First off, I would like to apologize for not posting in a ridiculously long time, I'll try to be much better about it in my few remaining weeks in Germany! So, a few weeks ago was my spring break, we had two weeks off from school! The first couple of days of break were pretty uneventful and were my only "relaxed" days. On April 15th, I woke up at the not so fun hour of 5 am in order to get ready and get to the airport in time to make my flight to Paris to meet up with my mom! I got into Paris around 8:30 am and then had to wait a couple of hours before seeing my mom because her flight had been delayed. After anxiously waiting she finally got there! It was so amazing to see her again after being away from home for 8 months and we definitely made a little scene in the airport from all the crying. After getting to the hotel we were not able to check in because the room was not ready so we dropped off our luggage and went for a walk around the area and went to get some lunch. We stayed in Marais and it was a really cute area! After exploring the area for the afternoon we went back to the hotel for some much needed rest. The next day was our first sightseeing day. We started off by walking down to the Notre Dame, it was one of the most gorgeous buildings I have ever seen! Sadly, the line to get inside was insanely huge so we decided to skip going in. After the Notre Dame, we walked across the famous lock bridge and continued down the left bank of the Seine. After stopping in the Latin Quarter (which was my favorite area of Paris by the way) for a nice lunch and some meandering, we went back across the river to the Louvre. We didn't go into the museum because there was such a long line so we continued walking until we came upon the
Avenue des Champs-Élysées. This is the most famous and luxurious shopping street in Paris and it was incredible. We walked all the way up to the top of the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. After spending some time there, we continued on to the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way up to the top and it was probably one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. The view was absolutely incredible and it was such a cool feeling being at the top of one of the most famous monuments in the world. We got to the Eiffel Tower at the perfect time because around the time we got back down to the ground the sun began to set. We went to the observation deck across the river from the tower and waited for it to light up. Let me tell you, seeing the sun set around the Eiffel Tower and watching it light up and sparkle is one of the most amazing sights you will ever experience, it was the perfect end to the perfect day. After leaving the Eiffel Tower we were both exhausted and had incredibly sore feet from all the walking we had done that day (over 10 miles!) so we went back down to the Champs-Élysées and got macaroons from Ladurée and then we took the metro back to the hotel and called it a night. The next day, the 17th, was our last full day in Paris. Since we had done the majority of the major sights the day before this was more of a relaxed day to walk around and see the city. We started the day by going to a gorgeous farmers market, it was like nothing I had ever seen! After spending some time there we walked back down to the Notre Dame and back across the river over to the Left Bank. From there we continued down through the Latin Quarter to the Luxembourg Gardens. It was a gorgeous day so we decided to sit and enjoy the gardens and the palace for a little while. The rest of the afternoon was spent roaming around the Latin Quarter and area around the gardens and then going back to the hotel and getting ready for the next morning's flight to Berlin. I had such an incredible time in Paris with my mom and it probably one of my favorite places I have ever been.
The morning of the 18th was another early morning flight, this time back to Berlin. However, I was not alone this time, my mom was spending the rest of the week with me in Berlin so I could show her where I live now! After getting into Berlin, we had a little of a luggage debacle We had been forced to check our bags in Paris because they were over the weight limit for carry on bags and when we got into Berlin our bags never came around on the luggage carousel. We were panicked because we thought our bags had been lost but for some reason unknown to us they had been seen as suspicious and sent into customs instead. Luckily, after a stressful hour or so we finally got our bags and continued on to my host family's house. My mom was staying with us during our time in Berlin so we dropped off our things and my mom met my host family! There had been a mix up of dates and my host mom thought we weren't getting into Berlin for a couple more days so she was a little surprised to see us but quickly got over that and welcomed my mom with open arms. After introductions, I took my mom out to my favorite area in Kreuzberg but because it was Good Friday, everything was closed so we decided to go to the East Side Gallery and walk the Berlin Wall instead. After that we went up to Alexanderplatz and spent some time at the big Easter Festival there. After spending a nice afternoon in Alexanderplatz we came back to my house and spend the evening talking and having a good time with my host family. Saturday was the only day that that my mom was here that things were actually open so Saturday was spent seeing the sights and my school. Saturday and Sunday my host family was in Leipzig to celebrate Easter with their family so my mom and I had the apartment to ourselves so on Sunday we spent the morning at the Mauerpark flee market and then we cooked a nice Easter dinner that evening. It has been really tough spending all the holidays away from home so it was so nice to be able to celebrate Easter with my mom. On Monday, we took a little day trip down into Potsdam, a small city on the Berlin boarder. We rented bikes for the day and rode all around the city and the park with the palaces. We got lost a few times and ended up two S bahn station away from Potsdam after we somehow ended up a trail in the woods but it was a great day and it was the perfect way to end my mom's trip. The next morning, she flew back to the US. It was really hard to say goodbye but it was so great having her here and it was definitely one of the highlights of my year!
The afternoon of the day my mom left, my friend Aaron from my exchange program came to stay in Berlin with me for the second week of vacation. We had a great time together and it was a lot of fun having him here! Most of the week I showed him around Berlin and we hung out around to city and in Potsdam. But, for my 17th birthday on April 26th, we took a day trip to Szczecin, Poland. It was quite the adventure and it's amazing how incredibly different Poland is from Germany, even a city not far from the boarder, like Szczecin. It was literally like stepping back in time into Soviet Russia. It was definitely the most unconventional birthday I have ever had but it was great!
Also, I leave Germany in 33 days, where has the time gone?!
Tschüss,
Dani♡
Notre Dame
The Lock Bridge with Notre Dame in the background
With my mom at the Eiffel Tower!
The view from the top!
All lit up!
Macaroons
With my mom at the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin!
Found this gem at the Mauerpark flea market, it's so true!
Overlooking Szczecin
