Despite arriving at the airport 10 minutes after the stated gate closing time, we sprinted through everything (Uh yeah, by the way, soo not in shape to sprint...) and made it at the very last moment. An exciting adventure up to the very last moment.
The next day, all we had to do was make it to the airport before noon. We were up by nine, and ready to go soon after. Headed to a nearby cafe to get a coffee and kill some time before the airport. Somewhere along the way, we lost about 20 minutes and found ourselves running late for the airport. Long story short, we had to make a serious run for it off the train.

We were so beat at this point. I got a hand massage.

Last night in the hostel.

After the Bauhaus museum we decided to go to another neighborhood that was recommended to us by Summer. It was very peaceful, and we came across a little outdoor market where we ate crepes. Then, we headed back to our favorite cafe for an afternoon break before heading home.

MUSEUM!

(AH this was so exciting. So many pieces of art and architecture that I love, and finally got to see in the flesh!)

ARCHIV!

BAUHAUS!

Walking home in the snow, full of food and ready to end the day.

Desperately in need of sustenance, we hoped on the metro and headed to Brauhaus Mitte for the most ridiculous meal I have had in a long time. Put simply, lots of carbohydrates (beer and potatoes) and lots of protein (myriad of sausage).




The East Side Gallery is a fairly long portion of the Berlin Wall that is now dedicated to murals. The next few photos are a few of my favorite pieces.

The snow let up, and we continued our walk to the East Side Gallery.

When it started to snow pretty hard, we ducked into a cozy cafe for coffee and soup. We ended up coming back to this place again the next day because we liked it so much.

This little shop is called Cichhörnchen.

I LOVE old things...

After ditching the walking tour, we went to this really RAD neighborhood that was recommended to us my Summer (who completely understood our ditching of the tour, and helped us find fun, warm things to do instead). The street is called Oranienstraße, and is filled with great bookstores, and such.

More police presence at the Brandenburg Tor.

Unfortunately, many of the major sights on the walking tour (in proximity to the Brandenburg Tor) were surrounded by police personnel due to the visit of Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan. This is a picture of some snipers.
As we had wanted to do this on our first day, but were too late, we partook in a walking tour of Berlin. About an hour in, our feet were completely frozen... and we were pretty miserable despite our wonderful tour guide (Summer, the opera-singer stand up comedian from the Mojave desert). Needless to say, we did not make it past the first coffee break. However, once we warmed up sufficiently, we continued our own walking exploration of Berlin. When it was all said and done, we had walked around for nearly 11 consecutive hours.
When we entered the Kuturforum, it was still light outside. Four exhibitions (including and amazing artist book library!) and an hour and a half later, it was pitch black and incredibly cold (I'm guessing this is when it hit -18˚c). This is a picture of the Philharmonic building.
More Tiergarten. This was taken around 4:00 when the sun starts to go down.

Our walk continued through the Tiergarten, a beautiful park in winter.

Sara and I posing at the Reichstag.

After the museum, we got lost walking to the Kulturforum, but saw lots of neat things along the way. This is one of the many bridges crossing the (frozen) River Spree (pictured below).

It was also very cold. I later heard that it was -18˚c on this day. By far, the coldest weather I have ever experienced.

It was a lovely, clear day.

Okay, sorry if this is disturbing, but I just thought it was pretty crazy looking... it's a mutation!

Posing with taxidermy. This is a dik dik.

This is the largest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world! (a Brachiosaurus brancai) And... it was found in North America.
Our first full day in Berlin, we visited the Museu Für Naturkunde. What an amazing collection of dead things. I learned stuff.
Upon arriving in Berlin, we spotted a RAD mural. I later found out that this mural was done by a group of artists who live in a squat called the Emma Goldmund Hotel right next to this mural. Upon wandering into their little shop filled with paintings and prints to the ceiling, I met one of the artists, a Spanish guy who grew in Switzerland in exile (his mother was in the anarchist army) during the Franco dictatorship. The space is huge, and full of art done by the 5 residents... appeared to be a pretty amazing project.

And off to Berlin...(25/1/10)

I like.

Oh yeah, so the escalators in Budapest are WAY faster and WAY steeper than any other escalators I have ever been on. Getting in and out of the metro stations never ceased to be exciting.
Yes, in Europe people wear real fur coats and nobody says a thing about it. Why is this? Because when it's anywhere around or below -5˚c, wearing another animal's skin and fur is a very good way to stay warm. PETA ain't got shit on this classy old lady!
The front of Széchenyi Spa Baths (built in a Neo-Baroque style), which opened in 1913 and was revamped in 1999. However, the knowledge of the natural mineral spring in this location has been around since the 13th century. This place was so crazy. There must have been 15 or more baths of differing temperature, and so much of the original building is in tact... the interior details reminded me of a 1950's sanitarium. By far the most beautiful part of the bath house was the outdoor pool. Huge, and decorated with statues, the steam rising from the hot water obscures anything more than a few feet away. With the outdoor temperature somewhere around -5˚c, running to and from the bath was something new and different, but definitely worth the momentary pain.
On both the second and third day of our time in Budapest, Sara and I spent about 3 hours in a huge turkish bath house. This is me feeling amazingly relaxed after one of those visits.
Sarah and I posing at Heroes' Square, at the entrance of City Park. The tall column, 36 meters tall, and topped by the Archangel Gabriel holding the Hungarian crown and the double cross, is the centerpiece to the Millenium memorial. The memorial, built to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Hungarian settlement, also includes 14 statues of kings.
I have way too many picture like this. There were just so many beautiful old buildings. I think I am used to being surrounded by modern buildings because they are so prevalent in the U.S., and coming to a place like Budapest,(and Barcelona, and many other European cities for that matter) it is a novelty to be amongst so much history. Nevertheless, I have way to many pictures like this...

At the opera house. Apparently ice cream and opera do not mix.

St. Stephen's Basilica.

Food! We had an amazing lunch at the market... chicken Paprikash with hand made pasta, a bean dish, and some bread thing filled with an egg and tomato... I wish knew the names of all the dishes, but I don't. What's important is that they were delicious.
In most places, the touristy shops are filled with a bunch of kitch crap that is completely useless. In Hungary (Budapest, at least) they sell beautiful handmade textiles, paprika, wooden chess sets, warm hats and other artisanal goods.
At the market our senses were overloaded with amazing sights and smells. Lots of famous hungarian paprika. YUM!
Day 2, we started out with a trip to a huge market and found some RAD hats along the way...