hello!! (sorry again there are no pictures of germany!!)

Well i dont really know what to say about berlin other than WOW!! I absolutely loved the place, the people were immensely friendly and helpful. Our hostel was fantastic ( aprt from sharing a room with 2 smelly boys!!) The hostel is run by a fantastic guy from new zealand who have us some great advice about Berlin which we were most greatful for.

The first tip and most useful one was to do a walking tour of the city. it took 3 and half hours and was super!! the tour guide a young guy from wales who was 6 ft 8!!! gave a fantastic run down on the history and current situation of germany and the surronding countries, this very dynamic and annimated presentation set the scence for the best tour of a city i have ever been on. We started on museum island, which is exactly what the name suggests an excellent place for art and history, although we ran out of time to see this for ourselves. And the tour finished at the reichstag.

In just a short afternoon we had seen a huge part of western berlin and eastern berlin, we had an understanding on the situation reagrding the nazi dilema and the holocaust memorial. We also had an understanding on the effects of capitalism and communisim and all at the same time appreciated the magnificent buildings and their purpose and artitects. Not to mention a detailed description of the berlin wall and again its purpose and effects. Although not much of the berlin wall is left it still marks the huge barrier that was created. I honestly cant describe how fasinating i found the history of this place, i will definately been returning and reading more about it.

After the tour we climbed to the top the of the reichstag where we had great views over the city, although the weather was alittle bit chilly so we mostly admired from inside the new modern dome which has recently been installed.

Our day in berlin just shot passed and although i am looking forward to moving onto Paris and seeing my friend gabrielle I really wish we had longer to explore this fascinating place.