Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Today we took a bus tour of Berlin. I really enjoyed sight-seeing but can’t remember a lot of the places we went. We saw a lot of embassies and government buildings—since Berlin is the capital—and also saw a lot of historical monuments from WWII and the separation of East and West Berlin/Germany. We saw a big chunk of the Wall with art on it and also went to Checkpoint Charlie. I think the art on the Berlin Wall was my favorite; there was such a wide variety of art styles and it was clear that different artists each took over a chunk of the wall—it was amazing! We passed a Holocaust Memorial that was across from Hitler’s Bunker which is now currently a parking lot for an apartment. We then went to the Panorama Punkt and rode a super fast elevator to floor 24 (100metres in 20seconds) to see Berlin from high up. For lunch we stopped into Mommseneck and I had Kostriker Schwarzbier and Pork Schnitzel. It was really good. Brian, my professor, ordered a wheat beer that was smoked and it tasted like bacon! Today I’ve finally started picking up on some differences between Germany and The U.S. The main one being an obvious one in that none of us got carded when ordering beer—which for someone who just turned 21 seems really odd. Also, it is packed here! Berlin has a population of about 3million people—about the population of Oregon as a whole—all packed into one city. One of the reasons I mention this is because we rode the Underground—like the Subway—which is way more extensive than the MAX that I’m used to riding in Portland. Once we got back to our hotel, we had class to learn about barley, malting, and beer styles. In a bit we’re planning to go to the local bakery which offers free Wi-Fi and food for dinner. Then a group of us is going to explore the nightlife in Berlin. Should be an experience!