Berlin

The thing about the geography of Berlin that I found most fascinating was simply the size of the city.  I’ve been in cities in the United States that were similar in size, but I’ve never spent the same amount of time in any of those cities as I did in Berlin, and I didn’t see as much of those cities either.  The fact that it could take an hour or possibly longer to get from one side of the city to the other using the subway system was so shocking to me.  And the fact that we spent six full days touring different parts of the city and still probably didn’t come close to seeing everything the city had to offer is also very eye opening.  The extensiveness of the subway system was impressive to me too.  Before this trip I had never even been on a subway, and so getting thrown into using/navigating a system as intricate as Berlin’s was a little bit over-whelming.  After the first two days I was completely comfortable getting around the city in smaller groups, however, and I was impressed with myself for that. 

My favorite academic experience in Berlin was definitely the Olympic Stadium.  I have always loved sports and I have always loved the history of World War II, and the Olympic Stadium incorporated both.  It was interesting to learn about the history of the Stadium and the 1936 Olympics.  For example, I never knew that the tradition of the carrying of the Olympic torch started at the 1936 Olympics.  That tradition is such an important part of the Olympics even today, so it was cool to be in the stadium where it started.  It was also fascinating to learn about the parts of the stadium’s history having to do with Hitler.  Being so close to places where he had been was such an eerie feeling.  I also thought it was cool that after the war they shortened the platform where he stood during the Olympic games solely because it was known to be his space. 

The Olympic Stadium

My favorite non-academic experience in Berlin was just getting out and being able to navigate the city on our own in small groups.  It was so exciting to be able to do what we wanted and get wherever we wanted to go in such a large city without the help of the professors.  We did a lot of shopping and wandering around and really had a feel for the city by the time we left, and coming from someone who has never had experience with that, it was very exciting. 

I’m somewhat of a picky eater, and one of the types of food I really do not like to eat is red meat.  Getting around red meat (and breads) proved to be kind of difficult in Berlin.  Also, I’m just not much of a food person to begin with, so I was hoping to not spend much money on food throughout the trip.  If any future students are in the same boat as me, I would definitely recommend Biocompany to them for food.  It was an organic food store on the Turmstrasse (very close to the hostel). The food was surprisingly cheap, healthy, and tasted good!

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