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Hi! Currently sunday afternoon, just passing time while doing some clothes washing and thought I would post another entry :)
We are in Berlin at the moment, arrived here on Friday afternoon from Amsterdam. Berlin is amazing, one of my favourite places so far. It is a really beautiful city, lots of old buildings, churches, museums etc but also lots of new architecture. And the place just smacks of history!
We did a guided walking tour of the city yesterday which was tiring, but awesome nonetheless. The guide was an ex-pat aussie but he had an incredible wealth of knowledge on German, and European, history. The tour took us past alot of the wonderful old architecture, such as the museums and cathedrals, the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate, and the guide gave us a background on the era they were built, their significance etc but really giving us an insight into Germany´s history.
Then the tour focused on World War I and II era Germany, the Nazi rise to power, their downfall, the establishment of East and West Berlin and the Berlin Wall etc. We visitied places such as The German Air Ministry building, old Communist headquarters, Checkpoint Charlie (USA´s checkpoint for entry into West Berlin from East Berlin), a segment of the wall that is still in tact, the site of the bunker where Hitler commited suicide and the holocaust museum. It was a really facinating tour. So much so that Malcolm and I decided to do another tour on sunday which focused on the 3rd Reich (the Nazi Empire) and the SS and Gestapo etc. That is, we intended to do the tour. We kind of made a mess of the Berlin public transport system and got lost and missed the tour. Our cause wasn't helped by road closures, tram cancellations due to the Berlin Marathon. Needless to say not a fun experience, considering it took us nearly 3 hours to get back to the hotel!!
Friday night we met some other aussies staying in the hostel at the hostel bar, and for a change we had quite a few drinks! A great night though, they were really good people. Saturday night was spent on another tour pub crawl. We went to 5 different Berlin pubs and finished up at a popular nightclub. It was a good night too!!!
We are off to Prague tomorrow morning, and thank goodness the bus ride isnt as long as the 10 hour monster from Amsterdam to Berlin! Sounds like it's a good time to be on holiday... we got word of the rising petrol prices, and then there's the dockers! CHOKE!
Anyway, hope everyone is well. Speak soon.
Paul.
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