after a very sad goodbye to our italian family :(, flo dropped us off in milan and we were on our way to explore berlin!!! our very own bespoke trip with our guide, alex :)
day 1 in berlin was really fun. we wandered around while alex did some errands and saw this amazing church that was still half burnt from WWII bombings. the inside was even more incredible than the outside - tiled all the way over to give amazing reflections throughout the church. and a HUGE organ that they were practicing. we went to the lego store and had homemade lego car races (mine broke from my enthusiasm! hahah). we also met ron weasley just for sarah :) once we met back up with alex, we grabbed bikes and rode around the beautiful city. we weren't really sure what to expect of berlin but it was great. amazing bike culture, history around every corner, epic monuments all over the place and really interesting museums to learn from. we saw portions of the berlin wall and learned so much about it from all the information points and alex. he was around during that time so we heard first hand experiences and it made it all the more interesting hearing his stories. chris and i really didn't know too much about the berlin wall and what happened during that time so we were overwhelmed by all the information we were finding out. there were sections still standing that have been devoted to art projects, so now they are all painted with scenes of piece, politics, anything. it was beautiful and intriguing. we also visited an amazing monument to murdered Jews. massive blocks of cement taking up probably a good square block of downtown. they're arranged on slopes and valleys to give the illusion that they are neverending - just like the Jewish struggle seemed during WWII, just like their pain is now. it was beautiful, though sad.
day 2 in berlin brought much more bike riding and exploring. we went to the Jewish Museum, which, besides all the incredible information about the history of Jews, was an incredible building. from above, it's shaped almost like a bunch of lightening bolts. inside, as you walk through, there are windows that look into black empty spaces that were intentionally added into the architecture of the building - called Voids. they are there to represent the void of Jews and the struggle they endured throughout the war. it's a very interesting concept and it fit perfectly into the museum's themes and exhibitions. we visited more of the berlin wall and we went to a museum fully dedicated to the Nazi regime - it was crazy to follow the timeline of it all and see how Germans nowadays cope with the idea of it all. we were really surprised at how much we DIDN'T know about WWII and the Nazis. they really don't teach you all that much in school. and i guess it's true - history is written by the victors. seeing it from a German perspective (not that it was condoned in any way) was a great way to learn about the issues and history. alex is in love with the Bourne movies and, since a lot of it was filmed in Berlin, we went to a lot of places where scenes were shot. then we went home and watched the movies to compare. hahahah. we're nerds! it was a great day!
day 3 was WOLFSBURG DAY!!!!! chris was super excited to get going because 1: he was going to drive on the autobahn (with no speed limits) and 2: we were going to where our car was born and we would see tons of pretty cars. and it's true - chris drove REALLY fast (it was nuts, everyone was cruising at 170km/hr!) and we saw lots of pretty cars at VW. the factory, unfortunately, was closed since it was a saturday BUT we pre-planned to go to a soccer game while we were there. the game was GREAT! it's true that europeans really are crazy about their "football". we were, of course, cheering for wolfsburg so we sat on their end of the field. by "their end", i mean they had THOUSANDS of people in a particular secion led by 2 crazy guys with megaphones, cheering the whole entire game. they had a set of drums and house sized flags. intense! super fun though! and wolfsburg won!! we're normally not too fond of soccer but the real life thing was great fun! i even got a scarf (green and white!) to support the team and double up as a st patty's day accessory! woo hoo!!! then, because of horrendous traffic, we got home super late. but alex and chris went off to play some poker at alex's brother's house. i stayed home to sleep because i had a massive headache. it was a good day :)