Out and about in Berlin.

The next morning, we woke up to a wake-up call (which was hugely obnoxious and far too early) and got ready, then headed downstairs for breakfast. The offerings were juice, coffee and tea, as well as cucumbers and tomatoes, cereal with milk or yogurt, and breads, jams, meats and cheeses. We had a light breakfast and I packed a sandwich for later in the afternoon, and then we waited for the entire group to gather downstairs in the lobby before boarding the bus.

Our first stop was Checkpoint Charlie and the accompanying museum. It was an interesting place, but the information was haphazardly organized throughout the first two floors, and the most intriguing bits were the stories of the people who escaped or attempted escapes over or under or through the wall. The third floor was a mishmash kind of exhibit about religion and countries and other things that - at first look - didn't appear to be connected to the rest of the museum, so we left.

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We walked around a bit and I did some souvenir shopping, picking up some Berlin flip-flops and a lighter, as well as a few postcards. We wandered around the neighborhood and stopped for lunch at a Vietnamese place, where I had spring rolls and a beer (saving room for my sandwich) and Elia ordered a huge and delicious soup. From europe v2 From europe v2

When lunch was over, we milled around our meeting point for around 10 minutes. In the morning, we were one of the first groups, but by this time, the place was buzzing with all kinds of tour buses, and it struck me as rather commercialized, with guards in uniform posing at the checkpoint and charging an outrageous price of 1 Euro per person in a picture. Ridiculous how people capitalize on these things.

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Shortly after, we met up with our tour guide for Berlin, a certain Kevin Kennedy, who was nothing short of awesome. For the next three hours, he guided us through the city by bus, pointing out all the major sights and explaining the history and significance of them, as well as adding his own personal commentary which we found fantastic (but which offended much of the conservative Texas group). Some of the places we drove by or saw included: 

The Brandenburg Gate, The US Embassy, a Jewish Memorial, a Gay/Lesbian Memorial, and of course, many many strips of the Berlin Wall.

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After our tour ended, we found ourselves at the edge of the river, where a boat was waiting to take us on a one-hour tour of the city. It was at this point that I skipped out on the tour, heading instead to the nearby train station at Alexanderplatz and taking the S-Bahn to the hotel, where I settled down at a nearby cafe to watch the soccer game (USA versus Algeria). 

Unfortunately, the England versus Slovenia game was running concurrently, and the German media decided to air that match with only highlights of the other one every once in awhile. Disappointing, but the most I could ask for I suppose. The server at the restaurant befriended me since it was a bit slow (4 p.m. - not yet dinner) and he brought me beer, taught me some phrases in German, and made conversation with me. 

The game didn't appear to be going too well, but once the other match ended, it cut to the American game which was just ending, and I was able to catch the last few moments in which we scored!!! I started yelling, but of course no one around me seemed too interested, so I ran inside the restaurant to tell my new friend "Wir haben die Fussballspiel gewonnen!" and he grabbed me and hugged me and kissed my checks and told me how excited he was for me. Then he introduced me to his co-worker as his "new American friend" and explained that he was happy my team had one. It was quite a moment.

After I calmed down a bit, I walked back to the hotel, a couple bottles of Gaffel Kolsch in my bag, and opened them up while I waited for the group to get back from dinner (also a buffet, which I gladly skipped based off the previous night's experience). Everyone else arrived a bit later and I went up to the TV room to drink and go over the game with Jake (who - dedicated fan that he is - woke up at 6 a.m. and went down to Streets of London to drink and watch the game in the packed, standing-room only, pub).

After a little bit of downtime, I met up with the other girls and we got all decked out in our German gear and then set walking down the street to find a place to watch the Germany versus Ghana match. After a series of false starts, we ended up going down to King's Pub (which I'm convinced was a gay bar) and hung out with a few of the Texans, drinking beer and cheering for Germany, who won (of course!). 

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After the game was CHAOS. People and cars and flags and horns and screaming and cheering and honking in the streets for HOURS. We watched it and cheered at the passers-by for a good thirty minutes, but finally, Elia found me and suggested I go get some food, as I hadn't yet eaten and I was relatively drunk. 

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We made our way to an Italian restaurant and I ordered a pizza while Mario the pizzamaker was blowing kisses at Elia and calling her "bella". At some point I told him in German "First off all, she doesn't speak German, second of all, can I have some cheese and peppers?" and then later on I told him she was married, and when he asked me where her ring was, I told him it was so big and expensive that it had to be locked up in a safe in the hotel. He responded with, "Ok, boyfriend, hotel?" And I said "No, boyfriend San Francisco, ring hotel." His response "Not a problem for me". Haha.

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Anyway, once dinner was done, we made our way back to the hotel and I went to sleep in preparation for the next day.