Hello everyone,Rebecca already told you about Paris, so it is my job to fill you in on Berlin.We finally arrived at Schonefeld airport 1 hour late, then waited and waited for our luggage, headed to train station only to find out that the trains were not running due to work on the tracks, so we had to take the bus. I don't know about you, but I was always under the impression that Germany ran like a well oiled machine. So our first impressions were not good especially as we were eaten by mozzies waiting for the non existent train.We eventually got to the hostel called "the circus" and found on our arrival there was mayhem; on one side of us was a guy receiving medical attention for a dog bite and on the other side of the front desk a girl fell down the stairs to the bar. I was beginning to understand why it was called the circus. We wound down with 4 steins of lager (well I did anyway) then went to bed exhausted.The next day we headed off on our sight seeing tour - directed by sms' from Wes, I won't fill you in on all the details briefly we went to Potsdamer Platz, Topographie des Terrors & Checkpoint Charlie and remaining sections of the wall. This has been one thing that I have always wanted to visit, ever since I saw the TV footage in 1989 of people pulling down sections and celebrating their new found freedom. I am glad to see some of the wall is still in place and throughout the city where the wall once stood its site has been marked out in paving stones, as a memorial to this dark chapter of the city's history. Just near Checkpoint Charlie there is a museum, it documents many survival stories on how and to what lengths people went to escape from the east. It also tells the history and has an art exhibition with some great works explaining what the wall meant to the people of Berlin.Then to the remains of what was the most glamorous railway station in Berlin before it was destroyed in ww2-(Anhalter Bahnhoff Station.)Then off to the Harrods of Berlin Ka De We, an amazing department store filled with great wares, Bec found the Wusthof department and got a breadknife that she has wanted, and only paid 30 euro, that knife is 150 dollars in Australia, so she was very happy. She still manages to find a bargain in one of the most expensive stores in Germany.That night had dinner in Hackescher Markt then went to a jazz club called B-flat, a great name and place then back to the hostel.The next day we went to a few of Berlins estimated 170 museums, and walked down to Groben Stern(victory pillar) and then while walking through a park we were taken back when we stumbled upona whole lot of Beliners in the buff. Quiet funny really.That night we had dinner and were having a chat to a few people when a woman asked us if we would be extras in a movie, yes why not, but after standing around for about an hour we apologized and headed for bed. After all we had to get up at 7.All up Berlin is in parts very modern, with a lot of new buildings in the western part. The architecture is not my cup of tea but I appreciate it for what it is. Many Berliners seem to look to the future, whereas all the tourists want to do is look at the past. It is good to see that East Berlin, which seems a little more run down than west is now the hip place to live and I hope over the years the character of that part of the city is not totally destroyed in the name of progress. I love it, with its art galleries cafes and funky bars. There are many great shops selling lots of things from the 50s, 60s and 70s. I can only try and describe this part of Berlin as one big Brunswick Street with character that can not be copied.This part of the trip is where we said our goodbyes to Buzz (Sean).We were going back to Ireland and he was heading for London. It was great to hang out with him for the two weeks that he was with us, Buzz and I hadn't spent that much time together since doing year 12.We had great craic showing him around the Tullow area, and then going to Paris and Berlin. He is full of life and always enjoys a laugh .So Buzz if you read this Thank-you and we hope you enjoy London.Anyway Bec and I are heading of to Poland in a few days so the next update will be from there. So take care everyone from Eamon (and Bec).