What There's Alot of in Berlin

1. Döner Kebaps-There's at least 3 on every block.
   
2. Playgrounds-with huge, scary slides and water pumps, there are three just on our block
   
3. Currywurst stands- every from the U-Bahn to the lakeside
4. Bakeries and Cafes-yum!!
5. Flea markets and farmers markets-so much stuff!!
   
6. People- German, Turkish, English, Muslim, Jewish, French, Russian...
7. Graffiti- It covers every possible surface
   
8. Beautiful Old Buildings-Wow!!
9. Weird, random things-?????
10. Bike Paths-we can ride all over the city. There are even special turning lanes for bikes.
11. Lakes- Germany is full of them!!!
12. Kleingarten colonies-read about them on my Gin+Gelato!

We're having really fun, but I miss u all in the U.S. You all have to come visit soon!!!

The World Cup in the Capital of Germany

All Germans are obsessed with fussball (soccer). When I first saw the red, black and yellow flags hanging from balconies, and sticking out of people's cars, I didn't know why they were there. Then I remembered that it was that time every four years, where every pro soccer team came and played together. The World Cup.
Every day we would walk down the street, passing by a bar that always had people sitting outside, eagerly watching the TV in front of them, cheering on Germany. We decided that it would be fun to go to a restaurant or bar and watch one of Germany's games. So when I got home, I looked on FIFA's website and saw that Germany would be versing England in a game that would decide who would be in the Quarter Finals the next day. We couldn't wait to go.

Sitting in the only restaurant we could find that wasn't completely full, sipping lemonades and sour cherry juice, we waited for one of the teams to score. Germany scored. The crowd goes up in cheers, the waiters and kitchen staff come out to see the replays. Everything quiets back down. They score again. Everything is looking good. It's likely that Germany will win, and the people know that. But then England scores, and the crowd in silent in anticipation, waiting to see what happens next. Germany scores again, then again in overtime. The referee blows his whistle. Everyone claps and whistles, hoots and laughs. A car speeds by, honking it's horn. All night people were partying. Germany got into the Quarter Finals!

We watched that game too, and it was very exiting. Germany beat Argentina 4-0, and everyone was very happy. Last night we watched the first game of the Semi Finals, Uruguay versus Netherlands, and found that Netherlands with be the team to play either Germany or Spain in the Finals. Germany vursus Spain is tonight, and it's going to be a huge game. It's hard to predict who will win, since they are both great teams, but I'm rooting for Germany. Go Germany!!

More Fun in Berlin

We've done so much these past couple of days that i can't type it all. I'll just tell about the pictures.The first is of a waterfall in a park that we went to two days ago, which has just about the only hill in Berlin. There's a blue tower that you can see in the background, which is on top of the small hill.
The next is a picture I took of a piece of the Berlin Wall. My dad and I went downtown yesterday, and went to this touristy place that told all about it. I still don't completely understand it all but i think it's pretty interesting. The third one is of Elena on this super fun see-saw type thing, which we found in one of the many,many cool playgrouds around the city. It makes you go really high. The huge building in the next picture is this

enourmous palace that the king of Prussia gave to his girlfriend to show his affection. The picture shows about half of it. The gardens are about a third of the size of the Tier Garden, with a lake, fountains, forests, and endless pathways. I'd like to live there.
The last picture is of one of the many U-bahns throughout the city. It was really hard to catch it in motion. Today we're going to check out one of the schools. I really miss all of you, and can't wait to see you soon.


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Our first full day in Berlin

Today, I woke up at 10 a.m. in the room Lydia and me are sharing and ate a croissant from one of many bakeries one block down. Me and Lydia and my dad went to the store and got some stuff called Musli. You can eat it cooked and uncooked. It will be for breakfast.

Then we ate lunch.

It was a salad, nothing big. Then we brought Princess to the vet, which took forever. We got out of the vet at about dinnertime so we went to a stand and ate currywurst, which are sausages with curry on them. Then we came home and ate smoked fish, bread and salad.