Berlin Journée 5!

If you forget what boba is.

When I first arrived at my hostel, the receptionist gave me a map and highlighted a big shopping street on it, which was right next to the hostel. I normally wouldn't have gone out of my way to see it, but since it was only a few blocks away, I figured I would walk down it to the next train stop. The shopping street turned out to be puh-retty underwhelming. It was like walking down your average American strip mall, but more German (obviously). I did stop and get boba though! I'm not like a boba fanatic, but after hearing my friends complain about how they missed it so much in Bordeaux, I figured I should get some in their honor. Or maybe all the talk just made me crave some myself...

Anyways, then I made my way over to St. Nicholas's Church, which is a really cool-looking brick building with its trademark double spires. Anyways, I was not so impressed inside because not only did you have to pay to go in, you had to pay extra to take photos past a certain line. Pfffft. Please. I've got plenty of photos of awesome European churches, I'm certainly not paying to get some special press pass for this one.

My allowed photo. *eye roll*

I ended up hustling out of there anyways because I realized I was going to be late to my reservation for the English tour at the Reichstag building (where the German Parliament is). Which would be bad, since security is super tight. You have to sign up in advance and bring your passport and go through a metal detector and everything. Anyyyways, I ended up speedwalking and getting all sweaty and still being late. Woops. Then I went through security and a bunch of officials spoke German into walkie talkies while glancing at me and then funneled me into a  huge group of German schoolchildren. HOWEVER, I was eventually able to oh-so-nonchalantly slip into the English tour group.

The Reichstag tour was so cool! The building is really modern and has a lot of art installations. We got to see the room where the German Parliament and Angela Merkel meet. And then the grand finale! The DOME! There is this super awesome glass dome on the top of the Reichtsag building, so at the end of the tour, you get to go up to the roof and look around, and then go up the glass dome.¹ They give you audio guides that are some how activated when you walk by certain spots, so they point out monuments you can see as you pass them, which is pretty cool.

Art installation - the yellow, black, and red canoes represent Germany,
and the blue one represents the European Union.

Whoaaa, on the roof now!

The dome!!!

Viewing platform at the top inside the dome.

Afterwards, I went to the DDR Museum, about life in East Berlin while the Wall was up. A Finnish girl in my hostel room had recommended it to me. This museum is unique because it's interactive; there are lots of drawers and cabinets to pull out as part of the exhibit. And basically you can touch a lot of old stuff. Like this car!

Crappy commie car

I left the museum when it closed at 8:00, and got some well-deserved ice cream at a place right outside. It was right by the river and Berliner Dom, and I literally cannot express in words how good it felt to put my feet up. I kid you not, I took my shoes off in the DDR Museum and pushed them around hoping no one would notice because My. Feet. Hurt. So. Bad. So many days of constant walking and standing in a row really takes a toll on my delicate soles.

Best ice cream-eating view ever.

However my rest was short-lived because I soon realized that souvenir shops would be closing soon and I needed some gifts for friends and family back at home. I also went on a frantic mission to buy five pounds of German sausages at 10 o'clock at night, which was about as awkward as it sounds. But that's another story.

Sadly, it was auf wiedersehen to Berlin the next morning. :(

 À bientôt!

1. It symbolizes transparency in government because it opens onto the Parliament room.