Hello Berlin!

My Berlin trip was three full days before I headed to Budapest. If anyone is looking for a hostel recommendation where you will be surrounded by travelers interested in seeing the city rather than just partying and you’ll get a good rest, I’d highly recommend The Grand Berlin Hostel. Honestly, I probably haven’t slept so soundly since getting to Europe- they don’t have bunks here and the beds are very comfy. (Coming from me this means A LOT!) Trip advice part two- make sure to ALWAYS have the correct public transit pass on you (validated) when you’re in Berlin. It’s expensive, but you’ll need to use public transit most likely, unless you’re biking, and there are a lot of ticket inspectors around that will fine you 60 euro MINIMUM on the spot if you don’t have the right one. 

Ann Frank- across from Otto Weidt's shop where he rescued and saved many Jews

Otto Weidt's museum holds a picture of him and his workers-all Jewish and blind or deaf. Otto employed only Jews to make brooms and brushes for the war efforts while he made fake documents and bribed officers to protect his staff. All survived the war. 

Ok, so what did I do? Well lets start with Monday- today I took Geoff’s advice and did the Alternative Free Walking tour because this is “how I will fall in love with the city.” I’m quite glad I took my big brother’s advice, we saw many back roads and off-the-beaten-track kind of places and unique wall art in back alleys. Not gonna lie, sometimes these alleys looked sketchy, but with a group a 11am, we were totally fine. lol Our guide also pointed out the most amazing Kebab hut that was amazing and super cheap :D This was also the perfect beginning to my trip in Berlin because I met 4 other young travelers from the states and had a great time with them. We ended up hanging out most of the rest of the day together. We chilled on Yaam Beach for a bit before heading to the East Side Gallery. ha you could say we had some fun at the wall! 

Back allies for the true Berlin feel

Best Kebab shop outside Kottbusser Tor U Station 

Chicken Kebab ~2.20 Euro and delicious!

Finding 4 young grads from the states = a great day

The beach along the Spree River. Named Yaam- not surprised it smelled a little "green"

WARonWALL-East Side Gallery Exhibit of Syrian war and the destruction of lives to raise awareness of refugees

Nice group shot in front of Berlin Wall

When we all make monkey faces in front of the monkey (covering the monkey's face) taken with our smartphone when it says "destroy all smartphones." Clearly having too much fun here

Can't help but laugh after that! 

After the wall, we walked along the river a bit before heading to Templehof aka the abandon airfields. So two of the girls I met that morning knew of a friend who was going to be having a BBQ in the fields and they were meeting up with and were ok with the rest of us tagging along. I thought the airfields may be a little creepy because they are empty and “abandon” just makes me think of ghost towns. But it was actually a really awesome hangout spot for a summer day. There is a garden like area with a bunch of benches and old chairs and things around that makes for a peaceful spot to sit and just immerse in nature. If you want to exercise, the take-off/landing grounds are still there and full of people running, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, land windsurfing, and walking their dogs. If BBQ and chill is your scene, there is a zone for that too. And plenty more open grassy areas for people playing with dogs, kids, and enjoying the outdoors. Even people flying kits! At the BBQ we joined, they had two dogs, so naturally they were the center of my attention when I joined :) Ha this white dog was just so cute though, I got a good dog fix and a chance to pet a good dog and get kisses! Miss you Bailey! 

Super fluffy center of attention :)