I'm sure you've been checking my blog daily, desperate for an update that never came. During the past month I've been traveling in Germany and some of the surrounding countries with my boyfriend and my sister. It was a spectacular trip, spent with the people I love most in the world, and I was much too busy having an amazing time to bother updating my blog.
However, don't despair. During the entire trip, I kept a journal that I updated semi-regularly. For the next few days, I will be posting excerpts from that journal along with pictures. Each day I'll post a week's worth of journal entries to catch you up to speed on my thrilling life. Without further ado, here we go!
January 17, 2014
I am in the air, en route from Abu Dhabi to Berlin, where Nick will be waiting at the airport at 6:35 in the morning to welcome me. I've been waiting for this day for so long that it hardly seems real. Of course, the jetlag and mental/physical exhaustion only add to that dreamlike quality. So many times I've imagined what it will be like...but now that the time is finally here, all that feels stripped away. There is about one more hour until we land, and the future seems unknowable in the best possible way. I am ready for the dreaming to stop and for the reality to begin.
January 20, 2014
It has been three very full days since I first arrived in Berlin, and they've been some of the happiest days of my life. It feels as though I've already been here for weeks because so many emotions have been packed into such a short amount of time.
The first day, we spent close to home. I was exhausted from the flight over and jetlag had taken its toll, which meant that we spent the entire day alternating between napping and exploring the surrounding neighborhood.
The next couple of days we've alternated between touristy activities and staying close to home. My second day in Berlin, we slept in well into the morning, then braved the sudden chilly weather to work out together in the gym. We then made the horrible mistake of waiting in the bitter cold for close to 45 minutes to acquire the famous Mustafa's Gemuse Kebap, which was admittedly delicious, but maybe not worth the close call with frostbite. After that ordeal, we had had enough of the cold for the day, and decided to make dinner at home, spending the evening in the cozy sanctuary of the apartment.
Yesterday proved to be even colder, and the temperature was accompanied by icy rain that froze on any surface, making it nearly impossible to go anywhere without your feet from flying out from under you (Berlin actually issued a weather emergency warning!). But by this point, we were both rather tired of hanging out at the apartment all day. So we braved the weather, and slipped and slid our way to the Neues Museum, looking at ancient artifacts and peering into the mesmerizing eyes of the bust of Nefertiti. After the museum, we met up with Duong, a long time friend of Nick's, and his family at the Brandenburg. We ended up all going together to experience the first part of Nick's Christmas gift to me: tickets to see the Hobbit together. It was an evening of fun, friends, and warmth.
A beautiful cathedral near the Neues Museum
The Brandenburg Gate
Yesterday, snow finally came to Berlin. It began overnight and left a thin white layer over everything in the city, making it seem very pure and clean. Nick and I ate a late breakfast, then wandered out into the world, cutting through the nearby park on the way to the gym. The trees were laden with snow, and it crunched quietly under our boots as we walked. After a long workout, we stopped by the market and then Nick took me to the second part of my Christmas gift: dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. We ate with our hands, grabbing at delicious piles of meat, vegetables, dips, and mixtures with crepe-like pancakes, pausing to sip banana beer from a wooden bowl.
The food itself was divine, very hearty and zesty. The atmosphere was comfortable and warm. And the company, of course, was first class.
Today, we are currently on a train to Potsdam, just outside of Berlin. Nick is going to an interview for a possible internship, and then we will wander around the grounds of a nearby castle. I am excited, and I am very happy.
Someone was nice enough to give this poor statue a scarf
This was the first Stolperstein Memorial I saw in Berlin--small metal squares embedded into the ground in front of Jewish households affected by WWII.
Delicious Ethiopian food!
