Day 3: A (Long) Bike Ride Abroad

I haven't rode a bike in what feels like years, which was clearly evident today. My class spent today on a group bike ride through the city, given by a wonderful company by the name of Fat Tire Bike Tours. The weather seemed rather ugly and overcast for my Florida senses, but it actually turned out to be very pleasant. It didn't rain very hard or long at any moment, and the sun never beat down on us as we rode through the city. The bike tour lasted from around 10:30 am to about 4:00 pm and spanned over 8 miles of the city. We started at the base of the Berlin TV Tower, where the Fat Tire Bike Tour headquarters is located. We then went on to tour the former East Berlin by riding down the city streets and sidewalks.

An interesting observation in Berlin is the overall prevalence and significance of the bike lanes. Biking is extremely popular in Berlin and therefore designated bike lanes populate most streets and/or sidewalks in Berlin, more so than in America. Also, the bike lane is a very respected construct in Berlin and if you are found walking in it you will get yelled at by angry bikers. 

Our tour guides were an American man named Andrew from Wisconsin and a lady named Hannah from Scotland. Both had been in the city for a few years and were a tremendous help in guiding us through the former East and giving us insight and advice into the culture of Berlin. We traveled all over the city in those few hours on bikes.

We visited RAW-Gelande, a large area full of defunct factory buildings that are now used as clubs, bars, cafes, an indoor skate-park and a rock-climbing place. 

We also were able to visit the Tempelhof Airport, which is a former East Berlin airport and the center of the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949. Today it is a large community park and refugee camp. 

Biking through it was an experience like no other, as there is almost no other place on Earth quite like the runways and camps of Tempelhof. 

On the bike ride, I passed by a large community garden, one that was overgrown with vegetation and had multiple structures made out of scrap wood and metal that included benches, tables, garden plots, a play castle and a giant jungle gym. I could see several children playing among the plants and junk structures. It was an interesting and unique area, where people came to garden and relax. It was unlike other community gardens I had seen, with a more wild and "improvised" feel to it. 

We also had a chance to see several of the murals and paintings that adorned the city's building walls. My favorite of these was a giant mural painting of an elephant that was made up of several symbols of the different religions of the world. In front of the mural, there was a small court where two boys played soccer (or football I guess). It was a beautiful sight to see something that complicated imposed over something so simple. 

The elephant mural was one of the last things we saw, but it was one of the most beautiful. It helped conclude a long and arduous, yet absolutely fantastic, day. I'll say this: if you are ever in Berlin, look up Fat Tire Bike Tours and take one. It will change your life.

Day 2: An Introduction to the Berlin Wall

On the second day of my stay in Berlin, the UF in Berlin Photojournalism study abroad coarse officially began. My companions and I began the day by checking out of our hostel and heading to the Hotel Transit Loft, the place where we would be staying for the rest of our time in Berlin. We met up with most of the rest of our group (some of them were busy flying into the airport or getting themselves lost in the city) and Professor Freeman took us to a nearby park called Volkspark Friedrichschain.

The center of the park is a large hill with lots of trees and winding paths to the top. What you don't know at first glance is that the hill is actually an old German World War II bunker/flag tower. If you looked close, you could sometimes see the telltale signs in the form of ruins and cracked concrete. 

The park also had a beautiful lake and a large fountain.

One of the things that I found most interesting about the park however was not the man-made structures, but the absence of man's influence. Unlike many larger parks in the United States, the park here in Germany was not manicured and left relatively unkempt. The vegetation was allowed to grow where it pleased and often overgrew onto structures and the paths.

Later that day, when everyone had officially arrived, we went to the official Berlin Wall Memorial. 

It was an interesting experience actually going to the wall, after having heard so much about it through the years. To actually go up and touch it was crazy when you think about all the rich historical context that it was created in. 

On the sides of the wall there is a lot of graffiti and many people and families lay out in the grass, relaxing next to the monuments that represent such a difficult and dangerous time in Berlin. 

