Berlin, Germany

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Greetings all,

I'm not really sure how I want to go about doing this travel journal yet, in fact the only reason I'm starting right now is because I inadvertently bought 120 minutes worth of internet time at this piece of shit internet cafe at the hostel I'm staying at in Frankfurt. The reason I did so was to charge my mp3 player, little did I know the damn computers are boarded up. So I'm unable to upload more pictures. Anyhow, this is neither here nor there.

On Tuesday afternoon, I flew in to Berlin Schoenefeld airport from London. Upon arriving there, I spent about 20 minutes waiting at the wrong baggage pickup area. I then spent the next 2 to 3 hours wandering around the airport train station pondering which train to catch into central Berlin.

Finally, by mid-evening I had arrived at my hostel. It was in a fairly central location, in Berlin terms. (The city is so spread out and de-centralised I still don't know where the city centre is.) Anyway, the hostel was fairly comfortable, and had it's fair share of eccentricities, one being that we were not allowed to wear our shoes, we had to take our shoes off at the door and leave them there for the duration of our stay.

The next day I spent roaming the vast city, I went to the Zoo station, and walked around the famous Berlin zoo, into the Tiergarten, the impressive, sprawling Berlin park, in the centre of which, there is an 'Arc de Triomphe'-like traffic circle with the Berlin Victory Column in its centre. I then went to the Reichstag building and pondered why Germans would want such an insulting thing said of them on their parliament building. Nevertheless, I went on to Brandenburg Gate, which I must say, was quite a disappointment. It's not all that impressive in itself, and on top of that, it's surrounded by cheaply-built modern buildings.

The same could be said of Berlin as a whole. It has a few beautiful buildings, but in most cases, they are surrounded by buildings erected in the cheap rush of post-war necessity.

Through the Brandenburg Gate, I walked along the Unter Den Linden to Museum Island. Where I lay in the Lustgarten and took pictures of myself in front of the Berliner Dom.

On my last night in Berlin, I decided to go to Frankfurt and spent 2 hours fretting trying to
find a hostel with open rooms.

I'd also like to apologise for being so slack with starting this blog, but it is very difficult finding
an internet cafe where you're able to upload photos and mess around with the computers.
Also, there's just so little time...

Next episode coming soon.

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Photos

The Victory Stick
The Famous Victory Column of Berlin, the 'Berlin Siegessaule'.

Reichstag Entrance
The entrance to the Reichstag area

The Reichstag
In an example of Afrikaans' usefulness, one is able to translate the plaque on the Reichstag: "Damn German People"

The Brandenburg Gate
Yes, that's it.

Greenhouse
A building made entirely out of leaves

Bombed Church
The remains of a church, left to remind people of the damage of the war

Berliner Dom
Striking a porno pose in front of the Berliner Dom, (Dom = Cathedral)

Comments

[Jay]

Ryan Bro :P
That porno pose belongs back at the sex shops :P keep well. godspeed.

[Jay]

THE GREEN HOUSE!!!!
Awsome Green house!! So thats what the "Green House Effect" Does. So ,maybe its not so bad after all!! :P Godspeed .