Berlin and Beyond-Part Zwei

The next two days were more field trips. The first was IAV, which is a German engineering firm. They fed us a delicious lunch, we got to test drive the Mini E (electric), and see a warehouse full of expensive cars. The next day was a trip to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was very quiet and eerie, but a good experience. When we got back to Berlin, we had met a few of our professors at the grillen (bbq) where we had burgers, chips, beers, and got crushed in fussball. It’s hard to describe how good they were and the game lasted no more than a few minutes. The next day, we met Nick again in the morning for a tour of Potsdam. We started outside the city and worked our way in, so we could see all the surrounding woods and lake houses. The city was really cool, seeing the Dutch quarter and all the old architecture. Right as the sun finally came out, they best part of the tour also just started. We saw residences of Frederick the Great, most notably, his Sanssouci Palace which was amazing. The massive trees outside and the palace on top of a hill was quite a sight. We then sprinted back to the room, packed for Prague, hopped on the train, and we were gone.

On the way there, I watched “The Squid and the Whale” which was a very good movie, and a few hours later we arrived in Prag (that’s the first of many things I’ll start spelling the German way). Wandering around for a little bit, we found the hostel that I booked for all 20 of us, called Hostel Friendship. The “sign” for the hostel was a little piece of paper taped to a door, and the price was only 8 euro per night, so sketchiness was expected. Turns out, it was perfect in everyway. We had two connecting rooms with 10 beds in each, and two bathrooms/showers just for us. The gang got dolled up and went to find a bar for our first taste of Czech bier. Pilsner Urquell, so good and ½ liter was only 30 Czech Koruna, or 1.20 Euro. Found a decent club that night, then the next morning it was exploring time. After breakfast, we stumbled on a fan zone for the soccer game later, and then scaled our way up to a castle on top of a mountain it seemed like. What a view! Back down in the city, we found a hidden bier garten where they had authentic Czech food. I had bier, fried pork, dumplings, spinach, potatoes, all for 5 Euros. We then found a nice park to relax in, which was good for later. We went back to the fan zone about 30 minutes before the game and got front row seats for the big screen. England versus USA, and man was it crowded. After USA scored, I leaped out of my seat and was screaming with joy. Easily one of my favorite sport moments ever. After the tied game, we found a bar playing American music, but also fun that the average age in the bar must have been 30-something. It was still a great time though, and the older people were loving our energy, I think. The next day, the entire group got up and packed in 45 minutes (well done), then we had breakfast, did some more walking, and had lunch at a Texas themed burger place with disco music (unfortunately they didn’t sell liters of cola, nachos, and donuts). The train ride back was the last sights of the Czech Republic….until Josh and myself go back later this month.

That Monday, we had went to Topography of Terror, a new museum showcasing the rise and fall of the Nazi party. It had fantastic pictures and tons of information, but our stay was too short so hopefully I can go back soon. We had our first engineering class and later that night, we played soccer against some local kids near our apartments. It was a lot of fun playing on a small field, even if they beat us. The next day after class, I had my very first currywurst, mmm! It was very saucy and nowhere near as good as doner, but still a good experience. Right after, we made our way to an underground tour of Berlin. We got to see old WWII bunkers, cots, crowded rooms, manual electricity generators, 60 year old fluorescent pain that still worked, strainers made from military helmets, and other cool stories from the war. No pictures allowed, but that should give you all an excuse to come visit Berlin. After, a few of us ran back, got ready, then went to a Coheed and Cambria concert. It was a super small venue, the C-Club, that holds 800 with only 350 people there for the show. For that reason, I got right up front for the entire show. First was Long Distance Calling, a really cool instrumental band from Berlin. Then Coheed played with so much energy and I was singing along the whole time. At the end, I picked up their set list they had on stage and then back to bed. Very busy day but every part was worth it. A few days later, we went to a beach bar near the Hauptbahnhof to watch the Deutschland game. They ended up losing 0-1 but we stayed and got front row beach chairs for the USA-Slovakia game. USA went down 0-2 at half but came storming back in the second part of the game. USA should have one if not for the garbage call that took back the third USA goal. Not that it mattered, since USA ended up taking first place in the group anyway.

On Monday, the group met at Haupbahnhof to leave for the VW plant. Upon arrival, we realized it was a kid fair day and the place was like a zoo. It was such a huge place with so much more than cars. We took a tour into the plant where we got to see all the cars on the assembly line, which was cool for us nerdy engineers. There were tons of really cool cars scattered throughout the Carstadt especially the shiniest Bugatti I’ve ever seen.

The next day for language class we went to a Turkish Markt to look around. They had a lot of really good food, and I tried fried honey balls. They were incredibly sweet, so much so that you could only eat about three little ones.

The following day after class, Benny, Kevin, and myself went to the FIFA fan mile. Alongside Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico, Paris, and Rome, Berlin is one of the six international cities selected by FIFA as official venues for the Fan Mile celebrations. We got there early to watch the USA game, but they only had on the England game. They showed the USA score in the corner, 0-0 the entire time. As the England game finished, we knew we were out of the tournament, when they switched over the USA game just as they scored in the 93rd minute! What?!? The three Americans in the entire fan mile went absolutely crazy and were jumping around/screaming in disbelief. After we calmed down, we made out way to the fan mile stage for the pre-Deutschland game festivities. The two highlights were Jason Derulo and K’Naan, who sings the official song for this WM, “Wave Your Flag.” It was such a sight seeing half a million people waving flags and singing at the same time. Schland won on a sweet goal by Ozil, and the place went crazy. Back to bed, what a day.