand and I knew it was going to be a fun tour. I can not get over how amazing the art scene In Berlin is. No matter what street you turn down, there is always some sort of lively portrait popping up, blessing the city with artistic wonder! This was so prevalent in the Raw Temple Area, where every single wall was tagged with beautiful portraits, cut outs, or paste ups. I have never seen anything like it in my life. This was probably my favorite area in Berlin that we have visited so far. I loved all the vegan and vegetarian resturaunts that were offered, and the " new home" resturaunt that only costs 1€ Made me fall in love with that district even more! 

This was probably my favorite tour by far. The tour Guide let us have a few breaks in between to go to the bathroom and get some water. On one of the breaks I bought a chicken kebap. This was probably one of the best things I've ever tasted in my life. I must get another before I leave! I also enjoyed the spur of the moment look inside the old gallery, where one of the rooms had a hundred different clay molds that looked like various clay versions of Squidward's nose. That museum was awesome!

After our tour ended, a few of us grabbed food at The raw temple area, looked around the vendor stands, and then went back to the hotel to take a quick nap. I wound up passing out for a solid hour and a half. At night, I went back to the Carnival de culture with a few people. I had so much fun again! We went a few hours earlier this time, so we got more of a chance  to walk around, take our time, and check out the music. I had a blast. I'm so glad we were able to be on Berlin during a time where events like this are going on. I must come back, I could deffinately see myself living here one day.

First day in Berlin

What a day! I still can't believe I am finally Berlin, I can't get over how amazing this city is, it is so much crazier than I thought! 

  It was so nice to somehwhat sleep in again, I have never appreciated getting to sleep in past 8 am more in my life than I have on this trip. Once again , I had a fantastic breakfast. I packed probably the weirdest sandwich ever known to humankind for the trip; cheese, bacon, the mini- heavenly sausage bites, cucumbers, and a little bit of mustard. It was amazing. 

   The train ride to Berlin was very quick, we have been traveling such long distances that any travel time under two hours goes by so quickly. Once we got to  the hotel, we did not waste anytime. We immediately started making our way toward the Berlin Wall. It was about a half hour walk, but I did not mind because if was more sights for us to see! What better way to explore a town than by wondering? 

   Berlin is such a place of history, It was a feeling of awe to be standing at the Berlin Wall, to be standing in a place were people struggled for their freedom, a place where people died trying to escape. 

We also made a stop at the holocaust memorial. I was not expecting it to be such a detailed, emotional thought provoking place. I thought it was just going to be columns with names on them. We spent about an hour in the exhibition, the most powerful part was the section in which they displayed postscards and diary entries written by the captive, It was so imcredibly powerful. We then had lunch at a nice place right across the street from the memorial, we were given tons of free drinks! I had curry wurst and a local draft beer. It was so delicious! 

     After a long, packed day, we decided we wanted to get a taste of the Berlin night life, so we went to the Carnival de culture. There were about a hundred different vendors of all kind. Each vendor brought it's own flare to the festival. There was live music, drum circles, lanterns made out if umbrellas, and endless beer! There was fantastic energy there, I really got a feel for how people in Berlin get down!

   What a fantastic day, I am looking forward to our walking your tomorrow so that I can see more of what I may have missed today. 

Dessau/ Bauhaus/Ghosts

   

What a strange, but interesting day. Dessau has defiantly striked some odd and eerie feelings today. It was so nice to sleep in today. When I sleep in at home, I can sleep in until 12; the last week I have been waking up around 8 am( some days even earlier), so being able to sleep past 9 was a blessing. 

   When I came downstairs for breakfast, I knew it was going to be an interesting day when I saw chopped up raw fish with the skin still on it. The rest of the breakfast was amazing, it was definitely the best breakfast by far. I had about 3 different plates, I made sure I had to experience everything that I will probably never have until I get back to the US, like watermelon, lox, and those little magnificent meatball bites that made me cry with happiness inside with every bite I took. 

   I very much enjoyed the Bauhaus, it was not what I expected though. I thought it was going to be more of an  art museum, so I Was surprised when the tour was more architectural  explanations of the building. I thought it was very interesting though , there was so much history there. What I really enjoyed was seeing in Marina Blanche's( I think that's how you spell her name) room;  With all of the contributions she made to the Bauhaus and the artistic world, like ashtrays, globes, and being the head of the metal shop, if was amazing to be standing in a room where so much significant creative processes took place; I was standing in a room of creative history.

