Weekend in Berlin

For our first weekend trip, I decided to go to Berlin, Germany. It's only a four-hour bus ride from Prague and I was able to get cheap tickets with Flixbus only a week in advance. I love Europe. 

Since I only have four days of class a week, I left right after class on Thursday and stayed until Sunday morning. After getting off the bus at the Berlin Südkreuz station, I quickly learned to navigate the public transportation to get to my hostel. I stayed at Ballhaus Berlin, an edgy, cabaret-themed hostel close to the city center. It was my first time staying in a traveler's hostel so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but overall it was a good experience. I was in an eight-bed room with a revolving door of roommates for the three nights we were there.

For my first full day in Berlin, I started with the major historical sites. I went to the Berlin Wall Memorial Museum, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Victory Column, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Holocaust Museum.

After a morning of important but heavy history, I was ready for a break. I had a great lunch and then spent the afternoon exploring Tiergarten, a beautiful park in the middle of the city and one of the largest urban gardens in Germany. As a born and raised Pacific Northwesterner, I was going through some serious nature withdrawals and were happy to escape the big city for a while. 

=

During my second day in Berlin, I ventured across town to try the highly rated vegan donuts at Brammibal’s Donuts. I splurged and got several donuts to try the different flavors, and they were all incredible. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

On a slight sugar high, I made my way to the East Side Gallery, a series of murals on a stretch of intact Berlin Wall. In the 1990s, artists from around the world were invited to contribute to an artistic commemoration and celebration of the end of an oppressive period in Berlin. They painted over 100 murals along the formerly communist side of the wall. With the combination of fascinating history and impressive artistry, the East Side Gallery was probably my favorite site in Berlin.

Though I love street art, as a foodie in one of the vegan capitals of the world, I was also very impressed by the restaurants and cafes in Berlin. The only thing that topped the donuts were the dumplings we had at a small restaurant called Momos on our last night. I got all of the different veggie dumplings to try, as well as the cinnamon banana dumplings for dessert. 

Following miles of walking, numerous historical sites, and lots of eating, I said goodbye to Germany and made my way back to the Czech Republic. While I absolutely loved Berlin and its Portland hipster vibe, I was happy to be back home in Prague.