The first morning in Berlin was a fast paced one. First, we took a bus tour of the city. We stopped at the East Side Gallery and saw some fascinating graffiti, most of which had a political message behind it, a tower where the wall used to be, and at the Alexanderplatz. After our tour, which some people fell asleep on because of lack of proper sleep the night before, we grabbed lunch and then had a scavenger hunt. I was teamed up with Rachael, Andi, and Colin. I took over as navigator since I can read a map and with that our group headed off. The hot sun beat down, and the compelling objective to be first for some ice dream kept us driven. Admittedly, I learned more about the city from that scavenger hunt than I did riding on the bus. We had two hours to complete all the goals, some of which were buy an ice cream and take a picture, or ask a German what they like about Berlin, and even find this landmark and take a picture and explain why it’s called what it is. My group managed to complete most of the tasks, resulting in us winning. After we took a break after the scavenger hunt, we went to one of the biggest department stores in Europe, the KaDeWe. It was huge! They had everything! Some people bought things, or bought stuff from the stores surrounding the mall. We had free time to get dinner, so a group of friends and I went to get pizza and salad. Rio and I then went shopping together and got some things. It was a full day of walking, and then we took the subway to get back to our hotel. Everyone’s feet were dying, their clothes drenched in sweat from the dry heat of Berlin, and yet there were still smiles on faces from passing jokes and enjoying each other’s company. Our full day in Berlin truly was an exhausting one, but one I think all of us will remember. 

~ Gianna Jones