Berlin Day 2

June 19, 2012

We woke up at 7:30, had breakfast at 8, and then left to go to Potsdam.

We got to experience public transportation. We switched many times and went on a super crowded bus but eventually made it to the Sanssouci Palace.

The grounds were very beautiful and we didn't get to go inside but the park was gorgeous.

Frederick the Great's grave. He brought potatoes to Europe so they're on his grave. He wanted to be buried here by the palace far away from his wife in Berlin and his dad at the church.

It's so pretty! 

The palace.

Madi and I. And also our tour guide on the left. The tour was in English so we understood more.

 Gorgeous fountain.

 The whole castle and the gardens.

I really liked the flowers planted around this statue and the gardens were really nice.

 My feet hurt from all the walking but Lisa had it worse because of her blisters :( She was putting band-aids on her poor ankles in this picture.

Sisters!!

This is the Chinese House. The people in the statues look completely European except they have slanted eyes.

Tunnel.

 More pretty garden.

  Libby!! We found you yet again!

Emily was tired. So she just slept on the sidewalk waiting for the bus. Lisa also sat in gum here.

  The most expensive street to live in Potsdam.

The Cecilienhof Palace.

We weren't supposed to take pictures in here so I didn't but it was very neat and Madi and I history fangirled. It was so cool to be in the place where something we'd learned about had taken place. Our tour guide was very nice and he said he spoke "broken English" but it was very understandable. Much better than my German:) Each of us had an earphone and he had a microphone so we could all hear him clearly.

We went into Stalin's, Truman's, and Churchill's offices. I touched Stalin's desk!!!!! Even though I don't think I was supposed to. The other two's desks were too far behind the rope to unnoticably touch. And we saw the conference hall and it was so cool!!! I also didn't know before how hard they tried to make sure everything was equal. They had 3 entrances so no country entered ahead of another and was more important. They also closed the big stair entrance in the conference hall so all entered through identical doors. Stalin also took the room with a second entrance because he was paranoid about getting assassinated. Also, Stalin faked being sick so he could arrive late and prove his importance to the conference. Overall, it was an awesome experience! 

 I was here!! (Picture from Google)

And then we traveled back.

We all had to get into groups of 5 and 6 and got bus tickets to ride back to the youth hostel later.

There was some drama here because mostly we were split into American and German groups and that's not what the teachers want. I kind of understand both sides. The teachers want the guests to learn the langugae, in this case German, and practice it as much as possible. On the other hand, the partners don't know each other that well yet and would rather have fun with friends. Lisa and I are already friends and want to spend time together but the others aren't that comfortable yet. 

Because of this, this time the ratio of Germans to Americans was much more equal and more people were with their partners while yesterday the majority of a group was either German or American. 

Random picture in Berlin.

We went shopping and Shelbi bought a lot. I bought a little Berlin bag.

We ate here. It was a little weird and confusing because you had to get cards and put your order on that and pay later. After waiting for the pizza to be made for twenty minutes, I ate. It was tasty.

Then, we came back. We wanted to go out again as a big group but we waited a lot because of some other drama and then it rained a little so Emily, Jenna, and I came back. And didn't really do much. Madi and the others were back late but they had fun.

Also, because I am so motherly, I became known as Mamanka today. And I have 7 beautiful daughters: Jenna, Madi, Logan, the twins Kaitlin and Emily, Shelbi, and baby Libby. And Lisa is their aunt. And Lena is their grandma because she usually acts like Lisa's mom on trips. 

Today was another fun day even though my feet hurt a lot. But Lisa didn't complain so I couldn't either. Despite the bumps that any group trip has, Berlin is really nice and I'm glad to be here.