Berlin

So I guess you can say we are country hopping, which is insanely cool and definitely not where we pictured ourselves a week ago. Berlin has a different feel from all of the British culture we have encountered thus far, but the people here are still wildly friendly, just speaking a language we absolutely don't know (smiles and nods and charades have been enough to get us through so far, and the fact that 95% of the locals mercifully do speak English). Today was filled with lots of history as we stumbled upon parliament as well as one of the many Holocaust memorials across the city, and one of the biggest stretches of remnants of the Berlin Wall. These were very sobering encounters where our eighth grade memories of history class were quickly jogged, and then kick started with amazing memorials and museums all documenting the world changing events of the 1930's and beyond. On a happier note, and to my brother's delight, we found the Volkswagen museum titled simply: Drive. Between this museum and the neighboring Mercedes Benz showcases, I heard my fair share of Derrick's excited jargon about engines and models and who knows what else, but the cars were shiny and picturesque so we were both happy. We also accidentally realized that the Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus is this Saturday here in Berlin. This occurred to us chiefly when hailing a taxi from the airport and all of the Nissan taxis were outfitted with stickers announcing they were the official vehicle of the match, and was reconfirmed today when we happened upon the celebration plaza with thousands of excited fans roaming the streets. Unfortunately we won't be attending the final, but it will still be a rowdy atmosphere come Saturday! Next stop = Munich!

Der Reichstag- Haus of German Parliament

Holocaust Mahnmal- memorial for the 6 million European Jews murdered by the Nazis

Entrance to the Champions League Celebration plaza

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