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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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24 Hours in Berlin

April 15, 2017 by Taylor Leave a Comment

One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

Travel posts are back, and today’s is the first in a series of three “24 hour” posts. At the end of my Oxford experience, I had the crazy idea to spend three days experiencing three different European cities: Berlin, Prague, and Vienna. It’s probably one of the craziest and most exhausting things I’ve ever done, but it was so worth it. If you’re ever going to be in Berlin for a day, here’s what you should hit.

Brandenburg Gate

One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

Yes, the selfie stick came out full force on this one. I was traveling solo, and while I asked people to take my picture on numerous occasions, sometimes it was just so much easier to do it myself. The gate is kind of an iconic fixture in Berlin, and it leads straight into Tiergarten, the major city park. It’s a great way to start off the day because there are a ton of coffee shops nearby and it’s got easy access to a lot of the memorials in Tiergarten.

Tiergarten

 One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

There are so many memorials and beautiful sculptures within this park, that there’s no way I could capture or visit all of them in my short time. One of the highlights was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is both breathtaking and heartwrenching all at once. A massive field of rectangular concrete slabs of varying heights (all approximately the size of a coffin), there’s something about walking between these slabs that really tugs at your heartstrings. A memorable experience, for sure.

Reichstag

One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition 

If you book your trip more than 2 weeks in advance like I did, try to take an actual tour of Germany’s parliament building. It’s breathtaking from the outside, so I’m sure that it’s equally as stunning on the inside.

Berlin Wall Memorial

 One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

Berlin has about 5 different forms of public transportation, so it really isn’t too difficult to get from one place to the other in the city as long as you’re armed with Google Maps (or a map of the public transport system) and at least some German language skills. However, I love walking around cities, so I made the trek from the Reichstag area up to the Berlin Wall Memorial. There’s a museum, a viewing tower, and, of course, the remnants of the actual wall. It’s surreal to stand there and think that, for so many years, this wall split the city and caused so much strife.

Berliner Dom

 One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

I’ve been to a lot of European churches, and I really think this one might have been my favorite. Besides the unique architectural style, the inside is absolutely stunning (maybe I also just appreciated something that wasn’t Romanesque or Gothic architecture). You can also climb up to the top, and get a really fantastic view of the city. I have a really weird obsession with climbing things and getting panoramic views while I’m visiting new places, so this 100% satisfied that desire.

Museum Island

 One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

Next to the Berliner Dom is a whole selection of museums, with a wide variety of pieces presented in each. I didn’t actually go inside any of them (the admission price isn’t the most budget-friendly for someone visiting three cities in three days), but the exteriors are lovely. I spent a good 15 minutes just wandering around staring at the buildings.

Ben Rahim

 One Day in Berlin - Espresso and Ambition

In addition to my obsession with climbing things, another one of my favorite things to do in a new city is find cool coffee shops. As was probably made pretty evident by my Oxford coffee shop post, I’m a bit of a coffee snob and I love finding places in each city that make high-quality coffee. Ben Rahim is one of those places – it’s situated in a little hole-in-the-wall-sized area, but the coffee and treats are phenomenal.

I realize now that I made basically no food recommendations in this post, but that’s also because I was so busy I forgot to eat until I was about to catch my bus to Prague. I wouldn’t quite recommend that, so definitely stick a meal in here somewhere if you’re following in my footsteps. Happy travels!

xo, Taylor

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Meet Taylor

A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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tayy_kay

📍 dc
🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
✨ self-love + balance
🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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👚 @underarmourwomen
🎧 best of me - neffex
giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
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#310gc20 #310shake
sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
🎧 watch me - neffex
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