Spreewald

Three weekends ago, ( yeah I know, this post is coming rather late...), I went on my only NYU Berlin sponsored trip! They offer so many free trips that you can sign up for, but all but two of the trips coincided with previous plans of mine. I was very excited for this one, though---about 1.5 hours outside of Berlin by train is the Spreewald. The Spree is the river that runs through (& out of) Berlin, and "Wald" means forest. From Bahnhof Friedrichstraße, we took the train to Lübbenau and then walked through the cute town to a kayak rental place. The 16 or so of us and two NYU staff members then enjoyed three hours of kayaking through the peaceful forest. We were amazed by the stillness at points, by how the thin trees reflected onto the glimmering water, how the sun shone through and warmed our faces. I grew up kayaking, so it was lovely to have to chance to do this in a totally different place.

After kayaking, we just spent time lying around in the grass for a while before heading off to our (NYU-sponsored) lunch at this cute restaurant in town. NYU has been absolutely incredible with vegan options, and we pre-chose our lunches that morning, so I had checked off the potatoes and salad and then a berry dessert. It wasn't anything spectacular, but free is always delicious in my books.

Overall, it was a wonderful day, and I would absolutely recommend venturing out to the Spreewald if you're spending time in Berlin so that you can get a nature experience on an easy day trip!