Hello guys!
I can’t believe there is only one week left of Humboldt classes. I am taking a class about urban development and so far it’s quite interesting! It was nice to meet new classmates, mainly from the U.K, France and Spain. It was so nice to go for a beer after class and just sit and relax and enjoy life going by. One of the friends I made showed me an amazing rooftop bar in Neuköln. The view was just breathtaking. It was a pleasant experience to casually drink *many* glasses beer and hang out with my new friends on a random night on a rooftop in Berlin. So random and so beautiful!.
The first week of August, something unexpected happened; a heat wave hit Berlin. At this point I have become close with a bunch of us who were doing the program and so we decided to hit the “road” (and when I say road, I mean, the S-Bahn ) to the Berlin’s most visited natural lake, Wansee. There was a very decent beach and a lot of people enjoying the sun. It was an interesting experience, but if you are looking for something special, something really unique, I definitely recommend going to “Krumme Lanke” instead. It is a lake deep in Grunewald forest, around 20 minutes walking from the last stop of U-bahn 1 (Green line). It is a wonderful, calm area, the opposite of Wansee. There is no real beach, not even rocks for the most part, it’s just the nature and a beautiful lake. It might not be the best place to go with a large group of friends…but if you want to find a calm, “romantic” if you will, place in midst of urban Berlin…this is the place to be! If you look it up online, it will say that there is only one section that is reserved for nudists…but this is Berlin! So everyone was naked everywhere…at that point, I felt awkward for wearing clothes, so I tried skinny dipping for the first time and it was so much fun!
I couldn’t find an actual picture from Krumme Lanke, but this is me on the way back very late at night. What a day it was!
Another thing! All of us went for a trip to Hamburg! The weather was grey and rainy, but we decided to rent boats My friend from Slovakia with whom I went to high school in Italy came to visit Berlin with her friends and I had the honor of giving her a tour! It did feel a bit strange as I am not even from Berlin…but somehow I knew what I was saying and it felt so great! All these hours spent learning about Berlin’s society, culture and art throughout history paid off! It wasn’t until that moment when I realized how much I learned this summer. (Shoutout to amazing Northwestern Lecturers we had!).
We rented boats in Hamburg and roamed around!