Berlin

So, I really thought we weren't going to make it to Berlin. On Tuesday night, we went as far as canceling our hostel. But somehow, on Wednesday, everything changed. Finally planes were flying again. It seemed as if everything was back to normal. Still, I was afraid. CEA sent us an e-mail saying that if we traveled it was on us. If we got trapped and couldn't get back and missed our finals, we would get a 0 and fail. Lindsay and Ilana had a really early flight on Thursday, so Lindsay and I decided that if they made it safely, we would go.

I woke up Thursday morning to a phone call from Lindsay. They were in Berlin. Our plans were on! We flew EasyJet for my first time, but it was a fine flight. We took a train from the airport and met Lanz and Re at the hostel. They were pretty exhausted from a long day of touring, so we just go dinner at an Italian place nearby, caught up and went to bed.

Friday morning we got up early. We had decided to do a tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was five hours long and very intense and painful. It was my first experience of the kind. I have been to Holocaust museums before and seen a lot of movies and pictures, but nothing can prepare you for actually being at a camp...walking the same ground..breathing the same air. Still, I am very glad I went. I was pleased to see a lot of foreigners of all different religions and races on the tour too. Our tour guide, Ben, was great and he gave us a lot of helpful recommendations for the rest of the trip.

After the tour, we went to the East Side Gallery, which is the largest preserved part of the Berlin Wall. It is covered in bright, colorful graffiti and we had a lot of fun looking at all the different art and taking some successful (and some unsuccessful, cough Lindsay cough) jumping pictures in front of it! We had some good Vietnamese for dinner and then set off to find a bar called KPTN, recommended to us by Sherry's friend who studied in Berlin last semester. It took us a long time to find, but we enjoyed walking up and down a fun street full of bars and restaurants.

The next day we got up early again and explored a few different neighborhoods. We walked around a market for awhile, went to a park, and had a good lunch. At night we went to a wine place, where you pay a two euro cover and they hand you a wine glass. You are allowed to drink as much wine as you want and you can also order some small dishes of food off the menu. At the end of the meal, you are supposed to leave what you think is the right amount of money for all that you consumed. Cool concept, but it was our downfall. Unlimited wine=not as delightful as it sounds. We had a bit of crazy night and we ended up getting zero sleep. Lindsay and I had a 7 am flight back to Barcelona, which I thought we would miss, but luckily we made it!

Thus began my final few days in Barcelona, which were unfortunately spent studying for finals. However, I just finished and celebrated by going to the beach! Of course, the weather is finally beautiful here. Tonight I am going out with my roommates for a final dinner and crepes and then going out one last time. I am flying home tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. I cannot believe my semester is over. I am actually quite sad. I am going to miss a lot of the things I took for granted here. Once I am home, I will post my obligatory reflection post. Thanks everyone for reading!