(post and photos by Kitty)
Today we left for Berlin. We all met by 8:30 at the bus, said goodbye to our host families, and then the German and American students piled on to the bus with our chaperones. The whole trip there was close to eight hours.
However, we made one rest stop along the way and also visited a memorial sight for an original east and west German border. There we learned about how hard it was to travel to the other side of Germany during the time WW2 ended and during the cold war. Our guide told us a lot about the economic benefits to West Germany for the border, the hardships in the East, and the political powers involved. We were able to go inside the watch tower and border control offices. It was interesting to step back into this time of the past.
After we finished the tour we got back on to the bus and finished the remainder of our ride to Berlin. The countryside was beautiful to see.
We finally arrived at the Jugendsherberge (youth hostel) where we would be staying for the weekend, and settled into our rooms. For dinner we went to Gasthof Heuberger. TherTheir food was delicious with many traditional options. I myself had Käs'Spätzel Bratensauce. It was like macaroni and cheese with onions and thick gravy. I also had a nice cup of tea despite the heat. I enjoyed my meal. That evening we were allowed to explore the area we were in as long as we were in groups of at least four, had a mix of Germans and Americans in the groups, and were back to the hostel by 11 pm. I chose to go back early so I could settle in better and hangout with my friends. It was a pleasant evening though. We turned on music and opened the windows to let in night air with the quiet city sounds. It was a good first evening on Berlin