Ich bin ein Berliner

Today was sadly our final day in Munich, and tomorrow we leave at 10 a.m. for the second half of our trip in Berlin. We are all very excited to go to a new place, but we are not entirely sure what to expect. Here are a few things that we are curious about:

1. We are visualizing Berlin as more urban than Munich, with higher buildings and an overall larger city feel. We have been told that Berlin is a city more like New York, whereas Munich is more like Charleston. We are also expecting Berlin to be a lot more spread out and have more transportation routes, making it more complicated.

2. Another thing we are expecting from Berlin is fewer people speaking English. We have been spoiled here in Munich as many restaurant owners and tour guides speak English, so we have had to do very little translating. Fortunately, one of our team members speaks a considerable amount of German, so we should be able to manage.

3. We also picture Berlin to be more of a hot spot for fashion. In Munich, people dress pretty similarly, but we're expecting Berlin to have more of a diverse group of people with various, more edgy styles. We expect the weather to be a little warmer which may allow for more fashion freedom.

4. Food is another thing that our group is wondering about. In Munich, there are tons of options for traditional German food, but we haven't seen a lot of places that offer international options. They exist, but are greatly outweighed by the German food options. We expect that because Berlin attracts more types of people, there are likely to be more international foods available. Additionally, we are excited to see if they have any traditional German foods we have not tried or heard of yet.

5. The last thing that we expect to see in Berlin is to see a more modernized way of life. Catholicism is a very central part of Munich. For example, in celebration of the Pentecost, most businesses are closed today. From what we've seen, the only things open are the train stations and chain restaurants, and even then there are fewer trains running. from what we're feeling based on what we've been told about Berlin, we anticipate that Berlin will be a more secular city with greater diversity overall.