Saturday, April 4, 2009

This morning we woke up and had breakfast at our hostel.  Breakfast was not included but only cost 3.50 Euros.  It was an all you can eat buffet.  We had the options of corn flakes, granola, oranges, apples, fruit cocktail, and fixings for sandwiches.  There was a few types of bread, meat, and cheese.  There was also coffee, hot chocolate, and juice to drink.  After breakfast, we walked to the Brandenburg Gate where Sandeman’s free tours meet.  Our tour ended up being 4 ½ hours long.  Berlin is full of history especially in the past one hundred years.  We saw a lot of sites including the Brandenburg Gate, the new Holocaust Memorial, the site of Hitler’s former bunker, and the Berlin Wall.  We also were shown the former SS Headquarters, Checkpoint Charlie, Bebelplatz, the TV tower, and Museum Island. 

After the tour, Rick and I walked around for a little while.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and almost hot.  We then headed back to our hostel.  For dinner, we met up with a friend from high school.  During our senior year, Tina was a foreign exchange student from Berlin.  We contacted her and she took us to a restaurant that served traditional German food.  The food was amazing although a little expensive.  Rick had salmon with a sauce on it.  It was served with spinach.  I ordered a dish that had meatballs and potatoes in a sauce.  It sort of reminded me of a casserole I have made a few times.  It was really nice to be able to catch up with Tin. 

After dinner, Tina drove us around Berlin for awhile.  It was interesting to see things lit up at night.  She pointed out where she used to live and a school she used to go to.  She also took us to a section of town we had not been to.  It was nice to see a little bit more of the city.  By this time it was getting pretty late, so we decided to call it a night.  If Rick and I didn’t have a morning train back to Leiden, we may have stayed out longer.  But we decided sleep was more important.  Tina dropped us off at our hostel and we said good bye.  She is hoping to come back to the United States in about a year so we talked about seeing her then.  Rick and I went back to our room and packed so we didn’t have to do it in the morning and then we went to bed.