I woke up to my roommates talking about stuff. One guy was way too loud. I think he was drunk. Eventually I fall back asleep. I got up early, like 4:30. Showered and had breakfast at the cafe downstairs.
Went to the Brandenburg Gate. It was pretty surreal. That whole area is nuts. The Brandenburg Gate directly faces the Victory Column so I figured I might as well go there. This messed with my original plan to go to the Reichstag Building and Potsdamer Platz since they were both near the Brandenburg Gate. But whatever, spontaneity! Lol. That was a loooong ass walk. It was through a humongous park that was pretty cool. The park was full of trees that had no leaves, just the way that you always see in World War II movies. The Victory Column was really dope, especially the way the statue shines in the sun.
I walked back through the other side of the park to the Reichstag Building. When I finally got there I was pretty impressed. It looks so genuinely German. I wanted to go to the glass dome on top of the Reichstag but you have to book it in advance. I believe it's free as well. It's supposed to give a dope 360° view of the city and I loooove that stuff. Maybe I'll come back and see it one day.
Fortunately you don't have to make a reservation to go to the TV Tower. The TV Tower is tall af and you can see it from anywhere in the city. For some reason it reminds me Big Brother from "1984." I was able to make a reservation online anyway, which would save me time when I did get there.
From the Reichstag Building I walked towards Potsdamer Platz. Fortunately I ran into the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe on the way there. That place is trippy.
I finally got over to the Potsdamer Platz and it was a crazy contrast to the rest of Berlin. It felt so modern. It felt like Las Vegas mixed with New York. I dunno, it was some weird combination. They say that it's a good way to see how the separation of East and West Germany changed Berlin. One side modernized while the other started traditional.
The way that Berlin has combined the old architecture with the new is so refreshing, especially compared to Milan. The new and contemporary buildings here don't stick it like a sore thumb the way they do in Milan. They say that the level of bureacracy in Italy is ridiculous so I guess that's one hurdle that Milan has to overcome. I don't think Germany has the same level of bureacracy. If I had to guess, Germany seems like one of the most progressive countries I've ever been to. I feel like the quality of life here in Berlin is so high. I wasn't ridiculously excited about Berlin when I booked this trip, but it's definitely exceeded my expectations.
Anyway, I took a train over to the TV Tower. I had some more time to kill so I went to a döner spot. It was pretty good, but not ridiculously great. I didn't expect it to be because it was just a döner spot that was convenient. I headed over to the TV Tower which wasn't far. But on the way there the weather went crazy. There were craaazy strong winds, enough that we all had trouble walking. It was really fun lol. The wind stopped for 10 seconds and it immediately went into a crazy rain storm. Everyone had to rush indoors. I powered over to the TV Tower place and made my way through.
Even though I had only made a reservation two hours prior, the reservation saved me soooo much time. I skipped a bunch of long lines. The view was fucking amazing. The Eiffel Tower is still the dopest 360° view that I've ever seen, but The TV Tower was dope in its own way.
After that I started to feel tired again. I knew I still wanted to see Checkpoint Charlie and maybe go to a beer garden. But jetlag crept in so I figured I'd go back to the hostel to recharge. I took a quick nap and headed out. I stepped out the front door and was greeted with another fucking rain storm. Weather changes here so much in such a short span of time. It's honestly a welcome feeling for me, since we don't get extreme weather in San Diego. I ended up drinking beer in the common area of my hostel. Once the rain calmed down, I headed over to the Adidas store which thankfully was only three train stops away. I shopped at a couple stores before buying a beanie at Adidas. I wanted gloves but they didn't have any in my size. I would have gotten Nike gloves but you can't wear Adidas and Nike together! Lol. I figure I'll just get some gloves at the Adidas in Prague 😀.
I went to get schnitzel for dinner. I went to this highly rated restaurant and honestly, schnitzel isn't much to write home about. I'm taking currywurst over schnitzel any day of the week. I do think that I would get tired of currywurst if I had it all the time, but for someone who's only in town for two nights, currywurst was fucking AMAZING.
My train doesn't leave Berlin for Prague until 12:45PM tomorrow. I'm hoping I can go to Checkpoint Charlie (walking distance from my hostel) and get one more good meal in before I leave. Might have to fuck around and get currywurst one more time, lol
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