Back to Berlin

“Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin”

Marlene Dietrich

Berlin has a special place in my heart and it always will. As I mentioned in my first post, I spent a month in Berlin three years ago. In that month three years ago I lived with my amazing host mom Manuela, formed some incredible friendships, decided my career choice, and fell in love with the city.

After a six-hour train ride, I was ecstatic to be reunited with Manuela in one of my favorite cities. The first thing we did was go to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Christmas market. Everything was so pretty with Christmas lights everywhere! We looked around at the different vendors (and I bought a cute Nutcracker ornament because The Nutcracker is my favorite ballet) and enjoyed some hot cocoa.

The next day we went to a farmers market for breakfast. It was so huge and the food was delicious! We had Gӧzleme (a Turkish flatbread dish that somewhat reminded me of a quesadilla), fresh juice, and caramel crepes with a splash of lemon juice. After breakfast, we went to Charlottenburg Palace. It was super interesting and beautiful (definitely recommend)! Then we went to the Christmas market at Alexanderplatz, the Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt (between the Franzӧsischer Dom and Deutscher Dom0, and walked around part of the city. When we got home we had a movie night.

On Saturday, Manuela and I went for a walk in a park in Charlottenburg and stopped for coffee and cake. I had a scrumptious chocolate cheesecake with Oreos. Later that evening, we went to the Berlin Botanical Garden to look at the light show. Everything was mesmerizing! (Did I mention that I like Christmas lights?) To end the evening, we enjoyed some delicious tea and soup and enjoyed each other’s company.

My weekend in Berlin was so great! I had a wonderful time catching up with Manuela and spending time with her. It was fun reminiscing back to one of the best months of my life. It’s amazing to think that three years ago I was preparing for a month in Germany because today marks my fifth month completed in my year-long exchange. So far, my exchange has changed my life in so many positive ways that I can’t explain how thankful I am to be given this opportunity.