SOLO EURO: DAY 20-22 [BERLIN & AIRPORTS]

ok, last one to go and then i am finally done with this trip (and can focus solely on planning my next one). the next day was my last full day of my trip. i had originally planned to go to sachsenhausen-oranienburg concentration camp, but decided i wanted to spend my last full day visiting somewhere emotionally lighter. i settled on spandeau zitadelle.

c.1559

the citadel is one of the best preserved renaissance fortresses in europe. it was originally built to protect the town of spandeau, which is now a part of berlin (i walked through the small city center of spandeau after). interestingly today bats sleep in the vaults during the winter. 

the citadel is surrounded by water for obvious reasons.

the italian courtyards

the staircase up the julian tower

the buildings on site are used for a hodgepodge of things, including a cafe, artist studios, & event space. there are also a few exhibits/museums on site, but nothing too exciting. i visited the barracks that house a temporary art exhibit, another exhibit that houses some of berlin's original monuments that were removed (mostly nazi & soviet), the arsenals, & the spandeau museum.

i then made my way to the town of spandeau and got some coffee & snacks, saw a church, and then made my way back to the station.

a church in spandeau

once i arrived to 'mainland' berlin, my first visit was the palace of tears, one of the the former border crossings between east & west germany between 1962 - 1989. this site got it's name because from this station, for the most part, was the end of the line for east germans. west germans could continue their ride while east germans were left behind. from here, tears were made.

the lobby

i then thought i would finally submit & try currywurst, a berlin creation. it's pretty much a hotdog with ketchup & curry powder. it's as disappointing as it sounds.

i then took a stroll to the museum of film & television berlin. a recommendation from the nice korean roommate i mentioned from my last post. i am in no way a cinema connoisseur, but thought it would be interesting to learn more. the only classic german movies i knew of (which was expanded twice as much because of my sister) were 'metropolis,' 'the cabinet of dr caligari,' & 'nosferatu.' there is also a pretty big exhibit on marlene dietrich.

there were lots of mirrors here.

the museum is at the sony center, where sony's german hq are. there are also restaurants here & a movie theater. i had some ice cream :)

for dinner i decided to return to the same place i ate a few weeks prior (i love my schnitzel). i also got a slice of tiramisu.

on my back to the hostel i saw this random site. behind the glass are the ruins of the hotel esplanade. the building was destroyed during the bombing of 1945. these remaining ruins are attached to the sony center.


during my second stay in berlin i met 2 strangers at my hostel who were friendly. the first was a young woman from korea who was so kind. she gave a korean face mask for me to use and we talked about our travels & our lives back in our respected countries. she is also an illustrator & gave me a towel with her design on it. she said she brought it during this trip as a gift to give to someone. it was very special.

the second person i met was from scotland. she invited me out to eat, but i had already eaten. we talked about out careers & how our home society sees traveling solo. when i told her my family is not the most supportive and that that is the norm, especially for female solo travelers. she thought it was because society sees it as lazy & irresponsible (traveling weeks at a time & leaving your responsibilities behind). i told her i thought american society sees it as taboo because it is seen as unsafe & risky. it was interesting to hear her point of view about scottish society.

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the next morning, and the last morning, i made my way to berlin's botanical garden via the train.

this is considered the italian gardens with the greenhouse in the distance

after a stroll, i made my way back to bustling berlin to the kulturforum which consists of a collection of cultural sites. this includes a music hall, multiple art museums,  a library, and even a school.

at the kulturforum, the only museum i visited was the gemaldegalerie, an art museum that mostly has european paintings form the 13-18th centuries. 

i then walked over to potsdamer platz. this is a giant square in berlin that also consists of a ton of tourist sites. i had already visited here several times.

once again, i love how both poland & germany has so many of these quick cheap coffee/sandwich/pastry places.

i then took the train to one of berlin's old jewish neihborhoods. 

some more stolpersteins (stumbling stones)

the new synagogue. it was one of the few synagogues to survive kristallnacht, but unfortunately did not survive the war.

the deserted room. a memorial to the jews who were uprooted & sent to camps. 

down the street was an old neighborhood in hackescher markt  that is a pretty big hipster place now. there are a lot of young people & urban/street art. the first stop was the silent heroes memorial center.

my last stop of the day was the museum blinkenwerkstatt otto weidt. during wwii, otto weidt had a workshop & employed blind & deaf employees to protect them from deportation.  

otto also hid a jewish family in a hidden room behind a backless cupboard.

during my last train ride of my trip, i found my name :)

i then made my back to the hostel to to pick up my backpack & make my way towards the airport. because i had an early flight, i decided to stay at a holiday inn near the airport that providesd free shuttle service to the airport. i took the train to the closest stop & then made the walk to the hotel. it was very confusing because you had to navigate around fenced up vacant fields. it was starting to get dark & i was getting a little nervous, but i eventually found my way to the hotel. i checked into my room, and since i was kind of in the middle of nowhere sorrounded by fields, homes, & other hotels, i ended up eating dinner at the hotel bar. i enjoyed my last night sleeping in my own room.

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not a flattering photo at all, but this is my airport garb & backpack situation from when i have to carry all my stuff with me (ie. train station to station, hostel to airport).

i woke up very early in the morning just to play it safe. my flight did not leave until after 9, but i ended up taking the shuttle before 6 in the morning. because this is the smaller domestic airport of berlin, i was not allowed to check-in or go to the terminal until an hour before the flight (i had never experienced this before), so i ended up spending a couple hours in the airport lobby area. when i was able to check-in, i was nervous about how heavy my backpack would be, especially with the towel that was gifted to me. when in doubt, i was going to look like an idiot & wear it like a scarf. norwegian airlines is much stricter than wow. i could not check-in online & was forced to have my carry-on weighed before boarding. to my surprise, my backpack was only 7 kg (max was 10 kg). i was a proud backpacker.

my first layover was in oslo, norway, but fortunately it was not too long. as opposed to my 17 hr layover in iceland, this one was a measly 7 hrs. i went duty free shopping (wanted to buy perfume to remember my trip, but did not like any so bought a pair of sunglasses), did some cross-stitching, & walked around the place. the international airport in oslo is the fanciest airport i have ever been to. and wow people are right about scandinavian food; it's expensive (especially in the airport)!

my mug displaying my duty free sunglasses.

i also got a latte & 'school bread' (a pastry with vanilla custard & coconut flakes)

eventually i was able to board. i had planned to sleep during the 10 hour flight, but slept very little (i would be arriving back 5 in the morning german time). instead i watched my cousin rachel, 4 weddings & a funeral, and moulin rouge. i also pre-bought 2 meals during my flight because online the airline seemed very strict about bringing food on the plane. 2 crappy meals were $40 & they ran out of the one i ordered! they were super crappy & small. i will never do that again. i then arrived 10 at night in la. i had one day to get used to the time change and the next day started a new job. 

now that's a wrap! i'm not going to spend time reflecting anymore on this trip or talking about what it meant to me. it took long enough for me to finish. i started planning this trip in 2012 & it took until 2017 to be able to go. i worked hard to make this happen & it was a wonderful learning experience. i liked the thing & i will be doing the thing again. as it looks now, i will be doing the thing in italy later this year. fun times. 

now for a song. i am still on that 1975 roll. i just do not get tired of their albums. 'robbers' was one of those songs that really stuck the first time i heard it (it has an epic build-up). also the world baklava is in the song. how many songs do you know that have that? anyhoo, enjoy!

on a side note, expect some overdo suburban adventures in the near future.