Berlin Day 2

This morning we had to be at breakfast by 8 since we were leaving around 8:30 to start our day. I had some yogurt and then a roll with jelly. Yum yum. One of our first stops this morning was the Brandenburg Tor. We learned a little about it from Dr. Tracy but I kind of zoned out while he was talking. We also went to the Pergamon museum that has middle easter and islamic exhibitions. It was a huge museum that has original sized monumental buildings that have been reconstructed from original parts. The Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate are two such buildings inside. We were all given headsets so we could listen further about the exhibits. I enjoyed sitting on the steps in the main entryway and people watching the most. While some of the things were interesting, I didn't like it all that much. The entire AJY group went on a covered boat ride through the center of Berlin. The tour guide made lots of jokes that I didn't really understand, but it was nice to sit down for awhile and take in some of the sights. We had free time after the boat ride and I went with Maressa, Eric, Jeff, Kayla, Brett and Janelle for lunch. We ended up sitting in the smoking section. It was a covered area outside and it looked nice. That is until we realized that everyone aside from us was smoking. Yuck. I ordered a small cheese pizza and it was really good. I also had a Radler (beer with Sprite) to drink. I just still can't get over the fact that alcohol is cheaper than water here! We had a fun lunch and really enjoyed talking and just taking a break for awhile.

After lunch Kayla, Jeff and I headed off to the Zoo. Jeff's initial instinct told us to go the wrong way on the train so after a few stops we got off and then went back the other way. We got a discount at the zoo and then also bought tickets to the aquarium. The Berlin Zoo is home to the famous polar bear Knut and is also the zoo with the most species. We had hoped to catch the crocodile feeding, but we waited and it never happened. It really was an awesome zoo. The thing that fascinated me most was its location. It's just right there in the middle of the city. You look up and there are giraffes and elephants and then in the distance you see skyscrapers and other buildings. And there are hardly any huge cages. There is just a little fence that separates the animals and the people. Of course there is usually water or a ditch after the fence, but still! I felt like the animals were just so right there in front of us. As we were walking we ran into Heidi and Sarah. I forgot that they were coming there too! She didn't have aquarium tickets so she mainly hung out with the lions/tigers. They were being fed when we got there and man was that gross! Just a huge slab of meat. Blah! One of the tigers was really mad because he wanted to go outside. He was roaring and making all kinds of noises. I felt really bad for him, especially because some little kids were taunting him and their parents weren't doing anything about it. The only thing I was set on seeing at the zoo was Knut, but by the time we got to him, he had gone inside. I was so bummed! Heidi saw him earlier though so at least I got to see her pictures...and the place that he lives. Sarah wanted to look at things very slowly so we had separated earlier and decided on a meeting point and time. Jeff, Heidi and I found a cool little playground and Jeff took a try at the cool spinning ride. He eventually fell off, but it seemed like a lot of fun. I knew that if I had gone on it that I would've felt sooo sick! So I just took some pictures.

When we met up with Sarah we got some Bratwurst before we got on the train to go back into the main part of the city. There was a soccer game that night so there were fans everywhere. I really want to go to a German soccer game because the atmosphere seems great. All of the cheers and excitement are so cool.

We found our way to the concert hall where we were all going to see a concert that night. We got there on time, but nobody else was there. Finally Dr. Tracy and the others showed up. JUST IN TIME. We ran to the bathrooms and then took our seats just as the concert was starting. I don't know a whole lot about music, but I enjoyed it. Those who are well versed in music liked it so I figure that it had to be really good! Afterwards I went with Maressa, Alexander, Sarah, Anna, Peter and John to a bar that John had been to before. Once again we were put in the smoking room because of the size of our group. The waitresses were pretty rude to us, but we had a good time. There was a group of Swedish men sitting at another table and they kept talking to us about our German and the fact that Anna knew a few words in Swedish. We hung out there for quite awhile and then took a bus home. I was slightly annoyed by the end of the evening, most likely because I reeked of smoke and I was really tired. One of the guys also gave me a hard time about only drinking one beer. Whatever. My tab was much less than his! We did ride on the top of a double decker bus and that was cool. Maressa had never done that before and I was surprised to see them in Berlin. I think they're a little more scary when you're in London because they drive on the other side of the road, but it still felt like we were going to run into light poles and such.

Everyone in our room was asleep when Sarah and I got back, but I had to shower because I could not stand to smell myself. I think it was about 3 AM when I finally got to sleeep!