Berlin

Now I have been told by a bunch of travellers that berlin is an amazing city, they never said why and for me it took a little while to kick in. We had 5 days to fill in here and we sure did pack quite a few things in here.

Our first day we jumped on board the fat tyre bike tour. Here we started to get an idea of what this place was about, it's past and it's present. We visited sites such as The Memorial for the murdered jews of Europe, Hitlers underground bunker, the berlin wall etc. What an incredible recent past this city has. This was just an introduction really.

We also did a third riecht, a cold war and a berlin wall tour separately. The information was overwhelming, the stories were intense and really just blew me away. I have this eery feeling when going around town, I am really unsure what I feel for this place. You don't know who is who, a lot of people from the dark years may very well still be around. I mean the wall only came down in 1990 and the war started in 1939. Most of those who actively took part in these years will never be brought to justice because all the files where destroyed. We walked through the jewish memorial and it was just horrible to hear the stories, read the postcards and letters of victims and see some of the horrible things these people were put through. All up around 6 million jews were murdered, this is a staggering number and just walking though the memorial you really cant help but be affected by it in some way, incredible.

There was another concentration camp tour on offer but we saw the one in munich and I think if you have seen one you really don't need to see another, it is truly horrible.

On a brighter note modern Berlin is wonderful. Doing all the tours of the past is interesting but very depressing, you really generate some strong feelings on these tours. It was nice to get out, see the night life, hit the restaurants and see what modern Berlin is all about. There is too much to experience here and we didn't even scrape the surface. We visited this graffiti house, it is about 7 stories high full of many artists. It has been this way for 20 years and I guess it is part of berlins identity now. Apparently the government has tried to kick them out but they have been able to stand their ground. There are some amazing pieces in there from paintings, photography, steel work and just dribs and drabs but it is all so creative and just a different experience walking through the place.

We met some lovely girls from Brisbane, Caitlin and Lizzie. Caitlin still lives back in brissy and Lizzie is working in London. We went out for two nights with these two and really just hit it off well! For Caitlins birthday on the first night we ordered this champagne cooler full of strawberry mojito.. YUMM!!! Haha we had good fun that night followed by a classy kebab, haha we really know how to treat the ladies to a night out hey :P We made up for it on the second night, we all went out for a 4 course meal which we only paid 30 euro each for (thanks to Lizzie for her expert skills in sourcing restaurants). Great quality food, nice wine and fantastic company all night!! We hit a bar afterwards to finish off the night, great memories and definitely a pair to catch up with back home and in london!

The last night in Berlin got a little messy. We went out with a few guys to a pub. Now this was no ordinary pub, each table had its own pourer with a touch screen. From this screen you can order food, call the waitress etc. It also keeps track of home much the table has had to drink as well as individuals. More dangerously (if having your own tap on your table wasn't enough) there is a big screen displaying how much each table has had to drink within the pub. It is a bit of a leader board and it becomes a game to be on top! Once you achieve this you then start creeping onto the leader board and compete with other tables in pubs within the chain. Yes it was Oktoberfest on a much smaller scale haha. A good night out though but boy did we pay for it the day after on the bus to prague.

Berlin was amazing and so interesting. I can see myself returning here to visit again one day once I have read a few books and seen a few more documentaries as well as research what more modern berlin has to offer, it is an incredible city and is doing so damn well considering the rough past it has had to endure.

-Ryan