Spring Break Part 1: Berlin

Since I had a bit over a week of Spring Break, I wanted to take advantage of that time and go somewhere relatively far away from Spain. I chose Poland, a country I didn't know anything about except for the fact that Auschwitz is there, near Krakow in the south. However, flights were cheaper to Berlin which is a nine-hour bus ride from Warsaw which is five hours from Krakow, so that's how I planned my trip. I know sometimes it's better to choose one or maybe two cities to relax in and get to know, but since I was traveling by myself, going from city to city doesn't bother me too much.

In Berlin I didn't do too much besides go to museums (There's an entire Museum Island!) and walk around the city. There were historic buildings reconstructed after WWII's damage, bland buildings from the communist era, and beautiful modern glass buildings all together.

On top of all this, street art can be seen throughout the whole city, but especially on the remains of the Berlin Wall which is now an open air gallery.

Berlin has a lot of history (mostly sad) ranging from Nazis to the Berlin Wall. Various monuments, such as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe do their best to tell the stories of those murdered during the Holocaust. There are a few museums that tell the story of the rise of Nazism in chronological order so that visitors can attempt to wrap their heads around what exactly happened. Throughout Berlin there are also sites where significant historical events took place, such as the book burning at Bebelplatz. Even Hitler's bunker is there,

although there's not much to see. It's nothing more than a parking lot built on top of it and a sign describing the layout of the bunker. The site is kept minimal in order to prevent any kind of neonazi pilgrimages. Besides, Berlin is not going to try to erase its history, but there are certain things not worth preserving...

The city of Berlin has been through a lot; after having dealt with the Nazis and the damage of WWII, it was divided into East and West Berlin. A replica of the famous Checkpoint Charlie sign can be seen in front of a museum dedicated to the wall. If you're lucky, you can also see a crazy man yelling at the government in multiple languages (this is not part of the exhibit; I asked.) Across the street from Checkpoint Charlie, there's a McDonald's that has its own "You are leaving the American sector" sign.

I tried to find a positive activity as well, so that my 48 hours in Berlin weren't filled with just sad parts of history. The city is home to the world's first and only David Hasselhoff museum , but I opted for something more classic and went to the Neues Museum and the Pergamon Museum. In the Neues Museum I saw the bust of Nefertiti, one of the most beautiful sculptures I'd ever seen in my life, but of course it was in the one room in the museum that didn't allow photos, so all I have is this postcard:

The other highlight at the museums was the Babylonian Gate, which belonged to King Nebuchadnezzar II.

Finally, I saw a dome from Granada's Alhambra, and I do think I remember our tour guide saying that the original was in a museum somewhere when I toured the Alhambra.

I run into the Alhambra quite often in museums in other countries, as it's the inspiration for artists worldwide.

This blog post is quite late; since Berlin I've been to two cities in Poland, Frankfurt, and Paris while still keeping busy in Granada. I only have two weeks left here, (no, I'm not ready to go home!) so blog posts will probably be coming even when I'm back in the States.