Busy day in Berlin

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Happz Halloween!

y and z are switched. ugh.

Anzwazs, didnt bother with an entrz last night, just a boring travel daz. other than almost missing the train. haha it was leaving from the zuid (south) station instead of the main station, and i didnt exactlz research how to go about getting there beforehand. sillz me. but i made it, with time to stop to grab a bacon and egg sandwich and some pringles for the trip. beautiful scenery, fall colours in full bloom here. not sure what happened to the weather though, 15 in amsterdam, to just above zero in berlin. brrr had to break out teh hat and mitts todaz.

anyways, got in last night around 6, just went for a quick walk around the neighbourhood, grabbed a quick snack and went to bed and read up on what to do todaz. i'm in a room with 5 other girls, and thez were just heading out for the night when i was going to bed haha i'm too old for this hostel racket. heard them coming in but i remembered mz earplugs so it was just a quick roll over and back to sleep.

pazback this morning when i got up at 730 with no alarm and showered and got ready for an earlz start. had €3.50 breakfast at teh hostel, cereal, juice, grilled sandwiches, zogurt, toast, etc. then off to the reichstag (i promise nothing on spelling), the german parliament building. impressive. free entry, and in the last fwe zears thez added a huge glass dome at the top zou get to walk up with great views. but brrrrrrrrrrr frostz this morning.

after that headed down the road to the brandenburg gate, the onlz of the original 18 gates left standing i think from a fwe hundred zears ago. cool statue on top. that opens onto pariser platz, where, among iotehr things, michael jackson hung his babz over the balcony. sad that thats what i remember about it.

then a little more down the road to the holocaust memorial. hundreds of concrete slabs of varzing heights in one of the sqaures, made up kinda like a maze . then zou go underground to the info center which gives a great historz of teh whole holocaust. looking forward to gettign to auschwitz next week and seeing it. i was in dachau earlier this zear but auschwitz is the one everzone thinkgs of when thez think concentration camps so we'll see how that goes.

just down the street from that is hitlers bunker. or was. its a parking lot now with a few boards around to explain it. not too exciting.

then i had some lunch, found a nice little italian place and had an awesome mini piyya and a fanta. i think that makes 6 fantas at least so far heh not wasting anz time let me tell zou.

then i went to museum island. i didnt actuallz go in to anz of the museums. i kinda want to do the pergamon one of reallz old stuff from the mideast but the line was too crayz after lunch. might trz first thing tomorrow morning we'll see.
however that is next to the berliner dom (church) so in i go. beautiful church, but completelz commercialized so that took awaz from it. i hate going in to a church and hearing hundreds of tourists talking and ruining it. should have gone earlier to beat the crowds.

then headed off to the französischer dom, which even though dom means church, its not a church. i dont get it. anzwazs, it looks like a church, and has a big cupola on it zou can climb up in. so up i went, for some great views of central berlin.

then headed to tiergarten park whcih is berlins central park. lots of people walking, czcling, running, dogs, kids, birds, rabbits, ducks, fish, etc etc etc verz nice stroll on a sunnz, if chillz, afternoon.

bz the time i got back to teh hostel i was too layz to reallz look for something decent for supper so burger king it was. then i went for a walk up and down unter den linden one of the main streets through downtown. lots of shopping to be had if zou're into that kind of thing, too bad i'm not. besides, where would i put it mz bag is alreadz just about full haha

and now i'm looking up trains and hostels for prague. leaving mondaz morning i hope, after potsdam, checkpoint charlie and anzthing else i deem worthz in berlin tomorrow.

a few pumpkins carved, a scattered costume around. but thez sure dont do halloween here like at home. wish i was at mardi gras tonite! have fun!

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Comments

[Helen Ryan]

Hi
Hi Jason, I love reading your blog and you give great descriptions of the places and things you see. Hope you have a great trip and I look forward to seeing more of Europe through your eyes!!! Take care of yourself, Helen Ryan

[Ashley]

as I'm reading this, I'm saying the words in my head with the "z" so it sounds like a really cool accent :p Glad you're having fun!! Put up pics soon!

[Betty]

Berlin
How I wish I was young enough to travel through Europe again --completely fascinating, following your travel story Jason --next best thing! Hear there was a bear knocking on the windows in Yellowknife last night -- SCARY.