Back to the grind!

First off I would like to say how insanely blessed I feel to have had the opportunity to go home for two weeks over break and spend the holidays with my wonderful family and friends! No surprise here, the highlight was obviously the New Year’s wedding extravaganza put on by the Knapp family, who have always been known to throw one hell of a party and this New Year’s event was no different. Shout out to Mandy (RIGGAR!) and Zach and another congrats for finally tying the knot after eight years.!!;) Might as well do it in style, right?!

Anyyyyywho. I am back in Madrid now and not wasting any time—the first weekend back the roomie and I ventured off to Berlin, even though I think we were both still recovering from jet lag from arriving to Madrid just a few days earlier. It’s only been one week since we’ve been back and it’s already been a whirlwind…although with all of our travel plans I have a feeling that ‘whirlwind’ will be the perfect word to describe the remainder of this year in general.

In front of the end of the East Side Gallery:)

Ahhh Berlin. I am so glad that I made it back to Germany just as I hoped that I would after my first visit earlier this year. It was refreshing to revisit this country full of friendly people, clean streets, and good beer. Berlin was really cool (I mean that in the temperature-sense, too…don’t let the sunny-and-clear-skied photos deceive you. Walking around for merely an hour left our faces feeling like we had just come off of the mountain and Sara literally got wind-burn from walking around the day before I got there). Not to be dramatic (which means I’m about to be), my nose was running the whole time we were there, which is no surprise these days, but I had the brief image flash into my head of the scene from Dumb and Dumber when his snot freezes to his face because the wind was so cold when he was on the motorcycle. Okay, that DIDN’T happen to me…but I’m just saying…it could have.;) 

In front of Brandenburg Gate:)

In a nutshell...We started out by walking around on Saturday morning and touring the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall. This part of the wall is completely covered in painted art, most of which was far too abstract and symbolic for me to even begin to comprehend, but it was really interesting to see to say the least! Over the next day and a half we also toured the German Capital Building, ventured over to see the Holocaust Memorial, the West Side Gallery (where I may or may not have scavenged a piece of the wall itself to take home with me...shhh), and the Topography of Terror (which were the remains of what was once the S.S. Quarters back in the day and was crazy to see as well), Checkpoint Charlie (where we got our own passports stamped!), Brandenburg Tor (Gate), and the Berlin Dom (Cathedral). Berlin definitely has a buzzing energy about it and it was fun to simply walk around and explore the sights and take in the city. 

Frostbite and windburn aside, we were able to get a good taste of Berlin and the intriguing mix of old history and modern architecture that it has to offer. On a side note, we stayed in St. Christopher's hostel and I would highly recommend it (they have locations all over Europe)...not only a great place to stay but also a fun atmosphere to enjoy both during the day and at night for any young and budget-conscious travelers.:) Like I said, it has been a whirlwind of a week but I am excited for the months of teaching and traveling ahead and I can’t wait for the next adventure! Stay tuned!:)