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Pub Crawl
Pit-stop for vodka shots under the train line. Our last day in Amsterdam was the best, hired bikes, was again lovely weather, just rode around the place, visted more sites and parks and canals and windmills. Was a good end to our stint in Amsterdam. We woke up early the next morning for our train to Berlin. 6 hour train ride. Was nice, their train system is really organized and fast. As soon as we crossed over the holland/german border, on came german police, german attends and train drivers. The police spotted us in the carriage and checked us FIRST out of any one else! they even rang headquaters and did a check on our passports which they thoroughly inspected with great suspicion! I think it was because we hadn't shaved for about a week, but a quick 'dunkashen' and they moved on to the others. But the train ride was nice, nice to see the german/netherlands country side, there were industrial windmills everywhere - quite an odd site.
We are staying in a hostel on the east side of Berlin, which was the old communist area so its very industrial. The city is really big and eclectic, the culture is very alternative! The trains here are AMAZING
Hitler's Bunker
Now a car park. was a bit confusing at first, but after a while you get used to the way it all works. They have an underground train network, an above ground train network, trams and buses. So, you can get virtually anywhere you like without walking more than a few hundred metres.
First day we arrived in berlin we were pretty buggerd. It was in the afternoon, So we just relaxed in our hostel, then we went on this berlin pub crawl with one of the other American dudes from our room. It was okay, but full of other back-packers trying to experience Berlin's clubs, but really, out of the 5 clubs-pubs, we didnt even go to any place where the Berlin crowd hang at. It was fun though, meting all these other english, american, canadian and spanish back packers, walking the streets with them all, was a good 1st night in Berlin.
The next day we did a free city walking tour for 5 hours. (you tip your tour guide at the end) It was run by the same company who organises the pub crawls. It was FANTASTIC! we really appreciated going to all the historic sites around Berlin! It's
a fascinating city! We visted Hitlers bunker where he killed himself, and the Germans didnt want to commemorate him in any way, so they built a carpark ontop of it, and it only has a little sign saying this was his bunker where he killed himself. We also visited the Brandenburg gate, checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin wall, some old cathedrals, an old nazi-designed building (which is now the tax office), the site of the nazi book-burning, and other places...
So Saturday night we went to a pretty cool club! We decided to get dressed up in shirts and jeans and nice shoes, and got rejected from this ritzy club. It was recommended to us by these german girls we met on the street and told us to go there. But the people on this line were the suit-wearing older established type crowd. So we went back to our hostel a bit disappointed, sat at the bar, talked to the bar tender who was Aussie, and he recommded we go put something more casual on and go this cool club where the real Berliners hang out. IT WAS CRAZY. We didnt leave the hostel till 1am because clubs here start
Berlin
A cathedral, and the TV tower. at 1-2am and go till 7pm the next day! CRAZY!! It's not unusual that the locals get an early night on Friday to get up early on Saturday and spend the whole day in the bars/clubs. Its nuts!!
Sunday, the church bells woke us up, shops are closed on Sundays!!?!? So we went up into Berlins TV tower and looked around from there, kinda looks like the death star/disco ball on a stick. Berlin is MASSIVE - such a huge city! At night, we went to visit the Reichstag (German Parliament). It's open for visitors until 10pm. Its a very nice place... There is a massive glass dome on the top, with a walking path all the way to the top. The dome is symbolic - The politicians should be looking up to the German people while in Parliament - to keep their interests at heart, and the German people can keep close watch on its politicians to avoid bad things from happening. We then visited the Brandenburg gate again at night, and took some cool photos before returning to the Hostel for an earlz night.
Monday (today), we hired bikes and rode around Berlin. Like Amsterdam, Berlin
has great support for bikes! We visited the East side Berlin wall, rode to some massive statue in the centre of the round-a-bout, which is apparently the Statue of Liberty, but I don't know any history about it. We then went shopping.
Tonight, we are just going to have some dinner, pack our bags, and then have a few drinks - we need to get up early for our train to Prague tomorrow.
Last, but not least - Beer! Beer (Becks) in Berlin is comparable to the price of coca-cola or water (if not cheaper sometimes), so it's such a hard decision... After walking/riding around, should i have a beer, or a water?? How about with dinner/lunch?? You can buy beer everywhere - Corner shops, trains stations, newsagents, supermarkets, street-stalls! You can even drink on the trains, trams and buses!!
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Adrian D
non-member comment
Awesome!
Looks great guys, sounds like you have been enjoying yourselves, keep up the good work on the blogging Daniel, and the photos look awesome