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Published: March 4th 2011
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We're in Berlin already... We cheated!
When we were originally planning this trip we had every intention of making our way into Asia without taking a single flight. This isn't hard to do at all as overland connections through Europe into Russia and onwards are numerous and fairly straightforward. The problem came while browsing the Easyjet website, it was cheaper to get a flight to Berlin than it was to get a train ticket to London from where we live.
We'd save on the eurotunnel fare and the train journey between Paris/Brussels (depending on which route we decided to go) and Berlin. I know that's not really the point, but getting to Asia with as much money left in our pockets was a bigger priority to us.
We wouldn't miss out on too much either, only Paris or Brussels which we can easily do any time as they're so close to our home country. More importantly we'd still be travelling through the Baltic countries which I'm quite excited about visiting and don't think I'd want to miss.
Once we landed in Berlin we trekked across the city using it's extensive public transport system to our
hostel. We quickly realised that we were really out of practice with this backpack on the back/daypack on the front business as we were completely wiped out once we made it and our shoulders were killing us. Maybe we underestimated the weight of these things, here's hoping our shoulders toughen up and our backs strengthen quickly or we're going to start taking a lot of taxis... Screw the cost!!!
Our first day in Berlin we just wandered around as we didn't have any kind of itinerary for the city. We walked down to the river and just ambled along for a few miles till we reached the Reichstag where the German parliament hang out and Brandenburg Gate.
The Reichstag was pretty impressive and certainly photogenic enough from the outside, but sadly there were no admissions to the dome that day so we couldn't go in it. The Brandenburg gate (Brandenburger Tor) was OK to look at but there were several people walking around the front of it in fancy dress... It's quite distracting when you're trying to appreciate a historical monument to have a giant chicken wrestling a gorilla, while being watched by someone in full Native American
Indeed...
East Side Gallery dress... We couldn't even figure out why they there, a lost bet perhaps?
Our second day in the city was anther stunner, with crisp air and blazing sunshine, the wind cut like a knife though so it was time to don hat and gloves. It was only going to get colder from here as we city hopped across the continent, the only saving grace was the more we wore to combat the cold, the less we would have to carry.
We went to go see the East Side Gallery, a 1300m section of the wall kept as an open air gallery. I'll be the first to admit that my grasp of history leaves a lot to be desired. I remember watching the wall come down on TV but am largely ignorant of the details. That's why I travel I suppose, to broaden my knowledge of the world and the events that shaped it. At least I'll leave Berlin with some history to go with the vivid memories from my childhood.
After the wall we went to Checkpoint Charlie, the main gateway for Allies between the two Berlins. It was a bit naff to be honest as it
was just a replica of what it originally looked like, shadowed by a massive McDonalds, with some guy dressed up in an American serviceman uniform and US flag posing for photos (for a fee).
We then spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine wandering around Museumsinsel which was probably the prettiest part of Berlin we've seen and playing in front the Berliner Dom, a huge very impressive church.
We also made our way to the main train station to buy our tickets to Warsaw (€48.60)for the next day, ending our day in Berlin and apart from catching a train the next morning, our time in Germany.
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At least the sun is shinning for you.You will soon toughen up with carrying those backpacks.Love the photos.Love you all xx