Sometimes it’s fun to just be a tourist and enjoy the local culture. I was able to spend several days in Berlin with my dear friend Allison while she applied for a new Ukrainian visa. We left our homes Sunday morning and traveled by train to Lviv (2 hours) then we took a trolley to the bus station (30 min) and waited for our bus. We boarded our bus and were off! Yes, I said bus, yes that does mean that I took a bus from Ukraine to Berlin. Really it’s wasn’t all that bad, only 16 hours or so… We arrived in Berlin around 5 in the morning on Monday.

I give you... the Reichstag!

Much of our time was spent getting other papers and documents for Allison’s visa, but we were able to see the sights of the city in between waiting for banks to open and for people to get back to us about insurance. On Monday we walked everywhere and saw lots with our delirious and half closed eyes (remember we basically hadn’t slept since Sunday…)

Tuesday we had learned our lesson and rented bikes.

The Berlin Dom from behind

Me and my glowing bike...

MY BIGGEST ADVICE TO ANYONE GOING TO BERLIN: RENT BIKES!!!!!!!! Your feet will thank you later.

Monument to Russian Soldiers

At the Wall

The city is set up beautifully for biking and everyone, I mean everyone, rides bikes. So despite the fact that banks seemed to not have their open times right, we got to see more of the city on our bikes. We were able to see the classic sites of the Berlin Dom, the Brandenburger Gate, Museum Island, The Holocaust Memorial, the victory tower, the Reichstag, and the Topography of Terror museum. We got to stroll through the peaceful Tiergarten and we got to enjoy Asian food, which is impossible to find in Ternopil!

The Holocaust Memorial from above

In the midst of the Holocaust Memorial

On Wednesday we said our goodbyes to Berlin and made our way by train to the peaceful little town of Herrnhut where a YWAM base has been established for some time.