   Dinner was nice, I was still full from lunch, but it was nice to be with everyone and celebrate Carolina and Erica's birthday. The walk home from dinner was when things started to get weird. As me, Santi, and Christa were walking back, we were talking about how we each felt a supernatural presence In the bathroom. Santi felt someone standing behind him, chemists had knots in her stomach, and i felt a strange presence from outside the window. As we continued walking back to the hotel, we walked passed a dark, gated, deserted alley way. When Santi and I both turned to look at the alley way, i immediately pulled him towards me because I saw a dark, crouched, hooded figure behind the gate. Santi saw the same exact thing, at the same time that I pulled him away. This was probably one of the strangest, supernatural that has ever happened to me. Dessau has some weird vibes. Such An incredible place of

History, this place was torn to the ground by a bomb, and it is for that reason why Dessau has left an incredibly weird, yet interesting impression on me.

On the way to Germany, 5/21

Waking up before 7 am is not my forte; but I woke up with a smile on my face because I knew that Germany was just around the corner. That changed pretty quickly once I bright my bag downstairs and the handle ripped off. Considering that my bag was well over 50 pounds, I was not thrilled about having to drag my bag by the tied up t-shirt I had strapped to the carry handle. However, I made it work. It could always be worse, at least my bag did not explode everywhere. The day got better once we got on the train and I was able to have a whole row of seats to myself, I slept the whole way! The ride to Nurmberg was quick and smooth! 

   Once we got to Nurmberg, I was looking forward to a relaxing hour before we got on the next train, but when we found out that the train was canceled due to a stoke, that all changed! At first, everybody was not sure what to do for 4 hours, but then we decided that we may as we'll make the best of the day, so we decided to explore Nurmberg. I am so glad that the train was canceled. In a way, I think it was meant to be! Instead of spending a whole day on a train, we were blessed and or to experience another part of Germany, spur of the moment! Luckily, the train station was located in the Main part of Nurmberg. I spent a few hours shopping at the market stands, and consumed as many free samples as humanly possible. I probably consumed enough carbs on this trip to last me for the next year. I also had a crepe, it was probably the bed crepe of my life. It was banana, Nutella, and strawberry; I wish I could have finished it but I physically could not fit any more food in my stomach. I'm so glad I got to experience Nurmberg for the brief time that I did. I think it was meant to be, because I also found a new luggage, and had enough time for me to transfer my things out of my old bag. 

   We had to take a train to Liepzig, I slept most of the way. Once we arrived, we took a 50 minute taxi ride to Dessau!adter a long ride, we are finally here! It was a long, exciting day- but I can not wait for Bauhaus and Berlin!

   

     

Vienna, 5/20

May 20th, my second, wonderful day in Vienna. I woke up feeling wonderful , but when I got downstairs to breakfast, I made a mistake by having the eggs. I got food sickness and my stomach felt like it was getting murdered, but I still tried to suck it up and continue the day. The day started off with a walking tour. I am so amazed that every building resembles a palace,Vienna's architecture  is a true resemblance  of royalty. After about an hour into the tour, I could not even stand because my stomach was in so much pain, so unfortunately, I  had to go back to the hotel to rest. After drinking some tea and taking a nap, I woke up feeling a little bit better. I did not want to waste my last day in Vienna so I went to explore despite how I was feeling. I found a local farmers market about a mile from the hotel. There were over 100 vendors of food shops, souvenir shops, clothing shops, jewelry stands, and hand crafted items. I got a fresh squeezed juice of Pitaya and Elderberry. I think my body just needed some real nutrition because I felt so much better after drinking it. I also got a cool pair of comfortable pants with Ohm symbols and elephants, and an awesome pendant necklace from an Indian boutique. I can't wait to wear them on the train tomorrow!

    Tonight, we went to the opera. The building was amazing and the music was so soothing! I felt so much history lingering in the building's atmosphere. I wish we had better seats so that I could fully see the stage, but the music was enough to relax me before our long ten hour trip tomorrow.