Friday, July 29, 2016

Amsterdam Day 7-Travel Day

It was officially travel day. Travel day started really early in the morning, and everything had to be set and ready to head to Berlin. I felt very prepared for this day because almost all of my belongings were already packed, including most of my toiletries, so I felt ready to go. I actually enjoy travel day too because I know that this is the opportunity to go to another European nation and I could add it to my list of places that I visited throughout the world.
To start out the day, we were instructed to be downstairs early in the morning to be able to take care of some necessities and eat breakfast. I felt really good heading towards this point because everything was packed and I literally relaxed until it was time for breakfast. I also thought it was nice for the chef to open the cafeteria earlier, so that we could eat breakfast. After breakfast, I was ready to head to the train station.

The process of heading to the station was easy, but the process was slightly more difficult when we have to take our luggage back and forth. I was so glad, when I took heed to the instruction of carrying a light bag because it’s a lot easier to carry around the place. I definitely recommend to future students to bring a medium sized duffle bag with wheels because it is a lot easier to maneuver.

It was stated that the train ride is approximately 6.5 hours. I thought to myself that this is long, but a good time to be productive. While on the train, I started working on some classwork, listening to podcasts, and reading a book. This process kept my mind stimulated the whole time, and I did not even recognize how the time flew by. I also fell asleep for a little bit when I needed to take breaks. When I saw that we made it to our stop, I was excited to see that we made it to Berlin. I did some prior research of this city, and I noticed that it is very multicultural. The most noticeable thing that I noticed was the common use of German, English, and French. I thought this was interesting because it seemed like Berlin catered to tourists a lot more than Paris. A tourist could easily come here and speak English or French with multiple people because I learned that these languages are part of the school curriculum.

Lastly, we made it to our hostel, and I liked how it was a nice calm area that was not too far from the action. The hostel was located in such a convenient area that it made me think of all the possibilities that I have with staying here. I finished off the day by taking a small walk towards the TV tower, and viewing a lot of the sites. This walk was well worth it because there were so many places. Overall, viewing these sites gave me an idea of what to expect when I tour the city of Berlin.