Berlin!

Mother Nature sure provided me with the most stressful trip I've taken yet! A friend and I were scheduled to fly out of Cologne on Thursday. My commute to the airport is composed of three hours, including 2 buses, 1 tram, and 2 trains. After arriving at the airport, going through security, and getting on the plane, it is announced that the airport crew is clearing the runway due to the "large" amount of snowfall. After another three hours of us sitting on the plane, we were told that we needed to exit the plane. We got back into the airport, only to be told that our flight as been canceled because the airport is closed for the rest of the night. We waited in a extremely long ( and I mean LONG) customer service line for 3 hours, and we only made it halfway. Then we had the genius idea to use a public computer and attempt to change our flight to tomorrow. The only thing that went right that day, was that our new flight was only a full 24 hours later. So we headed back to Cologne, and after 13 hours of traveling and waiting, we were finally back at my apartment. The next day, we headed back and did the same thing over again...except this time we finally made it to Berlin. (( Newsflash, my travel buddy was informed a few minutes ago that all of the airports in Cologne are shut down today due to massive snow storms...so hopefully I will be able to make it back to Cologne tomorrow...the amount of snow we are getting is a normal amount for Minnesota, but Germany is so unprepared that only a few inches could shut down the airport )) After our 24 hours of travel, we were exhausted! We met up with our friend, Alex, who is studying in Berlin and let us stay at his place while we're here. We ate at a brauhaus for dinner, walked through a few Christmas markets, and called it a night. Saturday, we did a lot of the main sightseeing trips. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Jewish Memorial, Humboldt University, a gigantic mall that is very comparable to the MOA, we walked along sections of The Berlin Wall, walked through more Christmas Markets, and went out to dinner. We met up with another group of our friends from Cologne who drove there. We ate at a really good Brasilian steak house, hung out at their apartment, and called it a night again. Today was extra cold; keep in mind that Europe has a fairly mild climate...it was below zero FARENHEIT today!! It was ridiculously cold and my body isn't used to that type of cold yet, so we had to make frequent stops in stores and shops just to warm our hands and feet. Today we saw Checkpoint Charlie, a few Christmas Markets, a flea market, and the bunker where Hitler lived and died. Berlin is a city full of history and background that I have absolutely loved being here. It is also a huge city, and I can say now that I enjoy the "smallness" of Cologne! You can still experience the difference between the East and West sides of Berlin and its amazing to me that all of that stuff happened only twenty years ago. I need everyone to say a little prayer for me tonight that I make it back to Cologne on time...its a real problem if I don't because Clayton flies in about 4 hours after me, so if he gets there and my flight is delayed, its a problem! I hope all are having a wonderful Christmas season! :) And I apologize for no pictures, I'm writing this on my friend's computer!