It is winter break and after so many hectic days of walking on frozen water and dark morning lectures, finally the break is here! It is quite a busy life here at Hanken, bundled up with diversified school work and social life. We have always to find time outside our schedule for personal rejuvenation, just to feel normal amidst everything happening around.
Winter is at its peak during the 3rd period, and to escape all the coldness and icy streets I took a trip to Berlin to visit my friends studying at the Berlin University. It has always been my travel goal to travel to Berlin and experience life from my own perspective outside books, internet or other people view point.
Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany, with a population of approximately 3.5 million people. Berlin is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany on the banks of rivers Spree and Havel, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has about 6 million residents from more than 180 nations.
Where are my binoculars and where is my selfie-stick? I had the whole night to pack and get ready for berlin. How could a night be so short, with barely 4 hours of sleep? I had to rush, I would be late for the train, I would miss my flight. Where are my travel documents? Where is my toothbrush? (the Finish style). Am I going to be late, or am I going to freeze cold, it is so cold outside.
Two hours of flight and I was ready in Berlin, how were my friends enthusiastically waiting for a snow man, only to arrive as a “Michelin” guy. I was ready, ready with my travel diary to explore, learn and enjoy my short stay.
Each new day yielded greater insights memorial church, Muslim island, Reichstag and Brandenburgh Gate, just to mention but a few. I could not exhaust my travel wish list, there was so much to see. The food was great too, there was this local snacks pretzel, currywurst, and hackepeter, in addition to Eirkuchen and Eisbein meals. I could not get enough of it. This gave me refreshed life perspective outside the ever-busy research work and strict deadlines. The German sunshine was up and bright throughout the week and the temperature ranged between 6-12 degrees, the street and shopping malls were always full. The German people are more social, something that was contrary from most people’s perception. Public places were all flocked the young and the old, men, women and children. It is interesting how much fun we had within and outside of Germany.
Berlin was everything to me during the winter break, between the many road trips we took and the night life, to say the least we had lot of fun in Hanover, Bremen and also to Prague Czech Republic. How could a winter break be so short, even before I could exhaust my wish list and my travel diary, I had to return to Finland.
What a break! The break was the most delightful memories, “wow that, …”, prevailed during the flight, yet at the destination point it’s just like going back to a small cocoon that needed to be thawed to keep it even more lively.
.. and many more periodic breaks rocks…