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Well, after that speedy exit, we decided to find a free internet place, which we did - the just plain cool cafe zapata on Oranienburger Strasse, which is where we are now. To continue from yesterday: we got to our hostel, a massive, stark building called 'The Generator'. Wow, what a name. And we haven't even talked about the colour scheme - a daring combination of bright blue and yellow, with lots of shiny steel plates. I'd recommend it to anyone. The people at reception did know who we were, which was encouraging, and the room was empty when we arrived. Igot the bottom bunk haha Ed! Then we wnet around Berlin which was great but because we were so tired not so productive! Howeve, we did go to the Pergamon whxih was wicked and we slept outside the Dom where we promptly awoken by the ringing of the cathedral bells at 6. When we got back which was quite early heothers in our room were not there and it seemd by the leaflet they had left on their bed that thedaily pub crawl had whisked them away. Ed and I decided to be rather sad andgo to bed in hostel beds joy!
back to the second day.. feeling rather freshed and after having a minimilist breaky decided to head for a free tour! This was so fantastic that we came back loving berlin and I actaully now wish i had done history even more! Ed was pretending he new what was going on ! Ed also fell in love with the tour guide (victoria) and decided to give her a little too much for the tour making it not so free. After spending the whole day walking we desperately need some yummy food, which we found at this place which we we had prepared for us..kinda like echo. It stays really birght in berlin at night so at 9 we decided to go Reichstag Dome. We had to queue behind a load of American Tourists and Dutch OAPs. Who were fierce when it came to trying to enter into what felt like a Nazi gas chamber (PC lovers better skip over this bit...). The glass door entrance opened and the crowd were herded into a small, claustrophobic glass room. Even when it looked full, the guards (museum staff) still pushed (beckoned) us in. The first set of doors shut. Lucy and I looked at each other, then all the struggling mass of prisoners (tourists), then back at each other, and giggled a bit at the irony of it (we had just been to the Holocaust memorial, which is no laughing matter, and it's practically a war crime to not see it if you're in Berlin...ok, maybe not a war crime). We both turned round, and saw uniformed German men staring at us, for no apparent purpose. Very dark. Anyway, the second set of doors opened, and we got out, the only gas let off being the occasional fart from the massive group of American tourists, one of whom was oddly chewing a toothbrush (I don't know whether this is a new trend that hasn't crossed the atlantic yet, but...). We had a bit of a hiccup when we got to security and they found our penknife. "Das ist ein KNIFE!!" scolded the scary lady, and Lucy just stood there, smiling, as if butter would't melt, and said calmly, "No, it's a penknife." The scary security lady fumed for a bit, then relented, and said we could get it back when we left. Then we went to the top of the Reichstag, and were simply blown away by the beauty of Berlin at 'dusk on a summer evening. It was warm and breezy, but we could see the twinkling lights of Berlin stretching to the horizon - Berlin is a huge city - and we just leant on the railings, gazing out. Then we went up the glass dome. This dome is impressive in the day, but at night, it's just breathtaking. A massive, geometric-stylee glass thing right on top of the home of German government, the idea being that when the government is sitting, decided the laws of the people, they can look up and see their real masters - the people themselves - looking down on them, watching. Wow. Designed by a Brit, you know. We got to the top, where there was a hole lookingh straight up at the sky, and place for lying down directly under it. So we lay down, and stared up at the stars (don't throw up, you had to be there) for about 40 mins, until it really was night. Thus ends the second day, and Ed and Lucy saw that it was good, and slept well. (oh dear...)
So that's about it for the moment, what else...? Lucy's starting to get travel hair, which is apparently a good thing, and Ed's hair is too short to do anything, other than look short. miss you all xxxx
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