Auf Wiedersehen

I've made some long-lasting memories with 17 other students who were complete strangers to me just two weeks ago.

We renamed Doner kebabs, went out till sunrise, made silly inappropriate hand gestures, had late night parties in the lobby, explored the park past midnight, spotted the most disciplined and adorable dogs ever, heard of some naked and strange stories, had endless amounts of gin & tonics and have been to the best food places in Berlin, seriously, you don't understand!

Sunsets at Spree

After stuffing my face with all-you-can-eat ribs, Andrew, Kali, Ariel, Briana and I took the tunnel under the Spree River to get some shots of the sunset. We learned that we should steadily approach people when we want to take pictures of them, and that we shouldn't make it obvious that we're taking pictures of them or else they won't come out as natural.

I had to lean in the swampy side of the island to get this shot. I particularly like how the sunlight causes a silhouette on the people. The reflection of the sky on the water is my most favorite.

Turkish market

Despite feeling a bit under the weather, I went to the Turkish market with some of the girls one evening. We enjoyed live music from a variety of street performers. I had one of the greatest teas ever, Tea by Aladdin. After drinking his tea I told him "That was the best tea ever," and I seemed to have made his day because he was completely overjoyed.

These guys were called The Parcels. They sounded quite like Mumford and Sons which was really awesome. It was nice to hear some familiar music. A man walked by and even told the guys that they are the next Beatles. Quite a compliment if you ask me!

After trotting along the sidewalk Kelsey and I got matching hennas on our wrist.

Saturday at the Zoo

Kamran, Savannah, Becky, Ansley, Crystal and I spent Saturday afternoon going to the Berlin Zoo and the aquarium. It was wonderful taking pictures of things other than people and buildings. Plus the change of scenery was soothing and well needed after the long week we just had.

The zoo was filled with children running around and petting animals. Some of my favorite moments were getting to see the different type of fish in the aquarium.

Tons of people were filled with smiles as they walked along the animals. It was definitely a positive atmosphere, which had us all feeling like kids again.

Biking in Berlin

Friday we went on a very long bike ride throughout the streets of Berlin. We visited some amazing places. One of the first stops we headed towards was the Soviet War Memorial. People caught some sun and ate takeout while sitting at the steps of the memorial. One thing I noticed is that locals really enjoy the outdoors. Lots of them lounge on the riverside and in parks alongside friends and family.

My favorite part of the trip was the Berlin Tempelhof Airport. Riding down the runway was amazing, and all I could think of was how much I would've enjoyed this place as a child. We biked 8 miles long, so there was tons to see.
The architecture here is very different from the U.S. I tried taking as much pictures of all the interesting buildings when reaching stop lights.
 On the ride back to the Fat Tire Bike Tours center, a bee flew in my hair and my bike went flying behind me because I completely lost my composure. Aside from that, the whole tour couldn't have been any better.