Cedar went to Scouts Camp for over a week and Matt left on a work trip, so Ashton and I went on our own trip… to Berlin.  I had heard it was an interesting city, and it was cheap to fly to, so I booked it.  It is definitely an interesting and unique place: artsy, hip, and diverse.  The city is decorated in beautiful art and graffiti, people enjoying the river and sitting outside to eat, people of all kinds dressed in interesting and hip clothes, and street musicians with songs and guitars.  We walked the Berlin Wall, ate all kinds of affordable international food, ate Berlin fare including currywurst, bratwurst, coffee, popsicles and pretzels, went to an art market, and Jess drank beer outside next to the river while watching a street musician (you can walk around with bottles of beer there!).  We had a very enjoyable time checking out this city together, and I am thankful I was able to go.

We visited the Holocaust Memorial, went to an IMAX 3D movie, and took a train to spend a day with a high school friend living in Braunschweig (about an hour and a half train ride away).  The best thing we did was rent bikes and ride all over the city.  It is a really big biking city with bikers everywhere, including moms and dads with babies on bikes (MBOBs and DBOBs are what we named them!), and we realized while biking that it is really the best way to experience the city.  We got to see so much more than we would have on public transportation or walking.  By the way, the public transportation was amazing, too– everywhere we wanted to go we could get to easily via bus, train or tram.  On bikes we saw a ton of art, parks everywhere, cute tree-lined streets, the River Spree, new buildings and historic landmarks, a grafitti-covered community center, and all kinds of interesting people.   There are bikes for rent all over the city and you rent them by downloading an app on your phone– it’s so easy!

I was just reading a bit about Berlin culture, and saw that “Berlin’s nightlife is one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind in Europe.  Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software,, TV, radio, and video games.  Many young people, cultural entrepreneurs and international artists continue to settle in the city. Berlin has established itself as a popular entertainment center in Europe.  The city has a very diverse art scene and is home to over 700 art galleries. In 2005, Berlin was awarded the title “City of Design” by UNESCO.  Berlin is currently at the leading edge of the global contemporary art scene. It is estimated that 6,000 to 7,000 artists live in the city.  Berlin is home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city.”