I've known Cameron Wright for 16 years. I've known James and Brooks nearly as long. Since we graduated high school, we have tried to take trips together each year. This summer, I was disappointed because I wouldn't be able to take the trip with them being on the other side of the globe and all. That's why I was completely blown away when Cameron told me that he and James were planning a trip to Europe (unfortunately, Brooks couldn't make it, but we missed him!).
I helped them plan out their trip, and we were able to meet up for a weekend visit to Berlin! It was awesome! Really good to speak fluent English again, even though it seems I'm not as quick as I used to be with my words.
We explored the city the Charlottenburg Palace the first day. We took some pictures out in the garden, which is where James wanted to play "Where's Waldo?" in our pictures by hiding behind trees. Cameron and I had a field day making him run from one tree to the other saying he was too obvious behind the ones he was already at. Good times!
Friday night, I surprised them with a trip to a local bar: MacLaren's! Built and themed around the bar from "How I Met Your Mother"! They had the ducky tie, the yellow umbrella, a blue French horn, Barney's motivational posters, and many more artifacts from the show. The menu also included a unique beverage referenced in the show, "Tantrum". It wasn't very good, but it was still awesome!
That night, we played a little bit of three person Euchre, but when that got annoying, we decided to create our own game. It's quite literally the best game ever and works with 2-4 players and a regular deck of playing cards.
Unfortunately, we stayed up too late and getting the other two out of bed was an hour and a half endeavor. It was also raining, so we had to spend a lot of time inside the museums. The museums in Berlin are awesome, but we wanted to do outdoor exploring. We got to see a lot of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, as well as the bust of Nefertiti! It was cool seeing some of the Greek artifacts that related to the readings I have been doing in preparation for my trip to Greece with SigEp.
Saturday night was the Champion's League (consisting of many soccer teams around Europe) final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (two German teams). We found a nice Irish pub where we could watch the game amongst the energy of German folks. Soccer (or football as they call it) is quite literally a way of life here. Being a part of European soccer culture is like nothing else I've ever experienced in my life. We also met a hysterical group of Irish gentlemen and a Norwegian girl who was quite intoxicated, adding to the overall awesomeness of the whole event. Munich ended up winning with a goal in the 89th minute, which is no surprise. They are clearly the best team around, having won the championship for all three leagues they participate in.
The weather on Sunday held out for the most part, so we got to explore outside a little bit before we had to go our separate ways. We walked around downtown Berlin, looking at the remnants of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (their Capitol Building), and the Jewish History Museum. Then we got to have a nice dinner and spend a little bit longer just hanging out and being bros before I had to leave and catch my ride back to Bremen. It was an awesome trip, and I'm incredibly glad that they came all the way to Europe so we could hang out together!
Such a great friendship that we have continued for yet another year! The next 16 years are bound to be even better!
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