Professor Freeman also showed us a cobblestone line that aligned itself with the Wall. He explained to us that this line goes throughout the city and shows where the Wall once stood.

The most fascinating part of the trip to the Wall was getting to look through the cracks of one area and getting to see a remnant of 'The Death Strip.'

This was the area in between the two Walls that was lined with barbed wire and where several people died in escape attempts from East Berlin to West Berlin. Seeing this area through a small crack was chilling, seeing the desolate ground and how daunting it must have been to cross.

After our time at the Wall we went to a Biergarten for dinner. A Biergarten is a large open-air eating area where you can buy a small meal or drinks and eat with friends. It was like a large outdoor high school cafeteria, but it's for adults and families and it has good food. There were even little children running around and playing without a care in the world. It had such a great atmosphere and I'm amazed we don't have something quite like it back in the United States.

The Biergarten was a fitting and fun way to end the second day of the trip and the first official day of the study abroad course.

Day 1: Sleepiness, Skittles, and So Many Cigarettes

Just to get things straight, I've traveled overseas before. I've even traveled very close to Germany. I know all about the long waits in line, the running between connecting flights and especially the overwhelming sense of tiredness in your body when your internal clock is forced to cope with a new time zone. I'm very well aware of this, but it doesn't make it any less miserable.

I spent approximately over 29 hours awake from the time I woke up to drive to the airport Wednesday morning to when I was finally able to sleep Thursday night. Much of that time was spent in an airplane, and you would probably say "why didn't you just sleep on the plane," and to that I can only respond with: "I can't sleep on planes." I've never been able to do it before, and I certainly couldn't do it this time. Once we landed in Berlin, I took a taxi with my travelling companions to our hostel across the city. The ride there was beautiful, as we got to see most of the city's famous landmarks. The taxi driver did basically refuse to take us to our destination however, as he passed it and tried to act like he was going the right way. This was all of course an act to get more money out of us, but that's to be expected when 4 tourists with no real proficiency in German hop into a taxi cab in Berlin.

Once we checked our luggage in my companions and I decided to stay awake until nighttime to adjust our bodies to the new time zone. In order to keep ourselves awake we took our own little walking tour of the city and were introduced to its beauty.

After grabbing lunch at a restaurant near the Spree river, we crossed the bridge to see the Berliner Dom.

The Dom is an old cathedral on Museum Island in the Mitte district of the city. We were unable to go inside that day, but we walked around the entire building and marveled in its size.

Out in front of the Dom, there is a large grassy area that people can go and relax on, so we did. It was very interesting because it allowed me to relax and observe the people of Berlin at the same time. One of my earliest observations was that SO MANY people smoke cigarettes in Berlin. In the U.S. cigarette smoking is beginning to get phased out, especially by the younger generations, but in Berlin almost every single person smokes regularly. It is a small, yet interesting cultural difference I observed early on.

The grassy area outside the Dom was great for observing people and taking pictures as it appeared to be a central public place of relaxation. I had to be careful however, for it became increasingly easy to fall asleep on the grass given the peacefulness of the area and my insane sleepiness. I resorted to eating the bag of Skittles I had originally reserved for the plane ride to Europe. They did the job well enough, but it was still a struggle to stay awake.

The first night in Berlin my companions and I stayed in a hostel called the Citystay Hostel in the Mitte district. It was my first time staying in a hostel and I was quite amazed with the experience. The place had a warm and cozy feeling, despite it being inhabited by mostly total strangers. The lobby area was very cute, especially the courtyard area.

We spent most of the evening at the Hostel and we all enjoyed some drinks at the Happy Hour in the bar downstairs. It was a fantastic atmosphere and it was interesting to see so many different people from different parts of the world shacked up in the same building. That probably sounds a lot like any hotel anywhere, but the feel of the hostel is a very different one. A homier one. A cozier one.

And speaking of "cozier," after my first German drink I went to my room, climbed into the top bunk, crashed harder than my computer on this spotty Berlin Hotel Wi-Fi, and proceeded to sleep over 12 hours. I knew I would sleep for a while, but it didn't make it any less enjoyable.