First Weekend in Berlin!!!

Hallo aus Berlin!
I started my ERASMUS adventure to the Freie Universität Berlin at 3am on Friday morning. I got up with my Dad and we drove to Stansted airport. We made good time, stopped for coffee on the way and got to Stansted at about 6am.

I checked in for my Germanwings flight and got a Boots meal deal. I boarded the flight to Stuttgart, which went without a hitch. The extra leg room seats are amazing :) I had my trusty Kindle so the flight went quite quickly. At Stuttgart I had coffee and a soft pretzel and waited for my connecting flight to Berlin. I got on this flight which, again, went smoothly. When I got to Schoenenfeld airport I got my luggage and walked for about five minutes to get to the train station. Transport in Berlin is AMAZING. Every train you want to get on comes within ten minutes, and the platforms are all signposted really well so you know exactly where you're going. All the trains are spotlessly clean, no litter anywhere, and the people are really helpful.

I got to my hotel via an S-bahn and then a U-bahn. The hotel H10 was really nice, because it was a deal I booked on lastminute.com so I got a four star hotel for a ridiculous price. I checked in, then after dropping my luggage off immediately set off to explore the surrounding area. Kurfurstendamm is a large shopping street with many famous brands on it, but it was all quite commercial. It was nice for me though, because everything I needed was within easy reach. I decided to go familiar for my first meal in Berlin, so headed to Subway which was across from my hotel. I was completely knackered after wandering around for two hours, so went back to the hotel, watched the world figure skating championships and went to sleep.

The next morning I was up bright and early to take a hop on - hop off bus tour. I chose a company and got on the first bus at 9.45am. I first rode the entire route once to get a feel for where I wanted to get off. As the weather was completely crazy that day, it was good to be able to hop on a bus which came every ten minutes. It was cold and windy, then rainy, then sunny, then it randomly hailed and SNOWED, then it was sunny again. I got off the bus at various points along the way. First I got off at the Typographie des Terrors, a 200m stretch of the Berlin Wall which has been preserved and made into a sort of museum. I was surprised that seeing the wall moved me so much, and even today it is such a strong image. The wall itself symbolises state oppression, and the graffitti splashed across much of it symbolises defiance.

I then walked to Checkpoint Charlie. I was slightly disappointed in this, because it was so touristy and commercialised. People dressed up as Russian and American soldiers posed for photographs, and hundreds of tourists stood around taking pictures. There is even a McDonalds within touching distance of the checkpoint, adding to the feeling of commercialisation. I got back on the bus and headed to the Brandenburg Gate. Modeled on the Acropolis, this imposing structure is extremely impressive. It was badly damaged by gunfire in the war, and has been repaired several times. This is an extremely iconic image, and I enjoyed the beautiful architecture and carvings.

I also stopped at the KaDeWe, Europe's biggest department store. It was so big that you couldn't find anything if you wanted to, so your best bet was just to wander around. I knew I couldn't afford anything in the store, so I just rode to the top floor in the extremely beautiful glass elevator which had amazing views of the atrium right down to the ground floor, and then left. In the evening I got some food and headed back to the hotel. I did some last-minute preparation before leaving for my accommodation at the Studentendorf, Schlachtensee in the South-West part of Berlin.

On Sunday morning I got up early. I had to check out of the hotel by 12, so I wanted to spend the morning at the East Side Gallery. This is an amazing piece of public art which is an international memorial for freedom. It is a 1.3km section of the Berlin Wall which has been preserved. It consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world on the wall. Much of it has been vandalised over the years, and it has undergone major renovation over the last couple of years. It was a beautiful tribute to the fall of the wall, and one of the best art galleries i've ever been to because of what it represents. I walked all the way along, then returned to my hotel. On the way I stopped for a few minuted to watch a marathon which was going on along Kurfurstendamm. There was a group of drummers playing alongside which made it a really nice atmosphere.

I checked out of the hotel, and made my way to the train station in Wansee where I had to catch a bus to the Studentendorf. The Studentendorf is a complex of student accommodation with a variety of different rooms in it. I am staying in an apartment with six rooms, a living room/kitchen and a bathroom with two showers, two sinks and a toilet. I have met everyone living in the apartment. Alice is from Nottingham University and is on my course. Andrew is from Chicago and is studying political science. Maria is from Poland and is studying Art History. Arno and Saiid are in the other two rooms. Everyone seems very friendly, and my room is very spacious. The kitchen and bathroom are slightly grotty but this is not really a problem.

My first few days in Berlin have been extremely exciting! Berlin is the same size as Paris in area, but it has only 3.4 million residents compared to Paris's 11 million. This makes it an extremely nice city to walk around because tourists are not constantly in your way and overcrowding everywhere. I think Berlin is on my list of the best cities I have ever visited. I am growing to love it more and more every day, because whilst it feels quite international it also feels quite German. I love the culture and the atmosphere of the city, and am excited to experience more as the weeks go on.
Tomorrow I am going to my university campus to register on my course. Hopefully I will get my student ID and sort other things out. I can't wait to get stuck in!!!