Dobrý Den!
So before I begin, I apologize for there not being photos in this blog post or the last blog post. We still do not have internet in our apartment (what a headache that has been) so we have been working out of Starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC. Yeah it isn’t fun, and yes I did say KFC. Anyway, we get internet on Tuesday (cue the Hallelujah Chorus Steve Barr!) and I will be sure to post pictures then. We will also be on a more regular blog posting schedule.
Berlin
What an amazing weekend! We took the Student Agency bus again, but this time it was ok because it was only five and a half hours! I don't know if any of you have heard of
airbnb.com but that is what we used for our housing in Berlin and it is so cool! It is a company that connects you with unconventional places to stay around the world. So for instance a castle, apartment, someone's villa, etc. There are people that open up their homes or an extra bedroom in their home and become a bed and breakfast essentially. Well we did it for the first time and LOVED IT!
The German couple that we stayed with,
Petra and Thomas were so polite, accommodating, and really interesting. We walked into their "flat" and were just in awe. They just moved in 7 months ago and the place was so cool. It was so warm and very well decorated! We would have lived there if we had the chance. They also had in our room a basket filled with information pamphlets, maps, chocolate, toiletry essentials just in case we forgot some, water, and a bottle of wine that they had chilled in the fridge for us!
They were also music lovers. He had a band back in the day, there were guitars everywhere, many music posters and stuff as decorations. The first night, Mariah and I were drinking our wine and we heard something. I said, "I think that is Mozart." Then it continued and someone started singing and Mariah said, "That's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)." So I went over to their living room where they were hanging out and said, "Sorry to bother you, but is that Die Zauberflöte?" and sure enough it was. They were watching a program on TV that was being streamed from an outdoor performance in Germany. It was a stage that was floating on the water of the biggest lake in Germany, on the boarder of Germany and Switzerland. So, we sat and watched with them for about an hour and talked about their musical interests. SO COOL!
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I just want to say that talking about music has opened so many doors for us here as well as created some interesting and memorable conversation. That is the power of music! It is really special.
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Before bed the first night, he had showed us around and gave us the keys to the bikes. Yes, they gave us bikes for the weekend! And he asked if we wanted a tour of Berlin on bike given by him. Of course we said, "YES."
So the next morning, Mariah's birthday in fact, we woke up and they had for us a breakfast of rolls and all kinds of marmalades (love that word, especially when you say it like a Brit) with coffee, orange juice, and milk. They did that every morning, the last morning with a cheesecake! Then we set out with Thomas on an all day bike tour. He showed us EVERYTHING and gave us information on things that only locals would know. He also took us to some places that we never would have thought to go. He bought us a beer for lunch, and we sat at the restaurant for close to two hours and talked to him about his life, which is very interesting. He is the director of a school in Germany that teaches about wine and hospitality and Petra buys supplies for a Solar Panel company! How cool is that!?
Let's take a minute to talk about the height of the bikes. They were HUGE. So naturally, Mariah (and myself, but not as much) had a lot of issues. At one point he made a quick stop and Mariah was behind him and stopped and couldn't get her balance. She slow-motion toppled over and was laying on the ground under the bike like a turtle! I was extremely concerned at the moment, but she was fine. Now it is just hysterical. We refer to that as Mariah "going turtle."
Later that night, after the bike tour, we went out to dinner. We wanted authentic German food. So we took their recommendation and went to
Dicker Engel. The staff was so friendly, but only one spoke English haha! We ordered traditional cuisine of course. I got the "giant bratwurst with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and a beer gravy" and Mariah got the "schnitzel with potatoes and bacon in a cheese sauce.” I think the Lord himself prepared this food. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
The second day, we went out on our own to revisit some of the things that we missed. We planned it out and got a one day metro pass. That was the best idea ever. I don’t know if Mariah’s anxiety could take the bikes without someone leading us around, and I don’t know if my butt could take another day on the bikes. We went from the outdoor
Berlin Wall Memorial to the
DDR Museum then to the
Siegessäule (Victory Column). We were going to go to the Berlin Zoo, but it had gotten late and, a zoo is a zoo is a zoo as we said haha! We were going to end the trip with Starbucks, (we had caffeine headaches like crazy), and the
Berlin Apple Store (yup) which I was PUMPED for. We get to the store and I realized that there is a Tesla store right next to it! Then I looked closer and said, “Mariah, I don’t see anyone in the stores.” Sure enough, they were all closed!!! Apparently in Germany, all stores are closed on Sundays. Boo. But, I got pictures of the inside =) So we got Starbucks and had a nice relaxing rest of the evening in Thomas & Petra’s flat.
The next day wasn’t exciting. We met the rest of our TEFL group in Berlin and finished the applications for our visas then went home… BORING!
What an amazing trip! And if you ask Mariah, the best birthday so far. I’m not sure what I’m going to do to make next year’s better…. I guess she will have to wait to find out =)
Hezký weekend, all!
