Schnitzel and Augustiner

So after an amazing night jamming with Gaga, Lori and I decided to spend the next day experiencing the historical side of Berlin. Our hostel provided us with a free walking tour throughout the city. Yeah! Free! We met Dave (a Canadian guy who was staying at the same place) on our way to the starting point of the tour. Once we lined up outside of the Starbucks (ha!) they split us into groups. We got the pleasure of being in a group led by Chris (an English guy who spat when he spoke). He told us all about the history of the city and showed us all of the highlights.

The tour lasted about four hours and took us throughout most of East Berlin. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust Memorial and so much more. It was incredible walking through a city with so much history. Crossing the street and stepping over the line on which the Berlin Wall once stood was a humbling experience. It was so easy to cross yet so many people lost their lives trying to do exactly that. Seeing the actual remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall was pretty anticlimactic. But I guess that is fitting. The wall should be sad and deteriorating because that part of German history is depressing. We also stood over the bunker in which Hitler committed suicide. It is now a parking lot. This is also fitting. No memorial or honor is given to the man who ruined so many lives.

Once the tour was over, a group of us decided to head to a local restaurant for schnitzel and augustiner. Schnitzel is a fabulous German delicacy composed of pork that is breaded and pressed thin. Augustiner is apparently the best German beer available. While we were sitting there enjoying our meal, I looked around and realized seven different countries were represented at that one table: USA, Canada, China, Australia, Italy and the UK. We all got to know each other over schnitzel and beer in the true German fashion.

After our authentic German meal, we began a search for the East Side Gallery. There were about ten of us wondering through Berlin with this one goal in mind. One train going the wrong way and several blocks later, we stumbled upon it. The East Side Gallery stretched before us for about a mile and was full of murals painted by artists from all over the world. We stopped to take a group photo to commemorate our free tour group fun. The Gallery was one of my favorite sites in Berlin. A wall which stood for hate is now covered with paintings of unity and hope. It was beautiful. We all got our pens out and signed this piece of history not knowing if it was legal or not.

After we said our goodbyes, Lori, Dave, Emily (a nice girl from Australia who was also staying at our hotel) and I decided to head back to our hostel. We shared a pizza and talked about our travels. Overall, it was a wonderful day in Berlin. It was not like going to the principal's office as I once imagined. Germans are friendly and very proud of their beer. They are also very open and repentant of their past. Berlin was a small but pleasant taste of history. We have so much more of Germany to explore. Now we are in Munich and I have high hopes for this city too...well other than the fact that it is raining!

~ Caitlin