McDonald's and Bookstores

Somehow, it is Friday again. There are two sections of our internship seminar. One is 3 credit hours and the other is 6 credit hours. Only the 6-credit-hour course met today, so I just had German in the morning. Christine left early to go to Cologne for her grandfather's 80th birthday. So I have the apartment to myself this weekend!

I was kind of planning on staying in and catching up on this journal as well as finish a scholarship essay for school, but Victoria wanted to go out. The introvert in me was very sad, but I decided to be social.

We went to Alexa (the mall) for lunch. There was a big African food festival in Alexanderplatz when we arrived. Everything looked delicious, but it was so hot outside we couldn't bring ourselves to eat the boiling dishes. Instead, we headed into the mall, where there is miraculously air conditioning. The two of us walked around the food court a bit before deciding to be stereotypical Americans and eat at McDonald's.

Now, I want to set the record straight on this. We did not go to McDonald's because we were scared of trying something new. On the contrary, we went to McDonald's because we wanted to try something new.

New things at German McDonald's: Freshly-squeezed lemonade, waffle fries, guacamole cheeseburger.

Someone please introduce the guacamole cheeseburger to McDonald's in the US. We are seriously missing out!!! I mean, I like McDonald's to begin with, so adding guacamole + a good thing = a great thing. My only complaint is that the french fries aren't as crispy here. Germany has laws about how hot frying oil can be because it can cause cancer if you heat it too much (which America does, of course, because 'merica). But it makes french fries taste so good!!

Anyway, this was the cleanest McDonald's I've ever been to. It didn't feel like a dingy fast food place at all. Maybe because it was in a nice mall? I'm not sure exactly, but it was great. They served our drinks in an actual glass. Plus there were electronic kiosks to order at, so the process was very smooth and easy. They even had a case of baked goods by the counter. The chocolate cake looked sooo delicious...

After a surprisingly refreshing meal, Victoria and I decided to hit up some bookstores. I am always 100% down to visit a bookstore. The first one mostly had photography collections, since Victoria is a photographer. It was nice to look at, but I didn't buy anything. We then hopped on a bus back towards our apartment (and bookstore #2). We missed our stop because the people crowded around the door didn't push the "door open" button, and then got really mad when the doors didn't open.

It luckily wasn't a far walk, though. Both stops were on Unter den Linden, which happens to be the most famous street in Berlin. It's normally lined with gorgeous Linden trees, but right now their building a subway underneath it so everything is torn up and under construction. It's kind of sad. There are still some nice shops, but it's not as pretty as it usually is. This is also the street the Brandenburg Gate happens to be on, so I've definitely been here a lot.

Speaking of streets in Berlin, I took a few pictures while we were walking back from our German class. All the U-bahns were down for some reason, so we just walked home. The IES center is only about a 15-20 minute walk from our apartments thankfully. I thought it might be nice to show you what the city looks like. Or at least my corner of the city.

The river in the photographs is the Spree. It runs through the middle of Berlin. There are a lot of boat tours, and if I have time and/or money I would definitely like to go on one.

Anyway, the bookstore! This one was not far away at all. And my goodness, it was a bookstore! I'm talking about four stories of glorious literature, plus a basement. Be still my heart. We spent nearly an hour just passing through, and Victoria and I both agreed that we could waste a whole day immersed in the shelves of stories. I would love to buy another book in German (I own the first Warrior cat book from my trip eight years ago), but picking one is so difficult! Do I go for something young adult that would be a bit easier? A novel I've already read so I understand it better or one I want to read so I'm motivated to finish it? Maybe I just buy one of everything~

I also found this little gem at the bookstore:

Yes, that's a Martin Luther comic book. I can't handle it.

After the bookstore adventure, we decided to get Eiskaffee from a cafe on Unter den Linden. It's not more than a block from our apartment. Ahh, it was wonderful. I tried to savor my drink with tiny sips, but I basically chugged the thing because it was hot outside and the Eiskaffee tasted so delicious. 10/10 would recommend.

I crashed at the apartment after that. In the evening, Victoria and Mikkal invited me to go see Deadpool 2 with them (in English). I was so exhausted, but I agreed. The theater we went to was at Potsdamer Platz, where my workplace is. It was underground, which was fun. Before the movie, there were lots of commercials in German and English.

And an ice cream break. They literally stopped everything for ten minutes so people could buy ice cream. A guy was wandering up and down the aisles with a tub of ice cream trying to sell it. I felt like I was at a baseball game. It was so weird.

The movie was good. I did not cry. That was not a thing that happened.

I was so glad to finally crawl back into my bed. Tomorrow is an IES-sponsored trip to Potsdam (a little city outside of Berlin). Whoo!