London

Having been to London two times before, I really didn't need to go. But I had a free place to stay with a friend from UNC and I am in the UK so I saw no real reason not to. The first day, Sasha and I did all the touristy things because she had never been.

After that, we walked along the South Bank and found a market to eat at. I got an amazing chicken shawarma wrap from a Mediterranean stand. 

Then we went to a Christmas market nearby. We saw this guy playing a tribute to Lou Reed. 

The next day I got to meet up with some friends from camp and so Sasha, my friend from UNC, Bridget, and a few of my friends from camp all got to hang out. So many friends. We went to Borough Market for food (my favorite market in London, not that I've been to all of them but whatever it is amazing) and then did some walking and went to Brick Lane, an area of London know for it's Indian food and graffiti. 

That night, we found out that Ellie Goulding was playing at a club for SIX POUNDS (a deal if I might say so myself) and despite our tiredness, we got ourselves together and went and it was amazing!

Berlin

About a month ago (sorry I'm awful) I went to Berlin. I must say Berlin is not the prettiest city I might have seen but it was so interesting. Two of my friends are studying abroad there for a year so I hung out with them. I stayed with my friend who lives in a house in a sort of suburb where she rents a room.

The first picture is my friend's house and the second is the TV Tower, a sort of Eiffel Tower of Berlin if you will (that is a stretch). The third is the Bradenburg gate, which divided East and West Berlin. I was only in Berlin for a day (two nights) so I mainly just walked around and hung out with my friends. One of the most amazing things about Berlin was how cheap the food and drinks were. A bottle of wine was around 2.50 euros and you could get beer for less than a euro if you wanted. And I never paid more than five euros for a meal. I found this kind of surprising for a city, especially compared to other big cities (COUGH COUGH PARIS, where I was malnourished). 

I knew the one thing I wanted to do in Berlin was go to the Berlin Wall. Most of the wall is destroyed, obviously, but there is one part that has been preserved called the East Side Gallery, which has lots of graffiti on it. 

The first one is really famous and I really just liked the second one. There is lots of writing over the graffiti now but there are people who periodically come back to restore the originals and cover up the writing. 

Another thing I really liked about Berlin was the transportation. I know that is nerdy but it is AMAZING there. They have two train systems (U Bahn and S Bahn), the tram and the bus. So many options. Here is one of the S Bahn trains. U Bahn is the metro (underground) and S Bahn is the above ground train. 

I really liked Berlin and I recommend going. It was incredibly interesting and lively but don't expect the beauty of Munich or Freiburg.