Leeds to Mannheim

Hallo

This week was another busy one including my last big trip before exams and a few social things! I assume the next few weeks will be quieter as everyone gets into revision but there will be a few plans so we can say goodbye to each other before we finish the year!

On Wednesday I had brunch at Le Coffee, possibly my favourite café in Mannheim, with Kathrin. I had a Bircher muesli bowl, which was delicious, followed by a brownie and we talked about her plans to come and visit everyone after we leave. Afterwards, I went to unit to see the international office accommodation people about my contract as I’m having landlord problems and needed to know if I could just leave (I can).

In the afternoon I met Cecily and Eeva for lunch at a place called Barburrito. This is the third time we had tried to go there and the third visit we have made there and the third time it hasn’t been open! It’s not opens on Monday’s and it’s not open between 3 and 5 (unfortunately the only times we were all free to eat). So instead we went to a vegan kebab place and all had kebab wraps made from a vegan paste thing instead of meat. They were good but the guy put so much mint in them that some bites tasted a bit like toothpaste! We decided we also fancied dessert so went to Cecily’s favourite vegan café, Eis Baby and had crumbles.

In the evening, Paisley, Hepzibah and I had booked to attend a preview screening of Aladdin. It was classed as a lady’s night, so we all got free prosecco, as me and Hepzibah don’t drink, Paisley kindly offered to have all of them. Before the film a local dance school did a performance as an advertisement which was exciting. The film itself was also really good!

Thursday was mainly spent packing, cleaning and revising as my train to Berlin was in the evening. It was a lovely day though, so I went to meet Cecily and Paisley and we sat by the Wasserturm for a few hours. The train itself was a nightmare. After a 30-minute delay my first train arrived but this then stopped randomly for another 20 minutes then decided not to go all the way to Frankfurt so everyone on it had to change trains. I finally got to Frankfurt in time for the last train of the day to Berlin and only got to Berlin at 1am. Fortunately, Blanca (one of the girls I met in Prague) came to meet me at the station still and took me to hers.

Friday was better. We got up and went to a book shop that also served breakfast bagels. Although I was tempted by the bagels, they were quite expensive, and the shop also had pastries which were cheaper. I tried a cheese Danish which was nice, kind of like a randomly shaped cheesecake! Once we had eaten, we looked around the book shop then spent some time around the Berlin Wall, looking at the artwork on the East side.

We then took the underground to the main tourist area and saw the main sights such as the Fernsehturm, Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag and Museum Island. We stopped to share a currywurst as well as Blanca suggested that Berlin had the best ones. The Brandenburger Tor was the best as there was a Fridays for Future demonstration going on and I think it’s cool that I got to see such a big peaceful protest in the capital city. The Reichstag was also great as I hadn’t seen it the last time, I was in Berlin but unfortunately to go inside you must book in advance and I didn’t know this. Once we had seen all the main tourist things we walked back along the river towards Blanca’s university as she had a class. On the way we stopped at the ice cream shop she works at for a small scoop and it was incredible!

Then I had a few hours on my own to explore. I didn’t want to go too far away from the University as I was meeting Blanca there again, so I walked down the main shopping street towards checkpoint Charlie and spent some time there. I also visited the concert hall where Blanca works. Most of my time, however, was spent in the DDR museum. Everything about the Cold war and East and West Germany interests me so this was great place to visit. It was an interactive exhibition with all sorts of artefacts to touch and read about and even a real Trabant (the cars they drove in East Germany) and a model flat.

Once Blanca had finished her class, we went to get Döner (another thing which is apparently better in Berlin) and then sat in a park to eat it. In the evening we picked up my stuff from her flat and got the S-Bahn to Pankau where Sarah (the other girl from Prague) lives. We spent the evening on her balcony chatting and eating watermelon and the vegan cake I made for them.

I had Saturday to myself so after a quick breakfast in Sarah’s flat I went off to find the Jewish museum. Unfortunately, it was closed for refurbishment though, so I continued walking into the centre to find something else and even ended up passing the hostel I stayed in when I was in Berlin for my summer school. Eventually I arrived at the Deutsch Technikmuseum and, after walking all the way around it trying to find the entrance, decided to go in. The museum was great. There were loads of exhibitions which meant it passed a lot of time and most were incredibly interesting such as one on the evolution of computers since the 1920s and another on how fireworks are made.

By the time I had finished at the museum it was lunchtime, so I went to find Markthalle 9, a place recommended by Blanca. It was a market hall filled with street food and I settled on an American stall doing beef brisket plates. I had a wander round looking for dessert too but didn’t find anything I fancied! Instead of dessert I took the underground to Tempelhof to see the site of an old airport, also recommended by Blanca. However, there was a formula E event going on so you couldn’t get close to see anything. Since this seemed pointless, I decided to head back to the centre and find a café then plan what to do next but for some reason I just couldn’t find anywhere.

Google stepped in and instead of food I decided to head to Spree Park, an abandoned amusement park which seemed exciting. However, after a train and a 40-minute walk I discovered that you are not allowed in (or anywhere near Spree Park) and all I could see was the top of a big wheel. Treptower Park which I walked through to get there was quite nice though. By this point I decided I had seen everything I wanted to (that was open or existent) and started heading back to see Sarah. On the way I found a famous donner place that sold vegetable kebabs, so I stopped there for my tea. Sarah was babysitting that night, so I joined her for a bit, and we watched some Netflix before I went back to hers to sleep.

On Sunday, Sarah took me to Mauerpark. We first went for breakfast and after walking around for about an hour looking for a place, we finally settled on an eco-friendly café. I had a chia bircher muesli and she had a hummus bagel. After eating we went to the flee market at the park and explored all the stalls. We bought a bag of power balls to share and ate them while sitting on the hill. Apparently Mauerpark is where most Berliners go on a sunny Sunday and there is even karaoke held in the afternoon! There was a dance show going on while we were there which was really entertaining.

Sarah also wanted to show me a market at Friedrichshain, so we spent most of the afternoon there. It was a pretty cool market, lined with different artwork and clubs which a lot of influencers go to apparently. We found a vegan bake sale, and both bought a piece of cake there. By this point it wasn’t that long till my train, so we quickly found somewhere to eat (a vegan Indian restaurant) and then got the S Bahn to the station. Fortunately, this time all the trains were on time and I was home by 10pm.

On Monday I spent the morning revising and most of the afternoon in class. I did however meet Eeva and Cecily for lunch again at another vegan kebab place but this time I had a falafel wrap instead! One of my classes was the final German grammar lesson and I found out I passed my exam (and did better than last time). I finished the day with two-hours of Zumba again to try and burn off my weekend food.

Tuesday was also 50% revision as well as having to attend my second to last lecture. In the evening though I went to Kathrin’s house for a crepe party. Max made the crepes from his own French recipe and they were delicious. I finished the day trying to reduce the calories in a stretch class.

The rest of the week will be more revision with a few meals out and hopefully a BBQ on Sunday as some people start leaving next week!