Oops, just kidding, those aren't my friends Ashton and Madison. Those are goats. This picture was taken on our first night in Berlin.
I have very few photos from our first day in Berlin, because I spent most of it in bed with a very sore neck watching MTV and the World Curling Federation. Long story. The first night, though, we went to a market where I haggled to buy some earrings (which are super-cute, by the way) and found a small zoo with the cutest baby goats (see above).
We also found Kinder eggs, which excited me to no end. Shout out to Mimi and Poppa, who brought Reid and Abbie and me Kinder eggs when we were little. Kinder eggs are hollow eggs made out of milk and white chocolate, and they have toys inside of them:
It was like a little bit of my childhood--and a little bit of Mimi--found in Germany! PS, Ashton's in the middle and Madison is on the right.
For dinner, we went to the oldest beer garden in Berlin, the Pater Garten:
As I am not a drinker, I decided to try some non-alcoholic beer. Although I have never tried beer, I would bet that non-alcoholic beer is to alcoholic beer what fat-free Oreos are to real Oreos: you've taken out the one thing that made it worthwhile! The non-beer was...disgusting. Just totally gross.
The next day, we went to the Brandenberg Gate. Funny story: Napoleon once stole the chariot statue from the top of the Brandenberg Gate because he was...well, Napoleon. When he was defeated, Germany took back the statue and, to add insult to injury, turned the head of the charioteer to stare at the French embassy (which is to the right of the Gate). Way to go, Berliners!
We also went to thhe Reichstag, and then...we went to the Holocaust Memorial. Which is, to put it simply, stunning:
There are 2711 slabs (the number is insignificant) of differing heights. You can walk through the slabs:
On an uneven path. It's meant to be unsettling, and it is. When you walk through, there is a lot of darkness and a sense of being lost that makes the memorial totally effective. At least, that was my impression; you're supposed to make your own meaning of the memorial.
After lunch was Checkpoint Charlie! I was pretty excited about it, because I think Berlin's history is pretty darn fascinating. Berlin was a pawn in so many conflicts, but it was also an instigator of a lot of conflicts. Berliners (or whatever they are called) exude this mixture of apologies--we are so sorry for trying to take over the world and for killing lots of people--and strength--our history may affect us, but it will not make us. It's great.
Back to Checkpoint Charlie:
And then on to the Jewish Museum. At the Jewish Museum, we got to hang wishes on a Wish Tree:
And we saw some funny yarmulkes:
The Holocaust Tower in the Jewish Museum is also pretty impressive. The only light comes from a tiny window in the corner, and it's cold and huge:
Next stop, the Berlin Wall! If you ever get a chance, look up the history of the Berlin Wall. It's too long to put here, but it's absolutely fascinating:
Finally, we went to Museum Island. It has lots of museums and a very large church:
The next day and night, we took a train from Berlin to Paris and then an overnight train from Paris to Nice. I quite like overnight trains. Once we got to Nice, we met Jacque and immediately headed off to Monaco!
We went to Monaco for one reason: to add another country to our list. It was pretty cool, though. It was Madison's 21st birthday, so we had a picnic on the beach and did some wading:
Clearly Jacque was the only one of us prepared for that photo.
We also visited the Japanese Garden in Monaco:
We headed back to Nice for dinner and the best sorbet I have ever tasted (seriously. It was like they picked raspberries in heaven and then made them into delicious). We ate our sorbet on the beach at twilight:
Walking back into town, we saw these:
And we climbed the big hill in Nice, which led to this view:
Walking back into town, we saw these:
I have no idea. Let's call it art. They are naked men who light up as colors, and the colors change...
The next day, we hung out around Nice. We visited the beach again, this time in the daylight:
And we climbed the big hill in Nice, which led to this view:
Afterwards, we relaxed in a park and ate dinner at Subway, and that was pretty much Nice.
Coming up next: Paris and Palma Mallorca!
