So, here it is, my last blog post...
12.15
I bid my final farewell to Salzburg as we boarded the train. We arrived in Munich, where we had to transfer trains, and all went smoothly. However, once we got on our new train, an got settled in with all of our belongings, we were directed to get off the train and switch to another, with only 5 minutes to do so. We had had seat reservations, and these were nulled, so we had to wander down the aisle trying to find seats, needless to say it was kind of stressful. Luckily, once we finally found seats, we had 5 hours to relax before arriving in Berlin.
We made it to our hostel, got settled in, and headed back out for dinner. I had Flammkuchen, which is a tasty flat bread with toppings (sort of like pizza, minus the sauce and cheese).
12.15
I bid my final farewell to Salzburg as we boarded the train. We arrived in Munich, where we had to transfer trains, and all went smoothly. However, once we got on our new train, an got settled in with all of our belongings, we were directed to get off the train and switch to another, with only 5 minutes to do so. We had had seat reservations, and these were nulled, so we had to wander down the aisle trying to find seats, needless to say it was kind of stressful. Luckily, once we finally found seats, we had 5 hours to relax before arriving in Berlin.
We made it to our hostel, got settled in, and headed back out for dinner. I had Flammkuchen, which is a tasty flat bread with toppings (sort of like pizza, minus the sauce and cheese).
Flammkuchen12.16
We took a "Free" (have to tip the tour guide) tour of the city in the morning. We saw a good portion of the city, and learned a lot along the way. We got a bit of German Nazi history to subsidize our Austrian Nazi history we'd learned throughout the semester. Some highlights of the tour were the Brandenburg Tor, the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, The Wall, and the Berliner Dom.
Brandenburg Tor
Brandenburg Tor
Holocaust Memorial
Berlin Wall
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
Berliner DomAfter the tour we grabbed a bite to eat, and then checked out the Kennedy Museum ("ich bin ein Berliner", anyone!?). Following that, we headed to the Reichstag, once Hitler's headquarters, now home to parliament. They have free admission to the rooftop terrace, providing a great view of the city.
12.17
We started the day off with a visit to the Olympic Stadium from the 1936 summer games. Next up was the Gedenkniskirche, which was never restored after the damage that resulted during WWII, meant to serve as a reminder of the past. We concluded our time in Berlin with a walk along the East Side Gallery. It's the largest remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, which now serves as a palate for murals.
Olympic Stadium
Gedenkniskirche
East Side Gallery
That afternoon, we boarded a plane and headed to Dublin. We grabbed a bite to eat, and called it a day.
12.18
We enjoyed yet another 'free' walking tour. Honestly, there isn't much to do in Dublin, outside of drinking, so the tour pretty much covered everything we cared to see. The Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, The River Liffy, Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity College, St. Stephan's Green, just to name a few.
Trinity College
Temple Bar
Christ Church
Dublin Castle
Dublin CastleThat evening, I had a Guinness. It was so thick, just like they say, it's a meal in itself. I'm glad I tried one (especially in Ireland), but I think I'll stick to lighter brews.
12.19
It was a pretty low key day. We checked out of our hostel, wandered around the city, and then headed to the airport. We arrived in London around 11.30 pm, and the Tube closed down before we made it all the way to our hostel. We walked (with all of our luggage) from Picadilly Circus to hour hostel by Waterloo (it took about 1.5 hours!). Not exactly the start we were hoping for, but it all worked out in the end.
12.20
It was nice to be back in London, it was nice having some sense of direction/location. We walked our way through London, taking in all the main sights. Having seen it all before, the thing that stuck out the most to me was the Tower Bridge, we actually saw them lift the bridge! This apparently doesn't happen very often, so that was pretty exciting.
Tower Bridge
Buckingham Palace
Big Ben12.21
They day was filled with new sights, as we took the tube out to the further away destinations. We started of in Notting Hill, and the Portobello Road Markets. We saw the book store from the movie (which is now a shoe store) and I found a blue door (not the one from the movie, but I can pretend).
Next up was Wimbeldon. Not all that impressive, but one of the girls I was with plays tennis, so it was exciting for her. We also wandered through Kennsington Gardens again, and I revisited the Peter Pan statue (my favorite piece of London, go figure). A trip to Harrods and Platform 9 3/4 completed the day.
12.22
My travel buddies for the week left me (they flew back home) so I was on my own for the day until another friend, Katie, joined me (she spent the week in Budapest with a friend from middle school). It was a pretty low-key day. I transferred hostels, did some last minute Christmas shopping, and knitting. When Katie got there, we headed out for some dinner, and spontaneously decided to hit up a show -- Hairspray! It was a lot of fun, and a great way to end my 4.5 months in Europe!
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