#HogsAbroad in Spain #TravelTuesday

Homesickness can come in many forms while studying abroad and it hit me pretty hard last week. It’s not that I missed being in America or felt like I was missing out on the snow and ice that hit the University of Arkansas’s campus (I’m very happy with my sunny and 65 thank you) but rather I missed the comforts I’ve grown accustomed to over the last 21 years. Last week was just one of those weeks where everything seemed to be going wrong. To top it off, I was sick from my weekend in Cádiz and the stress from the week made it so that I couldn’t get better. I was homesick in the sense that I couldn’t just run to Walmart and get tissues, Ben and Jerry’s, and all my other sick day comforts all in the same trip. Hell, I didn’t even know where to buy tissues. (I swear Spaniards don’t use them).

The only thing getting me through the week was my upcoming trip to Berlin. I don’t know what it is but I’ve always wanted to go to Berlin. Maybe it’s the history major in me knowing all that the city has to offer historically or just all the Instagram posts I’ve seen from friends that have visited. Admittedly, I was very disappointed when we couldn’t fit Berlin into the family trip in January and have been determined to go back ever since. Sure, it wouldn’t be another country to scratch off on my scratch map back home but Berlin was on my bucket list and this was a perfect opportunity to cross it off. What made it even better was the fact that I’d be spending the weekend with my dad!

I am so fortunate that his job requires him to travel. Because of this he was able to use his air miles to get me over to Europe in the first place but now he gets to use his job as an excuse to travel with me. He was going to be in Oman for the week for business but told me we could meet up anywhere. John is a big fan of Germany so meeting in Berlin just made sense. Thursday was a long day of travel for the both of us and when we finally met up in the train station at nearly 11 p.m. we were both ready for bed.

The weekend was supposed to have horrible weather but that didn’t stop us from getting up early and getting at the city in true Walton travel fashion. First stop was the Reichstag building rooftop which gave incredible views of the gloomy city and helped us to get out bearings a little bit. The wind around the city was absolutely insane and was even worse on top of a building, as evident by the stick straight flags and the inevitable knots that were forming in my hair. From there we did some more of the basic Berlin sight seeing things: The Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Topography of Terror, and the East Side Gallery. It was raining off and on all day but we seemed to have some luck and be inside when we needed to be. Since it was Friday it was still a technically still a work day so John had to go back to the hotel to take a business call around 3:30. I honestly didn’t mind since it was the most active day I’d had in a while and I was feeling very run down. I don’t even remember falling asleep but after a nice three-hour nap. After a resurgence of energy John and I made our way to the Jewish Museum for one last escapade of the day. The building was very haunting and impactful and the fact that it was now night and pitch dark outside only intensified this. I’ve always heard Berlin does an incredible job of embracing their past but to finally experience it was very moving.

In general, Friday felt like a weird day to me. Sure I was sick and tired but the city was just oddly empty and felt very ominous and eerie (and the gloomy weather wasn’t helping with this feeling either) Luckily, Saturday morning brought a new breath of life to the city. Friday was International Women’s Day and the Germans celebrate it by basically shutting every thing down haha.

Saturday might have been one of my favorite days abroad so far. John and I went to a cute little breakfast place and I got some of the best pancakes I’ve ever had. I still think about those pancakes. We then spent a majority of the day at the Charlottenburg Palace. Holy moly I am in love. Potentially my new favorite palace in Europe? There were so many rooms that I thought “this could be my happy place.” I even changed my phone background to one of the pictures I took here. It just makes me smile. One of the best moments was when we walked into a room there was princess dance lessons going on. How cool is that?! America could never.

The rest of the day was spent on Museum Island. What a dream right? Our first stop was the Berliner Dom because of course Waltons can’t go to a city without visiting the main cathedral. During our ascend up the cathedral there was an exhibit that displayed all the models of the cathedral and I think that was John’s favorite part of the trip. Oddly we saw a TON of bridal and wedding photo shoots on Museum Island so now I have to get married in Germany so I can have my wedding photos on Museum Island too. Sorry dad.

By the end of the day we were both exhausted and had to get up bright and early to get to the airport in the morning. (side note: TXL might be my least favorite airport I’ve ever been to). I was more than happy to be asleep by 9 pm. While the weekend wasn’t perfect due to weather and sickness, it’s one I’ll never forget. Berlin, I will be back (hopefully with better weather) Love you dad, see you in a bit!

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Senior Darci Walton is spending the spring 2019 term in Spain with through our U of A Exchange program at Universidad Nebrija, Madrid.

Read more from Darci at https://worldwidewalton.home.blog/

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