Hi!
Hope all is good with you!
We arrived in Berlin yesterday morning. It feels so good to finally be here. We have had a good start to the trip with two visits already. After some train struggles, we arrived at the Swedish Embassy at 14. We had an hour-long meeting with one of the Swedish ambassadors. She talked about the Swedish – German relationship, the German election, and trade between our two countries. For instance, she mentioned how the collaboration about climate change looks like and how Angela Merkel has affected European politics. On an additional note, the architecture of the Embassy was amazing – designed by Gert Wingårdh in a Nordic minimalistic tone. The other Nordic countries also had their embassies in the same area, and each house was designed by different native architects. The ambassador explained the history of the plot: how it looked before the war and 1989, as well as afterward.
Moreover, we ate dinner after the meeting at the embassy. The canteen at the embassy had leftovers from lunch that we ate; it was really good and the personnel was very kind. I loved their sweet potatoes and they also had a really good tomato soup.
Thereafter, we had a meeting with UNHCR about their work and agenda. We talked about the importance of the Geneva convention and why some countries do not follow its rules. The employee from UNHCR also mentioned how he had worked in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. In fact, he brought pictures from a refugee camp in Bangladesh. In the end, we had a very interesting and educational Question and Answer session. At last, he explained his own experiences of the Berlin wall and how it affected his life. He also gave us tips on what we should not miss here.
Other notes from the day:
- The weather is super nice, sunny, and crispy!
- We were a bit unlucky with the trains today, several trains were canceled
- so we had to change multiple times to get to our hostel. However, we did not arrive late to the meetings and the hostel is very good and has a great location.
- You will see many pictures of us with facemasks!
All of us are very excited to get to know this city more! We will get you updated!
Hugs!
Cajsa