Hallo from Berlin...

So, I know that I said I would post more often, but being a nanny for a 10-year-old girl is quite time consuming. Anyhow, I am here in Berlin and I have really fallen in love with this city. It is truly an amazing place. There are so many young people and believe it or not, they have great style. People for the most part are really friendly and I am even learning some German; ok, well at least enough to get me by. I have been here for 3 weeks and 2 days and have done a lot. I have seen a Picasso up close and personal, realized Dali's sick obsession with women, their parts and drawers, buildings that were ruined by WWII bombings, the horrifying Nazi past and the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, the Brandenburg Tor, pieces of the Berlin Wall, the Tiergarten that makes Central Park look like a corner park and the Charlottenburg Palace. I have been to lots of museums and have learned a lot about Germany's past.


Berlin is such a beautiful city. I love it because the public transportation is so convenient and easy. EVERYONE rides bikes here and they have the right of way in all situations. We got bikes at a local flea market, so we are fitting in quite nicely. Berlin is quite large, but I can also walk almost anywhere worth going. Berliners LOVE parks. There are fields of grass everywhere and ther are always people lounging there. They read, eat, chat make out or just sit there. It is really quite relaxing; I have gone and just relaxed on the grass and read. That is something that people in L.A. don't do. Life is slower paced here, and it is more about the quality of life. I have slowed down too and now stop to admire the beauty in things. It has been nice because I am really absorbing so much of this place.
Where I am living is called Potsdamer Platz. This is where the big play theatres are and there is also a casino right across the street. There are tons of restaurants all around and there is a Mc Donalds at the corner, which is always busy. The food isn't too bad here, but their pastries blow America's out of the water. I have tried the things that Germany is known for like an apple strudel which was so yummy, a Hefeweizen (had about 3 sips and couldn't do anymore. I really don't like beer), and I have had lots of German chocolate. The only things I haven't tried are bratwurst or pork schnitzel; I don't eat pork so I don't know if I can bring myself to actually try them. The one thing I want to eat before I leave is what they call a "Berliner," which is a doughnut filled with jam and covered with sugar. Lucky me I have five more days before we leave, so I think I can squeeze that one in.


I have really been enjoying my time here. I'm really excited though for the next chapters of my Summer. We leave here on the 31st and go home for 12 days. I am going out to visit Nick and then off to nanny in Paris for two and a half weeks. After Paris we are going to Boston until I have to come home and start school. The girl I am nannying for is great. It is really hard to have to care for a kid and not have very much time to myself, but I am learning a lot and gaining some good patience. I am lucky though because she is really a great kid.

So that is it for now. I will update the tale of my travelling Summer from on the road with Nick. Until next time choos! (<-- it's the German version of Ciao!)