"Ich bin ein Berliner."

Translation: I am a jelly doughnut. (Germans still make fun of Americans for this bloop during JFK's famous speech in West Berlin.)

Did some friends and I spontaneously book a weekend trip to Berlin? Yes. Did we learn a lot about navigating language barriers and airport problems? Definitely. Do I want to go back eventually? I can't express that enough.

Our trip started out pretty rough. We left the dorm at about 4am to go to the airport. Our first Uber cancelled on us, but luckily there was one nearby that could take us. So we get to the airport, go through security, get everything in order, find our gate, and we wait. We get in line to board, I hand the Ryanair employee at the desk my passport and scan my boarding pass on my phone, and he just looks at me. Looks at my passport, looks at me, looks at my passport and asks "Where is your visa check?" Visa check? That wasn't told to any of us. I explain that we were unaware that this was a necessary step and he says "Well if the supervisor can't come sign off, you all will not be able to fly." My heart dropped. We waited until the rest of the flight boarded and this very nice lady came over and printed out physical boarding passes and checked our visas. We made the flight.

The flight went well, we navigated to our hostel and dropped off our bags and then went on the best walking tour I've ever been on (linked here if anyone is interested). We walked along where the Berlin Wall once stood and saw the apparent differences between East and West that still exist. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Reichstag, where the bunker Hitler committed suicide once was (now a parking lot), and learned so many fascinating and heartbreaking stories, all within 3.5 hours. Berlin has seen so much in its lifetime. Both World Wars, the 30 Years War, the Holocaust, and the division of Europe from 1961-1989 with the Berlin Wall. The city has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times and has buildings that are older than the United States.

Day 2 was spent sightseeing, taking photos, and most importantly, eating. We had bratwursts, kebaps, spätzle, schnitzel, and pretzels. It was amazing. We went to the university where Einstein taught and the Grimm Brothers attended. We saw the Brandenburg Gate during the daytime. It snowed while we looked at the East Side Gallery and brought a sense of peace over the entire area. We walked on average 12 miles per day and were exhausted by 9pm every night.

Reichstag Dome

Our last day in the city we spent most of our day exploring Museum Island learning about the history of Germany, the famous artwork from artists throughout the country, and even got to see the bust of Nefertiti. We wrapped up the trip by going up in the Reichstag Dome and getting a 360° view of the city. It was a great trip, and I'm excited to return some day.

Sunday morning we got up and went to the airport, went to the desk for our visa check (because we knew about it this time), and the man working was anything but helpful. We approached the desk and asked for our visa check and he requested we present our boarding passes. Again, because I didn't have access to a printer, it was on my phone. He looked at me and said "a printed boarding pass will cost you €20." I simply asked where I could print one since they didn't have kiosks available for printing, and he responded with "I don't know." Wait what?! What do you mean you "don't know?" This is literally your job. After seeing the mix of fear/anger/anxiousness in my eyes he laughed to himself, printed my boarding pass, gave me my visa check stamp, and sent me on my way. As cheap as Ryanair may be, I'm going to start looking for other airlines to fly with while here.

In a city where so much bad and evil has happened, it really does give me hope to see that it has turned around almost entirely in just a few generations. It shows that change for the better is possible, and that it doesn't have to take hundreds of years to make it happen.

This upcoming weekend we are going to Geneva, Switzerland, and are staying near the UN! I'll post another update after we return back to Edinburgh, so until then I want to thank you all again for the prayers and well wishes while I'm here. I'm adapting well to classes and my surroundings, and I'm so so fortunate to have this opportunity to learn and grow as a global citizen.