Day 12 - Berlin Tour, Sea Life Disappointment, and Höfbrauhaus Delight!

I'm loving Berlin more now after the tour and my appreciation for graffiti and street art has really amplified. Although I was rather concerned at first with our tour guide (I told Santi that my thoughts were "we are going to be taken on a tour by a stoner surfer dude") but after speaking with the guide, Jason, it turned out he was a pretty cool guy. He might smoke pot (we met him at the meeting point and that's what he was doing. Also he's from California if you're interested; has been living in Berlin for 15 years now.) but he really knows the history of the area and showed us places that no typical tour in Berlin would give.

We went down to a run down area by the tracks that was filled with graffiti and street art, a small flea market, a skateboarding classes warehouse, and climbing wall school. It was really neat to see all this artwork with meanings and history to it. The area had once been here original train station, but during WWII it had been heavily bombed to rubble. After cleaning it up, people began to look at what was left as canvases and began to graffiti the area.

One of my favorite things in the area was by the climbing school. A thickly concreted building erects out in the middle of this area that once served as a bomb shelter for the locals and railroad workers of this area. Today, it is no longer accessible, but the climbing school now uses it for practice.

The end of the tour brought us to the East Side Gallery for the Berlin Wall. It was incredible to see the largest section of wall that remains and to reflect on what my German middle school teacher told me about the wall and its hardships on the people of Berlin. Our guide handed us a marker to write our names on the wall like many others still do today.

Max also got a guest appearance at the wall~

When the tour was complete, we all split ways and journeyed into the city. I took off with Santiago and Jeff for the train station to buy a day pass. I had heard the the Berlin Aquarium had whale sharks, manta rays, and belugas, so I really really wanted to go (also to document aquarium design and graphic arts). However, I was fooled into believing it was called Aqua Dom and Sea Life Aquarium. As cute as the place was, it was a tourist trap. Very small and simple to pass through in 45 min or less, not many animals besides small turtles and fish, and rather pricey for Germany. I should have realized based on its location alone, but the elevator that ascends into a large tank was tempting and I will give them that for excellent experience. Also their tunnel was nice to walk through, very leisurely.

I did go across town and discover the correct Aquarium Berlin. But since it was open for less than an hour, the ticket lady told me to come back tomorrow. Disappointed but still hopefully, I went back to the hotel. Turned out my friend Vanessa had also fallen for the same trap and we picked up Emma in joining us tomorrow for the real aquarium.

The best part of today was dinner. Nine years ago my dear teacher Herr Holt told my class about the Höfbrauhaus and it has been on my bucket list for nearly nine years!! Turns out there was one located right here in Berlin and a group of us went together: me, Emma, Vanessa, Santi, and Greg. At first Santi didn't want to come because he is not a beer drinker, but after my urging for him to come along he agreed.

We had the best time, I can't even find proper words to describe the excitement I felt. My face hurts from smiling so much. There was a live band singing German songs, including Habt ein schöner Tag (which I learned my freshmen year of high school), the YMCA, Mamma Mia, and I Will Survive. We all sang and danced in our seats and watched others get up to the dance floor and dance drunken merrily. The beer was served in large glass steins and the food was so delicious it melted in my mouth!!

It was an incredible experience for all of us. Santi was so shocked and giddy that he said this must be what straight people feel like going to gay bars, haha! Just the cure shock and fun atmosphere, it was spectular. I am so so so so so glad I was able to go to one during my European visit to Germany.