Berlin & an Anti-Papst Protest

For Rebekah and I, Thursday is now officially Berlin Day because we both just have a few classes in the morning, so in the afternoon we can go to Berlin! When we got to Berlin we went to Mister Bubble by Alexanderplatz, the shop that sells bubble tea. The other day I got a certificate thing that they stamp every time I (or a friend) buy a bubble tea, and when I get ten by the end of September I get a T-shirt, a free bubble tea, and an "Imagawayaki-Gebäck". I do not know what the last one is but I am excited anyways!

 

After that we we got some ice cream. Kugel means scoop, and one Kugel usually costs €1.20. They are not that large and are probably way overpriced, but it is so good and there are so many new flavors! Well, they sound like new flavors when they are in German! So we're walking, and then we see these hands sticking out of the ground with a camera. Nikon? I think it is a German company or something cool. So we did the normal thing and took jumping pictures under it.

Then on the other side of the road we found a giant Lego giraffe. I  absolutely love Legos and Giraffes so it was pretty amazing. It was a Dublo-Lego combination which made it even more amazing. I got really excited when I saw that there was a Lego-related store, but when we went in there was only some postcards and then a winding staircase downstairs. I tried to go down it but I got stopped by the workers. They said it cost €16 to go and see whatever they kept down there. I don't know what was down there but it had to be pretty life changing to cost €16. I was really disappointed.

After that we went to the Sony Center to meet up with some other exchangers when we heard a protest going on. This is my second protest that I have just happened to be there when its happening which is really cool. Dont worry guys, they are all very peaceful protests and Im not doing any actual protesting, just observing.  This protest was anti-papst. The pope was coming and speaking in Berlin that day. Some of the catholic schools didnt have school that day, and the security was higher, with more guards around the bahnhofs and such.

 

I think there was a lot of controversy about the pope coming to Berlin. It seemed like most of the people I talked to didn't really want him coming to visit. I guess it is costing German taxpayers a lot of money and many aren't so religious. I heard some music or drum beats from inside the Sony Center and Paola and I went to check it out. Unfortunately we took the long way around the buildings and the marching in the streets was over when we got there. What we say were a ton of people centered around a big stage. A lot of people had signs saying anti-pope stuff.

It was interesting but Paola and I got bored because the speaking was all in English and it was pretty crowded. So we left. On the way back home that night the train I was supposed to take was delayed an hour and a half! I still think Germany has an excellent transport system, but that was lame. I got home so late and I still had school the next day!