A Wonderful Visit to Berlin, Followed by an Eventful Journey Home

When I was a junior in high school, I became friends with a girl named Wiebke (pronounced like "Veeb-ka"), who was from Germany and studying abroad at Rogersville High School for a year. She was a really great friend, and we've kept in touch a bit throughout the past four years. Last Thursday, I took a bus from Oxford to the London Heathrow Airport, and, after two hours of flight delays, I boarded a flight to Berlin, Germany to visit Wiebke and her family. It was an absolutely wonderful trip, the perfect mix of relaxing and sight-seeing and having fun.

Wiebke picked me up from the airport on Thursday evening and, after dropping my stuff off and spending at little bit of time around her house, we went to eat dinner at a really neat Italian restaurant near the Sony Center in Berlin. The next morning we went to the local grocery store and bakery and prepared a wonderful breakfast of breads, meats, and cheeses:

Her parents' house is really neat. It was originally built around the 1920s and has a lot of character and intricate design. They also had a beautiful advent wreath in the dining room that we lit during meals, which made me reminiscent and excited to be at home for Christmas soon.

On Friday we walked around the area where she lives and got gelato (the Italian version of ice cream), which was delicious and visited a lake, which was freezing but beautiful.  

Gelato!

That evening, we went out with a couple of her friends from college. They were really nice and fun to spend time with, and, like Wiebke, they speak perfect English. Berlin at night is beautiful and exciting. We had dinner and cocktails (like England, the drinking age is 18 in Germany) at a delicious Indian restaurant. 

Wiebke and me at dinner:

 Me with her friends, Vivi and Ben. (You can kind of see the famous Berlin television tower behind us.)

The next evening, we went to a Christmas Market in the center of Berlin with Weibke's parents. It was one of the most fun evenings that I've had since arriving in Europe. First of all, Wiebke's mom and dad are absolutely lovely. They don't have a ton of confidence in their ability to speak English, although, I was able to understand almost everything that they tried to say to me. And I only knew a few words of German that Wiebke had taught me over the weekend, but her parents were really nice to me and so much fun to be around. It's remarkable how easy it can be to get past a language barrier. 

So, the Christmas Market. I wish that I could explain how festive and breath-takingly beautiful the Christmas market was. It's one of the biggest Christmas markets in Germany and located in the center of several amazing historic buildings. There were nativity stars on the tops of all of the tents, a huge Christmas tree, and tons of lights! 

Here are a couple photos I found of the market from the internet:

It was just as incredible as these photos make it look. We wandered around, looking at the stalls, and drank Glühwein to stay warm. Glühwein (pronounced like "glue-vine") is a traditional drink that's sold at Christmas markets in Germany. It's essentially mulled wine, served warm and infused with a lot of spices. It's really delicious!

Here are some photos of us and the market:

 Me with Wiebke's parents:

We ate a traditional German Christmas dinner (roast goose) at a really nice restaurant that was attached to the Christmas market. Here are photos:

After dinner, we wandered through out the market some more, ate some roasted macadamia nuts for dessert, and eventually headed home. It was really such a special night. I feel so lucky to have gotten to experience such a neat cultural tradition in Germany, especially in such fantastic company.

Here are a few more photos:

The next day (Sunday), Wiebke and I woke up early to do some more site-seeing. We drove around Berlin, and she showed me various historical sites. Most excitingly, we went up in the Berlin television tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernsehturm_Berlin). The television tower is the tallest structure in Berlin, and, from the top, you can see an amazing view of the city. It was definitely worth the wait.

Here are some photos from outside of the tower:

And here are photos of the view from the inside:

Here are some of more photos from our day of sight-seeing:

 Check-point Charlie:

 The Berlin Brigade:

Golden Else:

After our sight-seeing tour, we went back to her house, had a Christmas snack, and I collected my things to return home. Wiebke brought me to the airport, and I flew back to London Heathrow. After standing in the immigration line for an hour, navigating the London Underground, and impressively locating the Victoria Coach station, I took a bus back to Oxford and arrived at my dorm around midnight. It was a really wonderful trip to wrap up my first term in Europe.

Two days later, Patrick and I headed home for Christmas. Here is my dorm room in the midst of packing:

By the end of this year abroad, I intend to be an expert packer. As of now, I still have a long way to go. At the airport in London, I found out that my suitcase was about 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) too heavy. The nice man at the airport didn't make me pay extra though! 

After a very long and, at times, stressful day of travel, which involved some insane lines at immigration and a heroic sprint through the Washington D.C. airport to gate D12, we finally touched down in Kansas City at 7:10pm (1:10am Oxford time). Unfortunately, my luggage didn't make it to Kansas City with us, but the airport was able to deliver it to me the next evening. 

I spent yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday) on campus at Jewell, visiting with friends and professors and attempting to get a start on all of the work that I have for the break. Last night, Ryan and I went over to our family friends, Garry and Heather's, house for dinner. When I'm studying at Jewell, I usually go over to their house for dinner at least once a week, and I've really missed family dinners since I've been in Oxford. It was wonderful to be back! Tonight, Ryan will drive me back to Springfield and I will be home for the first time in three months! 

This will be my last post for awhile, because I won't return to Oxford until January 7th. 

Over the break, I'm going to get to visit all of my grandparents and spend a week and a half in Florida with my dad. I can't wait to spend time with all of my family and friends while I'm back in the States. 

Happy holidays, everyone.