I only have like fifteen minutes to write a killer blog post, so this might be cut short again, but I definitely wanted to keep you all informed about my amazing adventures in Berlin!
Today I woke up around 8:30 and took a nice shower, and then me and my roomie Jen went down to the second floor of the hotel for a buffet breakfast. At the buffet, we met up with a few of my other new friends Katie, Annie, and Emma. I just had some cereal, scrambled eggs, and potatoes.. yum! After Breakfast we met the rest of the GIF gang for our optional trip to the Jewish artifact museum, which showcased information about the Holocaust, and also provided information about the history of the Jewish culture. It was all pretty interesting except I felt that the museum was never ending, and after awhile, everything was looking the same. I guess I will have to wait for Florence where Michaelangelo awaits me! Ha ha.
Because we had such a large group, 68 of us to be exact, we were allowed to wander the museum about and leave as we pleased. Me and my friend Emma got through the museum pretty quickly, so we waited at the exit of the museum for Jen, Katie, and Annie. It is so weird not to have cell phones, but at least we are all in the same boat. Its funny how we Americans take so many little things for granted such as a simple phone call, "hey where are ya??" This has definitely been a humbling experience for me so far. Also, for those who know me well know I tend to text ALL the time. It has been so hard not to text my friends back home and check up. I think this is a good experience for me though, it is nice not to be distracted all the time with beeps and calls. That way I can fully experience Europa! Woohoo! he he. Can you tell I am trying to be optimistic in my time of struggle?? Ha Ha. Its not that bad, just something to get used to.
After we met up with the rest of our small group, us 5 ladies went on out an adventure. We were all pretty starving after getting done with the museum around one. We ended up at a little Italian restaurant where the waiter did not speak one bit of English! Luckily, most of us have some practice in Italian, so we ordered our food saying, "Io mi voglio le penne ...." it was really fun! I hope I will be able to use my Italian in Florence. I really want to try to engage in the culture as best as I can. I know I may get frustrated and perhaps get a few weird looks now and then for my poor pronunciation in Italian, but oh well! I ended up getting this lovely penne tomato dish with garlic and basil. Yum! Also, I ordered a vodka and mango drink. It was super yummy! I love being able to finally order drinks, and the best part about it is I pretty much never get carded. Thats very different than the US! One thing I found interesting about restaurants in Europe is that it is not common to tip the waiter unless you found their service absoloutely outstanding.
Once lunch was over, we had shopping on our minds. We tried to use the maps and the subway system as best as we could to find the "shopping hot spot" that our tour guide was telling us about yesterday. After talking with a few people in local shops, we were able to stumble open one of our favorite American stores, h & m! That was such a relief when we saw the sign in the distance. In the middle of our shopping experience though, the power went out! We were instructed to leave immediately, which almost completely bummed us out, but we ended up going back five minutes later and the power was back on. Whew! I purchased a cute argile sweater and a dressy blouse to go underneath it. It was pretty similiar to the outfit I got for my boyfriend, Chris, actually so maybe we can be matching when I come back. Ha ha.
Well I only have like two minutes left on the screen, so I best be going but the plans for tonight are still up in the air. I know we are all having dinner with the whole GIF group at 7:30 at some local restaurant, but other than that it will be spur of the moment! I love that. I will post later about my adventures in Poland! It will be a long bus ride tommorow, twelve hours!
Arrivederci!
Today I woke up around 8:30 and took a nice shower, and then me and my roomie Jen went down to the second floor of the hotel for a buffet breakfast. At the buffet, we met up with a few of my other new friends Katie, Annie, and Emma. I just had some cereal, scrambled eggs, and potatoes.. yum! After Breakfast we met the rest of the GIF gang for our optional trip to the Jewish artifact museum, which showcased information about the Holocaust, and also provided information about the history of the Jewish culture. It was all pretty interesting except I felt that the museum was never ending, and after awhile, everything was looking the same. I guess I will have to wait for Florence where Michaelangelo awaits me! Ha ha.
Because we had such a large group, 68 of us to be exact, we were allowed to wander the museum about and leave as we pleased. Me and my friend Emma got through the museum pretty quickly, so we waited at the exit of the museum for Jen, Katie, and Annie. It is so weird not to have cell phones, but at least we are all in the same boat. Its funny how we Americans take so many little things for granted such as a simple phone call, "hey where are ya??" This has definitely been a humbling experience for me so far. Also, for those who know me well know I tend to text ALL the time. It has been so hard not to text my friends back home and check up. I think this is a good experience for me though, it is nice not to be distracted all the time with beeps and calls. That way I can fully experience Europa! Woohoo! he he. Can you tell I am trying to be optimistic in my time of struggle?? Ha Ha. Its not that bad, just something to get used to.
After we met up with the rest of our small group, us 5 ladies went on out an adventure. We were all pretty starving after getting done with the museum around one. We ended up at a little Italian restaurant where the waiter did not speak one bit of English! Luckily, most of us have some practice in Italian, so we ordered our food saying, "Io mi voglio le penne ...." it was really fun! I hope I will be able to use my Italian in Florence. I really want to try to engage in the culture as best as I can. I know I may get frustrated and perhaps get a few weird looks now and then for my poor pronunciation in Italian, but oh well! I ended up getting this lovely penne tomato dish with garlic and basil. Yum! Also, I ordered a vodka and mango drink. It was super yummy! I love being able to finally order drinks, and the best part about it is I pretty much never get carded. Thats very different than the US! One thing I found interesting about restaurants in Europe is that it is not common to tip the waiter unless you found their service absoloutely outstanding.
Once lunch was over, we had shopping on our minds. We tried to use the maps and the subway system as best as we could to find the "shopping hot spot" that our tour guide was telling us about yesterday. After talking with a few people in local shops, we were able to stumble open one of our favorite American stores, h & m! That was such a relief when we saw the sign in the distance. In the middle of our shopping experience though, the power went out! We were instructed to leave immediately, which almost completely bummed us out, but we ended up going back five minutes later and the power was back on. Whew! I purchased a cute argile sweater and a dressy blouse to go underneath it. It was pretty similiar to the outfit I got for my boyfriend, Chris, actually so maybe we can be matching when I come back. Ha ha.
Well I only have like two minutes left on the screen, so I best be going but the plans for tonight are still up in the air. I know we are all having dinner with the whole GIF group at 7:30 at some local restaurant, but other than that it will be spur of the moment! I love that. I will post later about my adventures in Poland! It will be a long bus ride tommorow, twelve hours!
Arrivederci!
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3 comments:
Sounds like Berlin offers a wealth of options from Italian cuisine to Holocaust Museum to H&M shopping! Love to hear all that you are doing/seeing in Europa. You're handling the culture shock of going without the US phone/texting pretty well, I'd say.
Have a vodka and mango for me!
love to you...
If you think you are museum-ed out now, just wait until you get to Florence! Even this classical archaeology major and art enthusiast got worn out. Don't over do it :) Enjoy your legal drinks!!
Not being able to text moment to moment like your used to doing is probably like not having electricity after Hurricane Ike. Difficult to get used to, but all sorts of other good things open up like meeting the neighbors and sharing dinners. something we'd never have done otherwise. There is a bright side to new ways of being. Enjoy.
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