Susie and I lived every little girls fairytale by walking the enchanted grounds of the Barbie Dreamhouse. Head to toe the entire place was covered in pink! We were taken on a journey by walking through each room of Barbie's house, and were able to interact with things such as baking a cake, making a postcard and doing Barbie's hair. Her closet was like a make belief Carry Bradshaw closet - it's safe to say that we were in heaven. We finished our tour with a delicious pink sparkled doughnut!
The Berlin Wall
Although most of the wall has been taken down, there are still places where it has been preserved. We walked along a large chunk of the wall during our "Alternative Walking Tour" where we learned a few things. The city asked if the original street artists who originally grafittied the wall could come back and paint their artwork all over again. Turns out, if you are asked to do something which was once illegal but now isn't, there is no interest by the artists. Below is an image of the 'original' wall with the 'original' artwork.
There was a tree house we visited along our tour of Berlin which built while the Berlin Wall was being built as a peace initiative. The man who originally built the home no longer lives there but does spend ever day in his garden watching the people walk by.
There was an all you can eat buffet for your eyes of amazing street art around Berlin!
Burgermeister
Have you ever eaten in an old mens public restroom? Neither had we until visiting Burgermeister! Hands down the best burger I have ever eaten and the most interesting place to say the least. This is Berlin's hidden gem and a very popular one. If you are interested in some "late-night eats", you will be expected to wait nearly an hour for a burger. Luckily we visited during the day so it was cooked very quick. Also, it is not over-priced!
Topography of Terror
Egyptian Museum Berlin
When I was in grade 4, we began learning all about Ancient Egypt which I was thrilled about. One of our assignments was to re-create something from that time period. Naturally, my artistic mother and I made the bust of Nefertiti. I might be a bit bias but I think we had the best project. Ever since then I have been dying to see the real deal in person.
While walking through the Egyptian Museum towards Nefertiti I was a mixed bag of emotions. My heart sank as I turned the corner and walked into a dark room with one light directing right at the bust. She was more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. There were no pictures allowed on the floor where Nefertiti was located, it was nice to be able to gaze at the ancient artifacts without being distracted and crowded by cameras.
While being on this trip I quickly realized that there is so much I didn't know about the holocaust. Walking to the grounds of the Holocaust Memorial was dark and interesting - the entire property is covered in cement blocks which looked like tombs.
Upon walking into the memorial, everyone is given an audio set which was helpful to be able to walk around and learn about the documents in front of you. The second room had lit up documents and postcards on the floor from people in the camps addressed to their relatives saying goodbye. All around the room are numbers of how many Jewish people were murdered in each of the countries in Europe within their 1937 boarders. One example was there were 2.9-3.1 million people who were murdered from Poland. The whole room was shocking. One letter which moved me is written below:
Dear father! I am saying goodbye to you before I die. I would so love to live, but they won't let us and we will die. I am so scared of this death, because the children are thrown alive into the pit. Goodbye forever. I kiss you tenderly. Yours J."
Postscript by 12 year old Judith Wishnyatskaya. Found by a soviet soldier in byte, close to the eastern polish town of Belarus. The letter was written shortly before both mother and daughter were murdered not far from the pit.
Wombats Hostel
We had a great stay at Wombats. The location was good and safe with lots of restaurants close by as well as a subway station. The hostel gave us a free drink coupon for the amazing rooftop bar and patio overlooking the city. If you are looking to stay at a place with recent college grads and a young atmosphere, this is the place for you!
* They have wifi only in the lobby area and the rooftop bar + patio
Prost (cheers in German) to a great time in Berlin!
{Images by Sara + Susie}
