Another busy week in the books! This week I was in Berlin for the first half of the week before traveling to Dusseldorf and then further on to Brussels in Belgium. While I was in Berlin, I got to see the premiere of a new movie called Rabiye Kurnaz Vs. George W. Bush and it was amazing. In Dusseldorf I got in a quick lunch in between meetings and then headed straight from work to a night out on the Rhine River with all my coworkers and friends. After I recovered from the consequences of all the free drinks on Thursday night, I packed up my bags and headed to Belgium with two friends for a girls weekend in Brussels. On my way back to Berlin I stopped for a long layover in Koln and checked out the art museum there. It was the perfect time killed and I even got to see a strange performance piece of people singing in the middle of the gallery. I genuinely can’t believe that I’m writing about movie premieres, art museum performances and travelling to 2+ cities in one week.
BACK IN BERLILN
I finally made it back to Berlin and spent my Monday evening on the handlebars of a bike driving around Helmholtzkiez. I love traveling, but I also love having a little home in Europe that I can always retreat back to and recharge.
MOVIE PREMIRE
While I was only back in Berlin for a short few days, I was able to squeeze in front row tickets to the movie Premiere of Rabiye Kurnaz Vs. George W. Bush, which his based on the real life story of German mom Rabiye Kurnaz who fought years to have her wrongfully imprisoned son released from Guantanamo Bay prison. The movie told the tragic story of Rabiye’s fight and Murat Kurnaz’s five years of wrongful detention through humor and a quick paced storyline. I didn’t realize that this was a real story until the credits rolled with pictures of the real life Rabiye and Murat. My first thought was shock that this actually happened, and my second thought was ‘how did they find actors that looked so similar to the real life characters…?” Seriously, you should look up pictures of the movie characters versus the actual characters, their almost identical. On top of the plotline, this move premiere was extra exciting because the entire experience was fully in German and I was able to understand half of it. Those are pretty good percentages! Oh also, maybe the best part of all… popcorn and a bookbag full of smuggled in candy.
DUSSELDOrf BOAT PARTY
It’s crazy to think that once upon a time we were all regularly having work outings and happy hours. After the pandemic and now that I work from home, these events feel few and far between, but that’s what made our work boat party even more special. I loved being able to see some of my coworkers again, for the first time since the Carnival party in November. It was also lovely having the free food, drinks, and a boat cruise down the Rhine!
BRUSSELS WITH THE BABES
This weekend trip was originally going to be a wine tour in western Germany, but we shifted our plans to Brussels for a long weekend of Delirium beer, pommes frites and cartoon murals. We all needed a quick girl’s trip and this could not have been a better weekend. We practically spent all three days in the maze of Delirium bars, with quick stops at the popular cultural destinations like Manneken Pis, Jeanneake Pis and Het Pis. On our breaks from Delirium, we also ate a ton of delicious food ranging from Bao burgers and Waffles to Pommes Frites and Mussels. It was a great weekend away with some of my favorite ladies in Europe. I can’t wait until our next trip, and I hope there’s a meter of beer there too.
To read more about my time in Brussels, aka the Delirium bar… click here.
Quick stop in Koln
On my way back to Berlin I had a few hours in Koln before my final train, so I decided to spend every second of my time inside the Koln Kunstmuseum. It was a great decision because the museum had a ton of famous pieces of art and even a live performance of people singing and rotating in circles around the middle of the museum. On my way back to the train station I also took a quick peek inside the Cathedral and lit a candle for Molly.
