Walking out of the Berlin Tegel Airport, I was almost positive that I wouldn’t make it through the day. I had gotten about an hour or so of sleep on the 8 hour flight from Minneapolis to Berlin (with a short layover in Amsterdam), and, having landed at 8:30 in the morning, I still had the whole day ahead of me. Of course I was excited to get the tour started, but maybe it could wait until my body adjusted to the new time zone, right?

I couldn’t have been more incorrect. I was instantly captivated the moment we started driving into the city. After catching sight of the historic monuments mixed seamlessly with the modern architectural masterpieces, I knew that sleep would have to wait. From the infamous Reichstag, to the glorious Brandenburg Gate, to the hauntingly beautiful Holocaust Memorial, the city had so much to offer. We were also given the opportunity to explore in groups away from the guided tour, thus allowing us to delve beneath the flashiness of the major monuments and to see what makes Berlin so special (the Currywursts were a nice bonus).

With performances from one of the finest orchestras in the world, a masterclass with a world-renowned cellist, and even more cities to explore, there’s no telling what this tour has in store for us.

David Michaeli, Symphony violinist