Traveling with Marieke

I arrived in Berlin and hobbled my way to my hostel where Marieke, my German friend who I was going to spend a few days with, met up with me later that evening. She arrived late so we just went to the beer garden for a bit. The next day we wandered all around Berlin and in the process we found me shoes! Finding shoes was such a huge thing for me because I had been wearing two different sandals for most of the trip because the cuts on my feet were in different places. I found a pair of gold-strapped sandals early on in Greece, which I like to call my Greek Goddesses, which work on my right foot. On the left foot, I wore the Haviana flip-flops I had picked up. So to find a comfortable pair of matching shoes that didn't hurt my cuts after three and half weeks of those other ones was such a Godsend!

The second day in Berlin Marieke and I took a free walking tour that I had heard so much about. It was great! The guide was very funny and told a lot of interesting stories instead of all facts and numbers. I think I have a good knowledge about the history of Germany during WWII but I knew very little about the years of communism. The day before the tour, we walked around and the city was full of pretty buildings and open parks. After the tour though, the city meant so much more to me as we walked by the square where the infamous Nazi burning of the books took place. We saw the Berlin wall, checkpoint charlie, the Reichstag, and the location of Hitler's bunker where he killed himself at the end of the war. Most of Berlin was destroyed during the war, and later East Berlin was partially rebuilt in the cold austere style of the communist era. After the fall of communism in 1989, more modern buildings went up and the end result is an architecturally diverse yet also confused city.

After Berlin Marieke and I took a train to her village in Northern Germany. I learned that the stereotypical idea of mountains and flora is actually Southern Germany. Where she lives it is almost completely flat and primarily farmland. Marieke's friend Inika picked us up from the station and took us to Marieke’s house where the girls made a typical German meal for me. That evening four of her friends came over and made raspberry cocktails, and with each cocktail their trepidation decreased and their English improved. We walked a few minutes down the road to the soccer fields. In their small village, soccer is the primary means of entertainment. The girls started introducing me to the team and I quickly saw how connected they all were with the team consisting of their cousins, brothers in laws, and friends from school. Everyone knows everyone and that's not an exaggeration. I loved it! During the game we drank beer and sprite, a common favorite. It's actually really good! And of course I couldn't pass up my new favorite food, bratwurst with mustard and ketchup. After the game, we went out to the big pub a couple of towns over where all the young people go. It was the best night out I'd had so far! The next morning was the worst I'd had so far. Marieke, Eva, Inika and I took the local train into Hamburg and in our fragile condition opted for a bus tour. Later, when we were feeling better, we took a boat tour and it was great just relaxing on deck and talking with the girls. That evening Marieke and I road bikes 5 minutes down the road to the pub, one of the two stores in town. There about 15 locals were seated around 3 tables placed in a U shape around the big flat screen. The Eurocup was on and Germany was playing. To tell you the truth I can't even remember if they won or not, it was just fun being there during the cup!