It is hard to believe that the Easter break that
once seemed so far away has finally arrived.
Jemma and I, along with two Italian girls and a Spanish girl decided to
take the opportunity to visit another country and experience their culture, so
on Tuesday we eagerly boarded a flight to Berlin.
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| All of us standing by Bradenborg Gate. |
I was
immediately impressed by the city and found there were a lot of differences
between Germany and Denmark. The city is
huge and the transport system vast – we found ourselves using the plane, train,
bus, metro and tram all in our first day!
It is very well organised however and surprisingly we figured out how to
navigate our way around it quite quickly.
I found the atmosphere and ‘look’ of the city in contrast with Denmark
also, with Berlin seeming a lot more urban with strong architectural buildings
in comparison with the almost picturesque Copenhagen. This may be due to the fact that the city is
still under development which we noticed as we took a walking tour, and East
and West Germany have only be reunified in the past twenty years. During the walking tour we saw many of the famous
sights of Berlin and it was beneficial to have a tour good who could explain
the story behind what we were looking at.
A particular highlight was the Bradenborg Gate which looked magnificent. It was on this tour that I realised Germany
has similarities with Northern Ireland in terms of the East and West divide further
highlighting that it is not just our country that has a troubled past and it
was very interesting to hear the history surrounding it.
Whilst in Berlin we decided to visit Sachsenhausen
Concentration Camp which gave me an even greater insight into the history of
Germany. Although parts of the tour were
quite harrowing it was very interesting to actually visit a real camp and not
just read or hear about them. It was surreal
to think that we were standing were thousands of inmates once stood. Quite a lot of the buildings and outside areas
were just empty shells but there were lots of pictures and personal accounts
given so through using your imagination it wasn’t difficult to picture the
scene. Before visiting the camp I was
quite apprehensive as to what to expect and how I would react but I am very
glad we went as I learnt a lot and I have always wanted to see a camp as I find
the history of them although awful, very interesting.
We spent the rest of our time in Berlin tasting new
foods and visiting other sights such as the East Side Gallery, Olympic Stadium
and Charlotteborg Palace. The East Side
Gallery was brilliant as the pictures were vibrant and the political statements
and accompanying pictures were very well thought out. I had a great time in Berlin and I really
enjoyed spending time with the girls from Italy and Spain. I feel we have learned a lot more about each
other and our different cultures through going away together and I am looking
forward to a well-earned rest before beginning teaching placement next week.
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| Outside the Olympic Stadium. |
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Holocaust Memorial. |
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