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8th May - 11th May 2009
8th May 2009
Today we were off the Berlin. After breakfast we met the group then walked to the train station to get a local train to Zuid station so we could catch our train to Berlin. We had a bit of a wait as the train was delayed so we bought some food to take on the train, whilst we waited. Finally on the train, I found my seat and pretty much went to sleep straight away to be woken up by Tim once we arrived.
The train station in Berlin was huge and looked pretty new. Once we got our tickets and found the right platform we caught a local train to West Berlin then walked to our hotel. This time I was sharing with Lisa. After dropping off our bags we met in the lobby and Tim gave us some information on all the sights and attractions in Berlin.
After our little meeting Jo and I decided to go and get a snack and a beer. We walked down the road to a bar that was on the corner, where we sat until it was time to meet the group for dinner, which was where we currently were so thankfully we didn't have to move. The group eventually came down and we ate some typical German foods, which was really good and the waitresses were really funny.
9th May 2009
The next day Jo, Lisa and I had arranged to meet and to check out Berlin together. We decided the best way to Berlin in the short was to get on one of those hop on/hop off bus tours. We walked down to the bus stop bought our tickets and off we went. We decided to go all the way around first and mark off the places we wanted to get off. Thankfully the sun was shinning so we sat up top on the bus and enjoyed the view.
After about an hour or so on we were back at the beginning and went around again. We got off at the Sony Centre and had a look around got a coffee, looked at the massive Lego giraffe and then walked to the Philharmonic building, which was where we left Lisa, as there was a museum she wanted to look at. Jo and I then walked over to the Berlin Wall and looked at the Topography of Terror, Check Point Charlie. We then got back on the bus and went back to the hotel to meet the group for our picnic in the park. It was our last together, well for Jen as she was leaving the tour and the rest of us were continuing on to Venice and Rome, plus we were getting some more joining the next day.
After the picnic some of the group went to the Reichstag, but Jo and I went to the pub.
10th May 2009
The next day after breakfast I met Jo and Lisa and went to the laundry mat. We then decided to go to the Brandenburg Gate and looked at the Reichstag, Jewish Memorial, Teirgarten and the Victory Monument, which had a great view of the promenades. We then caught the S-Bahn back towards the hotel and went to the 100 Beer house for a couple of beers before meeting the new members of the group.
I turned up and they had already started, so I quickly went and freshened up and joined the group. We then went down to the pub on the corner for dinner and got to know the new group.
11th May 2009
Today Jo and I met up with Ashlea from Canada and Karen, Robin and Jen from Sydney and we took the S-Bahn out to the communist park, which we were told was a bunch a old communist statues randomly put in a park but it turn out to be a memorial to the Russians who had fought in the war. Afterwards we caught the S-Bahn to check out the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall, which they were now restoring.
Jo, Ashlea and I then went to the Pergamon and spent hours wondering around. It was an amazing museum but all we wanted to see was the gates of Babylon. We also ran into two others on our tour Grant and Kara from Brisbane. We then caught the S-Bahn back to the hotel and ran into Lisa, who joined me at the bar whilst we waited to get our overnight train to Krakow.
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