Weihnachten in Berlin

Before I get into my latest travels, I'll fill you in on what I did last week.

Thanksgiving!

Me in front of the tree at
the Schönbrunn market

Elizabeth's sister and friends came to visit her so on Monday I met up with them to go to Figmüller for dinner. Figmüller is an Austrian cuisine restaurant famous for their Wiener Schnitzel that is bigger than the plate! I had the frittatensuppe (clear beef broth soup with strips of pancakes) and a gemischter salat, one of my favorite items on austrian menus, a salad with german potato salad (potatoes in vinegar instead of mayonnaise), white cabbage, slightly pickled cucumbers, and the usual lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots. Then we went to the travel shack with Emily for a while that night. On Thursday, it was American Thanksgiving! I was feeling a bit sad about not being with my family but I ended up having a great day. During the day, Louise and I went to the Christmas market at Schönbrunn Palace, which was so beautiful. We had glühwein and walked around looking at all of the ornaments and other things being sold at the stands. Then at night, John, Emily, Louise, Elizabeth, and her sister and friends came over for a Thanksgiving feast! I had cooked turkey breast the night before and everyone pitched in with the meal. John made mashed potatoes, Emily made an apple crisp for dessert, I made green beans, stuffing, rolls, and a sweet potato casserole, and Elizabeth made some chicken to have as well. It was nice making a great meal with friends, drinking wine, and enjoying each other's company.

Brandenburg Gate

Early Friday morning, Louise and I flew to Berlin, Germany for the weekend! The title of this blogpost means "Christmastime in Berlin". Berlin was decked out for Christmas! It was definitely my kind of place. Louise and I met up with Chelsea, my roommate from the past two years from Richmond. We stayed with Chelsea's friend, Jen, who graduated two years ago from Richmond, which was so nice. She is doing a Graduate Program for a year in Berlin and staying with a host family but lives in their friend's apartment on the floor above. It was so nice being in a real home and not a hostel or a dorm. On Friday, the four of us went to a Thai restaurant nearby Jen's apartment. I had pad see ew, which was delicious and reminded me of Ginger Thai in Richmond. Then Louise, Chelsea, and I went off on our own to explore the city. Berlin is huge with a giant overwhelming u-bahn/s-bahn map but we managed to wander and find our way. We went to the Brandenburg Gate, walked to the Reichstag (Parliament building), then saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, ended up finding the incredible Potsdamer Platz Christmas Market (which had a 70 m long/12m high toboggan run), and then saw more christmas markets and the Berliner Dom (Berlin's cathedral).

Steins at the Hofbrau Haus

Friday night we had the privilege of being invited to Jen's friend's host family's house for a Thanksgiving dinner! Louise, Chelsea and I didn't realize how much we missed being in a home. It was so lovely to meet different people, talk, eat fabulous food, and drink wine in a cozy house with the fireplace going. We had all the fixings: a 30 lb turkey, gravy, stuffing, green been casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It almost felt like home, it was such a treat. After dinner, we met up with Jen's friend Paul from the Netherlands to go to the Hofbrau Haus, a huge beer hall where you drink steins and sing german drinking songs. It reminded me so much of Munich and Oktoberfest where I had been in the Hofbrau Tent. We had steins of Radlers which is a half beer/half sprite mixture which sounds gross but is delicious and gives the beer a honey-like flavor. We were there until 2 am and then because Berlin is such a huge city, we didn't get home until 3:30 because of waiting for trains and switching lines. It really made me appreciate Vienna's size and metro system!

Louise and I in front of
Schloß Charlottenburg

Glühwein at Schloß Charlottenburg!

 We woke up pretty early Saturday in order to get another full day of sightseeing in. We started our day at Schloß Charlottenburg, the palace in Berlin. It was very beautiful and very different from the other palaces I've seen in Europe. There was one room with the most beautifully painted ceiling with different elements coming out of it looking very 3-D and another room that Louise said looked straight out of Hoarders, with over 2,700 porcelain objects covering the walls! After touring the palace we walked around the christmas market in front of the palace where they had lots of cute gifts at the stands. Chelsea and I had apfel glühwein and Louise and I had some delicious goulash. There was also a huge Windädchen, which is a German candle holder carousel, something that reminds me of home because my mom has one that she puts out every christmas from when she traveled Germany with my dad to visit my Aunt Bess & Uncle Mike years ago. After the market, we made our way literally across the city to the East Side Gallery, which is the longest standing part of the Berlin Wall that was painted by artists in 1990. I really loved the paintings, they were so interesting and such a different form of art, in the sense that it was on such a historical landmark and casually on the street that people drive by every day. After the wall, we tried to go to the Berliner Dom to tour the cathedral but they were closed for some reason so we weren't able to. Since we couldn't tour the cathedral we wandered around a few christmas markets on our way to meet Jen for dinner. We saw some really great crafts and had a snack of the delicious roasted almonds that always smell so good in the markets. Jen took us to another beer hall/restaurant called Gaffel Haus which is a brewery in Cologne, Germany where Jen studied abroad when she was a junior. They make a specific beer that can only be called Kölsch, similar to Champagne in that it can only be called that if it comes from that region. I had a weißbier and a delicious casserole with salmon and spinach. Afterwards we walked around a few christmas markets including one called the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market which had a beautiful huge tree decorated in white lights, with beautiful buildings surrounding the square where the market stood. Then we went to the Berliner Weihnachtszeit Christmas Market near the Rathaus (Town Hall), which was huge with an ice rink and a ferris wheel as well as all of the food and gift stands. After a late night Friday, a busy day with a lot of walking, plus some glühwein and bier, we were ready to call it a night after the last market.

Me, Chelsea, and Louise in front of the Berlin Wall

Me, Louise, and Chelsea at Gaffel Haus

Sunday Morning, we sadly said goodbye to Berlin and went on our ways. Berlin was definitely one of my favorite cities. I loved the atmosphere and everything about it (minus the largeness of the city and the difficulty figuring out the subway map haha). I'm so glad I was able to go, it was a great trip! This week I'll be busy studying for my Management and Finance finals (Management is this week and Finance is next week) and on Thursday I will be off to Rome and then Milan with Emerald until Tuesday!