July 2^nd, 2012

Day 44: Berlin, Germany

This morning, we got up early enough to shower, get ready and meet Ricky and his husband Michael at a train platform near their apartment by 11. We also met up with Michael’s friend from work, Michelle and all headed out to brunch!

Ricky is my Mom’s best friend’s son- we’ve been long time family friends with him (and his entire extended family in Barrington/Bristol) and he is back in Berlin for a while following up on his Fulbright research!

Ricky and Michael took us to a small café right near where Ricky used to live while he was studying here several years ago. After translating the menu and ordering for us, Stephen and I both settled on a big breakfast of eggs, toast, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh squeezed OJ. Yum! The food was absolutely delicious and it was a great start to the day.

After brunch, we hopped on the train and were on our way to the Olympic Stadium from 1936. Or so we thought. Turns out we jumped on the wrong line and ended up going all the way through the Green Forest, but hey- no sweat! At least we got to see a bit of the Green Forest before leaving Berlin! We eventually made it to the Olympic Stadium, got tickets to go in and walked around for a while.

The stadium was host to the Olympics in 1936 with Hitler presiding over the ceremonies and events, which was something I didn’t know about the time period. It was also given a facelift in 2004-2005ish as Germany was the host of the World Cup in 2006. The stadium is absolutely gorgeous and definitely something I would have missed out on had it not been for Ricky’s suggestion!

Olympic grounds

The inside of the stadium

The crew!

A photo for the mothers!

The opening of the 1936 Olympic games. Hitler & International Olympic Committee officials

The Olympic flame basin

Winners

Stephen & the flame

A tribute to the Gold medalists of Germany

After we left the stadium, we said our goodbyes on the metro and Stephen and I proceeded to zigzag around the city for the next 2 hours trying to figure out how/where to buy bus tickets to Prague. Eventually (with 30 minutes to spare before closing), we made it to the bus station and bought 2 tickets to the Czech Republic!

We headed back to the hostel, relaxed for a bit and then got ready to head out to the Pub Crawl! We visited 4 bars and 1 club, got a few free and discounted drinks at each place and had a grand old time. Things close super late here, so we didn’t find ourselves getting home until about 6:30a…yikes!

Favorite part of the day: Meeting up with Ricky! It’s always nice to see a friendly face from home when you’re abroad J