Easter!

Hey everyone!
First of all, Happy Easter from Berlin!!
Second of all, it's been a really long and mentally, emotionally and psychically exhausting so I won't be posting about my day today. I spent at least 7ish hours surrounding myself with the Holocaust. It has been moving and rewarding at the same time. I loved it. Although, I need to sleep on it and figure out how to put it all into words.
Thanks for reading you guys!!
Here's a picture of me in the snow to tide you all over!!

Allons-y!
Remi

Berlin: Day 1

Greetings from Berlin!
Ah, where to start? Well, with the fact that I slept in till 8:30 today. What a blessing that was. Then we payed 5 euros for a buffet styled breakfast. Not bad. After that we went off to buy our reservation for our train from Nuremberg to Venice. What a hassle that was. Well, it could have been worse. Anyways, we went to this free tour, which was kinda like the one that Culturefish does, but the group size is much bigger. So pros and cons of this tour.
Pros:

• It was free.
• Without it, we would have been lost
• The tour guide, Rob, was hilarious 
• We learned a lot

Cons

• The group was super big
• It was 3+ hours
• Rob didn't really talk to us while we were walking, like Pierre did. While he did tell jokes, he kinda just led the way and sometimes conversed with us while walking to our next destination

We saw so much. I want to tell you all about what I learned but I am going to give a brief overview of what I learned due to the fact that I am super tired and I have a 5+ tour tomorrow for the Holocaust. I am so excited.

So to start our tour, we went to Paris Square. Which is quite odd due to the fact that is in the middle of Berlin. Now, about 24 years ago, this square was the worst place to be ever. It was called The Death Strip.

As yes!! Then we saw the Berlin Wall. Both parts of it. We also stood in both East and West Berlin. It was pretty crazy.

Then, as we are in Germany, we saw a Holocaust Memorial for all the murdered Jews. It was pretty intense. Oh and slippery. The slabs of concrete in some parts rose at least 5-10 feet above me. When you stood at the beginning and looked out, the slabs rise. It's sobering.

We moved on and saw painting on the wall depicting how awesome life was on the West Side of Berlin. Which, by the way, was a giant lie. 

We then moved on and saw Checkpoint Charlie which is now justa  giant touristy spot. Oh yes, and gas masks were for sale. The thought going through my mind? "Are you my mummy?" Thank you Doctor Who.

Moving on the two cathedrals. The French and German. So the French came in and after being there for a while, decided to build a cathedral. So the Germans got a little mad and built one right across from it Can you tell the difference?

We saw the world's most unlucky opera house. Hitler loved the opera so much he had it rebuilt right after Britain bombed it. Then right when it was finished, we Americans bombed it again.

Then we moved onto the book burnings. We were supposed to see through a glass in the ground of empty bookshelves which should have held all those book that were burnt, but the glass was too dirty. There was however a plaque. 

We saw a giant cathedral which was amazing. 

I found a replacement for Gandalf until he returns as Gandalf the White. His name is Gregory. He is a bit lopsided, which is just fine because so is my life. We fit each other and I love him.

After that we wandered and bought some dinner and tried German Beer. I found that I am more of a wine and mixed drinks kinda girl. German Beer is too bitter for me. The pie however was the best. It was amazing. After that, we found our way home and ont he way bought a few more treats to eat.

Tomorrow begins our long tour and I must get some rest. 

Paris: Day 3 Brussels: Night: 1, Day: 1

Okay, wow. What a day. So we got up and checked out of our hostel and left our stuff there. We travelled to see the Catacombs, but as we were on a time limit, the lines were too long for us to wait, so we ventured off to the memorial for the WWII victims. It was pretty intense, but small. Now, for those of you who don't know, I love learning about WWI and the Holocaust. (That sounds a bit odd.) Anyways, it was sobering to see that.

We went back to Notre Dame and stood on the ground zero so we'll come back to Paris in 7 years or less. So we realized that we are returning after we go to Florence, so we're going to go back to ground zero and do it again.

We went to a bookstore called Shakespeare & Co. I bought 2 books, which are in English and then went to a French bookstore and bought The Great Gatsby and The Hobbit because I ned to know French. Well, I just wanna learn it.

Okay then we went and had lunch which was amazing. This is a pizza that is I think made like they do in Germany and then for dessert we had an assortment of treats. A homemade tart, chocolate cake and this cheesecake like cake. It was amazing. So we walked back to the bookstore and asked for directions to the French bookstore and ask I was taking pictures of the restaurant, I tripped over the pole and as I was falling the following thoughts went through my mind, "What is happening?" "Why me?" "No is this really happening?" "I give up on life." "I shall just lay here forever." It was pretty funny because everyone saw it and seriously I am still laughing about it.

So it was time for us to leave Paris and I was sad. We boarded our train, after a bunch of  issues, and we arrived in Brussels. Holy moley, It is amazing there. I loved it. We only had a few hours, but we tried to make the most of it. Our night there, we went and had a beer, which was fantastic. It was cherry flavored I believe. Our hotel is so nice looking. The internet was amazing.

So today we walked around and saw the Notre Dame of Brussels. It is amazing in there. Holy crap. You can go under the church, but that costs money, so we didn't go.

We met Jared Padalecki.

We wandered through the Grand Place.

We ate pie and had tea. My spirit animal, Dean Winchester is happy.

Oh and of course we had Belgium Waffles. Oh.My.God. Holy Jesus on a cracker, it was like a coming to Jesus moment. I just sjkdfksdjfskdlfjklsdjfslkdfjsldkfjsdlkfjsdklfj.

Finally as we were leaving we got pictures of the statue of the Boy peeing. It was smaller than I thought.

To end our day, we boarded a 2 hour train to Germany and then a 6 our train to Berlin. It snowed on the way here. We made it to our hostel and that is where I am typing all of this up. So I shall end it here as I am all caught up.
Allons-y
Remi