#2 Willkommen in Berlin!

March 26, 2023

WOW! What a first day!

After a smooth flight through the night, we landed in Frankfurt on time on Sunday morning. We then "hiked" through the long walkways of the Frankfurt airport and were super excited to learn that our connecting flight to Berlin was proceeding as scheduled whereas most domestic flights had already been cancelled due to the nationwide transportation workers' strike that will officially start at midnight tonight. (Later on we found out that Berlin was the ONLY airport in Germany that was still operating on schedule -- Glück muss man haben!)

We arrived in Berlin around 1:30 p.m. local time and transferred via taxis to our hotel near the Kurfürstendamm. After a quick orientation and refreshing showers, we headed to an early dinner at Ristorante da Toni to experience our first German-Italian Pizza and Pasta. With full bellies and a second wind, we were now off to explore the city! After a short S-Bahn ride and transfer to the U-Bahn at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Europe's largest train station), we arrived at the Brandenburg Gate. To see the smiles on the students' faces was simply priceless! Comments like "Oh my God, that is just like the poster in your classroom!" or "I can't believe we're really here!" just made my day!

We took lots of pictures at the Brandenburger Tor, spent some quiet time and reflective moments walking through the Holocaust Memorial site, walked through the Tiergarten to the Bundestag, and then along the Spree River through the Regierungsviertel (government district) back to see the Tor all lit up since it was now almost 9 p.m.

And although everyone was getting a bit tired and cold, in the spirit of trying new things, we had our first taste of Berliner Currywurst from a street vendor for an evening snack, and then finally made it back to the hotel. (18,616 steps later 😄).