bitte schön

Our trip is pretty much over at this point. All we have left to do is get some sleep before our early flight back to london. Berlin was pretty awesome. It is not a very picturesque city because they had to rebuild the whole thing after WWII (not to mention we are staying in what used to be east berlin) but it has a alot of amazing history and a LOT of amazing food. Charlene and I haven't really eaten anything besides potatos, sausage, and pastries for quite a few days. ok, that's not true. just now we ate fruit. but it was covered in chocolate.

these are the things we did in berlin:

alexander platz christmas market
mauerpark
postdamer platz christmas market, where we went sledding!
free walking tour, including: brandenburg gate, reichstag, holocaust memorial, berlin wall, checkpoint charlie, a bunch of other historial buildings and squares where important things happened
unter den linden christmas market
pop art exhibit
kreuzberg for dönner kebabs and chanukah market (this was already closed)
prenzlauerberg christmas market
climbed to top of reichstag
checkpoint charlie museum
modern art museum including paintings by lichtenstein, warhol, etc.
awesome local soup restaraunt
prenzlauerberg christmas market again (the other one we wanted to go to was closed)
bratwurst mit saukraut, bratkartoffeln, currywurst, glühwein, apfelpunsch, heisse schokolade, kuchen, pommes frittes, etc, etc, etc.

you might notice that clubbing is not on this list, even though we planned to go check out the hipster berlin scene. that is because (1) being a tourist takes up a lot of energy and (2) it's sooooo colddddddddd. oh well. christmas markets over clubs any day, I always say.

The only thing I am disappointed about is that we didn't really meet any locals during our trip. Germans and Belgians aren't all that outgoing, it seems, and we sure as hell weren't going to be the ones to try and stike up a conversation when it's hard enough just to order a hot chocolate. In both cities I got the impression that the locals were completely apathetic to our presence, which was actually kind of refreshing. It's nice to be able to come and go as you please in the world.

I am really really excited to come home for break and I am bringing presents! But only as many as I can fit in my backpack back to London, so prepare to be underwhelmed.