When I first signed up for the study abroad trip to Berlin I had never been to Europe, and knew very little about Berlin. When I arrived in Berlin I was very timid and shy to approach or talk to anyone because of the language barrier. But after three days Ive come to realize that Berlin is a beautiful city with open minded people who come from all over to express themselves fully.
This photo was taken at the RAW gelände which is directly on the Warsaw Bridge, and is one of the most important traffic areas in the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. These people seemed to just be having a relaxing time on this beautiful day. My friend and I found a photo booth in this area and took a picture in it. The Photo Booth takes about five minutes to load and our group was continuing on with the tour. We had to leave the picture behind and continue with the tour.
We biked to the the east side gallery of Berlin which had part of the wall still up and filled with art. Many people were admiring the wall and here we saw more artist such as the violin player shown above. As we were biking two people who were around the photo booth when we took our picture found us and gave us the picture back, which was a really amazing experience, and kinda just showed what the people in Berlin are about.
On the third day we did a walking tour. Visiting many historical buildings from Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, and the holocaust memorial . After this we went to MaurerPark, which since it was Sunday, had a flea market event going on. It was packed with Food trucks, drinks, thrift shops, and street performers. This was one the first ladies we saw, she rapped in German and English as well as beat boxed to make her own music. Her music and her voice were extremely entertaining, I didn't want to walk away but there was so much more to see.
Everyone was enjoying themselves or working to make some money, but the attitudes and vibes there were so welcoming. Ive come to realize that although there is a dark history of Berlin it is now a place where you can completely be yourself.